Last weekend I had a life-changing experience sitting for three days in a circle with amazing and inspiring women. I decided in spring this year to train as a doula – I thought having a more holistic understanding of birth and motherhood would really help me to support families postnatally.
What I don’t think I expected was that a passion in birth would be re-awakened in me. A need to support mums through that experience including giving them access to information, empowering choice, and ownership. The last two months I’ve spent every spare moment reading about birth, re-living my own births, and remembering what it felt like to be pregnant and have this hope of beautiful, natural, water-based births and for both times that birth to be taken out of my hands leaving a feeling of helplessness and grief.
As a result, NurtureMe is going to change a bit and with that I will widen what I provide but also cut back on some of the other support I’ve offered before and really focus on working in the whole perinatal period supporting mums and dads physically and emotionally. NurtureMe will work with mums antenatally supporting birth choice through listening, understanding and providing relevant information. NurtureMe will support mums physically and emotionally through birth and will continue to provide first-class, evidence-based, postnatal support for the family in the first year.
In addition to that, I’m really keen to work with other doulas I’ve been in touch with looking at facilitating women circles as I’ve realised how powerful these can be for all of us from the pre-conception period all the way through to my stage and beyond. Sitting in a circle of WyseWomen taught me that we all know so much, we just need to learn to pull it together and work out how best to build communities of support, love and health. I felt last weekend I re-connected to myself as a woman and finally started to open up about my births and address some deeply buried issues. That alone was worth the course nevermind the learning, sharing and time spent with some awesome women who I know will remain my good friends. So if you’re keen to be part of a circle of inspiring women, get in touch.
A huge thank you to Nicola Goodall for setting up the Red Tent Doula Course and my red tent sisters for sharing so much love and support.
Much love Tricia xxxx
Please let anyone know who is pregnant and considering hirinng a doula to get in touch – it could be the 1st…. or the 5th birth xxxx
