About Me

My name is Antoinette, but most people call me Toni. I love being a perinatal Doula, where I get to support pregnant women throughout their pregnancy and up to a year after their baby is born, if needed. I live in Clevedon, North Somerset, and at 62 years old, I have a positive and calm outlook on life. I take pride in my high level of integrity and caring nature. I am a mother of 4 adult children and a grandmother of 2 little boys.

​

My life experience is extensive with a training background in nursing and midwifery. I have worked in palliative and senior care, and in the health and fitness industry, specialising in pre and postnatal health and fitness and birth preparation. I have many years of experience in holistic massage. I have supported 28 births, which include high-risk and low-risk births in the home and both hospital and birthing units, including caesarean sections.

​

My calling to nursing began as a little girl, and I went on to train as a state-enrolled Nurse at Southmead Hospital in Bristol when I was 18. I was devoted to motherhood when I had my first baby at the age of 21, and went on to have 3 more babies while working part-time in various nursing/care homes around Clevedon.

​

At the age of 37 I became a single mum and with this came new beginnings, so I trained to be an aerobics instructor. I specialised in pre/post-natal health and fitness, Step Aerobics, Salsa Dance Aerobics, cardio kickboxing fitness and circuit training, taking classes in leisure centres in North Somerset.  I also trained and worked as a Holistic massage therapist, working from leisure centres, from my home and in a mobile capacity.

​

I enjoyed and became devoted to my classes for pregnant and postnatal women. In particular, I went on to run birth preparation, and deep relaxation/stress relief classes, both in group sessions and on a private basis visiting women and their partners in their homes and in gym settings. On the back of all this, moving forward I then studied Midwifery at UWE in Bristol. I completed 18 months but made the difficult decision to withdraw from the course to focus on my children as a priority, returning to the health and fitness industry and back to working with childbearing women and massage.  I also returned to working with the elderly in the community and various nursing homes, which led me into palliative care.

 

My daughter became a midwife which brought birth to the forefront, and I started to learn about Doulas and their special important role. I spent a few years looking into this role and researching it. In my mature years, which I like to call my years of wisdom, I am committed to supporting and helping wonderful women and all individuals through their childbearing experiences, ensuring that everyone has the magical experience they deserve.