I started being interested in birth when I had my first child, Lucie who was born at home.  One midwife was particularly calm, encouraging and respectful of my wishes and she supported my decision to have a first child at home.  Her life experience as a community midwife, her presence and quiet ways gave me all the confidence I needed to give birth in my own time and space.  I was lucky to have continuity of carer from her and one of her colleagues throughout my pregnancy and to have her with me at the birth. 

My son Lewis was born at home in water three years later, and these personal experiences led me, some years later, to look at the experiences of pregnancy and birth of a group of women from my neighbourhood in South London as part of my dissertation for a degree in social anthropology.  I read about birth practices in past times and other places in the world.  I felt there was so much to find out on this vast subject, and became aware of how deeply these experiences reflect and affect women's sense of themselves, their wellbeing and their place and role in society. 

Once I found out about birth doulas, it didn't take long for me to follow this calling. In my role as a doula I am here to give soon-to-be-mothers the confidence to trust and listen to their bodies and feelings.  I am not here to decide how or where you will give birth, but to offer possibilities to support and ease your birth experience, and help you navigate the medical world, to understand your rights, your options, and also to be on your side and be your advocate when it is needed.  I will visit you a few times before the birth so that we learn to know each other and you can feel prepared for the birth and the postnatal time. After the birth I will also spend some time with you, and visit you a few times to help facilitate your new role as a mother, how to look after your baby and breastfeed.  I can cook in your home, help you in any way you need, and make sure you find and give yourself space and time to recover.  Together we can unravel your birth story,  listen to your feelings about it. 

 I see my role as a facilitator, a supportive presence, I feel I'm here to bring the best out of mothers, and help them connect to the inner strength they often forget having.  I work in an intuitive way, and can be a calm presence when it is needed. I'm also here to support your partner, bring them into this process, to find what role they want to play and what you expect of them, to support you in the way you both find appropriate, useful, and comforting. I  will offer you a traditional Thai massage during your pregnancy.  I also do a ritual called Closing the bones, which  is an ancient way to close the birth process.  Each birth is such an important rite of passage in a woman's life,  and this ceremony helps you to heal and  reconnect with your body, and allows you to integrate the birth of your baby and your birth as a mother.  This ritual is done using rebozos (long Mexican scarves). I trained to use other techniques with or without rebozos during pregnancy and labour in order to encourage the baby to be correctly engaged in the pelvis, as a way to avoid a long drawn out labour and having to resort to medical interventions. I also took some training in antiracism with Pavithra Sarma (director of Shakti Women's Aid), I took part in a sling consultancy workshop, and I participated in  a workshop on the biomechanics for birth and another one on caring for the womb (Mizan therapy).  In 2023 I completed a workshop on supporting neurodivergent birth.   In 2024 I completed my training and I am now a qualified Mizan practitioner with special training in fertility, pregnancy and postnatal care.

Testimonials:

We worked with Colette over the course of 2022, culminating in the birth of our daughter in August. We had a very positive birth experience, and so much of that is down to the support we had from Colette and the preparation that we were able to do through our work with her. 

-Colette made me feel that everything I need is in me.

-Colette has empathy, it is embodied through her touch.

 Catarina Heckt

Colette is an amazing doula. She created a calm and reassuring atmosphere throughout our home birth. She knew when to be in the background and when to come forward with advice and guidance.  We had our baby before the midwife arrived and Colette made it a wonderful experience when it could so easily have been stressful.  Her loving support, wisdom and gentle guiding hands helped us to birth Martha into the world with grace and power. The sessions leading up to the birth helped to inform and prepare us and the postnatal sessions helped us to reflect and recover. Her food is delicious and her massages are the best! Colette is a very special person and we are endlessly grateful for the way in which she supported our birth experience. We would highly recommend her to anyone who is considering hiring a doula. With love and gratitude, Amy, Dan and Martha 

  "I can highly recommend Colette as Doula as I had a very good and relaxed birth experience. She has supported me pre-birth to ensure that I have the knowledge I needed to set up the right birth plan, was there when needed at home and in the hospital. I especially loved that Colette has a holistic and natural approach that included natural remedies, homeopathy, massages and postnatal recovery meals".  S   

We worked with Colette over the course of 2023, culminating in the birth of our daughter in August. We had a very positive birth experience, and so much of that is down to the support we had from Colette and the preparation that we were able to do through our work with her.

As a result of working with Colette, we were able to approach birth from a very positive place. She really helped to reduce our anxiety about the process and helped me to feel capable of giving birth. She also helped my partner to understand how best to support me.

Colette was very understanding of our needs. She was very skilled at offering us a range of types of support and at adapting to us. She supported us as we found our own way, and equipped us with the confidence and knowledge to stand up for what we wanted and believed would be best for both myself and our daughter.

Colette offered a very holistic programme of support, from massage through to postnatal visits. This meant that we had a very calm and peaceful entry into parenthood. I have very positive feelings about my birth story and felt strong and empowered after giving birth.

We really cannot thank Colette enough for all of her support. We learnt so much from her, and our experience working with her continues to shape the approach we take as parents.

 Sophie Hollows

Postnatal support:

To say Colette is wonderful is simply an understatement. We engaged Colette for postnatal support when our son was 5 weeks old and our family support had all returned home. She immediately became an extended member of our household and dove in to support me & our new baby. She's honestly one of the most empathetic & caring people I've ever met & approaches being a doula with nurturing expertise. Her presence in our house brought a level of calm & serenity during a rather chaotic time. She held & cared for our son, did laundry, cooked meals (including a delicious & healing bone broth!), gave me massages and acted as a second set of hands whenever necessary. She's well versed in holistic care & medicine and mentored me on how to interpret & care for my own body & healing process. She approached every situation in a non-judgemental way & simply stepped in to support us however we needed. We already miss her being with us everyday & cannot recommend her enough! 

It was a real pleasure to have Colette as my postpartum doula. Colette supported our family straight after I gave birth to our baby boy and throughout the first 6 weeks postpartum. After birth, I quickly developed a mastitis and Colette provided me with emotional support to go through this difficult time. She helped me take care of our baby and allowed me to rest. She helped with some light household tasks so that I could focus on my baby. She is very caring and very knowledgeable. She provided me with useful informations on a broad range of relevant topics such as homeopathy, baby massage, pelvic floor, breastfeeding etc. I would strongly recommend Colette to anyone looking for a doula. Cyrielle