Top Notch Nannies

British Doulas is to launch Dial-a Doula, an emergency breast-feeding service, on May 14th 2001, the start of National Breast-feeding Awareness Week.

The service will offer an emergency doula to desperate new mums who cannot get their babies to feed. Research has shown that one of the reasons why mothers give up trying to breast-feed is lack of support at this crucial time. Some women find it almost impossible to get the hang of breast-feeding but, with help from an experienced doula, most women can do it.

Doulas exist to support mothers and enable them to care for their babies in the early postnatal period. This is also the time when women need help most with breast feeding. Doulas will support a mother whether she wishes to breast-feed or to bottle-feed. However, the course that all British Doulas go through includes breast-feeding training and some are qualified breast-feeding counsellors through the National Childbirth Trust.

“We have already had calls for emergency doulas,” says Jean Birtles, owner of British Doulas. ”One new mother called us in tears because her baby hadn’t been able to latch on for 24 hours and was starving. We sent a doula to her in a taxi and within two hours the baby was feeding and the mother was calm again. “We never lecture mothers on how they should feed their babies but we are keen that more mothers should be given the chance to breast-feed if they want to.”

• Doulas cost £10 per hour and the agency fee for the Dial-a-Doula service will be £20.
• For more information please call Caroline Stephenson on 0207 244 6053 or Jean Birtles on 020 7259 2626. Or email doulas@topnotchnannies.com.