15/06/2026
I’ve been a doula for ten years now, but this was the first time I’d been welcomed in to Theatre to support BOTH my clients as they welcomed their baby.
This is despite it being on the preferences of every couple I’ve supported whose birth paths may have taken them unexpectedly in to Theatre.
Mostly it’s because we don’t end up there, but a lot of the time it’s because I work in a trust that categorically refuses almost 99% of the time to allow doulas to support their clients in theatre, at a time when the continuation of their support, and the capacity to remain calm for both partners is probably even more important and is almost always denied. And we feed this back CONSTANTLY.
Frustrating on many levels - not least because we know this decision isn’t evidence based, we know there isn’t parity for parents who could have a caesarean or instrumental birth supported with two valued partners in some areas of the country and not others. And because it’s not consistently applied meaning at the most potentially confusing and vulnerable time for parents - they don’t know where they stand.
This time, thankfully I was working at Somerset Maternity and the team (as they have done on multiple occasions with other birth workers, when the situation allows and is appropriate) happily made space for me so that I could hold space for my clients.
