Madeleine Shepley

About Me

I am a mother of three- I have a girl and two boys born between 1998 and 2002. While bringing up my children I worked part time so that I could spend as much time with my children as possible. I have been privileged enough to have been asked to attend births of various family and friends and have realised that this is a path I would like to follow. I am a trained antenatal teacher and currently run courses in Faversham, Canterbury, Maidstone, Whitstable, Margate and Ashford. and work as a Doula throughout Kent.
I have had experience of being with women for homebirth and in hospital. Women who have had a VBAC, natural birth or where interventions have taken place such as induction, epidural, ventouse, c-section.
After three different and incredibly rewarding births (two hospital and one home birth) I believe every woman deserves a positive birth experience. I believe in a woman’s innate ability to birth her baby with good, continuous support. By supporting you in the lead-up and throughout your birth I aim to enable you to have the confidence to birth your baby in whatever circumstances you choose. I will provide you with peace and a calm presence to enable you to draw deep on your own resources whatever path your birthing journey takes. I will be your advocate and help with communication between you and your partner and your care providers.
I offer at least two antenatal visits and telephone and email support throughout. I will be on call from 38-42 weeks, will be with you throughout the labour and until you are settled after your first feed. I will make one postnatal visit to offer support and a debrief of the birth. Please contact me for Birth Package prices.
I attended a course with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers at Paramana Doulas. I have attended a Breastfeeding study day with Indira Lopez-Bassols.
I am a PBB NCT Essentials and Signature ANT practitioner. My training as an antenatal teacher involved various study days incorporating physical birth skills.

Testimonials.

Madeleine was there to guide me through the births of both of my daughters. Neither of the births was without drama, and Madeleine’s calm presence was so helpful and reassuring. My husband was also so grateful as it was an intense experience for him and it was comforting to have Madeleine there to help him understand what was happening.
With Madeleine, I was in such good hands. This is her calling and I hope she can do for other people what she did for us. ES

Throughout the birth Madeleine was an invaluable support to both me and my husband. She was encouraging to me especially when things got difficult. She gently reminded me of the choices and options open to me and respected my decisions. Madeleine was discreet and sensitive to us as a couple and a family in the moments immediately after the birth.  She was also a great help and support to me when I was trying to establish breastfeeding after the birth. She gave me helpful advice and encouragement as well as practical solutions to specific problems which really helped me to successfully breastfeed Thomas. RI

Madeleine was the most incredibly supportive person – a force of nature – during the planning process. She told me that giving birth was a precious experience, that I could do it and that it was exciting – it would be the best day of my life. She completely and totally changed my perspective. From feeling like someone trapped on a plane that would crash, I felt like the most important and precious thing I would ever do in the world was about to happen. She was very specific about what to expect – not glossing over details or being idealistic – but focused on outcomes. She was totally right.
I cannot recommend her enough. My third baby is due in January and I can think of no midwife or birth companion that I would rather have then Madeleine. CA

Madeleine was an amazing, calming and very practical and knowledgeable support to us. We immediately felt a connection with her spiritually, the energy of the person and our relationship was most important to us. She came with a wealth of information, she lent us books and sent us links to websites and assisted with breastfeeding techniques. During the birth her energy and support was second only to my husband, with him she helped maintain a hypnobirth atmosphere and communicated with our midwives. She was exactly everything we hoped for in a Doula, she showed great initiative and did things we didn’t know we wanted.  If we were to have another Doula it would have to be Madeleine.  We are happy to be contacted to provide a reference.  Tara & Wade Taylor. 

We interviewed four Doulas and knew quite quickly Madeleine was the right fit for us.  We couldn’t be any happier with the support that she provided during pregnancy and during labour and birth and I am so grateful we had her with us immediately afterwards given the circumstances of my birth, I’m so pleased we chose her as our Doula.  Her calming presence and reassuring manner are excellent qualities for a Doula and Madeleine has these in abundance.  This, combined with her knowledge about labour and birth make her an amazing Doula.  I truly believe that she has found her calling in this role and any expectant parents in choosing her would be incredibly well supported. We are happy to be contacted to provide a reference. Sarah Tessier and James Dixon.

We thought Madeleine was an especially warm, empathetic and responsive person.  She is clearly very enthusiastic and committed to her role as a Doula and we felt in safe hands with her.  She was skilled in widening our horizons, providing useful, responsive information via email as pregnancy developed.  She helped lay out options and discussed these with us in a non-directive and non-judgmental way and respected our decisions. We regard ourselves as very fortunate to have met Madeleine.  We are happy to be contacted to provide a reference. Julie McCandless and Ben Hunter. 

Madeleine dropped everything over Christmas to be with us.  She was immensely patient and full of ideas and encouragement to keep Toni healthy and engaged – we found her extremely easy to work with.  She provided intelligent and thought-through counsel at every turn particularly as decisions became more difficult.  Her ability to read the flow of the birth process and fit in to her role as coach and counsel while leaving enough space so as not to intrude were as perfect as we could have imagined.  It is testament to the quality of care and professionalism Madeleine provides.  We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Madeleine to anyone and are so thankful she was there to guide us through what became quite a choppy sea.  We are happy to be contacted to provide a reference. Antonina Ferguson and Ross Watson.