About Me
My name is Fay Thomson, and I have 5 children, my four daughters, born in hospital, 1990, 1991, 2001 & 2003. My little boy was born at home in 2009. Childbirth for me has been an education! One which cannot be taught in a classroom! I have learnt so much through experience of my own pregnancies and through supporting others through their pregnancies and childbirth experiences. I am very aware of the importance of information and good support to empower a pregnant woman to help her achieve the best birth experience she can.
I had worked for many years in hospital medical laboratories, so I am familiar with many medical terms, and environments. I decided with the birth of my third daughter to stay home to home educate my children. This left me available to pursue my much loved role as a Doula. I trained with Nurturing Birth in September 08, and this course covered many aspects of pregnancy, birth and infant childcare, including:
Breastfeeding, Homebirth, Water Birth, VBAC (vaginal birth after c. Section), Pain relief, 3rd stage options including Lotus birth, Attachment Parenting including baby wearing & co-sleeping.
I am passionate about providing information whether from personal experience or in workshops and courses which I attend as often as possible, to a woman to aid her choices, whatever they are, and I am dedicated to support her fully. Further to my basic doula training I have attended an experienced birth workshop level 2, with Nurturing Birth, an Acupressure course with Debra Betts, a Hypnobirthing course, and a Waterbirth course led by Dianne Garland, a specialist waterbirth midwife.
For postnatal support I have attended a Jack Newman study day (leading paediatric specialist in breastfeeding)
What it means to be a recognised and certified doula:
I trained with Nurturing Birth (a training course provider recognised by Doula UK) and then embarked on a dual process which has given me recognition with Doula UK, and certification with Nurturing Birth. This process took the best part of 18 months and during this time I had two very experienced mentor/assessors giving me support and guidance all the way. At times it was a challenging process, but a well worthwhile one as it equipped me with many tools to make me a better doula! As part of this process I agreed to follow the Codes of Practice for both organisations... not all doulas choose to undertake this process or may only follow-up with one or the other organisations, but I have undergone both simultaneously, I believe this has helped me become a more confident and grounded Doula, with a clear understanding of my role, boundaries, strengths and limitations.
Why choose a recognised/certified doula?
You can be assured that a doula who has undergone either process has been supported and mentored all the way through her first series of births as a doula. It is only once she has completed the final assessment that her assessor will decide to award recognition/certification giving you the assurance that you have a doula who has completed her training to a high standard, and is a competent, proven doula, recognised in her field. For more information on the certification and recognition processes please feel free to contact www.doula.org.uk and www.nurturingbirth.co.uk
Massage
I trained and gained an ITEC Diploma in Anatomy, Physiology and Massage in 1992 and am a qualified massage therapist. This has been a skill which I have used for friends and family over the years, and which I can offer to my antenatal and post natal clients.
Belly Dancing
I have been involved in belly dancing since 2003 and as a consequence have become aware of how a woman’s body moves naturally and how active-birth can be such a positive experience for both mother and baby. The rich and colourful history of belly dancing has significant connections to women’s fertility and the process of childbirth.
Yoga
Practicing yoga has reinforced my belief that a woman’s body has a natural ability through movement to birth her baby naturally. Meditation and breath control being an integral part of this amazing strength. If this is something an expectant mother would like to consider then I would be delighted to offer my support, which is why I have recently undertaken to train to become a pregnancy and postnatal yoga teacher, so I will be able to offer this facility to my pre and postnatal clients on a 1-1 basis.
Location
I live in Rugby, Warwickshire and offer my Doula services to the hospitals and surrounding areas of Rugby, including;
Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Hertfordshire
Please see my Doulas Services page for a full list of the hospitals that I cover.
Though please do contact me if you are outside these areas, or not sure, and if I can’t help you personally then I will try to point you in the best direction of a Doula service that can.
I fully support both Doula UK and Nurturing Birth’s codes of practice, and I am fully committed to continue my training to keep me refreshed and updated in my role as Doula.
Take a look at my Blogspot to see my latest news.