With over ten years experience in clinical research, a degree in biomedical science and two hospital births, Charlotte Butterworth-Pool uses her knowledge to support you in making informed decisions about pregnancy, birth and labour. She is a Virtual Doula, providing personalized, evidence-based support to families who want an empowering birth. Here she talks to The Natural Parent magazine about the passion behind what she does, her biggest discovery and her hopes and dreams for The Smart Doula in the future.
The Passion: What inspired you to create your business?
I set up The Smart Doula to help other families achieve strong pregnancies and births, while I had a young family and couldn’t do the traditional role of a doula.
When I was pregnant with my first, I thought I was pretty well informed. I understood the “science” behind birth, we took an online hypnobirthing class and attended an in-person group class. My husband and I attended all the midwife appointments, wrote a birth plan and were excited for the birth!
Unfortunately, when meconium was detected in my water, my birth became medical very quickly, and my husband and I were left traumatized. This had a big effect on my labor and fourth trimester.
When we decided we wanted another baby, I knew I couldn’t go through a traumatic birth again. I began using my clinical research background and biomedical science degree to uncover what had happened to me.
What I discovered shocked me, I realized that if I had been informed of the real risks associated with the things that had happened to me, I would have made different choices and could have possibly stopped the cascade of interventions that led to my traumatic birth.
Second time around, I strayed from standard birth preparation and immersed myself in evidence-based podcasts, research papers, and hospital guidelines.
My second birth, although still at a birth center (my choice), was amazing! We used our knowledge to make informed choices, and as a result we felt empowered and awed. I entered the fourth trimester feeling ready to take on the world!
I couldn’t stop thinking and talking about the birth. I felt such a strong calling to help other women achieve what I had and support them in making conscious choices.
With two small children, I couldn’t commit to attend births or travel far, but what I can do is support the woman virtually!
The Launch: How did you get started in the first place?
i started mine Instagram account As an outlet for all the information swirling around in my head, I began to help women by drawing attention to common interventions and misconceptions they may encounter.
I spent time researching a doula prep class. I found one that felt aligned with my values and started with reading and activities related to it. I took an in-person class and got my certification and started advertising on my Instagram account and supporting moms-to-be!
Innovation: What has been the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Once I started working with women, I realized that meaningfully supporting families was a great way to reach women who wouldn’t seek support from a traditional doula.
There are certain preconceived notions about working with a “doula” that can make women hesitant (it’s only for hippies, you have to want a home birth, we only support women who want a natural birth, etc.). Of course, doulas support all types of women and all types of births, but we still fight against some of these biases!
Virtual support is great for second-time mums who don’t have much time to devote to their pregnancy this time around, or first-time mums who want more support than they can get on the NHS but don’t necessarily want someone present at their birth.
Being virtual worked well for the women as well as for me. It has allowed me to maintain a good work-life balance and be available for my young family.
I also realized that the support network I had built around myself while pregnant automatically became a support network to which I could refer the women I worked with. There is such a sense of community around birth. The majority of people offer virtual support as well as personal offers, so it didn’t matter if they spread across the country!
