Having spoken to a number of Doula’s, my partner, T and I found Caroline very knowledgeable in vaginal births after caesarean (VBAC) and very easy to talk to, which we felt was vital in selecting the right Doula.
She involved me from the very beginning, which others had not and I immediately felt I was part of the team. She explained her experience and her own life very clearly to both of us. She also explained how homeopathy could help and though we were pessimistic at first, she answered all our questions to alleviate any of our fears about it.
T contacted Caroline on Friday night, as she had been having niggling contractions all day and Caroline advised what to do. Caroline rang on Saturday morning and said that she would pop over to see how we were. Upon her arrival T was having heavy contractions. I was not helping much myself, but Caroline immediately took control of the situation and placed T into a far more comfortable position on the stairs. She was very calm and made sure I was helping as well.
During a bath, Caroline noticed that something was not quite right and the baby was unhappy. I immediately called the hospital and they asked us to come straight in.
We met our Midwife and Caroline was translating everything she was saying into English. She was informing us what we could do, but not imposing herself. All the decisions were left to T and me, but we were making more informed choices. The midwife was sticking to the hospitals policy, but Caroline gave me such confidence that I could overrule any decisions that I knew T and I didn’t want. The midwife was certainly being firm why I wasn’t taking her advice, but I knew it was T’s and my baby and we wanted it delivered our way. Without Caroline, I would not have had the confidence to even challenge a midwife.
During this time Caroline was continuously helping T. She seemed to massage her back for hours, but she knew exactly what to do and when. Caroline made sure I was helping T as much as possible and she demonstrated how to massage her back. She also provided a number of homeopathic remedies during the labour.
T and I were both getting tired as the day wore on, but Caroline did not slow down or seemed to stop for a rest. Her energy lasted the entire day without any complaint. I believe this energy was passed onto T and myself and kept us both going.
Sadly, as hard as we tried for a natural birth, it wasn’t to be, but Caroline came with us to the theatre, at our request and she stayed with T after the birth of the baby.
T was allowed home the following day, which was fantastic considering she had had a caesarean. T felt the homeopathic remedies Caroline had provided had made a huge impact on this. With T’s previous caesarean, T felt a lot of pain weeks after the event, though she still felt pain this time around, it did not stop her from doing basic tasks.
This was all possible because of Caroline’s help and support of which we thank her very much.