Latest reads from my blog
Nurturing postpartum recipes-Chicken and red date soup
Yesterday I cooked and delivered a traditional Chinese postpartum dish called chicken and red date soup to a new mother. It is a tradition I started a few years ago when I supported my first Chinese client as a birth doula. She found me by asking if there was a Chinese doula in the local…
Why I want to change the nature of postnatal support
Earlier this week I wrote a blog that’s been playing on my mind for many years. It’s called “why I wish I had hired a postnatal doula” In this blog I explain how challenging I found new motherhood, how lonely and upset I felt through those early weeks and how I longed for some support…
Why I wish I had hired a postnatal doula
When I was pregnant with my first child, I hired a birth doula. This was the best thing I have ever done and it has had positive effects beyond anything I could have expected, because it didn’t just impact how positive my pregnancy and birth were, it led to a complete transformation of who I…
The “untried penis”
Women sometimes get told that they cannot give birth at home with their first baby because they have an “untried pelvis”. What if we told men they couldn’t have sex at home the first time because they have an “untried penis” Just imagine a young couple going to see a health professional, to discuss their…
How a doula can support you if you are having a planned cesarean birth
It’s a commonly held belief that there is no point having a doula if you are having a planned cesarean, and I want to debunk this myth. I too, once believed that I couldn’t justify charging to support a woman who was having a planned caesarean. There would be no on call period, no phone…
Taking the red pill: why I became a doula course leader
The Developing Doulas course, and its founder, Maddie McMahon, have a special history for me. Back in 2005, when I was pregnant with my son, I hired Maddie as my doula. The experience was so incredibly empowering and life transforming that it started me on the path of a complete career conversion, and I went…
Confessions of a hippy scientist : 3 years on.
Three years ago today, I published a blog call “confessions of a hippy scientist“. In this blog, I came out as a science meets woo person, something I had shied away from for a couple of years. You see I’ve got a PhD in biology and spend 20 years working as a research scientist. When…
Three rebozo techniques for pregnancy and birth
I’ve had so many mind blowing experience using rebozos shawls and scarves in my doula work to support women through pregnancy, birth, the postpartum and beyond, I’m on a mission to pass on this skill to ask many people as possible. Every technique is ridiculously simple to do, anybody can do it. Yet this humble…
The vision board, an alternative way to plan what you want
Today I’ve spent the whole morning making a vision board for this year. It feels that I’ve been procrastinating doing this for over 2 weeks now, and suddenly felt the urge this morning, which is the first full moon of the year, and a powerful one at that, a good time to set intentions. I’ve…