Lou is an NCT doula in Ealing, Chiswick and Acton.
Would you like Lou Toosey to be your Doula?
Email: lou@thebabyexperience.co.uk
Mobile: 0777 9657 888
About Lou
Lou is an NCT Antenatal Teacher, Breastfeeding Counsellor, Baby Massage Instructor and Holistic infant sleep consultant who lives in Acton, West London with her husband and has two young adult sons.
She has over 15 years experience supporting parents and parents-to-be with their new babies and young children, and her aim is to help women and birth partners navigate the often-challenging pregnancy and childbirth journey, and find their own unique ways to birth and parent their children.
Lou supports parents with evidence-based information and practical support, including practicing relaxation through breathing, massage and visualisation techniques and comfortable positions for late pregnancy and birth. For Lou, as part of the birthing woman's 'team', she sees her role as important to also support birth partners to feel calm and confident, and to work well with midwives and health professionals to create a positive, empowering environment.
She also has an exciting kit bag and is always happy to loan books, birth and peanut balls, tens machines, massage and aromatherapy tools, and anything else you might need.
Lou has a wonderful sense of humour, and is practical, resourceful and creative. She is also gentle and tactful, a great listener and extremely caring.
Lou is a Breastfeeding Support Worker on the postnatal wards at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital and has been a longterm member of the West Middlesex and Chelsea & Westminster Maternity Voices Partnership. She has useful knowledge about what to expect at these units, as well as good relationships with the maternity staff.
In her spare time Lou likes drawing, restoring things and baking.
Qualifications
- NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor, University of Worcester (August 2024)
- NCT Doula Pathway, University of Worcester (Feb 2019)
- OCN Sleep Training Skills, Babyem (July 2019)
- Rebozo/Scarf Workshop, Royal College of Midwives accreditation (Feb 2019)
- Acupressure for pregnancy and birth, Udemy (August 2018)
- Brazelton Newborn Observation Course (May 2017)
- IAIMS Baby Massage Training course (Feb 2012)
- NCT Diploma of Antenatal Education, University of Bedfordshire (2011)
- Fluent French & Spanish speaker (BA Joint Hons), University of Manchester (1994)
Practicalities
Lou will provide support by:
- Meeting you on your own, or with your partner / friend / family member at least three times before birth, at your home or another convenient venue. This is to get to know you, discuss your preferences and concerns, explore your options, make plans for the birth and practice birth skills such as breathing and massage
- Being on call for you 24/7 for up to 4 weeks around your estimated due date.
- Staying with you throughout your labour and for a few hours after birth to ensure you and your family are comfortable and settled.
- Visiting you early on after birth, to support you with breastfeeding, expressing, formula or mixed feeding your baby, and chat about how you and your baby are doing, discuss your birth and any further support you may need - and bring you a delicious home-made cake of your choice!
- Being available for you with unlimited contact by phone, text and email from time of booking until 6 weeks after the birth of your babies.
Testimonials
“I am so lucky to have found Lou straight away, she is everything I would have wished for in a doula and so passionate about her job. She is the warmest person, with so much knowledge about pregnancy, babies and new parents. She supported both myself and my partner throughout the pregnancy, the labour and afterwards with her precious advices and kind heart. I don’t know what we would have done without her! She reassured us about everything that went wrong in the process, and was always there for us”.
- Carole
“Lou was such a fantastic support and resource for me and for the family as a doula for my second baby, who was born at home. We talked through my first birth, she gave me excellent tips and resources for my toddler with adjusting him to the new arrival and to improve his sleep, and supported us during labour. And in the postnatal period Lou was invaluable. Lou will always be a very special person for me and our family. Thank you!”
- Joanna
“Lou is a wonderfully caring and knowledgeable person and present with me for my caesarean, reassuring and keeping me calm throughout, as well as asking all the questions in the operating room that my brain was too foggy to deal with! She took genuine delight supporting me as my daughter entered the world, and I greatly valued her calmness and nurturing approach to my daughter and I in those early hours, which also continued once we were discharged from hospital. Lou has become a friend, helping us with various things along the way, like advice on sleeping and baby massage for trapped wind! I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending her skills as a doula”.
“Lou Toosey is exactly the person you want with you when giving birth. Brilliantly knowledgeable, warm, funny and so reassuring. Fundamentally though, she empowers - finding ways to inspire you to trust yourself and find the best birth in the situation you're given. I found myself giving birth just four weeks after my Mum died - I felt raw and insecure but Lou helped me, with her real kindness and great advice, to focus and still have the birth I wanted. I will always be hugely grateful”.
