From Birth Doula to Apothecary

 

I write so often about menopause, I rarely mention the many years when I was younger and completely immersed in having and raising 6 children. Alongside my other work it was a constant juggle but with a partner who was an academic, and therefore a little flexible, we managed when the children were small.

 

In the beginning, my practice was all about pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period in particular. I understood it so well and spoke from experience, the day to day of morning sickness, anxiety about birth, delivery, healing, post birth exhaustion and uncertainty, breastfeeding and all the rest. I was particularly interested in the mental/emotional toll, the adaptation of self, the massive changes to life that can't be fully understood unless you've found yourself at 3am standing with a fractious baby with no idea of what else to do, having tried everything.

 

How many of us have spent hours gently rocking a baby to sleep only for it to wake the second it's put down, or mastered the art of one handed eating whilst holding a baby with the other, or sat on the loo grateful for a minute's peace. Having had children, I always thought there was such a disconnect between expectation and reality, worse now in many respects because of a fictitious idealised image via Instagram. Raising children is relentless (but often joyful) hard work and if birth has been hard it makes everything more of a challenge.

 

So in 2002, when my last child was 2, I trained as a Birth Doula with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers. It was a fantastic experience. Odent was an anti-establishment innovator, he worked to make the experience of birth better for women. In the 1970s in Pithiviers he introduced the concept of home-like birthing rooms and birthing pools in maternity hospitals. It was a game changer, it encouraged women to move about in labour, to seek the relief of a warm birthing pool, to deliver in positions that they found comfortable in or out of water. 

 

i attended many births over the years in the UK and Cyprus, supporting women before, during and after the birth. I worked with some amazing midwives. Being a Doula is a privilege, it's about helping and supporting the mother and her partner, and with the agreement of the midwives, I used remedies and flower essences to really good effect. 

 

As my own life has moved into the menopause and now beyond, I have turned my attention to supporting women in a different way as they reach the end of their childbearing years. Many of the women whose births I attended are now peri-menopausal and it is a joy to reconnect with them as they enter this next stage of life.

 

Whilst being in practice was brilliant, through A.S Apothecary I've found ways of supporting so many more women than I could as a therapist or Doula, with skincare, tinctures, first aid balms and teas and, if needed, I've been happy to adapt products for an extra bit of help. 

 

I'm always delighted now when I get a question about pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding - it's so interesting to delve back into that time of my life and remember the remedies, herbs and balms I made to help with anything and everything mother and baby related.