Hi! I’m Fran, a birth and holistically trained postpartum doula, and the woman behind Rose + Nettle. I’m based in Southwick and support families across East and West Sussex. I
was called to becoming a doula through my own experiences of birth, motherhood and postpartum, and a growing conviction that we were never meant to do any of this alone.
Birth is an enormous threshold, and I believe how we are supported as we cross it matters. I am equally interested in what happens afterwards: the becoming, the unravelling, the rebuilding and the enormous identity shift that happens when a baby arrives.
My approach is warm, grounded, practical and occasionally irreverent (!) I’m not here to tell you how to birth, feed, parent or “do” your postpartum. There is quite enough noise telling mothers what they should be doing already. Instead, I’ll help you explore your options, find good information, trust your instincts and make choices that feel right for you and your family.
As your birth doula, our work starts long before labour. I want to get to know you, what matters to you, what makes you feel safe and what you might need when things feel hard. We can explore your hopes for birth, talk honestly about the different paths it might take, work through fears and questions, and make sure both you and your partner feel prepared and supported.
During labour, I offer continuous, calm and familiar support. Sometimes that means practical comfort measures, movement, massage or helping create an environment in which you feel safe enough to let go. Sometimes it means helping you slow things down, understand your options and find your voice when decisions need to be made. Sometimes it means quietly holding the room while you get on with birthing your baby.
Your partner is very much part of the picture too. I’m there to support them, not replace them, so they can be close to you without feeling like they need to have all the answers. And then there’s what comes next. I often say that planning for the birth but not the postpartum is a bit like planning for the wedding but not the marriage.
We put so much energy into preparing for birth, only to arrive on the other side and discover that nobody really told us what happens then. As a holistically trained postpartum doula, my care is rooted in the belief that recovery after birth deserves real time, nourishment and attention. That might mean cooking you something warm and nourishing, holding your baby while you sleep or shower, making cups of tea, talking through the wild emotional landscape of new motherhood, helping you find your feet with feeding and everyday life, or simply being another pair of hands when everything feels like a lot.
I also offer dedicated postpartum planning sessions, helping families think about rest, nourishment, visitors, partners, support networks and what those first weeks might actually look like before they’re in the thick of them. Ultimately, I’m not here to steer you towards a particular kind of birth or postpartum.
I’m here to help you feel informed, supported and connected to your own instincts as you find your way through it. There is no gold star for doing motherhood a certain way, and no perfect version to aim for....Just you, your baby, your family, and the support you deserve while you find your way. If that sounds like the kind of support you’d like beside you as you prepare for birth and what comes after, I’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch and we can have a chat about what support might look like for you.
