I am Siobhan Smith
The Birth Doula
I am married to Paul and we have three teenagers and two crazy springer spaniels. I was born and raised in North London and come from Irish parents, hence the name “Siobhan” pronounced Shiv-on. Its Gaelic, (Irish). Having an unusually spelt name often means I spend a lot of time explaining my name is not pronounced
Si-o-ban.
Life as a working mother is always busy but I thrive on that, I love spending time with my family and friends. My hobbies include eating cake and exercising to work off the calories, although I haven’t managed to get the balance quite right on that. I have been supporting families as a birth & postnatal doula since 2011. To date I have attended over 200 births and supported many more families in the postnatal period.
I provide emotional and practical support before, during & after the birth of your baby. I can help you navigate the maternity system and be that continuity throughout your pregnancy and postnatal period. If you have a partner I will be their wing-women, supporting them through what can feel like an over whelming responsibility. Postnatally I will support you while you adjust to your “new normal" whether that be your transition to parenthood for the first time or adjusting to a new addition to your already existing family. I will be that helping hand guiding you while you explore what works best for you and your baby. I have an enhanced DBS and I am fully insured.
I am available to work in North London, North West London, West London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Middlesex.
I trained with BirthBliss Academy, completing a birth and postnatal doula course and full mentoring program gaining full recognition and accreditation status. As a member of both The Doula Association and Doula UK, I follow their philosophy and the Code of Conduct.
I am also a Doula Mentor for new doulas going through the recognition process with Doula UK, and Head of Accreditation for Birthbliss Academy and doula training facilitator.
In the past I have volunteered at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London and at Watford General Hospital in Hertfordshire as a Breastfeeding peer Supporter. This gave me great insight to the way in which midwives, obstetricians and paediatricians work. I have also been able to attend many educational courses alongside the medical professionals as a result of working alongside them.
I sit on my local MVP (Maternity Voices Partnership) as I am passionate about working to improve maternity services for the people that use it and the staff that work it. I also work with Hertfordshire University as one of their experts by experience supporting with the ongoing development of the course content for their 3 year midwifery degree alongside supporting them with the recruitment of the students onto the program.
I have experience of working in all types of environments: hospital, birth centre, home births.
I have experience of working with different types of births such as: water births, VBAC, breech, caesarean births and multiple births and have supported many high risk pregnancies through pregnancy and birth.
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