Natural Beginnings - Holistic Health, Bodywork & Doula Services

15/06/2026

On this day 7 years ago…..
(Sadly with a now 40% caesarean rate, these stats have likely gotten worse, not better!)

Yesterday I went up to the Blue Mountains to see this legend Rhea Dempsey speak to doulas about 'Self Care in a Wounding Birth Culture'.(hosted by my midwife ).

Here's some research she shared with us about this wounding birth culture:
~ Only 1-5% of women birthing in Australia have a completely unmedicalised birth from start to finish! So 95-99% of women are either induced, augmented, have pethidine/morphine, epidurals, ventouse or forceps, episiotomies, and/or managed third stage with synthetic hormones.

And doulas are at the front line bearing witness to many of these interventions done to women. Sometimes these may be necessary to help save the life of mother or baby (and thank goodness for that!), but more often than not they are unnecessary due to impersonal hospital policies and bullying by hospital staff where true informed consent is rare.

(Just this week I witnessed a labouring woman be pressured into a vaginal exam, and after being asked why it hurt so much, the Dr said she gave her a stretch and sweep, then when I called her out on it and said she did not ask or receive permission to do that, the Dr flat out lied and denied that's what she did!).

Here's some more stats:
~ 33-45% of mothers describe their birth as traumatic, and of those 2-9% end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Fortunately if women feel well cared for (such as having a doula there to make sure her wishes are heard and respected), she is less likely to feel traumatised. But unfortunately we sometimes see the coercion and women being set up to fail, even when the woman in her labouring primal brain cannot.

So it's not surprising that doulas can suffer from trauma too. Rhea gave us some good strategies to help nurture ourselves and diffuse the tension we can carry long after baby has been born.
My homework this week is to get some long needed exercise, and to organise a local doula meet up for more peer support.

08/06/2026

Congratulations to on the VBA2C (Vaginal Birth After 2 Caesareans) birth of her beautiful third baby boy, Braydon on 28/5/26. 💙

Sara’s first birth ended in an emergency caesarean at 35+5 after gestational diabetes, cholestasis and severe pre-eclampsia. She spent time in ICU and her baby required special care, leaving her with significant birth trauma.

Her second pregnancy ended in a repeat caesarean despite reaching 9cm in spontaneous labour. Afterwards, she deeply grieved what she felt was a missed opportunity for a successful VBAC.

This pregnancy, Sara was determined to do things differently. She hired me as her doula for support and advocacy, and our first prenatal included a Birth Trauma Release session which she found really helpful. Through education, support and mindset work, she transformed her fear into confidence.

At 38+2 Sara was diagnosed with severe cholestasis and advised to birth ASAP. Despite pressure from Drs and concerns about another emergency caesarean, Sara carefully considered her options and chose to pursue her VBA2C.

Following induction with Foleys catheter (which quickly fell out) and artificial rupture of membranes, I helped create a calm birth environment with music, fairy lights, acupuncture, homeopathic support and movement strategies to encourage oxytocin flow, then I went home to wait for her labour to begin.

By late afternoon labour had established beautifully and when I returned to the hospital, Sara was fully dilated. I supported her with herbs for energy and strong contractions, filled the bath, and helped advocate her choice to have Doppler monitor instead of continuous CTG.

At 6:05pm, with Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” playing in the background, Sara birthed her baby in the bath and into Justin’s hands, before he passed their son into Sara’s arms.

I am so proud of the work Sara did to heal from her previous experiences, advocate for herself, and trust her body. Against the odds, she achieved her VBA2C.

“I am so incredibly grateful that I got my VBAC. Against all odds and with a lot of hard work, I did it!!!” - Sara

(FYI this is #6/7 successful VBA2C births by my doula clients!)

07/06/2026

This is the story of my Mum’s magical passing, my Shared Death Experience, and how death can be done better.

Recommended books that I mention on the soul’s journey are:
~Many Lives Many Masters by Dr Brian Weiss, and
~Journey Of Souls by Dr Michael Newton
And the one I’m waiting to read is ‘Glimpses of Eternity: Sharing a loved one's passage from this life to the next’ by Raymond Moody.

There seems to be a lot of souls leaving Earth right now so I’m sending all my love to anyone in grief.

Let me know in the comments if you have had a Shared Death Experience too.

01/06/2026

23/05/2026

Bye Mum. See you on the other side. 😭💔

21/05/2026

Congratulations to these legends Reggie and Jack on the birth of their first baby Ester a few weeks ago.

Reggie was a true birth warrior, showing patience, strength and stamina over her long birth. Not to mention Jack who was also working on very little sleep too!

The worst part about being a doula, is not being on 24hr call, it’s not being unable to plan spontaneous holidays, it’s not the long hours and sleepless nights, or the occasional rude or condescending caregiver… it’s the saying goodbye to couples who over the months of pregnancy and hours of labour, you develop a bond with. Oxytocin will do that to ya!

Miss you guys already! ♥️

19/05/2026

😍

Greeeeensssss. 😋

19/05/2026

What a gorgeous looking placenta which looks like an inverted map of Australia! Ccongratulations to Hayley who gave birth to her second baby at St George Private on Friday. Welcome to the world baby Aydin.

Hayley really enjoyed her postpartum power placenta smoothie and pills, created and delivered by yours truly! 😊