Joanna (Jo) is currently a student NCT doula. An important part of training for this role is that Joanna is required to support a woman or couple through birth with the support of the NCT doula tutors. Your baby needs to be due between mid-February and mid-April 2022 for you to be able to consider asking Joanna to be your birth doula. The fee for Joanna to support you has been appropriately set to recognise the fact that she is a student.
Would you like Joanna to be your Doula?
Email joanna.nctbirthing@gmail.com or call 079843 72845
About Joanna
With 20 years of work experience rooted in social and person-centred care, Joanna has an incredibly positive and nurturing approach to the support she provides.
Being a people person, she has developed a broad range of support skills across all fields, from teaching adults with learning disabilities, working with children in the theatre environment and as a Scouting Leader, providing first aid support with St John Ambulance, and as a Director and Choreographer for semi-professional productions.
All these avenues have helped her build a deep sense for understanding and communicating with people, whilst learning how to empower them to be and feel their best. A tool which she carries into her practice as a doula.
Joanna is Mum to one little redhead, 6-year-old boy called Teddy and lives with her husband in Caterham, Surrey. She also has a passion for baking ‘showstopper’ cakes and loves an arts and crafts project.
Areas covered for Doula work are within the London Boroughs of:
Croydon Borough
Sutton Borough
Tandridge District
Reigate & Banstead District
Not exclusive to just these areas, Joanna is happy to travel up to an hour from Caterham, Surrey.
With a theatrical background, Joanna brings an energised presence filled with comfort and humour to help ease, empower, and settle you and any chosen birthing partner through labour and birth. Joanna can be a great asset to help generate feel good oxytocin which will benefit your experience of birth.
Joanna also has plenty of experience working in high pressured or tense situations and has developed a skill set that can manage the room, the situation, and the feelings of everyone involved. Joanna is well practised in remaining calm and level-headed, and this will help your birth environment to feel comfortable, controlled and keep ‘you’ well informed.
Joanna is happy to support in all birth settings and environments – home birth, midwifery led units and labour wards, including caesareans and water births.
Joanna can offer support with:
- Creating a relaxed birthing environment
- Relaxation techniques and positive affirmations
- Finding comfortable birthing positions
- Aromatherapy oils and massage
- Supporting birth partners to be involved
- Supporting siblings to understand and observe if in attendance or during home births
- Early days feeding support
- Providing evidence-based information to help you make informed decisions
- Signposting to further support
Qualifications
- Joanna is currently studying the full NCT degree in Birth and Beyond with specialist pathways enabling her to have a licence to practise as an Antenatal Practitioner, a doula, and a Postnatal Practitioner.
- She also intends to train as a Hypnobirthing Practitioner towards the end of 2022.
Practicalities
Joanna will provide support by:
- Offering you and your birth support partner (if you have one) an initial consultation to explore if our connection will be suitable.
- Offering 2 – 3 meetings prior to birth to establish a working relationship and to discuss your birth plan/concerns/hopes etc...
- Giving you access to support and reassurance by phone, email, and video calls in between meetings and up to 6 weeks after the birth.
- Being on call for you, for 4 weeks around the time of your due date.
- Being present at your birth, providing emotional and physical support to you during labour, birth, and the immediate period after birth.
- Offering a debrief meeting with you and your birth support partner approx. 2 – 6 weeks after the birth, to reflect on your individual experiences and your new life as a family.
- Signposting you to further postnatal information that is relevant for you and your new baby.
