My first son Hugo was born abroad, by caesarean section. When I was pregnant with baby Felix, 3 years later in Amsterdam, it was all the more exciting whether this time it would ‘work out’. Doctors had given me until 41 weeks, after that they would induce labour. And if the labour did not proceed quickly enough, a caesarean section would follow....

At 20 weeks pregnant I was really struggling with stress and worries in my pregnancy from building works at home and worries my baby would be ok. I asked my doula for someone that could help me unwind. I knew how important it was for my baby to feel relaxed and have a good pregnancy so I wanted to find a way to give her that and I needed it too....

Introduction: At week 20 of pregnancy I was diagnosed with vulvodynia after a conversation with Oda (my doula) and sharing my fear of a natural birth without epidural. I realized that dilation examinations are something I would like to avoid as much as possible so we decided to take a private midwife who works without protocols and knows . to...