Tara Luke

About Me

Hi, my name is Tara Luke, I live in Belper with my hubby and two daughters and work with families all over Derbyshire and sometimes beyond. I am really passionate about all things pregnancy, birth and babies and I love supporting parents in pregnancy to trust themselves, follow their inner wisdom and to understand their choices and in turn feel confident, relaxed and empowered about the birth of their baby. Being pregnant and having a baby can be such a special time, but it also brings change and with it a whole range of mixed emotions and feelings.

In a previous life I worked as a online marketeer but found my passion in the birthing world after I had my first daughter. I started my journey into all things, pregnancy, birth and babies in 2014 as an antenatal and postnatal teacher. During the last nine years I have supported many families from pregnancy through to parenthood. In 2019 now that my babies are babies no longer I took the much awaited step into becoming a doula.

I feel that my role as a doula is to walk alongside you in your journey into parenthood, whether this is for the first time or you are adding to your family. I can offer you plenty of encouragement, a listening ear, information, compassion, support and practical help. I am always completely honoured when an expectant couple asks me to be their doula during pregnancy and birth and being beside a family as they welcome their new baby into the world.

Knowing that someone will support and provide continuity for you during your pregnancy, birth and postnatally no matter what your choices, can make the world of difference to how you feel. I want you to feel you are being supported by someone who really does care and won’t mind being contacted whatever time day or night.

As a birth doula I have been present for and supported:

Free births
Home births
Hospital births
Water births
HBAC/VBAC
First time parents to fifth time parents
Induced and augmented births

I have also had the pleasure of working with families postnatally within the first few weeks and months after birth. I have found being a postnatal doula a subtle but lifechanging support for new families and have been able to support them in a variety of ways

These are just some of things have worked as a postnatal doula:
Making food/cake/snacks and taking it round to new parents or leaving food on a doorstep
Cooking/preparing dinner or lunch in the house
Washing/Drying up
Playing with older children
Putting a load of washing on, hanging washing out and folding laundry
Tidying up
Talking with bigger siblings about what newborn babies are really like
Breastfeeding support
Providing support with postnatal recovery
Taking a new mum through some basic postnatal yoga
Spotted a possible tongue tie or challenge with feeding and signposted where to go for support
Listening to birth and breastfeeding stories
Hugged parents while they cried
Helped access donor breastmilk
Talked about infant sleep
Changed nappies and chatted about reusable nappy options
Shown parents how to use a sling/carrier
Made many, many cups of tea or coffee
Signposted parents to additional support services
Accompanied parents and their baby/children to the park, swimming, for a walk, to the supermarket and baby classes

When I am not being a doula, I also love:

• Walks in the countryside as we live in the Amber Valley and really close to the Peak District
• A good book whether it is historical fiction, biography or something factual (love a good birthy book too)
• A glass of red wine or a fruity gin
• Sitting in my garden in the sunshine
• Baking and creating anything be it biscuits, cakes, quiche or tarts or just flapjack
• Watching films and a good Netflix series
• A trip to the theatre
• Family camping trips