The Cove and The Wave - Doula & Postpartum Support

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The Cove and The Wave - Doula & Postpartum Support

Traditional birthkeeper. Pregnancy, birth & postpartum support in Belper, Derbyshire. Hypnobirthing. Pregnancy classes. Blessingway Ceremonies. And more 🙏✨️

26/11/2025

A few snippets from my last on call journey this year.
A few themes transpired in this portal: ones of tending, slowing, surrendering. Yet again, the power of birth became humbling. Through the passing of time & witnessing the power of a mother. Through the redemptive weight of each roar. Through the energy of life and death intertwined, unbreakable. That's how birth comes to be transformative for each soul involved. The baby who comes earthside, the mother who is reborn, the witnesses who are willing to face it.
A part of my heart stays with each family I am honoured to walk alongside. And so now, when another journey ends and begins - I withdraw into Winter and welcome the stillness.
Full of gratitude and love for this year of doula work & all mothers I cried, laughed and loved with.
I withdraw now to the heart & the hearth, where the personal transformation takes place, unstoppable.
I humbly welcome what is to come, "taking a break" and finding rest in the very place I am at, and not outside of it.

With tears of love for all that transpired this season, for the village around me without which I wouldn't be able to do this work, for my own little family and each family I witnessed being born...

Love for all this and more,

Weronika 🤍

11/10/2025

Birth is an experience of love.

Not just metaphorically. Not because we are about to meet our children - whom we nourished & grew with our very bodies (though that too).

Birth is an experience of love by design.

This is when oxytocin, the hormone of love, peaks. Its levels reaching heights that only childbirth can bring.

Oxytocin, releasing steadily throughout pregnancy, each day a little bit more, readying us for this ultimate experience of love.

It is oxytocin that supports the release of endorphins, our natural pain relief, another hormone of happiness. The elixir of both guiding us through the process, step by step, until we are reborn.

Stepping into this portal should be with confidence, trust, safety and celebration.

Oh how much easier would birthing be if we welcomed it surrounded by those who make oxytocin release a priority. Who treat Oxytocin as a sacred visitor. Who know what invites it deeper and what scares it away.
Who understand that birth is not a medical event but indeed an experience of love.

Just some musings... 💫

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09/10/2025

📿 Labour Beads

For the World Physiological Birth Week, here is a tiny lesson about birth using the labour beadline.

If you're curious about the natural unfolding of birth, here is a good start. Though birth can take many routes, elements I mention here are most common in uninterrupted, physiological births.

Purposefully I do not mention the lengths of each stage or all sensations that are right/wrong. Why? Because each birth is different, each body is different, each baby is different, each timeline is different. And holding onto timings or "what it should feel like" anxieties does not support physiology.

Much more could be said on each of the mentioned elements, but 2 minute reel seemed long enough 😂

Happy World Physiological Birth Week 💫

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01/10/2025

Would you consider preparing for home birth? Research shows it's your best option... even if you won't go for home birth in the end.

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28/09/2025

Little availability update for the reminder of the year and well into Spring 2026 🌿

I will be taking on a very limited number of in person birth clients in the upcoming year as I focus on being a mom so get in touch quickly if you're after a doula in Derbyshire 🙏🏻

On the other hand, I am opening more space for postnatal support, virtual work and 121s.

Enquire via direct message, email or the website.

Lots of love,

Weronika x

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26/09/2025

Did you know that your due date is calculated using a 19th century mathematical formula created by a man & published by another man? 👀

It adds 7 days to the day you started your last bleed, deducts 3 months and adds a year. Result? Your estimated due date.

What it doesn't take into consideration...

🌀 not everyone has 28 days cycle (actually studies show that only 13% of women do)

🌀 pregnancy length varies

🌀 some people have irregular cycles

🌀 ovulation doesn't have a set day

Yet we use it as one-size-fits-all calculation to determine the precise date when our babies "should" arrive. And, well, it doesn't really work considering that only 5% of babies are born on their due date. I would say the only thing EDD achieves is unnecessary pressure.

Did your baby arrive on their due date? Let me know 👀

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25/09/2025

I still remember a consultant at Royal Derby Hospital who said he would "allow me" to have a natural birth because he was "pleased" with my test results. An innocent appointment that quickly turned sour as he proceeded to list things he wouldn't "allow" while not looking at my birth plan once... 👀

What about you? Were you also "allowed/not allowed" to make your birth choices?

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29/08/2025

🍎 For me, apples have always been magic. When I think of them, I go back to my childhood bed and the countless bowls of apple porridge when I was full of cold.

Apples are a symbol of fertility and immortality and rightfully so, with their incredible properties they can support our bodies and minds against many ailments.

And then - they are fantastic in pregnancy and postpartum.

Here I invite you for a short journey through apple cider vinegar making and a small chat about apples as we continue enjoying the summer harvest and descending into Autumn... 🍎

Thank you for all the beautiful apples from your orchard ✨️🙏🏻

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22/08/2025

Many doulas today say they are leaving Doula UK. I am super happy to announce I won't be leaving Doula UK... because I never wanted to join them in the first place.

But I share this instead. For those who think doulas are found only there. Or who think that Doula UK membership means anything when it comes to the value of a doula you hire.

Swipe to see the list of incredible birthworkers who get the s**t done and speak up. Starting with incredible and her statement from today.

How lucky we are to have warriors, radical birthworkers, teachers, elders like them.

Love to all 🤍

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19/08/2025

Here to bring this simple truth.

It can be so difficult to watch a mother struggle. To see her hide tears. To see her go quiet. To see her tremble as she nurses her baby with her jaw clenched tight. To hear hopelessness in her voice as she recounts sleepless nights, latch issues, cluster feeds, cold cups of tea, full bladder, or a shower she managed to have three days prior.

It can be even more difficult to not desperately seek solutions, share advice, jump into the saviour mode, trying to help by any means necessary. I think we've all been there - uncomfortable in the presence of the vulnerable raw motherhood. Uncomfortable in the silence of tears and exhaustion. Truly, genuinely wanting to help. And so maybe, just maybe, giving little pieces of advice that we thought useful. Maybe even lecturing in one way or another, prompting the mom to change - change what she's doing, how she's receiving and how she's responding. And that way perhaps unwittingly reinforcing what she's already thinking - that there's something wrong with her and/or her baby, and not with the circumstances around them.

And perhaps, all that she needed was to be seen and witnessed with no judgement.

Because here is the difference between trying to save the mother and to witness her - attempting to save her is to doubt her strength and power. Witnessing her, on the other hand, is to hold space for her power to come to the surface. It is to acknowledge with an unwavering faith: I see you and I believe in you. I see how hard it is and I am here for you to come as you are. You don't have to hide. You don't need to pretend.

To witness is to stay still through somebody's storm. It is to provide a steady presence that does not attempt to tame this storm but rather to show those involved that it is safe. Even in the middle of the storm, it is safe to be here and experience it.

Finally, to witness a mother is to to reassure her. Because she knows she's seen. And that if she's seen and not saved, she can keep going, trusting her power to emerge on the other side.

MORE IN COMMENTS

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Belper

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+447395417618

Website

http://www.coveandwave.com/

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