8 Doulas And Pregnancy Coaches In Singapore For A Better Birth Experience

While the concept of engaging a doula might have originated overseas, many modern mums in Singapore can vouch for having greatly benefitted from having one by your side during birth. Unlike midwives or nurses, doulas do not have a medical role. Instead, they focus on offering personalized emotional and physical support, encouragement, information and advocacy to aid you and your partner during the childbirth process. 

What's a doula's role?

Apart from being a calming and uplifting presence during what is usually an emotional and challenging process, doulas can physically help by offering massages, positioning and breathing techniques to help you relax and manage pain during labour. They also empower you to make informed decisions aligned with your preferences, and act as your advocate during the delivery to make sure your preferences are communicated and respected by the healthcare professionals. They will remain constantly at your side throughout labour until you’ve delivered, and many of them also offer postpartum support and assistance with breastfeeding, newborn care, and emotional well-being during the initial days and weeks after birth. 

Sounds like the dream answer to all your birthing anxieties? The good news is there are many wonderful doulas available these days locally. Feel free to shop around, read reviews, vet their certifications and experience, meet them in person, ask questions, and find one you can connect with whose philosophies gel with yours, before choosing “the one” for you. Here’s a list of reputable doulas to help get you started. 

1. BumpWise 

BumpwWise is helmed by Deanna Kearns and Johanna Wagner, two highly experienced birth doulas who have worked with families for over 20 years and supported more than 700 births collectively. Deanna is a Canadian with doula experience in both Singapore and Beijing. She is a certified hypnobirthing practitioner, a prenatal and postnatal yoga Instructor, as well as a breastfeeding counsellor. Johanna is an Austrian who founded BumpWise in 2015, and uses her training and experience as a clinical herbalist and naturopath to holistically guide parents in their journey through fertility, delivery, and after. She speaks fluent English, German, Spanish and French, which is a huge plus if any of them is your native language.

Visit their website for more information.

2. Wonder Births

A team of local birth and postpartum doulas cum childbirth educators cum prenatal and postnatal yoga teachers cum bodyworkers, Wonder Births’ mission statement is to “transform the world of birth and beyond through movement, physiology, and psyche”. The team comprises of three certified birth and postpartum doulas who are mothers themselves—Dewi Chan who is also a prenatal and postnatal yoga and womb yoga teacher with a number of other related certifications, Gem Tan who is trained in optimal maternal positioning, birth cartography and more, and Alexia Tan who also is trained in optimal maternal positioning, pelvic floor fascia and biomechanics in the Franklin Method. The team’s “heart-centred and hands-on” approach amalgamates movement, physiology and psyche, as well as yoga and mindfulness practices, to prepare your body, heart and mind for labour and birth. 

Visit their website for more information.

3. Beloved Bumps

Apart from their rich pre- and postnatal service offerings, Beloved Bumps also offers dedicated doula services by their UK and AU registered midwives, along with a customer ‘Happiness Guarantee’. Natasha Cullen and Charlotte Dumaine wear the multiple hats of certified midwives, doulas and hypnobirthing practitioners, and have supported countless couples during labour, birth and after with a deep understanding and experience of the labour and birth process. They’re also skilled and knowledgeable in pain relief options and medical intervention, and are able to provide rich unbiased and evidence-based advice and doula support through your entire birthing process. Van is a certified birth doula with Childbirth International who has been trained by the Beloved Bumps midwives and has also supported numerous couples in pregnancy and childbirth. 

Visit their website for more information.

4. My Baby Adores

Founded in 2007 by Emeline Hare, who is a University of Cambridge graduate with a PGDip in Antenatal Education and Neonatal Care, a lactation specialist, breastfeeding counsellor, hypnobirthing and yoga Instructor, reflexologist, international baby massage teacher trainer, baby yoga teacher, and doula, My Baby Adores helps empowers couples through evidence-based research, education, practical tools and techniques, care and support as they navigate pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. My Baby Adores offers a doula support package which includes two customised prenatal sessions, continuous hospital support and guidance, two postnatal home or hospital visits offering support and guidance with postnatal healing, breastfeeding, baby care, soothing and settling techniques, as well as a gift box containing aromatherapy oils for labour and birth, and medicinal lactation tea! 

Visit their website for more information.

5. Blooming Births

Founded and fronted by Chantel Kismet who calls herself a “trauma-informed” doula, Blooming Births is where you and your partner will find the physical, mental, emotional and informational guidance you need to navigate the birth process with confidence. Using her vast and combined training and experience as mum, birth coach, parent coach, somatic practitioner, hypnobirthing educator, bodyworker, womb massage therapist and shamanic meditation guide, Chantel comes highly recommended by mums who have had her support in drug-free natural births with minimal medical intervention. She also specialises in aiding VBAC births for mums who previously had caesareans, and offers a variety of packages—one of which should well suit your needs.  

Visit their website for more information.

6.  Birth Discovery 

Birth Discovery was founded by Kong Choon Yen, a local mother of two who was inspired on her mission as hypnobirthing childbirth educator slash holistic birth doula after having her first child. She has since acquired a number of other certifications, and is a qualified infant massage instructor as well as a hypnotherapy practitioner who does birth hypnosis. She is a strong advocator of drug-free natural births and hypo-water births, having personally experienced one with her second child. Birth Discovery offers doula packages that can include hypnobirthing education and support, as well as “Good Beginnings Body Therapy” which releases stress and trauma from the birthing experience for both mum and bubs.

Visit their website for more information.

7. Love Birth 

Helen Nash is a UK midwife with over 25 years of midwifery experience spanning Cambridge UK, Tianjin PROC, Congo, and now Singapore. She founded Love Birth in 2021 after a year’s stint with Beloved Bumps. Helen has rich certification and vast experience covering perinatal training, neonatal life support, practical obstetrics training and lactation counselling, on top of her Cambridge BA Honours degree in Midwifery. Her expertise lies in unassisted and water births, having had two home water births herself and having facilitated over 1000 unassisted births. She also has some experience in high-tech birth, birth after abuse, teenage pregnancy and birth, as well as pre- and post-marriage counselling. She offers pre-birth, doula, and post-birth packages. 

Visit their website for more information.

8. Mother And Child 

The Mother And Child team is a fairly large one comprising experienced health professionals, IBCLCs, hypnobirthing practitioners, childbirth educators, birth doulas, perinatal counsellors, certified dietitian, first aid and CPR instructors, sleep specialists, as well as yoga and pilates instructors. Their birth doula support package includes a “Meet and Greet” session to discuss how the doula can support you, two one-hour prenatal meetings, continuous birth support at the hospital during labour and for the first latch, and two one-hour postpartum visits each either at your hospital or home—for supporting you in newborn care and nursing.

Visit their website for more information.