Based on our experience, I would not hire this service again
I'm saddened to write this review, but I'm hoping it helps another mum and family make an informed decision. It's what I wish I had known beforehand.
We hired one of Josipa Smith's packages for £3,000, which included antenatal sessions, birth support, and postnatal visits. We were hoping for someone knowledgeable who would be there for us at a critical time in our lives, having our first baby. Unfortunately, our experience did not deliver the level of care, professionalism, or value we expected.
Antenatal support: The antenatal sessions felt generic and surface-level. Much of the information could have been found online or through standard resources. She recommended two main resources to purchase: Birthbox and Ina May's book. When I asked questions during our sessions, it was common to get the answer, "Have you done the course/read the book?" It often felt as if questions were being redirected to external resources rather than being answered directly.
Towards the end of the pregnancy, the home birth team at North Mid failed to spot a breech presentation, which we only discovered through a scan we requested at 41+ weeks. Given that we were planning a home birth, I would have expected a more proactive discussion about the limitations of late-pregnancy abdominal palpation and the possibility of an undiagnosed breech presentation. This topic was never raised with us.
Birth support: After the breech presentation was diagnosed, the hospital recommended a C-section. This was the moment when we most needed empathy, support, and proactive involvement. Unfortunately, the response we received felt closer to the bare minimum.
Many doulas offer C-section support, but Josipa Smith doesn't. She was not in the hospital with us at any point. We did all the advocacy for our C-section birth plan ourselves. The emotional reassurance and practical support we hoped for were not there. We navigated the C-section process alone.
Postnatal support: This was where we had the highest expectations and the greatest disappointment.
We asked Josipa to support us the day after the C-section. We have no family in the country, were alone in hospital, and I was in significant pain with limited mobility after surgery. Although this fell within the package's on-call period, she told us she was busy and could not come.
A week later, we booked a postnatal session at home so my husband could register the birth and I would not be left alone. Despite booking several days in advance, she cancelled with less than 12 hours' notice, and we had to ask a friend last minute to step in.
After these experiences, we concluded the postnatal sessions were too unreliable to be useful and asked for a refund of the unused sessions, which was declined.
Throughout our experience, we felt there was a lack of accountability, preparedness, and professional support. This review is not about the outcome of our birth. No doula can control birth outcomes. It is about the quality of support, communication, and care we received throughout the process, particularly when our plans changed.
Based on our experience, I would not hire this service again, nor would I recommend it to friends or family.
If you're a first-time parent considering a similar budget, my personal view is that £3,000 would have been better spent on support for physical recovery, a cooking service, and long-term savings for your child.