It’s All History From Here
After years of being doulas on their own, Rachel and Tiffany met when another local doula introduced them on an internet forum for birth professionals. It turned out that the two lived only minutes away from each other in northwest London. Their initial face-to-face meeting was interesting, as Rachel recalls laying on Tiffany’s living room floor while Tiffany demonstrated how to work with a rebozo during labour. Soon, they were getting together with their kids, sharing their passion for birth support with each other, and conspiring to create something big in London. Careful planning went into the business’s overall image, with an intent to call out to the more “mainstream” side of London to let those women know they could have doulas too.
It was time to take the “hippy” associated with doulas out of people’s minds, and replace it with a more modern, necessary and slightly luxorious flair. It is time for women in London to know what their birth options are, to know how to give informed consent to their care providers, to be able to have someone follow them through their pregnancy, labour and postpartum period offering complementary therapies that they would otherwise not know exist, someone to help their partners through it, too.
Meet the Mamas: Our Doulas and Staff
Rachel with Client Baby Girl
Rachel Pollitt – Birth and Postpartum Doula, Co-Founder of MamaAssist
My first experience with birth support was as a teenager. I attended a friend’s birth because she was on her own, and needed someone to be there. That experience was the most amazing event that I had ever witnessed and from that point on, whenever someone close to me was pregnant and needed someone there, I eagerly volunteered.
After the birth of my second child, I came across an ad for doula training and once I learned what a doula was, I eagerly signed up. I was amazed that I was able to make a career out of what I absolutely loved doing. I am happiest when I am helping a birthing family welcome their new addition. I feel that birth is an amazing experience and it should be so for everyone involved, because whether it is the birthing mother or their partner, it is still going to be their individual birth story for the rest of their lives, and I believe that guidance for both is essential to the best experience possible.
I have attended two doula trainings in the past 5 years, because I believe that every trainer has a different view on how to be an effective doula. I also try to attend any pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum conferences that I can to strengthen my knowledge of these areas. My extensive training, knowledge, and experience allows me to greet potential clients with confidence that as a team we can make their labour and birth experience the most positive experience possible.
Tiffany with Client Baby Boy
Tiffany Adams – Birth Doula, Hot Stone Therapist, Co-Founder of MamaAssist
It is hard for me to believe I have been a doula for over seven years now. After the hospital birth of my first daughter, I was disappointed. I couldn’t do what I had thought I prepared myself to do. My husband was there, but he didn’t know how to help me, and my nurse was not in the room much because it was very busy. I had no idea that doulas existed, until my baby was about a month old and I started researching labour support on the internet. I was thrilled to find out this was an actual profession! I knew immediately it was something I wanted to do.
I started by taking a DONA Birth Doula training when my baby was 3 months old. It was inspiring and wonderful, and confirmed for me that this is what I need to be doing. My first few years of being a doula were filled with volunteer births, helping a variety of families through all kinds of situations. Teen mothers putting their babies up for adoption, immigrants who barely spoke english, women attempting VBACs, some surprise breech babies — some of the most amazing years of my life.
The next few years I continued to provide doula support, and had more of my own babies; a healing homebirth experience with wonderful midwives, and then two complicated pregnancies both ending in preterm births around 32 weeks (now healthy, vibrant kids!). Since both babies had stays in St. Joe’s NICU, I learned so much through those experiences that I can now help women going through the same thing. I also attended A Safe Passage workshop, and took the Maternal Newborn Nursing course at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Recently, I have ventured into holistic therapies like bodywork, hot stone therapy, and aromatherapy for childbearing.
My kids are wonderful – I have four girls ranging in ages from 7 years to 14 months old. My husband is very supportive of what I do, and my children do not suffer for it. Doula work has changed who I am as a person; it has allowed me to discover what I am most passionate about, and continues to challenge my mind, body and soul.
More About MamaAssist Quality of Care
Our doulas are CPR and First Aid Certified, attend yearly conferences by the St. Joseph’s Perinatal Outreach Program, and are on a continued search for new information and training on everything from pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and newborn care.
We have the highest expectations for providing our clients with accurate, up-to-date, evidence-based information, excellent labour support, and quality breastfeeding help. If you are a nurse, doctor, or midwife looking for more information on what we can offer your patients or clients, please call us at 519-601-2662 or send us an email.
