Flo Dent

About Me

Hello I’m Flo I have been working with families for 11 years and as a doula for 6.

I take an inclusive and person-centred approach to my work and have supported pregnant people and parents at home, in hospital and in the community. My decision to become a doula stems from my deep care and consideration for the connection between a baby and parent/s, and I was drawn to being a supportive part of the journey. I truly believe that having support during pregnancy and birth can change the whole experience of the person giving birth; their bond with the child, and their whole lives together. For four years I volunteered for a charity called Birth Companions that supports vulnerable women through pregnancy, brith and postnatally, in prison and in the community. I joined Doula UK in Oct 2020 and have completed their mentoring process to become a Doula UK recognised doula.

Below I have outlined some information that I hope will be helpful to you in choosing your doula, but I appreciate people contacting me to ask questions too.

Approach and values

As an intersectional feminist I work to try and understand the pregnancies/birth experiences of different people, their relation to wider society and how that might reflect the care they need and receive. My emphasis is on inclusivity and empowerment. I am queer and especially welcome LGBTQ+ parents to reach out to me because I know that the birth world isn’t always an inclusive place.

My philosophy/ aim is all about you: to advocate for you, to support you to find your voice and make it louder/ heard and to support you to understand your choices. I ensure the parents I support feel heard, respected, cared for, loved, safe, understood, and have understanding of past experiences and future choices. The parents I have worked with have fed back that they feel they had the best outcome possible in their birth, that they had choices, gave informed consent and that their choices were respected. I strive for this to be the case with all of the parents I support.

What can you expect from me?

As your birth or post-natal doula I will provide you with individualised emotional and practical support. I enjoy connecting with people, and it is something that comes easily to me. I want to get to know you – what are your hopes, dreams, fears around birth and entering parenthood. I create a space within our work where we foster secure, safe, trusting communication which enables vulnerable and honest communication. I strongly feel that informed and in control parent(s) are empowered parent(s), and I support you to find the answers you need to get to this point. 

Together we can work through you and partner(s) feelings around pregnancy and labour, this might look like thinking how you both cope in high stress situations or talking about previous birth experiences and how that might be impacting on how you are feeling. You can expect continuity of care – which might be weekly ante-natal visits, being on call from 2 weeks before your due date, attending your birth and a couple of post-natal visit. I am experienced in working at home or in hospital; in a birth centre or delivery suite or caesarean births. I feel comfortable working with and talking to midwives and other health care professionals and consider myself practical and straight forward.

I expect I won’t know the answers to all of your questions but can support you in looking for the answers / researching things you want to be informed about and process that learning together.

If you are thinking about how a birth doula could support you while your hospital has a 1 birth partner policy please get in touch – lots of hospitals make exceptions for doulas and there are many ways a doula can support ante-natally and remotely.

Post-Natal support might look like help with household tasks, being a calm and encouraging presence while you get used to early parenthood or being an extra pair of hands around the house. If you book me to support you post-natally before you give birth we can make a fourth trimester plan together so you can be as ready as possible to care for your new arrival, while also caring for yourself and the rest of your family.

Other ways I can support you post-natally are:

• De-briefing your birth with you – this can help reduce chances of PND and PTSD
• Breastfeeding/Bodyfeeding and bottle feeding support
• Sleep support
• Think about ways you can relax, soothe, calm and connect with your baby
• General advice on caring for a baby (I was a nanny for 5 years before I was a doula)
• Homemade meals and nutritious snacks
• Help around the home
• Support for post birth physical and mental healing – with massage and Closing the Bones ritual
• I can care for your baby whilst you sleep, take a well deserved bath, catch up with a friend on the phone or spend some alone time with your partner or other children
• Support your partner
• Care for siblings
• Recommend tinctures or blend teas for you

I welcome all enquiries and am happy to have an informal chat without any obligation to book. 

Testimonials

I found it a really empowering and informative decision for me. Working with Flo had a hugely positive impact on my birth experience. Despite it not ending the way I wanted – I don’t feel traumatised by the birth and so many people I know who have given birth – talk about the trauma involved. 

I know having Flo there meant that my experience was informed, empowered and with full understanding of the decisions I was making.
What would you say to other parents considering having a doula?
I would highly recommend it, especially as a solo parent, but also I can imagine that it would have a hugely positive impact on two (or more) people having a baby. 

It makes the unknown feel so much safer and held. – Unplanned C-Birth

Flo was an amazing support to us. She was thoughtful, respectful, considerate, engaged, empathetic, knowledgeable and very very caring. She gave us ideas without being forceful and helped us make decisions without being intrusive. She was professional at all times and made us both feel at ease and helped us through this challenging time in the best way possible. – Stephi VBAC

Flo was an amazing friend not doula to me. After meeting her for the first time we knew we wanted her to be our doula. She knew what to say and when to say it, what to do (in terms of supporting you with pre and actual labour). She encouraged me, gave confidence when I was lacking. She’s kind, compassionate, very caring, so much so our kids loved her visits and looked forward to each visits.
On the day of the labour she was not only there for me, also was there for my husband and my kids (11 and 2). She is literally an angel. Highly recommend her service! Thank you Flo, I will never forget how special you made our day. – NK HBAC

Flo has been brilliant at providing assurance and advice, as well as practical support. With hindsight I wish we’d made contact before the birth rather than just for post-natal support. – DK Post-Natal

Flo was a great support to us both in practical terms in about various challenges we were facing, emotionally for me postpartum and by helping us with batch cooking which was really important to me after going into labour early and having a partner that works long hours. Flo clearly had a lot of knowledge when it came to psychological support for mothers which she was passionate about. Her empathy made me feel heard after a traumatic birth experience. She was great with S and I felt 100% comfortable leaving the baby with her. – RD Post-Natal

We couldn’t have imagined getting through the first few weeks without Flo. She was warm, helpful, practical and instilled a confidence in us that we still carry. When she didn’t know specific answers, she always offered to message a community of doulas or her mentor etc for more specific knowledge. She helped us with tongue tie and fussy feeding when I was on antibiotics. She also helped show breastfeeding positions and went over baby carrying with us so that we became more confident and at ease with it. Her cooking is to a really high standard and we joke that we will make ‘Flostrone’ (her minestrone) a family recipe for years to come. – Post-Natal 40 hours

Other Skills/Qualifications

Consent: Rights in Childbirth – trained by Emma Ashworth Developing Doulas/AIMS

Hypnobirthing Practitioner – trained by Tamara Cianfini (The Wise Hippo)

Biomechanics for Birth – trained by Molly Optimal Birth

ITEC Holistic and Deep Tissue massage

Closing The Bones practitioner – trained by Maddie, Developing Doulas

Tongue Tie CPD workshop – Maddie, Developing Doulas

Infant Feeding CPD workshop – Maddie, Developing Doulas

Trauma Informed Support – Birth Companions 

LGBTQ+ Competency in Birth and Beyond – The Queer Birth Club, AJ Silver

I am a Talk for Health graduate and I am trained in CACPB Counselling Level 2