Ânia Freitas (she/her)

About Me

Hello, my name is Ânia.

​I can support you in your pregnancy, birth, and postnatal and I am based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

​I was born in one of the most beautiful islands of the Atlantic, Madeira (Portugal). I have travelled a bit around the world, lived in different countries, and learned from different cultures, but I decided to settle in Belfast, which I now call home. I am a mother of 2 amazing children born in 2017 and 2020. I am also working in a local homeless charity for over 9 years at the head office.

​I have never had a great dream of having children, maybe because I was too focused at the time on living and absorbing as many life experiences as I could from my travels.

In 2011, I came to NI to support my sister as she had a baby and she was going back to work, this was only to be a temporary thing, but I have been here since then. So, I can say, that my doula journey started there, however at the time I had no clue what a doula was.

​In May 2020, I had my second child, and once again was a very positive experience, however, what I was seeing around me was just loads of obstetric violence and people’s rights being denied and a huge lack of family support especially postnatally, so I felt that I had to do something. I can say that at this point I have started looking for information, also a couple of friends of mine had already called me their doula (even at the time I didn’t know much about it). The more I looked into it, the more certain I was that this was the right path.

​In 2021 I completed my Birth and Postnatal Doula Preparation Course with Developing Doulas, and this was the best thing that I could have done, has given me the opportunity to meet amazing people and learn so much, and since then every day is a school day.

“Her presence made all the difference to me and my partner and turned what could have potentially been a negative experience into an amazing one. No words will ever truly describe how thankful I am for her.”

“Ânia was born to do this. I felt supported by, listened to and fully informed by her throughout my pregnancy, birth and postpartum.”

“She empowered me to vocalise my wishes through challenging situations that without her support, I wouldn’t have, allowing me to feel more in control of my birth experience.”

“Ânia supported us pre- and postnatal as well as during the birth of our daughter. We loved her down-to-earth, passionate and kind nature. She supported us tirelessly and nothing we asked of her was ever too much. It was very reassuring knowing that she was always just a call or a text message away, especially in the lead up to the birth and shortly after. She is very knowledgeable and shares great resources that have been very helpful. I can recommend her 100%”

For more information on my Training please visit About Ânia | Ania Freitas Doula