About Me

Hi I’m Anna and I’m a recognised postnatal doula. I am also a mentored birth doula and can support families during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.

I live in Bushey in Hertfordshire with my husband and two lively, active boys who are twelve and nine years old. I have always enjoyed working with and supporting families and young children and have done so for twenty years. I trained as an Early Years teacher. I worked in school nurseries and then in the nursery of a Children’s Centre in North London.

I then worked as a Family Support and Outreach Worker in the Children’s Centre for six years. This role was very varied and each day was different. I ran groups for parents and babies/young children including Baby Massage, Sensory Baby, Rhyme Time and Stay and Play. I provided outreach support to families from all walks of life, in their own homes and at the Children’s Centre. I also provided parents with information and sign posted them to other services in the local area. I did not return to the Children’s Centre after my maternity leave and ran Baby Massage and Messy Play sessions before becoming a doula.

As a doula I am able to use the skills and experience that I developed as a Family Support and Outreach worker to support families in their own homes with a new baby or babies and older children.

When I became a Mother, I did not have the support of my own Mother, as she had passed away several years before. Although every situation and everyone’s personal experience is different, I can understand what it may be like for a woman to become a Mother without having the support of her own Mother – for whatever circumstances that may be. I have supported women whose Mothers have not been able to support them, because they live in another part of the country or abroad and whose Mothers have passed away and find themselves in a similar situation to the one I was in when my children were babies.

Since the birth of my second son I have taken a keen interest in the support and services that are available for parents of babies and young children and have researched baby and child development, particularly around sleep and feeding issues. I have training in Sleep in Babies and Young Children and Reflux and Early Allergies. I have also completed the Holistic Sleep Mini Course. I enjoy cooking for my own family and the families that I support, as I understand the benefits of healthy nutritious meals for postnatal recovery and for all the family. I also volunteered for the PANDAS (Pre and Postnatal Depression and Anxiety) Foundation helpline, supporting women and their families with pre and postnatal depression advice and support.

I also worked as a bereavement support practitioner at Child Bereavement UK and have supported families after they have experienced baby loss and the loss of a child. I also supported children after the loss of a parent or anyone important to them.

I know from personal experience about the challenges of being the mother of a new-born and the mother of a new-born and a toddler – the difficulty there can be balancing the needs of more than one child and my own needs as a mother, which can get forgotten. Looking back, I know that I would have benefited enormously from having the support of a Postnatal Doula.

Professional Development

Social Policy BA (Hons) 2:1, University of Sussex

Primary Postgraduate Certificate In Education, University of Surrey

Developmental Baby Massage, International School of Developmental Baby Massage and Movement

Sleep in Babies and Young Children and Sleep Training, Level 3, OCN Credit for Learning

Reflux and Early Allergies, Level 3, OCN Credit for Learning

Younique Postnatal Initial Doula Preparation Course

Breastfeeding Peer Support Training, Breastfeeding Support in Barnet

Development Workshop, Younique Postnatal

Supporting Clients with Subsequent Pregnancies After Loss, The Foundation For Infant Loss Training

Holistic Sleep Training Mini Course, Lindsey Hookway

Birth Doula Initial Preparation Course, Developing Doulas

Complimentary Therapies in Pregnancy and Birth Study Day, PBB Events

iHV Perinatal Mental Health Training, PANDAS Foundation

Postnatal Check In Course, Younique Postnatal

Safer Sleep and Supporting Parents Webinar, The Lullaby Trust and BASIS – Baby Sleep Info Source

Supporting Families Through Pregnancy Loss and the Death of a Baby Webinar, Sands

Safeguarding Training, NSPCC

DBS

Fully insured with Morton Michel