Testimonials
Doula Stories
“The best decisions we made for the birth of my daughter was to hire Carly as a doula, attend her yoga sessions, and practice hynobirthing.
Carly, my partner and I met various times to talk over our birth priorities, plan, and contingencies. During these meetings, we both felt heard and trusted. It was clear that Carly could advocate for us when we were going through the birth of our daughter, one of the most powerful yet vulnerable moments we have both been lucky to go through. In addition, Carly provided a platform for other moms to meet online during COVID, through her yoga classes. These classes were extremely informative - helping me practice poses that prepared my body before and during labour.
Carly was also very adaptable and informative during the height of the pandemic, helping us figure out how to navigate different hospital protocols and continue advocating for ourselves. While all the policies kept changing and I had no continuity of care, Carly helped me gain the confidence to continue advocating for myself, helping me understand what rights I had and keeping me informed about the benefits and risks to each birth related decision we had to make.
Whilst we unfortunately had our home birth cancelled due to the pandemic, Carly still came to our house and helped me progress through the early stages of my labor. This was essential! I felt so cared for from the beginning to the end under her care. She helped me into various positions, ran a bath, provided counselling and pushed against various pressure points that kept me positive through my labor. Even though she wasn’t allowed into the hospital, she counselled my partner over the phone the entire time. Since my early labour was long, both of us were extremely tired and it was instrumental to be able to talk to a person who was well rested and had our best interests at heart.
In the end, I had the most positive birth and was able to follow my plan of having a physiological and unmedicated water birth. I’m so ecstatic that people like Carly exist, and with her help I have never felt so powerful. We are so privileged to have met and worked with Carly.”
— Alex & Ben
“A couple of friends recommended Carly's pregnancy yoga class. It's in a beautiful, light, airy space overlooking Downhills park. I loved starting my weekend with the class and Carly gave us so many helpful tips for labour and birth in addition to the brilliant yoga sessions. After the class she also offers the option to stay, have a chat and share pregnancy experiences; I've met some lovely, local women as a result which is great for maternity leave!
I also opted to have Carly as our doula as we were planning for a homebirth and I wanted to have someone I knew and trusted. This turned out to be an invaluable decision as our baby arrived in a hurry without any midwives present and Carly delivered him!
Thank you Carly, you're amazing. Wish more women/couples could have your birth preparation sessions. It helped us to feel really empowered and informed.
— Maya & Freddie
“After our 12 weeks scan my wife and I immediately called Carly to book her in as our doula. She had been our doula for the birth of our first child, and we were looking forward to getting the team back together.
Knowing that Carly would be with us again, I felt confident and excited about the birth as it drew nearer.
This labour moved along far quicker than the first. Once we got to the hospital I was frazzled for a moment as we got settled into the birthing centre, unsure what to do. Carly's presence quickly calmed me, and I was able to spend pretty much the whole time supporting Lizzy in focussing on her breathing.
With Carly there I felt calm and present, and I was able to spend time being in the moment with Lizzy, rather than worrying about whether there was something I should be doing.
As with the first birth, we feel so lucky to have had Carly with us for the birth of our second child.
It's a strange irony that with an extra person in the room I feel I got more time alone with Lizzy - perhaps this is the definition of an excellent doula.”
— Chris & Lizzy
“After a fantastic Hypnobirthing course and practical birth preparation workshop with Carly, that completely changed how we both felt about birth, we decided to also have her as our doula.
Having Carly by our side leading to, and on the day, made us feel so safe and supported. We were able to focus on each other and be completely in the moment, with Carly very intuitively and gently guiding us and helping. Her support, both practical and emotional, always came at just the right moment; applying pressure just when and where I needed, encouraging me and saying just the thing I needed to hear. Her warmth, knowledge, passion and sense of humour is everything you want and need in this experience and we feel very lucky to have found her.
Highly recommended!”
— Gaila & Ran
“I joined Carly's pregnancy yoga class and it soon become an essential part of my pregnancy preparation.
She is so knowledgable and the class environment, with the discussions at the end, were incredibly valuable.
We also took her hypnobirthing course which was massively informative, particularly for my partner. W
hen we decided to have a home birth we asked Carly to be our doula and thank goodness we did. She was incredible and actually ended up catching our baby when the midwives left!
Her calm presence and thorough knowledge were so vital to us.
I can't recommend her enough.”
— Alexa & Moss
“I don’t know how we would have done it without Carly!
As we planned a homebirth we really wanted to know that we can call someone to help us even in the early stages of labour(that lasted 3 days!). Carly’s presence was so reassuring and calming at home both for me and my partner, made us feel so safe and looked after.
When we had to transfer to the birth centre we couldn’t have imagined just how invaluable her nurturing nature will be. We created our own little bubble, it was an unbreakable bond of support. Her holding a hot shower above me for 4h without a break, my partner passing the gas&air, breathing and swaying together.
As we experienced another transfer to delivery suite and then theatre, Carly’s protective side kicked in and she even told the staff off a couple of times for mistreating me and not allowing me to be in control. I felt much stronger in her presence and will never forget this! Thank you ”
— Paula & Nigel
“I couldn’t recommend Carly more highly.
She was absolutely pivotal in ensuring I got the birth I wanted (VBAC) and supported me in getting vital access to the birthing suite ahead of time. She was a constant grounding energy throughout the process and her knowledge of the birthing body helped my baby get into an optimal position.
Even though my labour was 48 hours long it was such a wonderful experience, I felt completely empowered throughout and like superwomen after.
Carly you are a birthing angel xx”
— Kim & Jamie
“My partner and I met Carly on our quest for a doula to help us pursue an all-natural, drug-free VBAC experience for our second born.
We knew straight away when we spoke to Carly on FaceTime that she was the one for us - friendly, understanding, down to earth and extremely knowledgeable.
We both believe Carly was the reason we were able to experience the birth we wanted. She gave us unwavering support during the lead up to the birth, when we needed reassurance in the early stages of labour, e.g. when we might want to go to hospital.
She was also there for us both during and after the birth, especially to help navigate some more difficult decisions/discussions we had with the hospital after the birth.
We feel like these words just aren’t enough to really describe the gratitude we feel for having Carly by our sides. She was brilliant! Thank you so much for helping to make our dreams come true. We couldn’t have done it without you!!”
— Michelle & Eleftherios
Birth Preparation
Carly’s antenatal & hypnobirthing classes were friendly, insightful and informative. They struck a really good balance of structured learning and conversation and always responded to the needs of the group and questions raised.
The informal style worked well to make us feel comfortable, the approach to learning was different week by week, and we both felt we learnt new skills and gained knowledge at a great pace, with room for tailored individual birthing questions.
As a same-sex couple, we were impressed with Carly’s inclusive approach, we felt comfortable listed to and supported. Really Important for LGBT parents to be to have a welcoming and accepting space as we begin our journey.
At the end of the 4 weeks, we felt empowered and more relaxed about our journey ahead and felt both prepared and equipped. Carly always made space for questions, never judged and was a fountain of knowledge - with a friendly approach resources provided were well prepared, and we have used them regularly outside the class as we prepare for our arrival.
We knew very little about hypnobirthing and, after the course, would wholeheartedly recommend it. We learnt so much about the birth process, practicalities issues, pain relief, different types of birthing as well as relaxation, it was above and beyond our expectations.”
— Rachel & Krystel
Carly is so great at preparing you for birth. Her experience as a doula, guiding mothers through home and hospital births is invaluable. The course contains so much fantastic advice on what to expect and how to get the most out of the services offered during pregnancy.
The course helps prepare you for what's to come, through both expert hypnobirthing techniques as well as really useful practical advice from years of experience! I decided to do this course in preparation for the birth of my second child after a difficult first labour, and I can certainly say it was the best decision I made....I had a fantastic second labour. Would recommend the course to anyone.
— Alice & Ady
Carly is a fantastic pregnancy yoga instructor who brings hypnobirthing tools and techniques into her classes.
I went to Carly with both pregnancies even though I’d moved out of the area the second time around because I couldn’t find anyone quite like her! Learning through her classes helped me achieve two very positive birth experiences.
Thank you, Carly!
— Charlotte
“After finishing our NCT classes, I felt more anxious about the birth and broke down on my partner, saying I wasn't ready for this...
A couple of days later, he showed me Carly's website and said we should call her. We’ve been sceptical this whole time about hypnobirthing, but it was more and more mentioned amongst our friends as the thing to do! From our first conversation with Carly, she said she loved sceptical people, hypnobirthing was very logical, and she'd be happy to help us.
Note: I felt it was too late as I was already 36 weeks, but she assured me it was never too late.
Straight away after our first session with her, something opened up for my partner and me, and we ended up talking for another couple of hours after that and felt more confident and empowered to know how to deal with the upcoming birth of our child. Carly gave us useful material and exercises to practice every day, making us feel more relaxed and confident each time. She also runs an amazing yoga class once a week, which makes a whole difference in my day.
I would definitely recommend Carly, she is very professional and reassuring in the whole process with tools that work wonders even in a very short time.
We are grateful to have found her! Thank you, Carly!”
— Steph & Carlos
Hypnobirthing with Carly was a game changer for us. I was sceptical about what to expect from Hypnobirthing, but we feel so much more prepared for birth and beyond with Carly's wealth of knowledge and down-to-earth approach.
It helped us challenge how we thought and led us to informed decisions that we're confident in. Carly's prenatal yoga classes are brilliant and have introduced me to a really supportive local community of women in the same position. Can't recommend it highly enough!
— Kelly & Callum
Carly is magnificent. I have been attending her weekly pregnancy yoga sessions since I was 15 weeks pregnant and feel great for it - I love the balance of mindfulness, breathwork, visualisation and movement and how practical it is for pregnancy and labour.
I’ve learned much from Carly and the community she created - particularly during the Hypnobirthing course. This left my husband and I inspired and empowered.
Thank you for all you do!
— Constance
“My partner and I took a couples birth prep session with Carly, and we found it very informative, engaging and empowering. The class gave us a real sense of the practical side of things, different breathing techniques and positions for early labour through to birth. The clear instruction on how to work with my partner through every stage of the process and the togetherness and relaxation we felt during the session was great. I would highly recommend Carly!”
— Richard
Carly is a wonderful hypnobirthing & yoga teacher and was an invaluable support to me in the lead-up to my second baby's birth- helping me navigate an emotional time and supporting me to advocate for myself during labour. I would recommend her to any expectant parents, working with her is the best thing I did during my pregnancy!
— Rachel
We found Carly’s course to be an essential step in preparing for birth. We went into it relatively clueless with questions we were hesitant to research online and came out feeling informed, empowered and importantly, much calmer and collected!
Carly offers a wealth of knowledge - scientific, theoretical and first-hand practical! She creates a lovely, safe atmosphere to share in with the rest of your group. There’s no question she can’t answer, and is a genuinely lovely person to involve in your birthing journey. Highly recommended!
— Chloe & Robin
I met Carly attending her pregnancy yoga classes on Saturdays. The yoga was great for staying active but also for practising useful breathing and mindfulness techniques pre-labour. Afterwards, the group discussion creates a sense of community between expecting mums, as a great forum to share experiences and advice.
My partner and I also joined Carly's hypnobirthing course, which proved invaluable in early labour and for helping us make informed decisions when the time came. And close to my due date we also did an antenatal 'power hour' to help us navigate some last minute curveballs on possible inductions.
Carly's counsel here was again invaluable and so informed on various policies and hospital protocols which were influencing the options we were presented with. The information she provided both helped reassure me to a positive mindset again, and enabled us to make informed rather than kneejerk decisions. I would unreservedly recommend Carly's support in all these ways to any other expectant parents in the area!
— Sarah