"A massive thank you for your kindness, exemplary preparation, and support during the run-up to, and the birth of, our baby. I just felt so reassured and relaxed having you there. Your positioning knowledge is amazing and meant I was able to have the home birth I wanted. I truly couldn't have done it without you so thank you again".
Emma (Birth Doula)
"When we first contacted Helen we had a really helpful conversation, beyond just determining whether she was the right doula for us. Helen was easy to book, and the prices / packages were well set out and transparent. Helen provided us with a written contract / support agreement which was easy to understand and clearly set out what her role was in the process. Throughout the whole process Helen was always contactable via Whatsapp (and also telephone when we needed), left us very detailed and helpful voice notes and talked us through some of the more difficult times at very short notice which was much appreciated. Visits worked around us and were easy to arrange. The sessions were of a good duration, and followed a natural path of discussion around our needs and concerns. Helen was incredibly respectful once Eva was born, and was very good at "reading the room" as to when her assistance was and wasn't needed. Helen left at the optimal time, and remained calm, supportive and professional throughout the whole process (especially given the midnight timing and length of birth process). Ben was present for all sessions and was made to feel an equal part of the discussion, which was extremely positive and eased the entire experience. Helen was always extremely knowledgeable, supportive and there for us in any way she could be throughout the entire process. She was a lifeline for both of us, and skilfully guided us through a massive life event for which we had no prior experience. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Helen to anyone considering hiring a doula".
Victoria (Birth Doula)
"Helen was super helpful. She has a very wide and deep breadth of knowledge and I would not hesitate to have her as our doula next time. She was super helpful dealing with the medical establishment. The level of support offered when problems arose made a huge difference to our wellbeing today. Helen has a wonderful personality that is easy to get on with, she sincerely cares for people she works with and this comes though in everything she does".
Anna (Birth Doula)
"I found Helen's emotional and practical support a huge help to me and to my family during and after the labour, and found the support meeting before the birth was hugely important and gave me the tools I needed to cope with my labour. My husband felt very supported by Helen, and knowing that I was in safe hands allowed for him to spend time with our older son. He was very grateful for the support Helen gave us both".
K (Birth Doula)
"I am a Consultant Midwife at University Hospital Lewisham, and I am writing to you because one of our community midwives contacted me to let me know what an amazing job she felt you did supporting your client during her homebirth this week. She said you were calm, supportive, helpful and overall brought a really good energy to the room. Thank you so much for your work".
Octavia - (regarding my birth doula services)
"Helen is a lovely and knowledgeable doula. She brings lots of positive energy and she has been really helpful for helping us prepare for the birth of our second child. During the prenatal sessions, Helen provided lots of insights on positive birth and hypnobirthing. She shared a hypnobirthing package which was really helpful and quite detailed. She provided many examples, books, links and resources to answer our questions. She was available at any time and very responsive via WhatsApp. We felt we were well supported and could ask pretty much anything we had in our minds. The post-natal session was also essential. She provided lots of important tips on breastfeeding and bottle feeding. It helped me feel more confident with the technique. We were very happy with Helen".
A (Birth Doula)
"We loved Helen - she was always available for us, always sharing information and replying to all our questions. It was like having a very close friend helping me during the whole process. I can only thank her for helping me to have the labour that I wanted".
Paola (Birth Doula)
"Helen, I keep thinking of you and your amazing support and everything I learnt from you. You were such a huge part of my experience and made it so lovely and I was so empowered. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. You are a gem!"
L (3 Step Rewind, Hypnobirthing, Virtual Doula Support)
"A big shout out and show of appreciation for Helen for all her help and support. A real game changer and positive experience for a new mummy and her baby. Breastfeeding can be a real struggle, but with the right help it can be a relaxing, bonding experience enabling a mummy to achieve her goal".
Liz (Breastfeeding Support)
"I decided to take the Caesarean Hypnobirthing course with Maternal Instincts after feeling especially nervous about my upcoming caesarean section. I had previously met Helen through my NCT course and had always found her very easy to talk to and extremely well informed, so I knew she would be able to put me at ease.
Booking the course was easy as Helen was very accommodating and even managed to arrange a hall for a socially distanced class, so that we were able to have the benefit of face to face contact.
The course had a structure but was tailored where necessary to suit individual needs, which was great as I was keen to talk about the specifics of the procedure as I didn’t want any surprises on the day. I was able to talk openly without feeling silly or judged about what we could expect and what we could ask of the health professionals to make the experience as much our own as possible.
I particularly enjoyed the fact we could talk to other couples about how they'd approach the same situation, opening things up for discussion and making them feel less daunting. Helen also gave us lots of additional points to consider, giving us the opportunity to talk about the finer details that are not usually considered until you’re in them. This meant I felt better prepared for the procedure, more in control, and had the confidence to ask questions rather than just settling for what the health professionals deemed right for my caesarean birth.
In addition we had access to relaxation MP3s which I used in the lead up to my caesarean and found a very useful tool to keep me focussed, calm, and on track rather than allowing my mind to wander and for worries to creep in.
Overall, I felt a lot better prepared for birth than I did before I took the course and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to others in the same position".
Katie (Positive Caesarean Workshop)
"We honestly can’t thank Helen enough for the incredible support she has given us throughout what was a really tough first few weeks with our newborn - she has honestly been the best postnatal doula & breastfeeding expert we could have asked for. With the arrival of our newborn, we faced a number of challenges with breastfeeding, to the point where I spent most days in tears and we were considering giving up altogether - this was the last thing I wanted, but it felt like there was no other way. Without Helen’s support things would look very different for us now, she helped us navigate an overwhelming amount of information thrown us, she provided hands on support with breastfeeding positions/latch, advice around all of our feeding options, but most importantly, she gave us the confidence that we desperately needed when it came to Albie. Helen was never far away which was invaluable to us, whether that be at the end of a phone (at all hours!) or here with us in person when we had 1-1 support; she is reliable, honest, supportive and in all honesty, just our superwoman and we couldn’t recommend her enough! It hasn’t been a ‘quick fix’ by any means, but Helen has supported us throughout all of the highs and lows and we continue on our breastfeeding journey with so much more confidence, and most importantly, enjoyment. To any mum struggling with breastfeeding, anxiety, confidence; I promise, there is a light at the end of tunnel and without Helen, we may never have realised this. - thank you so much Helen!"
Katie & Matt (Postnatal Doula)
"We met Helen before we had our baby and felt she taught her breastfeeding content so well. She was personable and relatable in her examples. After having my baby, I struggled with breastfeeding as the theory behind it is always different to the practical aspects. I could not get the latch right and was worried that I wasn’t able to feed my baby enough. I reached out to Helen several times through WhatsApp and phone calls, from hospital, to when I got home. She was so supporting and her help invaluable. When I got home, I booked a private face-to-face consult with Helen as I still struggled with the confidence to breastfeed. Helen was ready to come over the same day if needed. She sat with my husband and me, very respectful of COVID practices (having taken a COVID test that morning), and instilled me with the confidence that I needed to actually enjoy breastfeeding. She listened to me and my concerns and assured me that what I was doing was actually right – suggesting tips where I could improve. That’s all I needed and now I am super happy continuing breastfeeding, and my baby has put on weight and is healthy.
I cannot recommend Helen’s service enough to any mothers who would like to continue the breastfeeding journey – she is so worth it! Thank you Helen!!!!".
Christina (Breastfeeding Support)
"Such a great session, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I learnt so much. I've noticed such a positive difference to my anxiety and mental health. My partner is really so on board with what I need and has seen with his own eyes the massive, positive impact the session has had on me. I only wish I'd found Helen sooner. I'm actually really looking forward to the birth now. I feel prepared, strong and in control - and this is mainly down to Helen!!".
Adele (Hypnobirthing Workshop)
"The 3-Step Rewind Process with Helen was more helpful than I imagined it would be! My traumatic birth experience took up a lot of space in my head and caused a lot of negative emotion in my day to day. In the weeks after our second session, I realised that I thought less negatively about my experience. Thoughts didn't come as frequently, nor did they cause the level of painful emotion I had previously experienced. It'll never be the experience I had hoped for but the sessions really helped me to process my grief and hurt over the experience and allowed me to take some of my power back".
Heather (3-Step Rewind Process)
"The rewind programme with Helen was quite remarkable and made a significant difference in helping me processing my experience. The sessions were relaxing and enabling without making me feel vulnerable or exposed. I hadn't realised until the third session when we came to consider my trigger points - I found talking about what happened suddenly easier, my feelings had changed, I felt more in control and empowered and ready to take the next steps I needed. I also found the hypnosis techniques were useful in other areas. For example, surprisingly, the dentist! I am really glad I found out about this and would certainly recommend".
Suzanne (3-Step Rewind Process)
"Helen was always available to me, at almost any time (and I live in the US!) to help me in those early days. I sent pictures, videos and just explained our issues and she walked me through problem solving and helped me figure it all out. He's now 20 months and we're still going strong!".
H (Breastfeeding Support)
“Helen was unbelievably knowledgeable and was able to answer all our questions throughout the sessions. She was exceptionally friendly and we didn’t think twice about talking about our fears and worries with her. The content of the sessions was perfect for first time parents and we learnt a huge amount which assisted us with the birth of our son. This enabled us to make the right choices for us”.
Danielle (Hypnobirthing)
