Testimonials

"As first-time parents with no family in Mackay, I decided to find a birth doula to support us through the process. I must say our birth was a marathon, but Flick provided a really empowering, strengthening presence for me and my husband prior to and during the birth of our first child, our daughter Ellie. Flick met with us at home a few times prior to our birth and helped to guide us through the mapping out of our birth preferences, while briefing us on what we might expect. We felt she was quite knowledgeable and supportive of our wanting to go down the largely physiological birth pathway. 

Flick advised she would be on call for us any time of day or night from 37 weeks’ gestation. I contacted her from 1am on the night I went into labour to check in with her about my symptoms, and she was more than happy to provide the support I needed over the phone. She advised that she would have attended our home, but I felt comfortable labouring at home without her until we felt I was ready to head to the hospital in the afternoon. Flick met us shortly after we arrived at the birth suite.

Once we arrived, Flick advocated for us and our choices, while working harmoniously as a team with us and the hospital clinicians. This was in part due to the fact she was already familiar with our obstetrician. She provided an array of non-pharmacological elements to support a natural labour process. Flick encouraged me through my labour to change positions, took turns with my husband giving me massages and spraying hot water on me while I laboured on a birth ball in the shower. There were a few moments during labour I needed to make decisions whether to go against my original preferences when various concerns/issues arose. Flick helped me to navigate through making those choices with my husband to decide what we felt was safe and right for us and our baby. It was also great having an extra set of eyes and ears present to validate our reactions and responses to various situations and personalities we came across throughout the labour. At times this provided us with a sense of humour when faced with situations that may otherwise have been less than ideal.

In the end Flick supported us through a 35-hour labour and stayed to help us transition from emergency c-section to our room on the ward. Although our birth did not go exactly as we’d hoped and I did not get the physiological birth I’d wanted, we were still able to have what I felt was a beautiful birth experience that was true to my choices given the circumstances. As only my husband could accompany me into theatre, Flick reminded us to advocate for the caesarian we wanted, including immediate skin-to-skin, my husband cutting the umbilical cord, and keeping us all together through going from theatre to recovery and on to the ward. Flick helped to move all our things from the birth suite our room on the ward while we were in theatre. She then paid us a follow-up visit a couple of days later in the hospital, and once at home when she brought a home-cooked meal! We were so grateful for this as we were far too exhausted to cook for ourselves at this stage. We were also able to debrief about our birth together, and went through events that were somewhat hazy given the length and state of sleep-deprivation we endured. This helped us to understand and further give us peace of mind that we had maintained our autonomy throughout the birth process.

Finally, we loved the added surprise of Flick providing a birth timeline to us afterward, as she’d kept a running list of events throughout the labour and birth for us. She also took photos during our labour on our own phones. I wasn’t sure whether I’d like to see these when she first asked whether we wanted them, but looking back on them was really special. 

All in all I feel having Flick as our doula was absolutely worth far more than what it cost us. Flick is a lovely human, and a gentle, kind and supportive presence to have during labour and birth"

-Anna