All About Your Doula

My first memories of learning about pregnancy and birth take me back to the age of 4, paging through illustrative books my mother had on the human reproductive system. I have always been fascinated and delighted by pregnancy and babies and imagined myself working with children in some way. My brothers were born when I was 14 and 15 years old, and I got my first real hands-on experience going through the pregnancy and birth journey with my mother.

 

I studied psychology and communication after finishing high school but did not quite know what I wanted to do at that stage. I spent a year studying English in Australia and worked at a baby daycare and nursery school which paid my rent.

 

I met my husband Brett, a chiropractor, in 2004, and began working for him as his practice manager and accounts administrator which I still do to this day. For 13 years while raising our children, I worked at Doctor Billing as a medical accounts administrator.

 

I fell pregnant with our first baby in 2006 whom we unfortunately lost at 18 weeks due to a fatal neural tube defect. After experiencing secondary infertility, we spent some time at the Vitalab Fertility Clinic and we went on to have our 4 wonderful children.

 

I have always been passionate about natural birth and had my children with Srs Marilyn Sher and Veronica Park, three of which were water births at Genesis. I breastfed all my children collectively for 7 years. My wonderful birth experiences and strong desire to enable other women to have the same, led me to train as a doula.

 

I received my doula certification from Mama Bamba. Being a part of the doula network has exposed me to many opportunities to expand my learning and birth working experience. In 2023, I joined NetworkOne Health as an on-call doula. Through NetworkOne, I have co-hosted antenatal classes including breastfeeding and post-partum classes to all the parents on the network. I have also been appointed to manage the WhatsApp and Telegram groups where the moms can ask questions in a safe space without overwhelming the midwives with all their pregnancy niggles.

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My colleague Lisa Houghton, whom is also my dear friend, approached midwife Sr Sharon Marsay about starting a podcast with us. We called our podcast Two Doulas and a Midwife, which has now grown into a little business where we provide ongoing support and education for doulas. 

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I have also recently joined an incredible non-profit organisation called The 1000 Days of Grace Foundation. Through the foundation, we provide free online doula support, child birth education classes, and since August 2024, we were invited into Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital where we give in person doula care across the spectrum of mothers in the antenatal clinic, early labour ward, active labour ward and post natal wards. 

 

As each family I have supported carries a very special place in my heart, I was compelled to become certified in an area where I could continue my relationship with them. Through Sr Daryl Jennings, who learned under the auspices of renowned physiotherapist, Agnes Wenham, I certified as a practitioner of Neumann-Neurode’s Orthopediatric Postural Exercises for babies. This has allowed me to continue working with families and being able to watch their babies grow.

 

The experience of losing my first baby drove me to become a certified perinatal bereavement doula through Mama Nurture. In this capacity, I have had the opportunity to support families through receiving terminal diagnoses for their babies, attended stillbirths and late term miscarriages and provided online support to couples who have lost babies. I have seen first hand the difference it makes to these families lives to have that kind of support and I have been privileged to assist them in processing their grief which ultimately led to their healing.

 

Over the years, I have strived to learn as much as possible in order to give my families as holistic an experience as I can. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power and by constantly educating myself, I am able to help guide my clients to have the best birthing experience possible.  

 

Thank you for considering my services and I am so excited to join you on your pregnancy and birth journey.