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 completed Nurturing Birth’s doula training in November 2014. During the course I learnt a lot of practical ways to support people during pregnancy, birth and the first few weeks of having a new baby. I am passionate about giving the control back to the birthing person during pregnancy and labour and supporting them while they make informed choices about their pregnancy and birth.
I believe that every person deserves a positive birth experience and am passionate about supporting women and all birthing people while they achieve that.
A positive experience means different things to different people and I believe that there is no right way to give birth. I enjoy discussing birth physiology, active birth and being able to support all in their choices surrounding birth.
I believe that the immediate period after birth is as important as the birth itself. This time and space needs to be protected if at all possible and those first hours and days of a babies life are so important in establishing breastfeeding and bonding between the new parents and their child
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 volunteer with The positive birth movement and Kernow Maternity voices partnership.
I have supported at births in Treliske hospital including 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
