How I got here… via some sort of awakening…

If you’d told me years ago that I’d end up supporting people through birth and postpartum, I probably would’ve laughed. I mean I didn’t even want kids when I was younger. But looking back, it all makes sense now. My path into doula work wasn’t a walk in the park, it came through a mix of trauma, healing, and a lot of questioning what I’d been told was “normal.”

The Births That Changed Everything

Both of my births taught me huge lessons. My first birth was traumatic, and the postpartum period was a bit of a car crash, to be honest. It cracked me open in every possible way. Doula work started calling me not long after that. I became completely obsessed with birth, reading, learning, soaking up everything I could get my hands on.

When I got pregnant with my second, I knew I wanted to do things differently. That’s when I had my healing homebirth. It was such a turning point, it showed me what was possible when you take control and trust your body. There are still a few things I’d do differently if I ever had a third, but that’s not happening… I’ve already got enough humans to look after!

Questioning Everything

After my second baby, things shifted again. I started questioning the maternity system more deeply, but that soon moved onto the wider medical system too. About a year postpartum, I developed relentless pelvic and leg pain, it was constant, day and night. I remember standing in the kitchen crying into my cup of tea cos I just didn’t know what to do. I spent a lot of time laid down with a hot water bottle, trying to manage the pain while parenting two little ones.

Eventually, I started doing my own research and pushed for some tests.

The Diagnosis That Stopped Me in My Tracks

I was diagnosed with Adenomyosis and Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. The options I was given? A hysterectomy or a contraceptive coil. Neither float my boat. I didn’t fancy having body parts whipped out or messing with my hormones again after spending 12 years on the contraceptive injection before babies. Surely there had to be other options?!

When I asked the Dr about diet chnages, he just dismissed me. My hopes of being a doula were a distant memory by that point, I could barely stand for long, let alone hold space for anyone in birth. It was all-consuming.

Finding a Different Way

Through a friend, I came across Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine that focuses on balance in the body. The idea that when things are out of balance, symptoms appear, really resonated with me. I started working with herbal medicine and made some big diet and lifestyle changes. Over the next 18 months, I gradually became symptom-free.

Thank fook I didn’t have the surgery, I finally felt like myself again. Ayurveda gave me the tools to recognise when I’m off-balance and how to bring myself back, something I still use daily.

These conditions had been bubbling under the surface for years, I can see it when I look back there were so many signs: UTI’s, eczema, IBS, the list goes on. Motherhood brought everything to a head. Chronic pain isn’t normal, and it’s always worth looking deeper to see what’s really going on.

Returning to the Work That Called Me

Once I was well again, I spent those early years just soaking up time with my kids, healing, recovering, and reconnecting. When they were both in school, I finally booked my doula training. I can’t even describe how grateful I felt spending a weekend traning with some amazing doula sisters. I knew I was doing what I was meant to do.

A year on, I found myself supporting incredible families and using everything I’d learned from my own journey to walk alongside others through theirs. Giving birth truly was my catalyst, it woke me up to a whole new way of seeing the world, my body, and what’s possible when we start asking questions.

And yes, I’m still questioning things (that’s a blog for another day!). But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that those moments that test you up often end up leading you exactly where you’re supposed to be.