Wow, Aleanbh, what you've written is really inspiring. It is encouraging to read feedback like that. I am training to be a Doula right now, and although I know in my heart and from my clients' feedback that our work makes a huge difference, it is really a shot in the arm to read feedback like yours. Two of my clients are first time mothers going into labour soon. It is so good to read about another first-timer who got through that challenging first labour so beautifully, and found that a Doula helped towards that.
Hope everything goes fantastic for you this December, look forward to hearing about it here on the BB forum. You go, girl! (Scuse the Americanism, counldn't resist!)