The birth of a baby is the birth of a mother.
Retreat, ceremony and support for pregnancy, birth and postpartum. From a doula who has walked this path for over a decade, with five children of her own.
Since 2013Supporting families as a doula
Doula UK–approvedParamana and Red Tent training
Postpartum specialistNewborn Mothers Collective trained
Trained in MexicoClosing the bones, with a traditional midwife
Mother of fiveAnd a trained herbalist
Ways to be nurtured
Pregnancy & birth doula
Caring and reliable support for pregnancy, birth and beyond. Preparation that builds your confidence, a birth plan that’s truly yours, and calm, continuous support when the time comes.
More on doula support →
Postpartum care
Support through the first six weeks, whether it’s your first baby or your fifth. Practical help around the home and with your baby, someone to listen to your joys and worries, and traditional mother-warming practices to help you recover and settle.
Ask about postpartum care →
Mother blessing & closing the bones
Time to be honoured, held and witnessed.
Mother blessing ceremony: before the birth, weaving a circle of support and celebration for the mother-to-be.
Traditional Mexican closing the bones ceremony: gentle rebozo massage, wrapping and herbal bath. Process your birth story and physically and emotionally close the fourth trimester.
Explore ceremony →
Retreats, workshops & circles
Time with other women to rest, learn and prepare: retreats away, workshops on birth and the postpartum weeks, and the Birth Roots pregnancy circle, regular gatherings that bring women together to relax, create and share the journey together.
Caring, non-judgmental support however and wherever you choose to give birth
Birth preparation
Antenatal sessions, a birth plan that’s truly yours, and contact whenever you need it. The power and the decisions stay with you.
Birth
Calm, continuous practical and emotional support, from as early in labor as you feel you need it until you are settled with your baby.
Nurturing support for the fourth trimester
Practical help, a listening ear and traditional mother-warming care, so you can rest, recover and bond with your baby.
Postpartum support
It takes a village to raise a child, but these days we don’t all have our village close by. I truly hope you have the help and support you need from family and friends. If you don’t, or you simply feel you need something extra, that’s where a postpartum doula steps in: practical help around the house and with your baby, feeding support and advice, and a caring friend when you need someone to talk to. Your doula is beside you as you learn to walk your path as a mother, with courage and love.
Mother-warming
Most cultures across the world have postpartum traditions that encourage the mother to observe a period of rest and confinement, usually around a month to 40 days: a time dedicated to bonding with the baby and regaining strength after pregnancy and birth. My postpartum care includes ‘mother-warming’ practices designed to help you gradually transition from the monumental spiritual task of giving birth to being ready to step back out into the world with strength and confidence.
Online support
Postpartum support is ideally face to face, with home visits through the first six weeks after your baby is born. If you can’t get the in-person support you need, I can support you by video or phone calls and text.
Marking the threshold
Ceremony gives a mother time to be honoured, held and witnessed: before her baby arrives, and as she closes the early weeks after birth.
Mother blessing
A celebration of the mother in the final weeks before she gives birth. Not a traditional baby shower, but a blessing ceremony with the women who care about her most. The ceremony is highly customizable, and often includes pampering, henna, spoken or written words of wisdom and encouragement, shared food, and lots of nourishing surprises for the mama-to-be.
Plan a blessing →
Closing the bones
A beautiful ceremony used to mark the closing of cycles, learned from a traditional Mexican midwife. The session begins with an unhurried chance to retell your birth story and gently process any parts that need extra attention. This flows into a yoni steam or herbal bath, then the rebozo massage: warmth, gentle massage and wrapping of the whole body, to help you feel held, loved, physically aligned and nourished as you end your fourth trimester and get ready to re-emerge into the world with your baby.
Book a ceremony →
Time to rest, gather and prepare
Keep an eye out for coming events. They will be updated here.
Sit in circle with other mothers-to-be
A regular gathering for pregnant women to rest, share and be heard. The circles bring birth art, singing, conversation, gentle movement, relaxation and time to connect with your baby, and with women walking the same path.
Come once, or come every time.
Will be in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.
Find out about the next circle
Every pregnancy, birth and baby is unique
Katie has been a birth and postpartum doula since 2013, supporting families in every setting and every kind of birth. She has lived almost every kind of birth herself: her first child was born by emergency caesarean, and all four after that were VBACs, a water birth and three home births, the last a freebirth. She knows how different each birth can be, and offers care without judgement.
She has a special love for the early weeks after birth, helping mothers feel supported and bond with their babies. In Mexico she trained with a traditional midwife in the closing the bones ceremony. She is also trained in support for VBACs, postpartum care and traditional postpartum practices, herbalism, and birth art for trauma.
Training & qualifications →
Training & qualifications
2010 & 2012
Sure Start Breastfeeding Peer Support training
Newcastle, 2010, and Prudhoe, 2012.
2013
‘Becoming a Doula’
With doula Rebecca Wright.
2013
‘Deepening Into Birthwork’
With doula Rebecca Wright.
2013
Paramana Doula course
With Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers. Doula UK approved course.
2013
Association of Radical Midwives study day
On the third stage and delayed cord clamping, with David Hutchinson.
2013
Foundation in Compassionate Communication
With Clare Palmer.
2014
Doula preparation course
With Red Tent Doulas. Doula UK approved.
2017
VBAC supporter course
With the VBAC school.
2017
Newborn Mothers Collective
Advanced postpartum training.
2017
Birth Art: focus on trauma
With Nicola Goodall of Wysewomen.
2017
Mother-warming
Traditional postnatal practices, with Nicola Goodall of Wysewomen.
2017
Spirituality in birthwork
With Nicola Goodall of Wysewomen.
2021–2023
Intermediate Herbalist Course
With The Herbal Academy, Sept 2021 to Aug 2023.
2024
Closing the Bones ceremony
Rebozo massage training with traditional Mexican midwife Miriam Avalos.
From the mothers
Hiring Katie, our doula, was one of the best decisions we made in preparation of the birth of our son. She had been there throughout the whole pregnancy, helping us by discussing our fears, offering information on labour and birth plans, and supporting us during the labour and afterwards.
Katie was amazing in being with me through a very long 27 hours, intuitively knowing what I needed… Through the unpredictable and often unpleasant eventualities of the labour, she was always grounded and steadfast and helped me keep and regain control when I was struggling.
I have attended two Birth Roots courses and highly recommend them. Katie provides a truly nurturing and open space for women to come together and share their journey, fears and dreams.
Both me and my partner felt like Katie added value to our experience, and that we made the right decision in having her as a doula. We felt extremely grateful and that really we could not pay her enough for what she offered.
Katie is a person who I think looks beyond the outer shell of a person and can ask questions to help her see the person inside quite quickly. Because we came to consider using a doula so late on in the pregnancy, Katie didn’t have much time to get to know us, and yet we both feel that she knows us incredibly well.
The Closing of the Bones ceremony was an incredibly meaningful part of my postpartum journey. It offered not only physical realignment and a sense of closure, but also a profound energetic and spiritual experience.
Hiring Katie as my doula made a great difference to my pregnancy and birth experience. After interviewing a number of doulas, the decision was intuitive, we felt that Katie had a calming presence which ended up working wonders during my challenging labour.
Having a doula present at the birth of our second daughter was a wonderful experience. Katie was a great help and calming presence to both my partner and myself.
Katie is calm and calming. She has a really good knowledge of natural birth and what can be done to help the flow and progress of labour move along naturally.
Let’s talk about what you need
A relaxed, no-obligation chat to see whether we’re a good fit.
Stories from the mothers
The Closing of the Bones ceremony was an incredibly meaningful part of my postpartum journey. It offered not only physical realignment and a sense of closure, but also a profound energetic and spiritual experience. It was a beautiful way to honor the completion of my fourth trimester and my transition into motherhood.
Katie created a truly sacred and nurturing space, intuitively tending to what my body, heart, and soul needed during such a tender and vulnerable time. From the ancient rebozo wrapping ritual to the herbal yoni steam, every element felt intentional and restorative. She gently guided me through reflection on my birthing experience, held space for the deeper imprints, and offered a beautiful opportunity for integration and closure.
I wish every woman could receive this kind of loving, intentional care after pregnancy and childbirth. Deep gratitude to the women who walked this path before us and to Katie for carrying forward such a beautiful and sacred tradition.
Hiring Katie as my doula made a great difference to my pregnancy and birth experience. After interviewing a number of doulas, the decision was intuitive, we felt that Katie had a calming presence which ended up working wonders during my challenging labour. As time went on she became a reassuring figure and valued friend in my pregnancy.
The antenatal appointments were extremely informative, but also very meaningful in preparing me emotionally for labour. I felt I could really trust her to help me to have the experience I wanted, but also to discuss all of my fears and to support me through any difficulties.
Hiring Katie, our doula, was one of the best decisions we made in preparation of the birth of our son. She had been there throughout the whole pregnancy; helping us by discussing our fears, offering information on labour and birth plans, supporting us during the labour and afterwards when our little boy arrived.
We have no doubt that her presence made the birth a very positive experience and would not think twice about hiring her again in the future.
In the labour itself, Katie was amazing in being with me through a very long 27 hours, intuitively knowing what I needed and responding to it, and holding the space in a respectful and spiritual way. Through the unpredictable and often unpleasant eventualities of the labour, she was always grounded and steadfast and helped me keep and regain control when I was struggling, and also offered constant emotional and physical support.
It was very important for me to have felt like she was a real partner to my journey and cared about me and my family personally. Her support continued after the birth when I struggled with breastfeeding, without me asking.
Katie is a person who I think looks beyond the outer shell of a person and can ask questions to help her see the person inside quite quickly. Because we came to consider using a doula so late on in the pregnancy, Katie didn’t have much time to get to know us, and yet we both feel that she knows us incredibly well to have been able to support us in the way she did.
We felt that she was so utterly respectful of our wishes. She has a real instinct for what is the right thing to do at any given time, and is exactly the perfect sort of person to do this really important job.
I have attended two Birth Roots courses and highly recommend them. Katie provides a truly nurturing and open space for women to come together and share their journey, fears and dreams. This is done through creative activities and tuning into our intuition and the wisdom of the body. The effects are transformative. Whatever your journey has been, whatever birth you hope for, it is all honoured and celebrated.
I attended Katie’s courses with each of my pregnancies and I hoped for a natural home delivery. It was a great place for me to meet other like-minded women and I’m sure it helped me believe it was possible (which it was). Thank you Katie and all the wonderful women I met, it would have been very different without you all.
Both me and my partner felt like Katie added value to our experience, and that we made the right decision in having her as a doula. We felt extremely grateful and that really we could not pay her enough for what she offered. It was more than a job to her, which is exactly what I was looking for, so it was an ideal match.
Katie is caring, warm, spiritual, reliable and knowledgeable, and is great at finding out what people need and meeting them in what they want rather than in any way enforcing her views. She is most of all committed to the sacred task of helping give life.
I’m so glad we chose to have Katie at the birth of our third child. Having her there to help with the practical aspects of the birth meant that I could focus all my attention on my wife.
Katie herself struck the perfect balance between being there for us when we needed her, and stepping back and letting birth run its course. It turned out to be as close to a perfect birth experience for our whole family as we could have imagined.
Having a doula present at the birth of our second daughter was a wonderful experience. Katie was a great help and calming presence to both my partner and myself. She hugely reduced the anxiety I would otherwise have felt.
Having seen Katie in action, I have no doubt she will continue to excel as a doula and will undoubtedly bring reassurance to many, many couples in the future. I am extremely grateful for the commitment and care that Katie showed us and wish her every well-deserved success as a doula.
Katie is calm and calming. She has a really good knowledge of natural birth and what can be done to help the flow and progress of labour move along naturally.
She is really well read and was able to lend me a book which really helped me by showing me that everything I believed in was right for me, and gave me extra knowledge about the primal nature of childbirth which was incredibly useful when it came to my labour.