Rachel Alred - Listening Doula

26/07/2026

21/07/2026

This weekend you can find Ay Up Creations in Ilkley

I'm delighted to announce that this weekend I'll be taking part in the Ilkley Manor House Summer Makers' Fair!

I'll be bringing my upcycled plant pots and a few of my bespoke furniture pieces, to hopefully get snapped up.

It's on both Saturday and Sunday so if anyone fancies a trip to Ilkley it would be great to see you there!

29/06/2026

Shhh! It's not *really* a baby group. It's an hour of therapy for you, Mama.

Your nervous system is the blueprint for your child's. Let's prioritise your wellbeing, your nourishment, your rest, and your space to Feel.

And how will we do this? Easy. We'll sing.

Baildon Thula Mama runs on Monday mornings (10.35) at St John's Church Hall. £7.50 PAYG for an hour of soothing songs in harmony and a generous helping of nervous system regulation. Oh, and tea and biscuits, too.

Spaces are available now, message Liz to book: 07596 900 305.

05/05/2026

⭐️International Day of the Midwife⭐️

Celebrating our independent midwife Bailey today on International Day of the Midwife

I’m so glad we decided to invest in independent midwifery care when we were having Henry.

We had a lovely community midwife (when we were able to see her) but where we live we didn’t have a designated home birth team so it was always the plan to have independent midwifery.

I knew about Bailey before I was even pregnant and when we had our initial chat I just knew she was the right person for us. I book with her when I was about 6 weeks pregnant, before I had even booked with my local NHS trust.

I know this isn’t a choice for everyone and it’s something we knew we would do well in advance of being pregnant, saved hard for and had a payment plan with Bailey. Henry was 4 months old by the time we had paid it all off!

It was one of the best decisions we made. Not only for the continuity of person centred care, but the support throughout in person and via phone and the extended postnatal care. Bailey made sure that Charlie was included too and it was a sad day when we had to say goodbye.

⭐️If you are pregnant, whether you are looking to hire an independent midwife or not, I encourage you to follow Bailey and see what she has to offer ❤️

04/05/2026

⭐️GOLD BOOBS⭐️

I have golden b***s! Well technically I gained my gold b***s almost 3 months ago, but it’s been a very full on (a little overwhelming and challenging truth be told) time here since H turned 1 and now he’s almost 15 months!

I am so proud of H and I getting to this point. It was always my goal to get to 12 months but only if that felt best for H and I together. I could not have got here without the initial support in those first days, weeks and months. As well as preparation and planning in my pregnancy.

I’m not sure where we go from here. I’ve always been responsive to H’s needs around feeding, having trust in our journey and reaching out for help if needed. He often still wakes at night and I settle him with a feed, more so with illness or teething. I am still enjoying breastfeeding (maybe less so when he’s biting) and I’m very well supported at work to pump although H is less keen to take expressed milk or cows milk for that matter but he has a lot of dairy in his diet and is eating more solids. There is no reason for us to stop so for now we carry on.

I have noticed a bit of a shift though in how I feel that I’m breastfeeding past 12 months and breastfeeding in public. I think this is down to societal pressure and expectations.

I don’t think people share about it as much, although I know a lot of people who are still breastfeeding over 12 months and way beyond, but I think the stats really speak for themselves; in the UK only 0.5-1% of the approximately 80% that initiate breastfeeding as the first feed a baby has, are still breastfeeding over 12 months.

But breast milk isn’t any less nutritional for babies and toddlers, in fact on the WHO website they state that “between 12 and 23 months of age, an average breast milk intake of about 500g/day still provides 35-40% of a child’s energy needs and is a good source of essential fatty acids and vitamins which may be comparatively lower in most complementary foods”. https://www.who.int/tools/elena/bbc/continued-breastfeeding

Continued in comments…

04/05/2026

☕️Let’s have a chat☕️

⭐️Are you looking for online support around your pregnancy, birth or postnatal journey?

⭐️Are you thinking that you may want to work with me?

➡️Then click the link in my bio and book in a FREE 30 minute virtual chat to see how we can work together 😊

When you are investing in your preparations for your birth and postnatal journey it’s important that you choose to work with someone that you connect with.

That’s why I offer a free 30 minute virtual chat over a cuppa (mines currently a decaf Yorkshire tea) as a get to know each other to see if what I can offer aligns with what you need and to see if working together feels good 😊

Rachel x

📸Photograph

🖋️Branding support