About Anna's Birth Services
Welcome!
Get to know me, how all this started and what drives Anna's Birth Services today
Tēnā koutou katoa.
Ko Anna tōku ingoa.
No Tāwhai oku tipuna
Ko Ingarangi, Ko Aerana, te whakapaparangi mai
No Southampton, Ingarangi ahau
Kei Wellington au e noho ana.
Ko Mind and Body Birth Prep teacher au.
Ko Traumatic Birth recovery practitioner au.
Ko Rosie tōku mama. Ko David tōku papa. Ko Dom tōku hoa rangatira.
Ko Isaac raua ko Asher aku tamaiti.
No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Hi! I'm Anna (she/her).
I was born in and grew up in the port town of Southampton. Fun facts - it's the largest city on England's south coast and from which the Titanic set sail on that fateful maiden voyage!
I have been pregnant three times and am a proud parent of two. I am the daughter of Rosie and David, a younger sister to two brothers, a niece, a proud auntie, a cousin and a best friend. My wider family are all in the UK (I miss them a lot) and Iuckily have some cuzzies in beautiful Waikato. I now live in Pōneke/Wellington with my best friend and hubby and our tamariki; who all inspire and amaze me every day! Oh, and we were adopted by a grey tabby who undoubtedly rules the roost.
I love listening to music, seeing live bands, swimming, weight-based exercise, tattoos, yoga, house plants, travel, satire comedy and being in nature. I have an interest in nutrition for health, am pescatarian and enjoy the ritual of making a hot cup of tea in the morning.
My work background
For as long as I remember I have enjoyed working with people. When I was six, I wanted to be like the school dinner ladies and put out cups and jugs of water for the children. When I was ten, I helped serve hot roast lunches to homeless people at our local community centre. At sixteen my first paid job was working the till in a local stationary shop. Later, in my Uni days, I cleared tables at a student cafeteria then worked through my holidays as a teacher aide for children with learning difficulties, and personal support worker for adults with severe head injuries.
In my mid 20s I achieved a Masters with Distinction in Social work, and my first job was with vulnerable families in need of support to look after their children. Then after a move to Aotearoa in 2008, I started working with people experiencing acute and chronic challenges with their mental health.
Fast forward to the birth of my first baby in 2011, I left full-time social work in mental health to look after my beautiful baby, and a year later we moved back to the UK for a few years.
It was here that our second baby was born, as well as Anna's Birth Services!
In 2016 we returned to Aotearoa, where I looked after my growing babies and my new line of work in the birth community. Alongside parenting, I started supporting Kiwi parents in the preparation for their births, when they were giving birth, and/or in their recovery after a difficult birth experience.
Fast forward again to the post pandemic year of 2022, it was time to take a break from being a birth doula, and I returned to part time employment as a social worker in primary mental health. I very happily continue to run my Mind Body Birth Prep course and Postnatal Well-being services, to this day.
My story
Like many people, my own experience of pregnancy, birth and early parenting has been a roller coaster of the bliss mixed with the grit.
I struggled with fertility and conception, then felt the immense joy of a natural pregnancy. I had a positive home birth experience but spent early parenting away from my family supports and living with anxiety. I experienced an early miscariage of my second pregnancy, followed by over a year of trying to conceive again. I was overjoyed to get pregnant, to then go through the anguish of whether this baby would have Downs Syndrome (whom of course we would have kept and loved unconditionally, either way, but just wanted to know). I then had the excitement and heart ache of moving our young family back to Aotearoa.
This perinatal rollercoaster really homed in on the stage of life through which I wanted to support people. The journey to, and becoming a parent brings many rewards, and many challenges. I developed a strong desire to help pregnant parents feel cared for, informed, supported, confident, loved, inspired, and most importantly, worthy of their own health and wellbeing, alongside their baby's.
I felt driven to support people in the lead up to their birth; ready to have the best possible birth experience for them, and their baby. Optimal perinatal mental and emotional health is essential and my passion to support new parents with their emotional and mental wellbeing where birth trauma, loss, or anxiety occurred, was ignited.
I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words. So, while utilising my knowledge and experience as a registered health professional, I put my values into action. I invested in the best education providers I could find, to enable me to professionally and compassionately, support parents as a birth doula (with Birth Bliss Academy), Mind and Body Birth prep antenatal educator ( KGHypnobirthing method) and 3 Step rewind, grief and anxiety practitioner (with Traumatic Birth Recovery College of Perinatal Emotional Health).
I am dedicated to keeping my knowledge current and fresh. I have regular supervision to maintain my Traumatic Birth Recovery membership, and in 2025 after 11 years teaching, I invested in a KGHypnobirthing Teacher refresher course. I am a friend and ex-facilitator of Wellington's amazing and longest running holistic antenatal course provider; Birth Wise, and have also co-facilitated He Waka Eke Noa; Wellington's Little Shadow programme. And I work hard to maintain my professional registration year after year.
I am experienced, inclusive, friendly and dedicated. I would be immensely privileged to support you to prepare for your best birth for you and your baby, or support your emotional recovery, if it’s not. Whether it is for the first or tenth time.
Much love, Anna x