I'm Lara, I am a birth doula, breastfeeding counsellor and Hypnobirthing teacher.

Before I had my son, I spent 8 years working for the charity Samaritans, managing partnerships and training. In this role I realised the huge power that listening can have and that as humans we rely on this connection to survive. When listening can be harnessed it can be used to support others find their own solutions, this alongside evidenced based knowledge and signposting is the cornerstone of my doula support. I truly believe every woman, regardless of her experience and with the right support can have an empowering birth experience.

Having my son has been completely transformative, both because I am utterly besotted with him, but also because I found birth such a profound event. I would describe myself as a bit of a birth nerd, Im completely fascinated by the science behind birth and how life-saving modern medicine in birth can be - but I'm also struck by how we have forgotten that our bodies know exactly how to give birth, like any other mammals, and that in forgetting that we have disrupted the hormonal dance in a birthing woman that supports her in achieving a natural birth. It is a human right for women to be able to choose the kind of birth she would like, of course medical situations influence our choices, but I strongly believe even when a woman has limited choices that these choices should be hers and should be supported. I support parents in taking control in the choices and decisions about their birth and help them to birth the way they want. You can have an empowered c-section, just as much as you can have an empowered home birth - and everything in between.