Hello! Congratulations on your pregnancy, and on beginning the process of getting the right support for you, for your pregnancy and birth. 

I know that when you’re having your baby, navigating all the new information you need to acquire can be a full-on task. You’re not just learning about what’s happening in your body, you also need to know about how NHS maternity care works, how you can prepare, get the support you need and make informed decisions;

• What should you expect from your midwife appointments?
• Which scans and tests do you need and what will they tell you? 
• Who do you speak to if you have concerns? 
• Where’s the best place to have your baby? 
• How do you balance being aware of risk and realistic about how your birth might happen? 
• What are your options?
• Are you naïve to write a birth plan? 
• How should you prepare? 
• Can hypnobirthing work for you? 
• What happens if you go over 40wks?
• Are you being precious or realistic about the sort of support you want? 
• What role can your partner play?
• How can you manage feeling out of control (when you’re so used to being in control)?

 And as your pregnancy progresses there are all the niggly little concerns that you’d really like to chat to someone about….

• Maybe friends are booking placenta encapsulation, and you want to know about it too. Perhaps you have a particular concern about labour, and you want to be able to really explore it to take the edge off the angst.
• Are you preparing too much or not enough? 
• Or your midwife thinks your bump is bigger or smaller than expected and now you have to consider additional scans and how you feel about interventions. 

There is a LOT to learn, think about and find your peace with in 40 short weeks…. 

Which is where I come in. My name is Charlie. I have been teaching hypnobirthing and antenatal classes for over 12 years. I have been a doula for 7 years and have attended births at home, at birth centres, in delivery suites and in theatre. I wrote a Research Masters about birth planning at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York. I was a research assistant to a Professor of Midwifery at Coventry University, evaluating NHS Maternity initiatives. I am the MNVP Lead for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Finally, I am a volunteer for AIMS. I know maternity care inside out, from the personal experience of you and women like you, to how it works within the NHS and how it should look (if it really were designed to keep women and babies safe, and money were no object). 

 I’m Your Maternity Mentor, here to support you throughout your pregnancy, labour, birth and the fourth trimester. I work with women and families in all sorts of different ways: 

• As a birth doula
• As your pocket doula, providing all the doula support virtually, rather than in-person
• Teaching hypnobirthing principles and skills (and importantly how to use it effectively however your birth happens)
• Helping you understand and write your birth plan
• Supporting your planned caesarean birth 

However you want to work with me I am here for you as your accessible, consistent, reliable point-of-contact throughout your pregnancy. I’m here to help you make realistic plans and prepare appropriately. I’ll help you ensure your care is personalised to you and your needs. If you need to make decisions I’ll ensure you are fully informed and have a sensible framework to work from. 

Contact me to arrange an initial chat, and you can find out more about why having a  Maternity Mentor in your pocket will give you peace of mind. 

TESTIMONIALS

"I've sat down to write this four times. Each time I have had to stop, as I felt my words were not adequately describing the impact Charlie had on ensuring I had a wonderful third birth. I have recommended Charlie's services many times, to everyone who will listen. She educated, calmed and empowered me to have the most wonderful and positive birth experience. I can't recommend her enough!"

"After a fairly traumatic birth with my firstborn, I knew that I wanted some help before I had my second baby in March 2020. I was looking for someone who could help both me and my husband process what had happened the first time around, and feel better represented and in control for the second time. I met with several doulas, but the minute I spoke to Charlie on the phone I knew she was the one who could help me. From the very first phone call, I felt she heard me, understood where I was coming from, and would be able to represent me and to help me represent myself through the birth process."

"I was fortunate enough to have Charlie recommended to me in the early weeks of my second pregnancy. I was utterly terrified of giving birth again. I am so thankful to Charlie for helping me more than I could have even imagined. Charlie is a wonderful lady and the support she gives is so personalised. She genuinely cares and goes above and beyond. She transformed my view on birth which resulted in the birth of my second child being a lovely experience and a time I think back to very fondly. I’d happily do it again and that’s all down to Charlie!"

"We took Charlie's hypnobirthing class and she was our doula. We found the class to be a huge help in preparing us and putting us into the right mindset for birth. It was so informative and so much more than just a hypnobirthing focused class. Having Charlie with us during the birth of our first child was one of the best decisions we ever made! She really understood what we wanted out of our birth experience and was able to chat with the midwives, make small suggestions to us occasionally and help talk us through each stage. My husband especially appreciated the support and being able to ask questions to calm his nerves! Even just having someone at home to help us decide when to go into the hospital was invaluable. We definitely would have got that call very wrong in our own. We look forward to them being there again for the birth of all our children!"

"I gave birth three weeks ago and I couldn't recommend Charlie enough... she helped me stay focused, calm and relaxed and not to be frightened of labour (everyone likes to tell you awful birthing stories when you're pregnant!). Although my birth didn't go exactly as I had planned in my birth plan I was calm and focused and generally quite happy during my labour. I would honestly recommend everyone do it and I would 100% do it again. Highly recommend Charlie - she was fab"