Grampian and Tayside Birth Partners is an exciting new project spanning central eastern and north east Scotland, providing free-to-access birth companionship and support services to people who are experiencing hardship in pregnancy, birth and early postpartum. 

Birth partners will be independently trained by our team of experienced doulas and childbirth educators: the organisation’s founders Cassie Lawrence and Arleen Cameron, alongside Nicola Goodall of Red Tent Doula Preparation.

About our training facilitators

Arleen trained as a doula in 2019 and went on to volunteer with a national birth companion organisation, working her way from Referrals Coordinator and mentor up to Company Director before setting up her own CIC in 2022, which for three years provided free support for people birthing in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

As well as being an experienced doula, Arleen has also completed training in breastfeeding peer support, hypnobirthing, movement for birth, and the 3 Step Rewind trauma resolution technique. 

Cassie is an experienced doula, hypnobirthing practitioner, antenatal educator and activist with further training in breast and chest feeding peer support, and the 3 Step Rewind technique. 

Cassie is based in Perthshire, and as well as her work with Grampian and Tayside Birth Partners she offers in person birth support within Perth, Tayside, Angus, virtual doula support, baby massage, journalling circles and group hypnobirthing classes. 

A doula since 2002, Nicola has a Dip Ed in Antenatal Education from Luton University and the National Childbirth Trust and spent many years facilitating antenatal courses for the NCT. 

In 2014 Nicola launched Red Tent Doulas, a preparation programme for women who support new families around birth focussing on self-development as well as education. 

Nicola provides mentoring for birth workers as well as continuing to support births in Edinburgh and London, and training the next generation of birth workers in various locations around the world.

Together, Cassie, Arleen and Nicola bring many years of experience in teaching antenatal classes to service users, facilitating peer support groups, and supporting newly qualified birth doulas. 
 

Our training

Our core Birth Partner training will be based on the Red Tent Doula Preparation programme, with additional modules specifically tailored towards supporting our varied client groups. 

Additional training will be sourced from third sector organisations who can offer expertise and lived experience within areas relevant to the service users we will be supporting. So far within the Grampian area we have had training with Rape Crisis Grampian, and hope to collaborate with many other organisations in the near future.

Initial training will take place in person in a group setting, and birth partner volunteers will be required to commit to all sessions of initial training. Mentors and trustees may attend the full five day training if there is space on the course, otherwise they need only complete the first two days.

Ongoing training and support for volunteers

All client-facing volunteers will be required to join the PVG scheme and to complete Level 2 safeguarding training. 

Birth partners will not be remunerated for providing support services, but we hope to be able to pay for travel and expenses. As well as excellent and thorough initial training, birth partners will be closely supported by our mentoring team throughout their time volunteering with GTBP. Remote group supervision sessions will be facilitated by an experienced practitioner outside of the organisation. We will ask birth partners to commit to at least one year of voluntary service upon completion of all mandatory initial training. 

Accessing our services

The service will operate on a referral basis between 24 and 37 weeks of pregnancy and we will welcome applications for support from medical professionals including midwives, GPs and health visitors, other third sector service providers, social services, as well as community referrals from other birth support providers for example pregnancy yoga teachers or other holistic practitioners.

People eligible for our services will be those experiencing financial hardship and at least one of our eligibility criteria as follows: 

• Previous birth trauma
• Mental health diagnosis
• Neurodivergent
• Long term health condition or disability
• Clinically extremely vulnerable
• LGBTQIA+
• Person of colour
• Person from minority ethnic background or community
• Non-English speaker
• Trafficked person
• Refugee
• No recourse to public funds
• Extreme poverty
• Homeless
• Adverse Childhood Experience
• Aged under 20
• Looked After person or care leaver
• Pregnancy after sexual assault
• Survivor of domestic violence
• Single parent
• Previous pregnancy or infant loss
• Expected pregnancy or infant loss (life limiting fetal anomaly)
• Planned termination
• Previous child removal
• Offender
• Substance user