17/02/2026
I am a true believer that every woman deserves a Doula by her side during her birthing journey. And when it came to my own birth… I made sure I had my own doula too 🫶
I knew I wouldn’t want to be in my frontal brain; the analysing, decision-making, policy-interpreting part of me. I knew I wanted to surrender entirely 🧘🏼♀️
My labour unfolded over three days at home. There was laughter, love, there was even an entire day spent in the pool… 💦
Fast forward, we were monitoring my temperature, and when it began to rise and wouldn’t settle, we knew something was shifting. Bub’s head had also begun to swell, as he became a little lodged… 🥺
During one of the midwife changes, hospital transfer & epidural was suggested, with the idea that my body might need to ‘rest and reset’, having only dilated 7cm.
A pivotal moment - Had my doula not have been there, I would have agreed (and deeply regretted this). Because suggestion, when you’re vulnerable and exhausted, carries weight🫸
Once I was grounded by my doula and reminded of my objective, we pushed through for another day, but disappointedly my infection markers didn’t change
I still had fight left in me. That part was devastating. The decision to move was emotional, but it was calm, collected & discussed in detail.
This is where having a doula changed everything.
- I didn’t have to carry the weight of interpretation
- I didn’t have to filter tone from fact.
- I didn’t have to wonder whether something was policy bound or true necessity
Sadly, the safest way to meet my baby became an unplanned caesarean. And with the diagnosis of a Bandl’s ring around my uterus, we knew for certain my baby wouldn’t have to be born va**nally 😭
Was it the birth I had envisioned? No. Was there disappointment? Absolutely! But has my experience led to birth trauma? Thankfully no 💛
Birth will always take its own course, no matter how prepared or knowledgeable you are. Mine is proof of that. But having someone there whose only role is yours and bub’s wellbeing, can completely transform how that journey transpires and the sense that you’re still in control 💪🙏