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For mothers, others and doulas

Maddie

I'm Maddie - UK doula, doula course leader and breastfeeding counsellor.

This is my library of resources all about pregnancy, childbirth and infant feeding.

I write about the obstacles to choice, control and consent in the birthroom and beyond

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Mindful Walking

23rd May 2022 By doulamaddie 1 Comment

What do I take from this place, this time? Sometimes a pebble, a snail shell, a flower, a fern. Often a catharsis, an unravelling, A peeling, an untying of knots. Always I leave my mark: a footstep on the hill On the path to the lake or labyrinth, All fear floating, trembling and Continue Reading

This Is The Way I Pray

3rd May 2022 By doulamaddie 1 Comment

  Toes, feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs. Salty water, cold as ice, brooding skies. Breathe, breathe, breath is blooming, I am NOW, this moment all consuming. Alive. I am alive. In this breath, In this beating of my heart, In this pumping of my blood, I am here, I am now, I Continue Reading

The eye is the lamp of your body

28th April 2022 By doulamaddie Leave a Comment

What did I not want to see, inside of me? What weeds grew, unnoticed, in fallow ground? What was pressed down into the soil of my soul? What seeds took root in the darkest crevises? What shoots twisted up towards the light? What spores grew in my muddy insides? Was it anger, self loathing? Continue Reading

Dear Doctor, Meet My Inner Child

21st April 2022 By doulamaddie Leave a Comment

  How did you feel as a child? I mean, when you think back to being tiny, what is the emotion that comes up most readily for you? When I travel back to those days, I meet myself feeling lonely, craving, but not getting, the attention and emotional availability of my mother. I see myself Continue Reading

All That Matters is a Healthy Baby

11th April 2022 By doulamaddie Leave a Comment

It matters. Of course it matters, more than anything else. When you give birth, the most important thing is that you and your child come out the other side, alive. Alive is GOOD. It's the BEST, for most of us, most of the time. But is that ALL that matters? Really? Does it matter that you Continue Reading

Weaponising the Ockenden Report

7th April 2022 By doulamaddie Leave a Comment

baby shoes in wheat field

  This Guest Post is an edited version of an article which appeared on www.thearticle.com on 28 March, with the title The Ockenden Report: are we making natural birth a scapegoat? reproduced by permission of the editor. The author Sarah Johnson is a doula and birth educator and has Continue Reading

All is Love Unembellished

31st December 2021 By doulamaddie 1 Comment

At the end of another "unprecedented year", I am reflecting on all the chaos and fear. The end is nigh, they say - earth's gonna burn If humanity can't see this lesson to learn. And yet we continue: daily rhythms and routines Love and laughter, joy and grief - all that life means. My year Continue Reading

Are You Sure She Wasn’t Asking For It? Shame and Blame in the Birth Game

19th May 2021 By doulamaddie 2 Comments

The story of the female holiday maker in Cyprus who was raped and then not believed has brought back some strong memories and emotions for me. It's more than 25 years ago now, half a lifetime. And yet, the fear and fury can still be brought to the surface so easily. This poor woman has been Continue Reading

Modern Birth: The End of Pregnancy As We Know It?

19th May 2021 By doulamaddie Leave a Comment

The great feminist Gloria Steinem once said, Democracy begins with owning our bodies. By that measure, women have rarely lived in a democracy When I think about birth, and more specifically, the politics of  the modern, mechanised birth factories, that quote often comes to mind. Recently, I've Continue Reading

Birth Choices: Shopping Around

1st May 2021 By doulamaddie 1 Comment

I am frequently told stories by clients, or witness conversations between pregnant people and their care providers that perplex me. On one hand, care providers often seem to feel they have a duty to ensure my clients comply with the care pathway they deem to be 'appropriate'. On the other, my Continue Reading

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