THE CLAPTON DOULA

BIRTH & POSTPARTUM

HACKNEY - LONDON

Welcome!

I’m Elly, The Clapton Doula (and formerly The Stokey Doula).  I’m a born Londoner, former human rights solicitor and live close to Homerton Hospital and the Hackney Marshes in Clapton, Hackney in London with my partner and two children.  You can often see me walking around the Marshes with my dog or swimming at London Fields Lido!

I trained as a birth and postnatal doula (and as a hypnobirthing teacher with KG Hypnobirthing and later with The Birth Uprising) following the birth of my first child in 2018.  Her birth came after several years of infertility, IVF and pregnancy loss, and it took time to adjust to the reality of pregnancy and impending birth. Once I was ready, I put everything into finding out all I could about pregnancy and birth. I was determined to not let the birth of my child be defined by the medical intervention that defined her conception. As IVF pregnancies are often categorised as ‘high risk’, this was not straightforward but fuelled my determination.

I ended up having an extremely positive and empowering birth experience; one that I believe may not have been possible if I hadn’t prepared in the way that I did and if I had not armed myself with knowledge of the legal rights that we all have in birth (having over a decade of advocating for others as a lawyer may have helped).

I felt privileged to have experienced being pregnant and giving birth, and was not ready to leave that world behind.  Being able to support others through their pregnancies and onwards since then is endlessly fulfilling.

WHY CHOOSE A DOULA

When I became a doula, it was with the intention of empowering the people I would work with, allowing them to make the right decisions for them and enhancing their experience of birth and/or post-partum. For me, the key is feeling heard, supported and strong, no matter what your birth looks like and who you are. This is particularly important in a maternity system that does not standardly provide continuity of care and where intervention is normalised but often not necessary unless wanted by the birthing person.

There has been various research (for example, see here) that supports the assertion that there are real potential benefits to hiring a doula, including but not limited to:

  • Reduced risk of unplanned caesarean birth.

  • Reduced risk of instrumental birth.

  • Reduced need for painkillers or epidural during birth.

  • Reduced rate of induction of labour.

  • Shorter labour.

In my opinion, the most important factor (whether or not induction or other interventions take place), is that you enter your birth feeling informed and prepared, which in turn provides decision-making tools and so the ability to give true consent when needed.

Head over to my services page to see what I offer.