Introducing some of the newest members of our Ideal Birth family ...
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Cheryl is worth her weight in gold! She’s like that super nice caring mum everyone wishes they had, but one that knows everything there is to know about having a baby. She was not only a huge help for my wife throughout the pregnancy and labour, but she was also great for me to have the extra support, particularly in those crisis moments and when you need to make a quick decision under pressure in labour. She helped my wife have a natural birth with no intervention and no pain relief, and there’s no way that would have happened if we didn’t have her there. We highly recommend Cheryl.
I cannot recommend Cheryl enough. Cheryl is full of great advice, warmth, worthwhile connections and referrals and best of all supported me to achieve my ideal birth outcome. Cheryl is open minded, while still providing guidance on best practice. Throughout my entire pregnancy and post birth, Cheryl remained in constant contact and even made us home cooked lasagnes after birth. Cheryl consistently went above and beyond. Her service was and still is impeccable and I can genuinely say the best thing we ever did is ask for Cheryl to be our doula for our pregnancy. THANK YOU!
I had my second child with Cheryl at the beginning of the year. Even though it was three years later, it felt like no time had passed when Cheryl walked into our house for our first meeting. She is just fantastic. If you are at all considering a Doula, then Cheryl is the best of the best.
My birth was wonderful, and I felt supported even though it was an induced labour. Cheryl made a tangible difference to the baby's health and well-being, helping me be confident enough and strong enough to continue through contractions when I thought that maybe I would need some additional pain relief. Now I am all for pain relief; however, I also birth quite fast. Cheryl knew me, knew how I birth and worked with me to get through the peak point when the baby turned. A couple of contractions made all the difference, and I gave birth within 30 minutes of my most challenging moment. Had I taken the pain medication I was being offered, there could have been dire consequences for the baby.
There is no one way to give birth, but having a supportive person who links into who you are and works with you to focus your energy and mind in the birthing suite is always an asset. Both my births were fantastic, and I owe a great debt to Cheryl for that.
On advice from some friends, we decided quite late in my pregnancy to engage a doula and after chatting to a few, we decided to proceed with Cheryl from Ideal Birth and I am forever grateful we did! Cheryl's approach is informed by research, supportive and she is so knowledgeable about all facets of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. She took the time to get to know my partner and I and truly understand what we were hoping for as well as our concerns and as a result, my birth left me feeling empowered, safe, well cared for and was pretty close to the ideal birth (pun intended!) despite some early curve balls. Cheryl's advice during pregnancy and postpartum was invaluable and we are sure that if it wasn't for Cheryl, we would have had a very different birthing and postpartum experience.
I would definitely recommend doulas generally and Cheryl in particular to anyone expecting who understands the value of an empowering and positive birth experience.
"Cheryl was instrumental in helping us prepare for a well informed, positive birth experience within a hospital setting. As first time parents, we felt supported and safe having someone as experienced as Cheryl on our team. After meeting a couple of times, Cheryl quickly figured out both of our personality styles and adapted her approach to suit each of us, ensuring we worked together and supported each other's way of preparing for birth. Our birth did not go to plan, however thanks to Cheryl's support and guidance, we felt positive and empowered the whole way through and do not feel our overall experience was negative in any way. We highly recommend Cheryl as part of any couple's birth support team!"
Prior to getting pregnant I was not at all keen on giving birth naturally - I didn't want the pain and I thought it would 'ruin my body'. Once I fell pregnant and started researching, I became absolutely intent on achieving a positive birth experience - ideally a natural labour without drugs. We are really into health and fitness so it seemed a no brainer to have our own support person/coach to help us prepare for such a huge event in our life!
What I loved is that Cheryl talked us through both sides of different scenarios and options in an objective way, being caring and understanding while also being experienced, knowledgeable - knowing she was a midwife for so long and knew the ins and outs of the hospital system also really put me at ease. We did a lot of preparation with her in our home which was amazing - on topics such as a healthy pregnancy, labouring at home, the birth process, the hospital environment and different pain relief options, breastfeeding, the partner's role, the list goes on. She is a strong and confident woman - exactly who you want by your side particularly if a decision needs to be made and you aren't sure, or if someone is trying to push you toward a certain procedure/intervention.
Having Cheryl's support throughout and when I went into labour was absolutely invaluable! She helped my husband (through many text messages!) time our hospital arrival so perfectly - an absolute godsend as otherwise we would have gone to the hospital 4 hours earlier! We arrived, my waters broke, and our daughter arrived in 1 hour 27 minutes - we achieved an incredible natural labour without pain relief and a wonderful transformative start to our daughter's life. Cheryl's presence was so calming and reassuring - also after the birth she made sure we were looked after which was such a relief.
We really could not recommend Cheryl more, and greatly appreciate her encouragement and support through such an exciting time in our lives - it has made a world of difference for the three of us. If you are considering having a doula in your birth journey, I would say absolutely go for it! We would 100% have her with us for our second baby. Thankyou Cheryl, with love from Sarah, Ross, and Lucy x
“ I had no idea what to expect or how I could support my partner during the birth. ”
Matthew
Give yourself the best chance of a positive birth in a hospital setting. A new book by one of Australias leading doulas, Cheryl Sheriff.
Sharing wisdom from her 30 years experience as a midwife and doula, and her presence at over 1000 hospital births.
After reading this book you will have more direction, and feel confident, excited and less daunted by the experiences to come.
