Birth Doula & Postpartum Doula support in Richmond, South West London & Surrey
Knowledgeable, Empowering, Nurturing support for your birth & postpartum
How you get to experience your pregnancy, birth and early motherhood deeply matters. Because however they unfurl, these experiences will stay with you forever, and affect you, your baby and how you go into motherhood together.
I believe every woman deserves to approach & experience their birth & postpartum from a place of calm, understanding and power, not anxiety or fear.
To feel thoroughly held, heard, nurtured and empowered every step of the way, not left unsure, uncared for or blind-sided.
Whatever your hopes, wishes or journey so far, I’ll provide you with informed, holistic, unwavering support to navigate your pregnancy, birth & postpartum with more ease, confidence and trust in yourself.
And help you stack the odds in your favour of a positive birth & gentle beginnings with your baby, in whichever way feels right for you.
Amelie Cresswell - experienced birth doula & postpartum doula in South West London & Surrey
I’ve been supporting women & families through the perinatal period for more than 12 years now, with pregnancy yoga, active birth preparation, yoga therapy for postpartum recovery and baby massage, then expanding my services to birth & postpartum doula support in 2024 to offer the full continuity of care I feel (and has been proven to) makes all the difference.
It is my own, extremely different experiences of birth and the postpartums that followed (one traumatic induced first birth, and a physiological water birth) - that first put me on this path, since shaped by the needs & experiences of the hundreds of women I’ve worked alongside (you can read more about my journey here)
I support and have experience supporting all types of births including home births, births at the birth centre or in hospital/labour ward, inductions, elective and emergency caesareans, and can support my clients across settings & situations. What matters to me is that your choices are truly informed, respected by all at all times, and to ensure you feel heard, supported and at the centre of your experience however your birth unfolds.
I am based in Richmond, London and serve most areas of South West London, West London, Central London and parts of Surrey, including Richmond, Twickenham, Isleworth, Barnes, Ealing, Kingston, Wimbledon, Westminster, Surbiton, Esher, and more.
I am a Recognised Doula with DoulaUK, am fully insured, and meet the requirements of private insurance such as Carrot & BUPA.
French-speaking doula in London & Surrey
A native French speaker having had my two babies in the UK, I am also able to offer doula support in French, helping you better understand and navigate the UK maternity system and postpartum care, which can be so different from France, and signpost you to French-speaking and French private maternity care options if this feels appropriate to you.
My support in 4 pillars
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Personalised, trust-building support
Because no two people, pregnancies, births or babies are the same
Taking the time to understand you and your own unique needs, attitudes, hopes & fears, current situation and journey to this point, so I can share with you the information, support and tools that will help nurture a deep sense of trust in yourself, your body, baby, your ability to birth and to make the choices that feel right for you and your baby. -
Empowering, evidence-based birth education
Because knowledge is power
Helping you understand key need-to-knows about your body and birth & postpartum physiology, exploring all your birth choices and how these influence birth, common interventions and complications and how to navigate them, to help you make confident, informed birth plans and choices at each and every step of your journey.
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Transformative body & mind preparation/care
Because birth is first and foremost a body & mind process
Actively helping you prepare and look after your body-mind and build trust in yourself is a central part of my unique approach, integrating my expertise in perinatal yoga, pelvic floor health, biomechanics, hypnobirthing and mindset work to actively support your pregnancy comfort, ease in labour & birth, and postpartum recovery.
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Unwavering, continuous support and advocacy
Because what you need & how you feel along the way deserves full attention
From the moment you book me until your baby is a few weeks old, I’ll be here for you. A dedicated ‘go-to’ for questions, judgement-free guidance and reassurance whenever you need on this rollercoaster journey. And a constant ally in your birth space, ensuring you feel fully heard, supported and respected no matter how things unfold.
What clients have said about Amelie’s doula support
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Amelie’s ability to support us has been nothing short of amazing. When we navigated a change of plans in our birth, she helped us adapt and supported me to trust my instincts whilst also remembering my birth preferences. She made me felt held, even when I was ambivalent about certain decisions, helping me never feeling rushed or pressured. She was upbeat and positive, fierce enough to protect our birth space without causing friction with birth care staff. She has lots of knowledge and deep empathy, and proved to be a strong emotional pillar throughout birth & my early postpartum. I couldn’t be more grateful!
— Charlie
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Amelie was instrumental in helping us to prepare for our son's birth, and supported us to have a beautiful home birth. She helped us to explore our birth preferences and worries through the antenatal planning sessions which gave me the confidence to change my birth plans. She went above and beyond to help us achieve this, even liaising with the midwives to help me move hospital midway through my pregnancy.
I also attended her antenatal yoga classes which were a highlight of my week and helped me to feel physically prepared for birth. On the day, she worked closely with my mum & husband to ensure they felt confident in their role as birth partners, providing guidance & reassurance as needed. We couldn’t have wished for a better birth experience and Amelie was a massive part of making this happen.— Alissa
As a birth & postpartum doula, I believe:
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This is all about YOU, this is your experience, your journey. I will never hold any judgement about the choices you make, they are yours and yours alone. What matters to me is that you can make these choices from an informed place, out of power rather than fear, and to ensure these choices are respected.
To help you work out - and experience - birth in a way that feels right to you & your baby; to help you stack the odds in your favour of making this happen, and to ensure you feel safe, grounded and prepared along the way, even if birth needs to take a different path. -
Whether you’re hoping for a physiological/low intervention birth, or needing/wanting a more medicalised approach, I believe understanding birth & postpartum physiology (how your body and your baby work during and after birth) is KEY to understand your birth options, navigate your birth planning & decision-making, actual labour & birth, and immediate postpartum, in an informed and empowered way
I’m passionate about actively supporting & protecting that physiology, whatever the birth context, to the best benefit to you and your baby. This support is not just intuitive, it’s rooted in a deep understanding of birth, the body, nervous system, pelvis biomechanics but also breastfeeding physiology and newborn behaviour for the postpartum phase.
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However you choose to give birth, you cannot by-pass the body, and how the body is will have an effect on the ‘ease’ of your birth & recovery.
However you give birth, your mindset, thoughts and beliefs will affect how you feel about your experience - which we know is what women remember most of their birth and postpartum experience.To me, body and mind preparation and care are not an extra or a ‘nice-to-have’ - it should be an integral part of all birth preparation. Because birth prep is not just about information gathering, birth is not just a series of decisions, it’s a full body & mind process.
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How you came into this pregnancy, into this birth, into this postpartum matters. These are not ‘separate’ events but unfurl from one another. Your journey to this point will always affect to some degree your pregnancy, birth and/or postpartum experience.
I have first-hand experience and direct experience supporting women & families during anxious pregnancies, including after a long conception journeys, loss and IVF, and a difficult/traumatic birth.
I can share extra tools to support you & ways to secure the best support from your maternity care. I am also trained in childbirth trauma and trauma-aware yoga and body practices.
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I strongly believe caesareans warrant the same level - if not exactly the same type - of support as vaginal births, and very passionate about supporting gentle, women-centred and baby-centred caesareans, and holistic recovery. I believe women deserve specialised, informed post-surgery and postpartum care, which is quasi-inexistant in the care provided in the NHS.
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Birth is such a big milestone, it’s very easy to bring all of our focus on it. Projecting past it can be hard, especially as first time parents, or after a difficult first birth.
But once your baby’s here, it often feels like it’s actually just the beginning. So much to learn and get to grips with, so much to manage and navigate, on often very little sleep, with a recovering body.
This is a vulnerable period but also an extremely potent one, when receiving care, guidance and practical support can transform how you feel physically and emotionally, and your connection with your body and with your baby, not just at the time but also as you move forward into motherhood.
Doula support packages
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- Birth Doula Support-
1 hour initial conversation (in-person or online)
2 in-depth antenatal sessions
1 postpartum preparation session to help you feel equipped for the first 6-8 weeks after birth (or one extra postnatal visit)
Yoga for pregnancy & birth online course and library + pregnancy journal
On-call support from 38 weeks until you give birth
Support at your birth from whenever you need me until baby has arrived and you’re all happy and settled
1 postpartum visit at your home or in hospital
WhatsApp / phone support until 2 weeks postpartum
Extensive resources to help you with birth planning, preparation and decision-making
I have a TENS machine, Yuula balls, birth ball and a peanut ball for use to use during labour
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- Birth & Postpartum Support -
full birth preparation & support with extended postpartum support
All elements of the Birth Support package, plus:15 additional hours of postpartum support, spread over 3 or 6 weeks after birth, blending
- bodywork for recovery
- feeding support (breast &/or bottle)
- baby care guidance & support
- mother care physical & emotional support, including nourishment & restdesigned to soften your landing into motherhood, actively support your initial postpartum recovery, and gently grow more confident with your baby and as a mother/parent in your fourth trimester
Includes email/text/phone support until your last postpartum support session.
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- Elective caesarean birth -
a package tailored to those planning for an elective c-section
2 antenatal sessions to explore and put together your birth preferences, prepare for and navigate your cesarean with calm, and make plans for your recovery and early postpartumIn-person support on the day, including waiting for your caesarean, being with you in theatre and supporting you immediately after in recovery/high dependency unit and/or postnatal ward
1 visit on the postnatal ward the day after your birth
1 visit at home once you’ve been discharged, covering essential scar care, early movement and daily tips to support you and baby
1 visit at home round 6-8 weeks to walk you through scar massage techniques and progressive movement for recovery
Extensive support resources
WhatsApp/ phone support whenever you need me from booking time to 6 weeks postpartum
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- Postpartum Support -
Holistic postnatal support to nurture you as a new mother, help grow your confidence with your baby, navigate early challenges and actively support your postpartum recovery. Sessions might include:
- Reflecting on your birth experience & chatting through concerns
- Breastfeeding and/or bottle feeding support
- Essential baby care, including winding, first bath, carrying, and soothing
- Therapeutic postpartum yoga to support your physical recovery & pelvic floor
- Bodywork and guided rest to address exhaustion and/or overwhelm
- Baby massage and stretches/movements for digestive comfort
- Looking after your baby so you can rest, spend time with older siblings, or have uninterrupted ‘me-time’
- Cooking nourishing meals & snacksAvailable as ad-hoc support or in bundles of 15hrs. At home or in hospital.
All packages can be enhanced with additional sessions & services to be fully adapted to your own individual needs & circumstances.
Prices may vary depending on your location (if extra travel is required).
Payments plans are available; please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your needs and options.
Stand-alone antenatal preparation and doula consultations
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Birth options & birth planning session
a 2.5hours session dedicated to exploring birth planning / mapping, and navigating birth choices and care options (the one you know about and the ones you may not).
We also cover fundamentals of birth & postpartum physiology and approaches to decision-making, to help you make fully informed decisions that feel right for you.
Includes access to many resources.
Delivered in-person at home or online via Zoom, and redeemable against full birth doula support.
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Practical birth skills session
A 2.5hrs session designed to help you and your partner better visualise what labour & birth might feel & look like on the day(s), and help you navigate each phase with more ease and confidence, whilst supporting and protecting the birth process.
We cover key need-to-know about birth physiology, body & mind tools (including breathing and positioning), release and support techniques (massage, rebozo, use of props), as well as tips & tricks for transfers, labour stalls, epidurals, etc and advocating for yourself.
The session will be tailored to your needs & wishes (for example, planning to have an epidural, an induction, birthing at home, etc).Includes access to many digital resources including videos audios, and printables.
Delivered in-person at home or online via Zoom, and redeemable against full birth doula support.
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Postpartum expectations & planning session
A 2.5 hour antenatal session designed to help you understand what to expect from the postpartum period (from your body, your baby, your daily life, and more), and prepare for a gentler, more supported 4th trimester and transition into early motherhood/parenting.
You will receive a journal-style handbook and supportive resources to use both before and once your baby has arrived.
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Doula consultation
One hour with me (via Zoom or phone, or in-person if local to me) to explore any questions/worries on your mind, either antenatally or postnatally, or see if doula support might be helpful to you.
Navigating birth choices or ‘curve balls’, understanding situations (GBS, gestational diabetes, big baby, small baby, breech baby etc) and navigating recommendations that have been made to you (including induction), tips to resolve ‘sub-optimal’ baby positioning, and more. Literally anything you need to talk through and would like more balanced, non-judgemental, non-biased guidance around.
Cost of consultation is redeemable against full doula support if you choose to go down that path.
“We are so grateful for the incredible support we received from Amelie. She was a calm, reassuring presence throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Her knowledge, encouragement, and ability to listen without judgment helped us feel confident, supported and positive at every stage. Even just talking with her made such a difference.
We can’t recommend her highly enough. She truly brings together compassion, knowledge, and steady support in a way that makes all the difference for expecting and new parents.”
— Kaley & Jack
get in touch
to arrange a free, informal call
for us to connect and discuss your needs