Welcome to The Good Birth Practice

Hi. I'm Charlie. I'm a doula, hypnobirthing teacher, maternity researcher, MNVP Lead for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and AIMS volunteer. Oh, and a mother of 3.

I'll help you make practical and realistic birth plans that are uniquely yours - and that leave you feeling fulfilled not frustrated.

Want to know more?

Contact me to book a chat at charlie@thegoodbirthpractice.co.uk

Or find out which support could be right for you here

There are times when I forget the impact birth work has. It can feel grubby to sell my time and experience, particularly when I truly believe that the NHS should be doing this so you can access it for free… but when the reminders come they hit hard.

In a shop the other week the woman at the till looked at me oddly. “You’re a doula aren’t you? I know you from online. You really helped me when I was pregnant with my son….” *FIVE YEARS AGO*

And last week, at @maidstoneislamiccentre in my @mtw_mvp role , women really appreciate the chance to talk openly about their past experiences and those to come. Even I need reminding of this sometimes.

Anyway. The point is, these conversations have been important prompts for me. This week I’m reviewing classes and prices. So - tell me what you want and need and I’ll try to make it available and accessible ♥️

#doula
#hypnobirthing
#antenatalclasses
#birthprep
#havingababy
#positivebirth

What do you think?
Should we talk more about birth planning?
What are your Top Tips?

#birthplan
#birthplanning
#birthprep
#havingababy
#becomingamum
#antenatal
#doula

Skipping along a verdant Spring lane clasping my great big ‘Birthy Stuff Hamper’ (thanks again to J&J&K for this lovely gift - it’s perfect), and about to say ‘Let’s go 🙌🏼’ to a gorgeous pair on the cusp of meeting their baby.

This is the absolute dream ♥️

#doulalife
#birthplanning
#havingababy
#2025baby
#yogaface

#1 Top Doula Tip For The Arrival Of Siblings = drop your standards.

✅ Carpet picnics
✅ CBeebies
✅ Frozen meals (if you want to batch cook then great, otherwise @thecookkitchen is excellent)
✅ Call on friends and family to give you an hours nap while they take your babes for a walk or to groups
✅ Know that this is just a phase. It’s ALL a phase

#justaphase
#doula
#newbaby
#siblings

Women have been taking the matter of improving maternity care into their own hands for years. Since our needs and knowledge took a back seat in maternity care, in fact. Follow in the steps of your mother, grandmother and great-grandmothers and get involved in MNVP (it needn’t be a lot of time. You’re a mother. It goes without saying that you’re busy, but every little heals ♥️)

Posted @withregram • @mtw_mvp GET INVOLVED!

We are the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership.
We gather feedback from women and families who have used maternity services at MTW, and we use that feedback to improve services.

You can get involved by:

* Sharing your experience, and what you would like to STOP, START or CONTINUE. You can comment on this thread, or email me directly at mtw.mvp@gmail.com

* Joining our group! We co-produce leaflets and information with the Trust. We also do regular visits to Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Crowborough Birthing Centre at MTW and Maidstone Birth Centre

* If you run a group in the area, inviting us to come along and hear what women and families have to say about their experiences

#maternityvoices #mothersmatter #midwivesmatter #becomingamum

I’ve never been very good at the socials, but I keep giving it a bold old try. Here I am at the dawn of 2025, with renewed commitment, so why not follow the trope and do an intro post, eh?

Image 1: I love a blustery cliff walk, preferably in magical Penwith

Image 2: I have three children, and may be the last woman in the country who had true continuity of care. All 3 of my children delivered by the same 2 midwives, who we know and love 15 years later. I approach maternity improvement work knowing this matters, and wanting every woman to have access to this important form of care…

Image 3:… which means I genuinely don’t care how your baby comes out of your body. Theoretical, political beliefs about what maternity care *should* be is not the same as supporting women to make their own, unique, situational decisions. I support all manner of births: home births, inductions, planned caesareans, whatever is right for you. My job is to help you get what you want and need.

Image 4: In my old life I worked in AdLand, as a Suit (or Bag Carrier, whichever derogatory term for account handlers you prefer). I bloody love a spreadsheet and I am a pragmatic problem solver. Sure, I love the odd howl at the moon, but mainly I like to get shit done (yes, that is me dressed as a Bunny Girl, on stage in Covent Garden)

Image 5: I include this pic of me drinking a vat of gin in Hastings because 1) it was taken by my midwife & soul sister and 2) a past doula client said it was how she knew I was right for her!

Image 6: During Covid we had to radically alter the way we doula’d women and families. I learnt so much during this time, and I remain in awe of the women who had their babies then. As a result we developed the ‘Pocket Doula’ service, which gives you all the support of a doula, but at a lower fee - a popular combo

Image 7: I am the MNVP Lead for MTW Maternity. I LOVE this work. We are starting to see results from teamwork and actually LISTENING to women. Get involved here @mtw_mvp

Image 8: I don’t post photos of my kids or anyone elses on the socials, so here’s a photo of me in a ‘tache instead. Fetching, I think you’ll agree?

Have you heard of MNVPs? Did you know every NHS Trust has one, and their job is to hear how maternity care services should be improved?

You can easily get involved. If you have an opinion about an aspect of care TELL US! You can contact me as your MTW MNVP lead by email MTW.mvp@gmail.com or follow us at @mtw_mvp

MNVP = Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership. They are the latest iteration of decades of maternity activism - which has been almost exclusively voluntary, so HUGE 🙏🏼 to all the women who’ve invested their time, energy and resources. We work IN PARTNERSHIP with @mtw.maternity Recognising that when we work together we are greater than the sum of our parts.

#maternity
#maternityimprovements
#havingababy
#goodbirth
#positivebirth
#mothersmatter
#midwivesmatter
#doulalife
#hellomynameis

Ah 😌 I first posted this gem way back in 2019. It never stops being funny because it’s true 😂

If you’re having a baby in 2025, trust me you have Wonderful things ahead! Yeah sure it’s hard work. And it can feel scary and intense. And it takes some recovering from and it will change your whole entire bloody life. But it is WONDEROUS. You will discover things about you and your body that utterly astound you. You will feel emotions so intense and so polarised and happening so quickly that they give you whiplash - and I hope you’ll recognise how necessary and rich and life-enhancing the full gamut is.

Becoming a mother is a funny old game. It’s the most vital thing in the world, and it’s also hidden away and fetishised and poorly supported. Don’t miss out on what you need to experience it to its fullest joyful, confusing, overwhelming, precious, insane extent. Here are some wonderful Kent and UK people and organisations to follow;

@lauragoodbirth
@ruthgoodbirth
@kent.doula.collective
@trudi_motheringmojo
@mtw.maternity
@aims_uk
@doulauk
@maidstone.birth.centre
@crowboroughbirthingcentre
@masicfoundation
@birthmapping
@dr.rachel.reed
@drsarawickham
@nct_sevenoaks_tonbridge
@nct_maidstone
@gpphysiotherapy
@raiseupmums
@restore_physio
@infantsleepconsultants
@thecalmbirthschool
@theplacentaconnection
@birthblissacademy
@midwifemarley
….and REALLY IMPORTANTLY @mtw_mvp

#havingababyin2025 #2025babies #doula #womensupportingwomen #happynewyear #womensbodieswomensrights #feminist

A joyful but blustery lurch about the beach with my loves♥️
Goodbye 2024 😶
Come on 2025…. Bring on the babes and brilliance 🍃

I know it’s only Christmas Eve… but gift of the year already?! From my brilliant sister at @purplebadger , typically considerate and ethical ♥️ A pumpkin Pie kit, filling made by her own fair hand from pumpkins leftover from their Halloween fundraising for @mindcharity

She’s bloody brilliant and if you’re looking for a really magical UK break in 2025 I can’t recommend them highly enough

#campinglife #ukstaycation #brilliantwomen

…and that’s a wrap for 2024 🙌🏼 🎄 ♥️ I love my bloody job so much it’s not true. It’s been a brilliant mix of babies, interesting people, vital conversations, posh outings, and important change.

Big love to all the gorgeous families I’ve spent time with and enjoyed making lifelong memories with. You’re all bloody marvellous.

Also thanks to the MNVP peeps I’ve worked with - the SU reps, ICB staff and dedicated and determined NHS staff. This is no easy time to work in maternity care, but they keep turning up and doing their damndest.

Here’s to 2025 and the Feb babies I’m already looking forward to meeting ♥️ 🌟

#doula
#goodbye2024
#thatsawrap

Utterly beautiful @bedgebury.pinetum with two of the best people in the world @whitehavengirl

Those mushrooms were just the most magical moment 🍄 I could waffle on endlessly about how mushrooms offer a visualisation of human society - entwined and enmeshed, invisibly but vitally…. But you know what? I’m going to save that for the New Year

#doula #haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas #magicmoments #midwivesmatter #makingmemories #familiescomeinallshapesandsizes #womenarethebest

@babyumbrella is an INCREDIBLY important organisation in West Kent, providing support and services that are not otherwise available. Could YOU be the next part of this vital charity ♥️

Posted @withregram • @babyumbrella We have a trio of fabulous roles open on our team at the moment - are any of these right for you or someone you know?

Please share far and wide and help us find the very best people to support as many families as possible in those early months and years of new parenthood.

-——————
Chair of Trustees - voluntary role - 5-6 hours per month

After 4.5 years, our current Chair’s term is coming to an end and we are looking to bring in an empowering leader who is passionate about what we do to lead our board over the next phase of our development.

-——————
Support Practitioner - freelance role - 4-10 hours per month

For the first time since 2021 we are looking to add a new practitioner to our small team to enable us to be more flexible and add extra support where it is needed. We are looking for a qualified Lactation Consultant or Breastfeeding Counsellor who is skilled, passionate and reliable for in person work within West Kent (Otford, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells) as well as Zoom.

-——————
Trusts & Foundations Manager - freelance role - 12 hours per month

We’re looking for a trusts and foundations freelancer to join our team for 12 hours a month to ensure our grants income stream is stable and efficiently managed, supporting our charitable activities with West Kent families.

-——————
Check out the full role descriptions at babyumbrella.org.uk/work-with-us and don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat if you have questions at info@babyumbrella.org.uk.

We can’t wait to meet you 🙂

Oh I do love me a bit of CPD. And what better time of year to hunker down and connect with the senses than this?

#aromatherapy
#aromatherapyforchildbirth
#scentsations
#doula
#empoweringbirth
#havingababy
#birthplan

Serendipity in all its glorious technicolour. Good vibes only at Geri’s, and the perfect place to see such a brilliant omen

#nofilter #goodvibesonly #womensupportingwomen #serendipity #rainbowsofinstagram

I’m in a special place and time, closing loops and observing life unfold, as it always does, in its own way. Already this week I’ve loved baby toes wriggling and responsive in sleep. Hours of held hands, a squeeze the last communication. 2weeks. 48yrs. 100yrs. How much has happened in that span of years, how much forgotten, and how many precious memories held.

There are so many synergies between the beginning of life and its end. These moments are all that matters, forming us and imprinting on expectations and attitudes. The only control we really have over them is our determination for human connection, compassion, ability to accept and value these moments, our feelings, as meaningful. Just that, and nothing more.

And how much knowledge we’ve lost about these vital human transformations. I can appreciate the intention behind the systematising, the institutionalising. I know the shape of the World has followed suit and we may be on a one way path. But how much richer our lives could be if we had access to these moments more. If we knew what to expect and were more honest about and comfortable with the inevitable mish-mash of tears, laughter, pain, comfort, distress, connection… and what a privilege it is to be present.

Huge thank you to a beautiful, powerful, resilient, determined woman for my gift (pictured) @dr.rachel.reed you made a big difference here ♥️

I think I’m a bit late to the party with this book. It’s an absolute masterclass of perfect prose, and how to live a meaningful life, with dignity and integrity, in an uncertain, unstable world - within and without. Serendipity timed this perfectly.

10/10. Highly recommend

#booksofinstagram #manners #doula #lifeinbooks

How did we get here? To a place where the person, the meaning of the experience, is displaced by bureaucracy? We seem to have forgotten that life is valuable all the way through. Not just when you’re fit and instagrammable. But at the margins too. When the value of an hour isn’t how much you can fit in it, but about closeness, contact and peace. How did we manage to upend our values so significantly? How have we become so disconnected from our bodies and senses and the material world around us? Are we really content with this?

Real care does exist. But only thanks to the women (and a few men) who refuse to be beaten. Who care despite the system. Turning up every day despite the bureaucracy and poor funding and shit conditions that make it harder rather than easier. When you receive care that makes you feel connected, it can’t be just a job.

Huge thanks to the carer today who sat and talked to me, and was interested in photos from a life well lived. Who shared her own life with me, and talked of her mum, training midwives in Accra. Maybe, one day, we’ll be able to align the system to our human needs.

#midwivesmatter
#carematters
#lifewelllived

A week of big emotions. My mum died suddenly in 2005. Still now, nearly 20yrs later, I regularly think, oh! I must call Mum and tell her about that… and the lovely thing is that over the years I’ve come to highly value that instinct. It means she’s still with me, all the time. That she’s not forgotten. That all the things I learnt from her, and memories I have, and ways of being that are just now I am, remain current and alive inside me, even while she’s not here.

Ultimately it is all we have, these human connections between us. They are the power we have. They are all that matters.

😊 ✨ ♥️

#doula
#antenatal
#birthplanning
#inductionoflabour
#knowledgeispower

MNVPs and your childbirth career. Your voice matters!

(…and when will I learn to smile at the beginning of these reels 🤔)

#mnvp
#maternity
#havingababy
#newmum
#newbaby
#fourthtrimester
#womensupportingwomen
#birthmatters
#positivebirth
#midwivesmatter
#doula

This Baby Loss Awareness Week my trusty TENS machine had an outing of a different kind: easing the discomfort and pain of miscarriage. It was returned yesterday with such kind generosity - although unnecessary. Communities of women support these silent losses every week, and it matters. This is both paying it forwards and back.

Sending love and strength to these women and everyone suffering grief and loss this week.

#tensmachine
#blaw
#womensupportingwomen
#miscarriagesupport
#payitforward
#doulasupport

Thanks for the timely reminder @thebootlegaltruist ❤️

#serendipity
#smallmomentsofcalm
#ittakesavillage
#doula
#grounded

Birth plans, eh? Almost everyone writes one, and they have a reputation for being almost completely useless at helping you control what happens. So why *are* you writing one?

Check out this blog for three birth plan pitfalls.... and three Top Doula Tips for your writing a birth plan that looks and sounds like YOU ❣️

https://www.thegoodbirthpractice.co.uk/single-post/so-come-on-why-are-you-writing-that-birth-plan

#doula #birthplan #birthplanning #doulatoptips #havingababy #antenatal #knowledgeispower #newblogpost

Early miscarriage and why it’s important this is part of the conversation.

#blaw #doula

Why is it so hard to talk about positive birth experiences? And why should this matter to you if you had a shitty one?

#goodbirth #birthplanning #havingababy #antenatal #positivebirth #doula #doulatips

IMPORTANT REQUEST…

Posted @withregram • @mtw_mvp 📣COMMUNICATION AND CONSENT📣
❓Did you have a baby at MTW Maternity between April ‘23 and April ‘24?

We’re working with MTW Maternity to improve communication and make sure consent is informed and free. Tell us how it was for you either by commenting on this thread, or emailing us at mtw.mvp@gmail.com

Thank you - your voice matters

#positivebirth #havingababy #newmum #sevenoaksmums #tonbridgemums #tunbridgewellsmums #maidstonemums #edenbridgemums #tonbridgemums #westmallingmums #kentmums #mnvp

Me: I’ll be with you in 15mins. Do you need anything?
New Dad: Manly sized washing up gloves with testosterone boost, please

Top Doula Tip #573 : as a new parent, whenever you have visitors, ask them to bring something. Anything. It gently reminds them that they’re coming to see people who need a bit of nurturing, not just a fresh new human. Met my own standard yesterday and duly arrived for a postnatal visit with biscuits and washing up gloves 😂

#doula #postnatal #fourthtrimester #newdad #newbaby #doulatips

Finding my ‘live’ mojo again after 4yrs 🤦🏽‍♀️…

#doula #birthplan #birthplanning #havingababy #knowledgeispower #positivebirth #antenatal

…and we’re off #2. Writerly furrowed brow returns, as does the emotional pendulum between “I love writing 🥰’ // ‘this is agony 😭’

* choice and decision making
* birth
* birth plans
* humanisation
* neoliberalism
* sex and gender
* clinicians and institutions
* knowledge systems
* feminism
* disembodiment and dehumanisation

#doula #birth #midwivesmatter #mothersmatter #antenataleducation #knowledgeispower #choices #informeddecisionmaking #consent #feminist #birthplan

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Follow me on Instagram

@charliegoodbirth

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Necessity is the mother of invention : the birth of the Pocket Doula, and why it works so well

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Supporting mothers and families

Doula-led antenatal classes & birth doula support

Bromley | Orpington | Chelsfield | Bexley