I was terrified to give birth, so I hired Meghan Markle’s doula

I’m having a C-section,” I said firmly, not even 60 seconds after I found out I was pregnant.

No sooner had those two little blue lines appeared, than my mind raced forward through 10 months of pregnancy and arrived at the birth. A birth – as I’d been led to believe by dramatised TV series, intimidating government statistics and many of my friends’ own experiences – that would undoubtedly be a bloodbath of pain, fear and possibly even worse. In fact, my imagined birth story was so visceral that I questioned whether I really wanted children via this traditional route at all. All this had pushed me toward the belief that an elective C-section was the sole way to stay in control and, crucially, stay alive.

It was only when I enlisted the help of a doula, and , to be precise – better known as a world-renowned childbirth pioneer and holistic obstetrician – that I learnt how empowering birth can be. Scary? Yes. Unpredictable? Definitely. But those two things didn’t mean I was destined to endure suffering, fear and unbearable anxiety. There is another way. In fact, by the end of my journey with.