providing antenatal and postnatal support since 2022
Welcome to Laura Powell Birth and Baby!
I’m Laura, your local antenatal teacher and postnatal doula based in Hook, Hampshire. I have been working in the birth and baby world for a couple of years now. I love all things related to birth and babies - I decided to train as a perinatal educator back in 2021 and have more recently completed my Postnatal Doula training.
I have four boys and I had a very different birth and postnatal experience with each of them. The birth of my eldest son was a massive shock, despite having had a lot of experience of babies beforehand with much younger siblings and friends’ babies. I can remember sitting in the kitchen when we got back from hospital and thinking ‘what now?!’. Nothing prepared me for that feeling of responsibility, of there being no let-up and of the loneliness once the initial excitement of his birth was over and everyone else went back to their normal lives. When I had my other children, I felt more confident in my ability to look after a tiny baby as I had done it before but each of them came with their own personality and challenges. It was much more of a physical juggle between looking after a newborn while trying to entertain toddlers and older children, as well as the desire to sit quietly and spend time getting to know my new baby. The times when the older ones were out or being entertained by someone else and I could sit and quietly feed the baby and give them a chance to doze on me were lovely!
Antenatal teacher, amongst other things
I started my training as a perinatal educator in 2021, when my youngest started going to nursery. I trained with The Daisy Foundation - I had been to Daisy Birthing classes through all my pregnancies and was really excited to have the chance to train to become a Daisy teacher. The year long training prepared me to teach antenatal classes, both to pregnant women and couples, as well as baby and postnatal classes. I am currently teaching private antenatal courses and will be running weekend group antenatal courses in Hook from July. I am also teaching a pregnancy yoga flow and relaxation class and a baby yoga class each week with Busylizzy Fleet.
The Daisy Foundation sadly closed in August 2023 but there are plenty of Daisy teachers still out there teaching - find Daisy-qualified teachers working across the country here.
adding in postnatal doula support
When my youngest started school in September 2023 it seemed the ideal time to explore becoming a postnatal doula and add to the support I could provide to new families. I completed my initial Postnatal Doula Initial Preparation Course with Younique Postnatal at the start of the year and am now working as a mentored postnatal doula (meaning not only do you get support from me but I also have a more experienced doula on-hand who can share their knowledge around any questions or challenges).
Alongside working with individual families, I run The B-Group, a drop-in Bumps and Babies group for anyone who is pregnant or has a baby under 1 on Friday mornings in Odiham. This is one of my favourite times of the week when I get to enjoy lots of baby smiles and conversation with new mums - it’s lovely when someone I’ve spent time with antenatally comes along and I get to meet the baby that was a bump!
I definitely have a bit of an addiction to training - since finishing my postnatal doula course I have done a six week course all about how to build up a birth and baby business, training on running postnatal planning sessions with expectant parents and a workshop on baby wearing. I am currently taking part in a group coaching program for doulas (which I am really enjoying, it’s great being able to talk to people working in the same world as me each week) - now I just need to decide what training to do next!
Qualifications
I have been certified as a Perinatal Educator by The Daisy Foundation and completed the Postnatal Doula Initial Preparation Course with Younique Postnatal in January 2024. I am currently a mentored postnatal doula, helping me to learn and develop my Doula practice while working with my first clients, and this is reflected in the amount I charge.
