"When my husband and I found out that I was pregnant with our first child, each day seemed to raise a new question. Which hospital should we use? What should we expect during the pregnancy? What kind of birth did we want to have? Were there non-medical options for pain relief? Having only lived in the UK for a short period of time, we also were unfamiliar with the NHS system. Hiring Alison as our Doula turned out to be the answer to all of these questions and uncertainties.

When we first met Alison during the interview process, she put us at ease right from the start. Listening to her describe her own birth experiences made it clear that she had decided to become a Doula because she really wanted every couple to have as pleasant a birth experience as possible. She is knowledgeable and caring, and understands that every birth is different - her approach was to help us understand the birth process and the options available to us, and then help us plan our "ideal" birth. We were certain after meeting her that we wanted her as our Doula.

Throughout my pregnancy, Alison was a valuable resource. In addition to our face to face meetings, she was available to me by phone and email and lent me books and materials. For questions that she could not answer right away, she was able to access her wide network and find people who could help. She also made it a priority to involve my husband as much as possible, which paid enormous dividends and allowed them to work together as a team to help me during the birth. No birth is "easy", but with Alison's help we felt prepared and confident in the decisions we had made leading up to this special moment.

After our daughter Mia was born, Alison provided us with great post natal support. We had a difficult time to get breast feeding established, and Alison was instrumental to our success with it. She not only provided advice and support, but also quickly put us in touch with an expert when we needed additional help. Alison remained by our side throughout this process and we couldn't have succeeded without her!

Alison is professional, caring, thoughtful and trustworthy and I would hire her as our Doula again in a heartbeat! We enthusiastically recommend her to anyone looking for a reliable resource of information, a support system for the pregnancy and birth, or really anyone who wants their birth experience to be as special as it could be."