For ten years, Giulia has worked with families as a Montessori teacher specializing in supporting young people who are school refusers, living with autism and/or ADHD and whose families have experience of loss or trauma. During her own pregnancy, during the pandemic, doulas were not able to attend hospitals and this motivated Giulia to sign up to a 6 month long birth and postpartum doula online training to upskill herself and her husband (a vet nurse) for their entry into parenthood. Our personal experience  involved Giulia going into surgery straight after delivery and later a forty day stay in intensive care for our son, Isaac. This experience brought to the surface great courage and empathy for other parents who may experience difficult or traumatic days and weeks after birth. I have experience supporting other families with premature births and with other reasons for staying in NICU. I will be present postpartum no matter what the experience.   
 
Since completing the course in 2021, I supported parents-to-be in the US, France, Denmark and the UK offering support via video call to prepare for birth and offering informational and emotional support throughout pregnancy through to early parenthood. I have also offered in person support postpartum support during the first few weeks of the baby's homecoming and in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU).
 
During pregnancy, I will offer as many online video calls as needed, charging on a pay-as-you-go model. This could be anything between 1 and 10 sessions at £100 a session. Sessions last 90 minutes and are attended by you and ideally your support person (partners, parents, siblings welcome). No packages and no commitment needed unless you would like me to attend the birth.
 
My aim is to facilitate important conversations to educate and empower you, and allow your support person to feel confident in your preferences and in their advocating skills, as well as practical skills such as offering hip presses or using a rebozo.
 
Birth preparation services:

• Listen to your thoughts, hopes and fears about birth
• Offer space for birth debrief for any prior births, or any stories of birth or loss that you may carry
• Discuss birth preferences including home/hospital, vaginal delivery/C-section
• Hear your attitude towards pain relief (TENS machine, gas & air, epidural etc)
• Discuss various comfort measures (birth pools, hands-on assists, rebozo techniques etc)
• Plan who will attend the birth and how they will ideally support
• Give clear education around all induction methods that might be offered in facilities
• Coaching in refusing any unwanted offerings and advocating for alternatives
• Share knowledge of different birthing positions, even designing and practicing a menu of positions from early labour to the pushing stages
• Offering for your birth partner to speak to my birth partner about ways to support someone in labour.

 
Parenthood preparation services:

• Preparing a ‘Baby Registry’ or gift list that truly supports the fourth trimester: meal delivery services, appointments with pelvic floor specialists for mother, massage, postpartum doula
• Advice around accessing second hand baby care equipment affordably
• Support decluttering and setting up simple and suitable spaces for baby (for sleep, nappy change and play)
• Support in preparing older siblings of new arrival and ways of building habit of 1:1 Special Time without baby
• Deciding on visitors or any live-in help from family members if available, and what support can be delegated (food preparation, cleaning, baby care while you rest) – plan this before the sleep deprivation kicks in
• Discuss feeding plans for the baby offering education on breastfeeding, pumping, early bottle use and formula
• Discuss strategies for confronting sleep deprivation
• Discuss how parents intend to recharge during the fourth trimester

I passionately believe that the best people to attend your birth are members of your existing family or community and I work fearlessly to ensure they are confident, informed and ready to advocate on your behalf.

I also believe that all self-care for parents feeds directly into the quality of care you can provide for your child. New fathers need time to recharge alone, with friends, exercise. New mothers also need rest, friendship and appropriate postpartum exercise. We would love to help you design and prioritise this.
 
Birth attendance:
During the pandemic, I have successfully been present during labour and delivery via telephone and videocall, available for continuous support and advice to both birther and birth partner from first contraction until the discharge from hospital.

I am currently interested in attending births, and as I am still training in this area, I am currently offering this at the discounted rate of £300.

If you are looking for a doula to attend your birth, let’s discuss. I am based in Oxford, UK and happy to travel.

Postpartum services:
Currently offering postpartum services at £100 for a 3 hour visit. If you are interested in overnights or a short residential stay, feel free to contact me.

• Care for baby while you nap
• Batch cook meals
• Take care of light housework and laundry
• Care for other siblings
• Do errands (with baby in baby carrier)
• Support you with breastfeeding and pumping
• Accompany you to appointments 
• Do any admin
• Postpartum massage

I am a qualified Thai yoga masseuse and am happy to offer hand, leg, shoulder, back and full body massage to you while your baby naps with no additional cost to my hourly rate.
 
I love cooking and can accommodate any dietary requirements.

Volunteering

• Doula without Borders - supporting birthers who have experienced trauma or are in financial hardship
• Ronald MacDonald House - supporting parents while their children are in hospital
• Great Ormond Street Hospital - offering massage to parents of patients 
• Body & Soul - offering massage to young people (15-25 years) born with HIV

Client feedback:

“I found it hard to speak about my birth, Giulia encouraged me to speak to her. We had a zoom call which she recorded. Giulia was open, really listened to me – I felt safe. I listened to the recording afterwards which helped me to overcome my fear of speaking about the birth. This zoom session was invaluable to me and I’ll be forever grateful.” 

"I valued Giulia’s excellent communication and willingness to use multiple modalities to share information and resources (e.g., audio through podcasts, visual through books/articles, and experiential through guided practice such as the session with the yoga teacher, Amelie). I also appreciate her genuine empathy and willingness to engage in purposeful self-disclosure when appropriate."

"Inclusivity and diversity is a strength of Giulia's! ALL of the materials and resources provided from the registry website to the handouts contained an appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion which I loved."

“As a new mum, in the early weeks, it is difficult to sift through the vast amounts of information one receives about motherhood, things are so new! Giulia provided very easy to read powerpoint guides on her learnings as a new mum. I found these resources so useful!”  

"Giulia was authentic and genuine but maintained her professionalism throughout our sessions together."