It happens a lot here that women are bullied or pushed into drugs and routine episotomies: I know I do work with high-risk pregnancies, but even friends who have come to my hospital have "needed" intervention. I don't know, maybe they did... but I'm not trusting the hospital! Usually it's the man who is asked to make the decision too, I'm trying to train my DH to say "no" to everything, but am going to put on my birth intentions sheet that if I don't agree to something then they are not to do it, I don't care what my husband says!

Lisa-Jay, if you know some trainee doulas in the mid-sussex area I would love it if you could tell me who they are! They're not very easy to find, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places. I was just going to call the doula's I'd found and ask if they had any trainees, but I do know that may not look too fantastic.