The role of Doulas within UK Maternity Services

Live from 7-8pm, Wednesday 21 May 2025

Please sign in to the chat box to comment and connect with fellow viewers. We recommend using Google Chrome (PC) or Safari (Mac) as your browser to view this live stream and participate in the chat. Please note Internet Explorer does not support live streaming video. Please click here for our full list of troubleshooting tips.

Your contribution to the Maternity & Midwifery Forum helps build new free professional education, revalidation and CPD digital resources for midwifery and maternity professionals. Your support keeps Maternity & Midwifery Festivals free to attend, weekly newsletters free and the free weekly maternity and midwifery hour podcast generating the most up to date news and research.

Through your support for the Maternity & Midwifery Forum you are helping the professional world of maternity services meet the need for trusted online digital education and training material that can be viewed, everywhere in the world on anything, from lecture theatres to mobile phones.

Your support helps to meet the costs of filming the teaching resources, building the catalogues, the online platforms and the secure technology and turning them into box sets for universities and hospitals.

You are helping to open unique maternity and midwifery resources to the world making MATFLIX available to students and staff in low and middle income countries.

In short you help keep all of our festivals and other resources free to access.

Any contribution of £30 or over will also receive a one year subscription to MATFLIX. Normally £108.

Doulas provide practical, emotional and nurturing support to women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth and the early parenthood period. They may be employed privately by the woman, or may be provided for disadvantaged groups of women, whether due to financial, language issues and/or refugee status, providing support and advocacy.

In this session, Sallyann Beresford will talk about her role as a Doula, and Trudi Dawson, Director of Doula UK will discuss the UK’s number one source of information for and about doulas. Doula UK offers training, mentoring and ongoing support within the doula community to ensure positive experiences for women and families. Their offering includes the unique Doula Access Fund which can enable women who are vulnerable or disadvantaged, to receive Doula support, and improve the experience of women, babies and families.

Hosted by:

Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert; Host and Curator, Maternity & Midwifery Festivals/Hour, Editor, Mayes Midwifery

Guest speakers:

Sallyann Beresford, Doula, Author and Antenatal Educator
Trudi Dawson, Director of Engagement, Doula UK

Hosted by:

Sue Macdonald
Midwifery Expert; Host and Curator, Maternity & Midwifery Festivals/Hour, Editor, Mayes Midwifery

Featuring:

Sallyann Beresford
Doula, Author and Antenatal Educator

Featuring:

Trudi Dawson
Director of Engagement, Doula UK

Every episode of Maternity & Midwifery Hour is complemented by a set of hand picked resources, curated by our host and speakers – a research index of further reading around the topic in hand.

This week’s resources are available to download here.

Our schedule of forthcoming episodes of Maternity & Midwifery Hour is listed below. Make sure to put a note in you diary and register today!

If you have missed any previous seasons of Maternity & Midwifery Hour or want to rewatch a particular presentation on demand you can catch up with every single episode of Maternity & Midwifery Hour to date below.

SEASON 1

SEASON 3

SEASON 5

SEASON 7

SEASON 9

SEASON 11

SEASON 13

SEASON 15

SEASON 2

SEASON 4

SEASON 6

SEASON 8

SEASON 10

SEASON 12

SEASON 14

SEASON 16

Want more?

Our Maternity & Midwifery Festivals feature world renowned speakers exploring the very latest midwifery research and policy. Sign up to our YouTube channel today for more great content and to keep abreast of the very latest issues affecting midwifery.

We constantly monitor the live stream on multiple devices in a variety of locations to ensure it’s quality. If there is a problem with the stream we will let viewers know immediately in the chat box. If you are experiencing problems viewing the stream and there is no announcement in the chat, the likelihood is that the issue is local rather than general. Here are the most common issues viewers encounter:

Browser: Please do not try to watch this stream using internet explorer. Internet explorer does not support live streaming, we recommend using Google Chrome (PC) or Safari (Mac) as your browser to view this live stream and participate in the chat.

Internet speed: The most common issue viewers face is a weak or unreliable WiFi/Broadband signal. As a first point of action simply pause the live stream video for 10 seconds and then press play again. This will allow the video to catch up with itself. If your signal is really weak and dropping out the video will keep freezing or buffering. Check your internet connection using Which Broadband Speed Test. A download speed of 3mbps or higher should mean you are able to play the video. In the worst case scenario try sending the link to this page to your mobile phone and disconnecting your phone from WiFi. If your phone has a good 3G or 4G signal, you should be able to play the video.

Firewalls: If you are attempting to watch this live stream on a device provided by your hospital/employer there may be a built in firewall that blocks live streaming video. This is especially common with devices provided by healthcare organisations. If this is the case please try using your own personal laptop/tablet/phone.

Other wifi users: If you are viewing this live stream from home and other members of your household are also using the WiFi to download files, watch live streaming TV such as Netflix or play online games, this may put undue stress on your WiFi and effect the quality of your stream.

Cloud Services: Live streaming video does not function in many cloud services. Come out of your employer’s Cloud/IT system and open this in an external browser.

Memory: If your device is struggling for memory space the live stream will not play correctly. Reduce the number of other windows and tabs you have open and shut down all unnecessary programmes other than the ones you need to watch this stream.

Battery: Make sure your device is plugged in or has plenty of battery!

If you are experiencing any issues and would like to speak to us please contact Paul Rushworth on +44 (0)7709 145 234 or email [email protected].

Maternity & Midwifery Hour was born out of a desire to keep midwives connected throughout the pandemic and beyond.

Over 15 series of Maternity & Midwifery Hour we have tried to be as inclusive as we can, featuring as many diverse voices as possible, discussing a wide range of topics which effect the midwifery community as a whole.

BUT WE NEED YOU GOING FORWARD!

If you have a topic or subject you would like to discuss on Maternity & Midwifery Hour we want to hear from you.

Email [email protected] with your suggestions.