Q & A

Creativity, Fashion Design And Life As D For Doula

Maybe you dream of doing something new and creative with your skills? Or you’d love to design your own clothing line or product series? Or perhaps you’re curious about what the best doulas in London do day-to-day? Whatever your creative interest, I hope you’ll enjoy this months spotlight interview with Dionne of D for Doula, and that it inspires you to celebrate the creative spirit in your life too.

I met Dionne in 2020 when she invited me to share a meditation and mindfulness workshop for new parents as part of her online Doula programme. Her authenticity, eye for style, care for her clients and sense of humour were so endearing, and I’ve enjoyed following her creative work since.

Interestingly, Dionne has combined her experience working on NHS midwife wards with her fashion and design background to create not only a fantastic Doula service in London and beyond, but a new range of natal wear.

Let’s say hello shall we?

Hello D, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you like to spend your time day to day as a doula in London?

Well, where do I start? Let’s start in the morning.

I’d like to say I have a daily routine, but I’m not as disciplined as I’d like to be. The moment I wake up, I find my mind racing with a thousand tasks, memories, plans etc. All rushing in at once. I take 4 square deep breaths: in for 3 seconds out for 6 seconds. It’s one I use with my Doula clients in labour and it helps you stay present.

Then I count three wins from the day before. No matter how small. It’s a practice I learnt from Do What You Love, by Anis Qizilbash. Sometimes I might write it down, but often I just lay in bed observing them. Also, writing a to-do list the night before ensures I don’t start my day in a panic.

Another fun and mindful practice I might do depending on what the day requires, happens in the shower. I take on a persona of someone I admire, look up to or view as completely different to me. It’s a practice I learnt from the book Inhale. Exhale. Repeat by Emma Mills.

I often pretend I am either Janet Jackson, Eartha Kitt or Grace Jones. They are all inspirational women and idols to me when I was growing up and still are. They always seemed very in control of their lives, with the perfect balance of feminine and masculine energy. It is no doubt the most fun way to prepare for the day whilst getting clean!

I then will make myself a coffee, a proper one, and breakfast. I look at the daily planner and go through emails scanning which one needs immediate attention.

‘My clients are at different stages in their perinatal journey…’

As a Doula I’m emotional guide and support for expectant families and each day is very different. My clients are at different stages in their perinatal journey. If I’m on-call for example, it’s not unsual for my phone to accompany me into the bathroom (!) I always attend my clients homes, supporting the family in the best and emotionally safest way to bring their baby into the world and for the first days of life.

Sometimes this support can take place via video-calls, voice notes and/or texts, which is especially useful with their night-time feeds. I also provide this type of online support to charity organisations as I strive to be as accessible as possible — without getting burnt out.

In addition, I contribute pregnancy related content to a number of sites and apps, sharing my knowledge and experience with expectant families and those who might be supporting them. It’s a great way for me to brush up on my knowledge and keep up-to-date on research evidence.

I try to get out of the house at least once a day, because I will start to feel down working at home indoors all day if I don’t. A walk in the park or Nunhead Cemetery provides that escape for me and unless I’m on call, I’ll leave my phone at home because I deserve that space. 

At the end of the day, I collate my to-do list for the next day in order of priorities, and lately I’ve started giving each task a time limit too.

In the evenings, I cook with friends or family and catch up on what we’ve all been up to. Usually we watch a film, play board games – I always lose.

My not so secret pleasure is to watch fashion doll unboxings on YouTube, not really sure why I like them so much, it must be a mixture of ASMR and some childhood nostalgia – either way it’s the perfect cosy wind-down for me.

You recently launched a new range of clothes, what inspired you to get into garment design? 

I studied Textile Design at University when I was (much) younger and it was assumed that all graduates would go into fashion – which I did. Although fast paced and exciting, fashion often lacked substance or generated truly useful designs. I have always been passionate about great and clever designs and I’m a strong believer that form should follow function.

Along with high-end designers and obvious brands like Topshop and H&M I always gravitated to stores such as Ikea or Muji. They made stylish and useful products, why couldn’t we have that for garments? Having clothing designed to be less fashion-trend led and more intentional would leave scope for more sustainable practices within the textile industry, which wasn’t the focus back then, but I’m pleased and relieved that it is now.

Moving from the fashion industry into healthcare immediately changed my perspective and inspirations. I no longer feel the need to stay up-to-date on what designers did for their autumn/winter collection and where it could be found cheaper on the high street. I was allowed to not care about it – that’s not to say I no longer care about fashion trends btw, I still find them as interesting and aspirational as the next fashion geek, but my goal is to clothe the wearer in something that’s not only beautiful but useful too.

What insights from your career as a midwife were you able to bring to your designs?

My first healthcare shift was on the postnatal recovery ward, it’s where all women who’ve had a Caesarean Section are treated with their babies to ensure they are stable and healthy. I remember seeing a colleague explain to a new mother “your baby needs to have skin-to-skin and breastfeed now”, which is correct practice, and she then attempted to help the mother ‘thread’ her left breast out of the neckline of the patients gown in order to feed. When that didn’t work she ‘threaded’ the entire baby through the neckline of the patients gown in order to have the skin-to-skin, and the feed.

All of this occurred in open view of the entire ward with people walking around. Privacy isn’t always paramount when busy Midwives are required to visualise multiple mothers on the ward at a glance post surgery. I asked my colleague, “Isn’t there another gown she could wear? She simply told me, “that’s what they wear”.

The further I got into my Midwifery studies and career, the more I learnt about Skin-to-Skin, which is the recommended practice of placing a naked newborn on the naked chest/abdomen of the parent, usually the mother. It has such measurable benefits ranging from stemming postnatal bleeding, regulating baby’s breathing, temperature and heart rate and initiating breast milk production and feeding.

I also didn’t understand why women in maternity settings were offered a patient gown – they weren’t sick. The patient gown presented a physical barrier between the mother and baby and it became an obsession to create one fit-for-purpose. One that honoured the journey that mother and baby had been on with dignity.

Can you share some insight into your creative process? How do you design, choose shape and fabrics? Do you sew it all yourself or work with machinists? 

The creative process of bringing the gown concept out of my brain and into real life was quite a long one. I won’t bore you with the details. But basically, in between my work and studies I spoke with Anaesthetists about their needs and requirements, I spoke to other Midwives and Maternity Care Assistants about their pain points. I always observed women in my own care too: paying attention to how they cared for their baby and how they moved in their patient gowns.

Ever the designer, I allowed them to form my brief.

I knew the fabric had to be breathable because women in pregnancy and especially in labour, often report on how warm they feel. They are growing a whole person – so it makes sense. Currently I have the gown available in a retail version, for expectant parents to pack in their hospital bag. It’s made from 100% pure linen roll-ends, sustainably made in small batches, working with local factories within the UK to reduce carbon footprint and textile waste. These are provided to all my Doula clients as a part of their service.

I have upcoming plans to enter the clinical version of the gown (currently unreleased) into maternity settings in hospitals. This means many more women, not just my clients, will be able to get the benefits of a gown like this. They will be manufactured by our Net Zero medical textiles supplier partner, who is also passionate about reducing textile waste and innovative designs.

What are some of the people, places and things that inspire you in your practice? 

Being a Midwife meant that I mainly worked with either pregnant or postnatal women. Sometimes their partners, parents or previous children, but they were who I saw day to day, often even more than my colleagues. Working in healthcare settings allowed me the privilege and opportunity to hear and understand the needs and challenges of women and healthcare providers. Some were emotional, some practical. 

Being up close and personal in terms of the changing anatomy in pregnancy, and being from a fashion textile background meant I naturally observed what women wore and how they were wearing it. I couldn’t help it, it was a lens I’d used to view the world for so long in the fashion world. It wasn’t just second nature, it seemed to have become part of my DNA, which is how the D for D Gown was created.

What’s more, I knew that women and their families valued a continuity of care throughout their birthing journey, which was difficult to offer as a Midwife. Providing true 1-2-1 continual care felt like a battle against a tide, which is why I set up my company D for Doula.

Meet Dionne over at her website HERE

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