Your Birth Journey - Birth & Postnatal Doula in Ceredigion

25/06/2026

05/06/2026

My placentas, regret, and ritual.
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It’s so lovely to finally have a quiet day inside to catch up on life. After busy weeks of client sessions (which I love!), tending to the garden before hay fever kicks in, and soaking up the summer sun, my soul needed this pause.🌿
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Lately, I’ve been reflecting on a deeply meaningful ritual I finally completed: planting 3 new bushes in my garden.
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Through my work supporting births, I’ve always been fascinated by how different mothers honour their placentas — the incredible, nourishing organ that sustains new life. Some plant it with a tree, others make capsules. No matter the birth path — home birth or caesarean birth — they ensure it is honoured.
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But looking back at my own 3 births?
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I did absolutely nothing. I didn't even look at them. The awareness simply wasn't there yet.
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For a long time, I felt a deep sense of regret that I never thanked the placentas that sustained my children.
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So this year, I decided to change that.
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I planted 3 bushes — lavender, loganberry, and white gooseberry — into our garden as a symbolic thank you. I used a bit of my menstrual blood to connect the ritual back to my body and my womb space.
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As I pressed them into the soil, I spoke to the energy of each placenta. I thanked them for how they nurtured my now-grown children, right here on the land we were guided to 6 years ago, where we now happily live.
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Afterwards, a profound sense of peace washed over me. I finally felt that missing connection. It reminded me that it is never too late to go back and honour our transitions.🙏
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Did you do a ritual with your placenta? Or if you didn't at the time, what would you like to say to it today?
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(Picture: One of my client's beautiful placentas, shared with her permission. Swipe/look with reverence🤍)

30/04/2026

🌟🤰Pregnancy Circle in May / Cylch Beichiogrwydd ym mis Mai🤰🌟
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Thursday 14th May
19.00-20.30
Aberystwyth, Merched y Wawr
£20 per person
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Hosted by Tomoko, an experienced doula and birthworker
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All stages of pregnancy are welcome.
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🌟Spaces are limited in this small group. To reserve your spot, message me or email Tomoko [email protected] by 12th May🌟
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🤰What is Pregnancy Circle?
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A small, welcoming space offering evidence-based information and practical tips for birth preparation, while gently nurturing your self-trust and supporting you to embrace your own unique journey.
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🤰Are You...
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- Looking to navigate towards the birth experience you desire?
- Wanting to strengthen the connection with your body and growing baby?
- Seeking connection with other like-minded mothers? ​
- Hoping for a different pregnancy or birth experience this time? ​
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🤰What to Expect After the Circle:
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- Re-centre yourself and reconnect with your baby
- Positive feelings about your pregnancy and birth journey
- Self-discovery and insights about your journey
- A sense of not being alone on your journey
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🤰Here's a glimpse of what we do: ​

Topic-Based Birth Preparation Activity, such as: ​
​ 🌱 Exploring birthing positions ​
​ 🌱 Creating birth affirmations ​
​ 🌱 Learning how to advocate for yourself ​ ​ ​ ​
​ 🌱 Practical home birth Preparation
​ 🌱 Fourth trimester preparation
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For more details: https://www.yourbirthjourneydoula.com/pregnancy-circle
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If financial concerns are keeping you from attending, please reach out.
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Come as you are, and if you have questions, don't hesitate to message or email Tomoko at [email protected]💌

29/04/2026

This photo was taken on the next day I gave birth to my eldest child at home. My mother came all the way from Japan to support us.
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She had all 3 of her children in hospital, so when we shared our plan for a home birth — and even more so, a birth in a pool — it was completely unfamiliar to her. She felt surprised, and understandably, a little anxious.
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Her initial plan was to go out during the birth and return afterwards, as she wasn’t sure how she could support us.
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But in the end… she stayed.
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She sat quietly just outside the kitchen, where we had set up the birth pool. Whenever I reached out for a drink, she would appear instantly, gently placing it in my hand.
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When my son was born, we cried together.
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She passed away 10 years ago when I was pregnant with my youngest child. That birth space we shared is one of the most precious memories I have with her.
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Her death encouraged me to live my life more fully and it led me to become a doula.
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Recently, I had the opportunity to support a mother whose own mother was no longer with her. She reached out for extra support to help hold that space, and also leaned on her wider community to support her in her mother’s absence.
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On the day of her birth, I felt an immense presence of her mother’s love in the air. It was as if both mother and baby were being held and protected by it. Being in that sacred space, I felt a deep sense of humility — it was something that truly moved and warmed my heart.
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It brought me back to the moment after my youngest child was born, when I felt my own mother’s love so strongly — even the weather shifted around us.
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A MOTHER is such a special being.
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For me, there is nothing quite like her warmth — the feeling of complete safety, of being held in my wholeness. Her absence has left a big space in my heart that can never quite be filled.
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And yet…
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She is now a MOTHER.
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There is something deeply moving in how the absence of a mother can also create connection. In some way, it opens us to the wider human community — reminding us that we are not alone.
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Today, I’m thinking of those walking their motherhood journey without their mothers beside them, and also of the mothers who longed to be there but couldn’t❤❤

13/04/2026

A testimonial from a birth doula client
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For more testimonials & details of my birth doula support: https://www.yourbirthjourneydoula.com/birth-doula-support

10/04/2026

Is the recommendation of induction for advanced maternal age truly based on sound evidence?

Or is it illogical when you break down and really look at the issues?

What do older women need to know about the evidence in this area?

We hear from more and more women who are told that they need induction of labour because they are older.

This issue also arose when the NICE guideline on induction of labour was revised in 2021.

The recommendation to offer earlier induction to older women was not included in the final guideline.

But we know it’s still being offered.

As I wrote when the guideline was published:

“One of the most controversial aspects of the draft [NICE] guideline was the proposed recommendation that earlier induction be offered to certain groups of women, including older women, larger women and women who conceived via IVF or ARTs.

It is clear that some groups of women/babies have a slightly higher chance of stillbirth compared to other groups.

But data on this are often crude, the absolute risk may not be that high and we often have no trial evidence to show whether or not induction of labour would make a difference.” (Wickham 2021).

I’ve written more about induction for advanced maternal age in two of my books.

Those are Inducing Labour: making informed decisions and In Your Own Time: how western medicine controls that start of labour and why this needs to stop.

I also have a blog post on induction for advanced maternal age.

Find it at https://www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/induction-for-advanced-maternal-age/

I hope you’ll find it useful.

If you do, you can support my work by buying my books and recommending them to others.

And by the way, there’s one thing we don’t say often enough to older women who get pregnant:

Congratulations 🥰💕😍🎉