Doula Spotlight: Sarah Newman

How long have you been a doula?

2 years

Where are you based?

North London

What inspired you to train?

I'd always wanted to be a midwife when I was younger, but after watching my mum struggle with the politics of the NHS for her whole career as a nurse, I knew there was a better way to serve the pregnant women out there to get an empowered birth. When I learned what doulas were, I knew immediately it was the career for me!

What has been your proudest moment as a doula so far?

Honestly, creating a business for myself that allows me to have a perfect work-life balance, choose my own hours, who I work with, and how I want to work. I also managed to reach my goal earnings within a year of starting my business, which was a huge achievement for someone who doubts themself a lot and has always worked for other people. Seeing the difference I've made for so many pregnant women and postnatal families has been incredible, it really shows how supporting women to make their own decisions and empowering them to trust their instincts can fully change society.

What has been the most rewarding part of building your doula business?  

Watching women come out of their births feeling confident, empowered and so proud of themselves for getting the birth they wanted.

How has being a doula impacted your life? (personally, professionally, or both)

SO MUCH. From a professional perspective, I've created my dream life, working as and when I choose, with the type of clients I choose, and taking breaks whenever I want (for someone who likes to travel a lot still that's huge!). I'm earning more money than I did in my corporate job as well, which is a huge bonus. On the personal side, it's massively changed my outlook on women, the amount of support we all need to give each other and really opened my eyes to how badly we care for women in our society. That might seem like a negative answer, but I think it's really changed the way I look out for all the women in my life, whether they're pregnant, new mothers or going through stressful periods with older children. We all need to support each other much more as a community and I've tried to implement this so much more in my life. Becoming a doula has also shown me how much love and care there is within the birth worker community, I've found myself being held by women I hardly know, because we all understand women so much more deeply having done this work.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since becoming a doula? 

Don't do ALL the training courses! It's such an easy trap to fall into as a new doula when you don't feel confident putting yourself out into the world, just to sign up to every course so you feel you have ALL the knowledge before starting...but guess what, you'll still go out there feeling unconfident! Confidence comes with experience way more than education. Just throw yourself out into the world and learn as you go, you'll soon discover the bits that you feel might need a little more training, or parts you find you're super interested in learning more about, all you'll save yourself a lot of money doing it that way! Also, trusting your intuition is one of the most important things I've learned, and heard over and over again from other doulas. If a client feels 'off', trust your gut. We've all done it, and we've all learned the hard way.

Which skills or knowledge from the Nurturing Birth course have helped you the most in your work?  

Boundaries is the first one I think of, both within your business and for you personally. Within the business setting boundaries on how much you want to work, what type of clients you want to work with and things you have a hard no on doing. This will be different for everyone and you have to stick with what works for your life, your family and your goals. On the personal side, I think a lot of us go into doula work underestimate the personal energy that goes into supporting someone through a birth or through a tough postnatal period, and it's so easy to give so much of yourself when you want to help them. But it's so important to make sure you're looking after yourself first and making time for self-care. We can't pour out of an empty cup and it's very easy to get burnt out in this line of work.

What challenges have you faced along the way? How did you overcome them?  

Mostly with what kind of clients I want to work with and how I want to split my time between birth and postnatal work. It's easy to take on everything when you first start just to earn a living, but along the way you learn how quickly you can get overwhelmed with working so much and realise that it's not sustainable. I think it's important to really focus on the type of clients you actually vibe with, and how you want to split your time between the different things you offer. Once you've found a good balance, you'll enjoy the work SO much more.

What do you enjoy most about your doula work?

Seeing the look on a woman's face when she's given birth after doubting herself or having medical staff doubting her (for a whole range of reasons!) - seeing them in absolute awe of the magical process they've been through and knowing THEY did it! I could cry thinking about the faces I've seen in those moments, and have done many times at births!

What do you think sets you apart as a doula?  

I'd like to think I bring a lot of different aspects to my doula-ing that provides a fully emotional and physical support system for families the whole way through their pregnancy and postpartum period. Having trained in counselling, yoga, nutrition, massage, hypnobirthing, and cross-cultural ancient birth/postpartum practices, I strive to make sure all the women I work with have access to all of these aspects to include in their care. I also think that some people see the fact I don't yet have kids of my own as a disadvantage, but I've found it so be super helpful in my flexibility of work hours, not needing to take time off around Summer/Xmas etc, and it allows me to look each birth without any opinions or experiences of my own.

Have you formed friendships or connections with other birth-workers local to you?

Oh so many, it's amazing working in an industry where we're all sometimes going for the same interviews, but there's no animosity or jealousy, everyone knows that the right clients will go to their perfect person, and we all support each other through that! It can also be a very isolating and tiresome job sometimes, when your closest people just don't understand the struggles, and you really need people to talk to who just get it. Having a community of birth-workers around you for that is so important.

What has surprised you most about being a doula?  

How many people think you do it just because you love babies...I mean I do love babies, but I'm there for the woman 100%. I'll take a cuddle with a tired, overwhelmed mumma over their newborn any day.

What’s your favourite part of a typical day as a doula? 

Just the variety of it, in the morning I might be teaching a hypnobirthing class, the afternoon with a postnatal client doing some cooking, chatting and a massage, then the night might bring a birth, you just never know. I also love being able to block out a few mornings a week to make sure I can have a lay in, go to the gym and catch up on emails without it creeping into my weekend!

If you could go back to the start of your doula journey, what advice would you give yourself?  

Trust you intuition, don't just go with any client because you're desperate to get your births in, and don't sign up to every bloody training course...just go out and be a doula!

How do you see your doula work evolving in the future?  

Oh wow, I'm really not sure at the moment, I have so many ideas of things I want to get into and change up my business in the future. I'd love to write a book, maybe take up more births, and start doing group hypnobirthing classes in my area now I've moved. Hopefully in the next few years I'll also have kids of my own so I'd love to be able to setup my business so I can accommodate that and have a great family/business balance so I can spend a lot of time with my kids while they grow up.

What's your favourite self-care treat?

A massage after every birth!

What's your favourite "birthy" podcast

Birth Untethered

Your doula-bag must have

All the snacks!

If you weren't a doula what would you be doing?

Travelling full-time haha