Sophie Bartholomew

I am a mentored post natal doula supporting families in South West London. A doula literally means 'a woman who serves'. In the past, and still in traditional societies, this job would have been carried out by other mothers in the communities, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and neighbours. Today, particularly in London, new mums step away from what many perceive as the supportive networks of their busy work days and embark on a solitary journey as a mother, literally retreating into their homes and closing the door. The human race has never parented like this - it's really crazy if you think about it and makes it all much harder. As a doula, I am able to walk the path with new parents - supporting, nurturing and empowering. It is not about my belief system or opinions. I can provide evidence based information and sign-post but my goal is to give parents the space to find their own way, to find their own answers.

As a post-natal doula, I can come to your home for a few hours at a time, and do whatever needs doing to make your life easier and help you enjoy your baby/babies more. It may be debriefing your birth, supporting you with breast/bottle feeding, preparing food, putting a load of laundry on, cleaning up a little so that life does not feel quite so out of control, taking dogs for a walk, picking up older children from school, holding the baby while you sleep, or just sitting and chatting and having endless cups of tea (and cake). I am very flexible and happy to help in any way I can. Get in touch to have a chat!

About Me

I was born and raised in Barnes and after an exciting 5 years in Brooklyn, New York, I dragged my very american husband and new baby back to Barnes, where we then had number 2 and number 3 baby. Following a career full of travel working in emergencies in Asia for NGOs and UNICEF, I wanted to find work that did not involve so much overseas travel.

I then spent 3 years retraining as an NCT teacher and now teach for the NCT as well as for Bump and Baby Club. I am passionate about supporting new families as they navigate the wonderful but often challenging transition to parenthood.

Through my classes I become very attached to the parents but my only contact with them once their babies were born was a one-off reunion or maybe some tearful phone calls in those early days. I wanted to find something that would enable me to continue that relationship where I could watch their confidence grow as parents and offer my support where needed. So training in baby massage and then as a doula was the next logical step.