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A Mack Explains video about the evolution of human birth raises an interesting question: do women really need help to give birth? I explore what the research tells us about the human pelvis, physiology and why we may have evolved to give birth with others nearby. Perhaps support was never about making birth happen, but about protecting the conditions that allow it to happen.

What happens when supporting women begins to depend on agreeing with them? After more than twenty years in the doula world, I’ve been thinking about how we hold different beliefs, particularly in an age when social media can turn disagreement into judgement. Can we have strong values of our own while still making room for women who see the world differently? Perhaps this matters most when the woman who disagrees with us is the woman asking for our support.

Disagreement is normal in professional communities. The challenge is keeping conversations open before assumptions and labels take over.

In the birth world, questions about culture, support, and representation are complex. Perhaps what matters most is humility, listening, and

There's a question I'm frequently asked: why is my doula preparation course so short? Can a four-day workshop plus a pre- and post-course module prepare someone who has no other formal training to become a doula? I always answer yes. I don’t say that lightly, by the way. I have nearly two decades experience facilitating doula courses and set up my own training company in 2012. This year alone, I'm running 12 courses up and down the country and I am always reviewing, developin