My name is Nicki, I am a married mother of two and I live on the south coast of Cornwall in a village named Portscatho with my family and cat Luna.
Before the birth of my second child I was studying Criminology and Psychology with the Open university but after my amazing experience with my doula and subsequent home birth I discovered my passion for birth so I decided to attend the Nurturing birth doula course and then went on to train as an Antenatal teacher.
I have experience with more complex pregnancies, existing health conditions, Autistic parents, tokophobia and working with multidisciplinary teams such as consultant obstetricians, social workers and health visitors.
I became a member of Doula UK right after completing my training and started on the recognition process. I loved working with my mentor and am incredibly proud to have achieved recognition in 2017.
Outside of doulaing I spend a lot of time on the beach and enjoying the beautiful countryside of Cornwall. I also enjoy politics, baking and curling up with a good book.
During my Doula journey I have becoming more and more interested in Birth activism and this has strengthened my Feminist views. I am an Intersectional feminist and I support ALL parents and birthing people. I am actively campaigning for better maternity care for all and for fair and equal treatment of all those who use maternity services, this includes but is not limited to BAME ( Including Gypsy and Traveller women) and LGBTQ+ people. I have a strong belief that all women and birthing people deserve support during their pregnancy and I work hard to bust the myth that doula support is reserved for those planning home births or wanting to hypnobirth. A doula can support all types of birth, for all types of people.
I have an extensive library of books which I use for self directed study and that are available to borrow for my doula clients.
I am Vice Chair of Kernow Maternity Voices partnership and spend a lot of time working in partnership with the Local Maternity System to implement Better births in Cornwall and IOS
I have supported at births in Treliske hospital including induction and caesarean birth, Penrice birth centre and at home.
My qualifications, training and experience include-
2014 – Member of Doula UK
2014 – Nurturing Birth Doula course completed
2016- Real baby milk breastfeeding peer supporter training
2017- Attended Doula UK Annual conference including a talk from Ina May Gaskin
2017- Perinatal mental health workshop
2017- Became a Doula UK recognised birth doula
2017- Completed Antenatal wisdom’s advanced post graduate diploma in Antenatal education to become a FEDANT accredited Antenatal teacher.
2018- Launched St Austell Positive birth movement group
2018- Working with the Local maternity systems on developing their Transformation plan and implementing Better births
2018- Became Vice chair for our local Maternity Voices partnership
2018- Spectrum of normal study day. Supporting normality in complex pregnancies in a hospital environment.
2019- I'm Fine, perinatal mental health training
2019- Let's Talk birth conference
2019- Birth environment module- All4Maternity
2019- Midwifery and Maternity festival- Cardiff
2019- Reproductive Sankofa- Black mothers and childbirth conference
2019- Community engagement training- WSA communities and Just Ideas
" Nicki gave us the support and evidence based information we needed to make the right choices for us and achieve a positive birth experience. A complex pregnancy and birth meant that having Nicki as our Doula was invaluable. I honestly believe that we could not have achieved such relaxed and beautiful Caesarean without Nicki. I will be forever grateful. " - B,2019
