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5 Truly Terrifying Things About Birth in the UK

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

As the theme changes from spooky to sparkles, I am jumping on this trend with a quick note today, because honestly, while everyone sharing their fabulous decorations, costumes, and pumpkins – almost all of which have a HUGE impact on the environment and carry their own horror story, there’s also a 365 day crisis in perintal care that’s far scarier than Halloween.

5 truely spooky things, going on every single day within birth, because the system is build to conveyor belt families from pregnancy through to postpartum as conveniently as possible. This is  not because those working in it want to, but because that’s the way policies and systems have been built.

Scary stuff!

So, heres just 5, of the many terrifying things going on in the birth world … all year round.

The lies in antenatal care from professionals in the system – I know I said above that it’s not those working in the system, and most of the time, it isn’t. But the truth is, sometimes it is. Sometimes it is professionals ticking boxes, sometimes it’s disregarding evidence based care, sometimes it’s policy and sometimes it’s someone who’s burnt out and exhausted. But the lies come. And the ripples they create are immense.

Induction rates are incredibly high. When there’s a medical need, induction can be an incredibly useful life-saving tool, and thank goodness for that. However for the majority of women and birthing people induction is often a result of lack of confidence,  misinformation, scarmongering and guidance about ‘big babies’ or  being ‘overdue’. It isn’t based on the latest evidence and induction – in its various forms – ends up being the first step in a sliding scale of interventions which often perpetuate trauam for all those involved.

Lack of trauma informed, neruodivergent aware, autonomy based care is in part related to the point above: induction. However, it goes well beyond that. A lack of well rounded training and resources means that a majority of healthcare professionals, while well intentioned, often don’t have the correct language or experience to be able to support the different women and birthing people that they are seeing. The lack of neurodiverse not knowledge means that a lot of the time, families are treated in ways that cause more harm, coerce all violate their rates to autonomy. The reality of this is that once again, women, birthing people, partners and the babies involved are coming away from birthing within the system with experiences they need to heal from right at the start of this new journey together.

When we have a lack of support and we feel out of control or in danger. Physiological birth is halted, and our bodies go into shut down. This means that a majority of families are starting their journey together with this new baby,  and also having to recover from the experience of pregnancy and birth.

The maternal mortality rate for non white bodies is another incredibly scary aspect of birth in not just the UK but around the Western world. The reality is that biases exist, unconscious ones often doing more harm than we realise. Although most people don’t believe themselves to be racist, these are socialised biases that have informed everything we do, so of course, it is unsurprising that we see them unfold in preintal care too. 


Lastly, the bullying, coercion, and violation that women and birthing are experiencing every day. Unfortunately, almost everyone who has been through the system will have an experience where they have been treated in a less than ideal way. However, the scariest part of this is that they leave, and I, myself have done this too, grateful for the fact that they have come out not as damaged as they could be, and that their baby is there, not damaged or as damaged as could have been.


Halloween is one day.
One commercialised day adulterated from ancient traditions.


The crisis in perinatal care is all year round.

If you’re planning a baby or pregnant – get informed. You and your baby deserve better than what is currently happening.

Labour Is About Your Baby Being Ready Just As Much As About You

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

The soaring rates of induction

The elective cesarean birth numbers ever-rising

But why?

Why are we rushing for babies to come before their time?

There are cases where I get it. Baby’s need to come early, or there are actual decent reasons for opting in to control the date and way babies arrive.

As a doula, while yes I personally have had my own birth experiences, I will always advocate for you to have the experience you feel most deeply supported through.

As a critic and thinker however, I watch the numbers and listen to the stories and I do question the sanity of it all. The system pushes for babies to come before they are ready despite evidence that says babies are as active a participant in labour as mothers.

If you are scared or worried or feel unprepared, your babies gonna feel that on a vibrational level, and they’re not gonna wanna come. Eventually, they will, because nobody’s pregnant forever, but it isn’t on the readiness of both parties.

Similarly, if they’re not quite done growing those extra bits of immunity or strength or whatever it is they need, they’re not going to be sending signals to get your body moving.

It’s a dance.

You’ve both got to be ready and willing and able. And then, the journey begins.

When you force it… in an attempt to “control” labour or birth, the result is often trauma.

When you force it, the experience shifts … for both of you.

And those effects can absolutely last years or even lifetimes.

Labour is as much about baby as it is about you.

Keep going, keep thinking! Get educated x

With love,

Rohana x

Capturing Motherhood in its Everyday Beauty

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

I recently launched a mothers day mini session day and met some beautiful mothers as a result. I’m just taking a moment to celebrate the win that this has been for me, and decided to share it.

I know Mothers day is for some incredibly important, for others incredibly painful, and for others something they couldn’t care less about  – and all of that’s okay. I wanted to get creative, to give something that was meaningful and to celebrate mothers in whatever stage of their journey they were when we met.

Of course, it’s been timed to fit mothers day, and I wanted to make sure I got everyone their gallery beforehand, but deeper than that, it was a celebration of mothers in their every day, and that’s exactly how it felt actually.

I need to say it was an honour to meet, share and capture the wonderful mothers who came.

We went to the woods and walked and captured moments of their relationship with their beautiful tiny people. I wanted it to be natural, relaxed and away from the whole “pose for a photo” vibe that comes with a random stranger and their camera being around you.

I think there’s absolutely a place for that kind of photo, but I’m not the one to be taking it and that’s okay. I’m really grateful that I live somewhere that I can say let’s meet at “xyz” and the people who are cool with it come.

With all my heart I am so grateful this is a reality I am living where I can do this. The version of me who was hopeful, afraid and eventually gave up trying 6 years ago is part of who I am today, and without her I wouldn’t have been able to offer this, create in this way or share, but here we are.

Capturing motherhood not in a posed “smile for the camera” kind of way, but in the twinkly smiles and excited hugs kind of way.

All my love,

Rohana x

I wanted to Cancel My Yoga Class Last Night  – Here’s Why I Didn’t

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

I nearly cancelled class last night.

I wanted to.

It’s been an intense week at home and honestly I felt like I wasn’t going to show up and give a class that supported anyone.

But I paused.

Because the idea that it is my job to support anyone in class sounds well intentioned and fitting, but also feels rooted in a more complex colonial lens that says “I’m the teacher and those who come to class need something from me” – which is icky as hell!

So I decided to go.

For me.

Yes I’d committed. Yes there was the element of it being a pre-booked session… but I was ready to postpone it until I decided it was for me.

Because showing up for me was a way for me to be there messy and human, and make mistakes and laugh, without the idea that I was ‘leading a class’ anymore.

And that felt good.

And in the end, class was messy and human and I got m uddled up but laughed and shared and it was beautiful to be in a space with other humans. I listened to a couple of songs on the drive in, and I sat for a whole 3 minutes listening to some Mantras before starting.

I set intentions like every week and then as people came in I felt my body’s gratitude that I’d shown up.

Was it perfect, no? Did it mean something, absolutely.

More than that though, I got to reflect on why I wanted to cancel, and undo some of the intensely woven conditioning we have in the wellness industry about what yoga classes mean – I’m not any better or worse for teaching, but I am evolving, and that’s magick.

With love,

Rohana x

20 seconds of bravery became 2 hours of creative joy

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

A few months ago I anxiously asked a friend of mine if she would be willing to do some modeling for me. As a photographer I usually capture family’s and wanted to do something different. I was worried she’d think it would be super weird or out of our friendship bounds but 20 seconds of bravery was all it took. I asked, and she, being the awesome human she is, said yes!

We set a date and shared a Pinterest board, and came up with a vision. It was new, exciting and I was honestly nervous. I knew the session was important, for both of us, and she was trusting me… and I am so glad she did.

We walked to our chosen spot, a gorgeous relatively hidden spot in the woods – we didn’t even have to leave Helensbrugh! We shared focaccia and chocolate, drank tea and spoke about life. Of course, we also took some photos (they’re coming, promise).

Our Pinterest board was very earthy. It focused on loving the body we are gifted with, and appreciating ourselves. There were some beautiful inspirations with shadow and raw, magickal fairy witch energy. Using them, and drawing into her expertise teaching yoga, here’s a snippet of what we created.

These 3 coloured ones  are some of my favourite. To me they tell a beautiful story, and to my friend.

The depth of these monochrome ones gives me chills.

I thought the other day about how if I hadn’t taken those 20 seconds, I wouldn’t have had this incredible experience. 20 seconds of bravery turned into hours of creative healing. My photographer cup was filled, my friendship deepened, and now I know a cool spot to take clients who want to get creative. Wins all round.

Oh and of course I shared the gallery and cried at her feedback because it gave me allll the feels!

Do you have a thing you need 20 seconds of courage for? Go do it!

Until next time,

Rohana x

Pregnancy Yoga For When You’re Feeling Tired

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

Pregnancy is a beautiful and transformative journey, but lets be honest it can also be exhausting. As your body works hard to grow and nourish your baby, there will be many a day where you might feel like a nap is the only solution. Definitely nap as much as you can if you want to, especially when its baby number 1! When you’ve got more though, napping isn’t always an option, but sometimes a bit of yoga can change the trajectory of your day immensely.

Rather than pushing through exhaustion the way society often expects and encourages us, it’s really important to listen to your body’s wisdom. Women have been growing babies forever yes, but they have also had space and time to honour the transition this brings, which unfortunately we’ve lost.

Pregnancy yoga offers a gentle way to reconnect with yourself and your baby while also providing much-needed relaxation. The right yoga postures can help ease tension, improve circulation, and support emotional well-being—all without over-exerting yourself, and they often lend themselves to getting toddlers involved too!

If you’re in Helensburgh and looking for a way to move that feels nourishing rather than draining, Im running pregnancy yoga classes locally and would love for you to join. If you’re futher away, these six pregnancy-friendly yoga postures will help you rest, restore, and bond with your little one, and you don’t even have to leave the house!

The following postures are designed to be deeply nourishing, allowing you to move in a way that feels supportive and build up some energy for you to take into life off the mat.

5 Nourishing Pregnancy Yoga Postures for When You’re Tired 


1. Supported Child’s Pose (Balasana) – A Restorative Hug for You and Baby 

Child’s Pose is one of the most restorative poses in yoga, gently stretching the back and hips while promoting deep relaxation. In pregnancy, a supported variation using props can help relieve pressure on the belly and lower back. 

How to do it:
– Kneel on your mat with your knees wider than your hips to create space for your bump. 
– Place a bolster or a few pillows in front of you. 
– Slowly fold forward, resting your chest and head on the support. 
– Allow your arms to drape alongside or hug the bolster for comfort. 
– Breathe deeply and visualize sending love and calm to your baby. 

Why it helps: This posture provides a sense of safety and surrender, encouraging deep relaxation and reducing stress. 

2. Wide Legged Seated Forward Fold (Upavistha Konasana) – Gentle Stretch and Rest

A forward fold can feel like a much-needed pause, giving your body a moment to relax while gently stretching your back and hamstrings. When you’re carrying bump all day, it’s also a chance to let the earth hold that weight a while, and for you to feel supported.

How to do it:
– Sit with your legs as wide as is comfortable and extended, knees slightly bent if needed.
– Place a bolster or cushion in front of you, leaving space for bump. 
– Inhale to lengthen your spine, then exhale as you fold forward, resting on the support. 
– Let your hands rest on your legs or the bolster and breathe deeply. 

Why it helps: This posture encourages introspection, helping you tune in to your baby while also relieving lower back discomfort. 

3. Cat-Cow Stretch (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana) – Gentle Flow for Spine and Breath

This simple movement helps to ease back pain and promotes fluidity in the spine, making it a wonderful way to gently energize your body without over-exertion. 

How to do it:
– Start on all fours with your wrists under shoulders and knees under hips. 
– Inhale, arching your back and lifting your head (Cow Pose). 
– Exhale, rounding your spine and tucking your chin (Cat Pose). 
– Move with your breath, taking it slow and steady. 

Why it helps: The rhythmic motion soothes the nervous system, enhances circulation, and provides a lovely opportunity to connect with your baby. 

4. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) – A Gentle Circulation Boost

If your feet or legs feel swollen or heavy, this is a wonderful posture to encourage blood flow and relieve fatigue. 

How to do it:
– Sit sideways next to a wall and gently swing your legs up. 
– Keep your knees slightly bent and a cushion under your hips if needed. 
– Rest your arms comfortably by your sides and close your eyes. 
– Stay for a few minutes, breathing deeply. 

Why it helps: This posture helps reduce swelling in the legs, promotes relaxation, and gently supports circulation. Super effective for taking the pressure of hemeroids too.

5. Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana) – Open Hips, Open Heart

This standing posture allows for a hip-opening stretch while strengthening the sense of deep power with you.

How to do it:
– Stand comfortably with the soles of your feet apart, extend them into a wide legged squat, letting your knees drop open. 
– When you’re ready, as you squat down bring the hands up beside the ears, palms facing forwards.
– Stand tall and take slow breaths, letting your body relax and feel the power you hold.

Why it helps: This posture encourages openness in the hips, strengthens muscles in hour legs, and provides a moment to simply be powerful with your baby. 

One of the most important lessons yoga teaches us—whether pregnant or not—is to respect and honor the body’s intuition. When you’re expecting, this wisdom becomes even more vital. In many ways, this is training for when you’re parenting. Some days, you might feel full of energy and eager to move; other days, exhaustion might take over, and rest will feel like the best option. Trust that both states are valid. 

Practice – on a mat, practice off a mat, come practice with me locally if you can, but ultimately, practice. It doesn’t have to look perfect or fancy, and don’t need anything fancy, just you, your beautiful growing baby and an intention for rest.

Until next time,

With love, Rohana x

If I had have hired a doula…

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

If I had have hired a doula
My first birth would have been more informed

If I had have hired a doula
My 2nd birth would have been at home

If I had hired a doula
My third birth birth… oh wait, I did
I did hire a doula, and a photographer and
My third birth was informed, courageous, supported

I didn’t want to hire a doula for my forth birth,
I invested in myself, my pregnancy, my partner and my freebirth
And it was beautiful

Every experience has had its own learnings, and today as I shared that my last baby was born here in Helensburgh, at home in our living room, the surprise on their face didn’t shock me at all, but it did make me wonder how my other births would have gone… if only I’d known what I know now.

A doula isn’t someone who tells you how to birth or what to do; but you know what, I wish someone had told that I should hire a doula for my first birth; although, if I had, maybe I wouldn’t have become one.

Pregnancy Rituals That Honour Women & Build Community: A Meaningful Alternative to Baby Showers

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

Pregnancy is one of the most significant transitions in our life, and one that unlike the menarche is still widely celebrated in Western society. It is of course the magical time when a woman grows a tiny human while battling heartburn, swollen feet, and unsolicited belly rubs from strangers, because lets face it, who needs autonomy right?! The way the world is moving, it’s scary! As we move further and further into a time where white supremacy is clinging on and throwing a party for everyone to see, I’m sat at my desk thinking about baby showers, pregnancy and how we’ve (in masses) lost the meaning of rituals at this sacred time. I want to pause, and take a minute to appreciate the pregnancy rituals that actually honor women and foster a sense of community—no smoke bombs or giant pink and blue cakes required.

Traditional Pregnancy Rituals, from around the world

Across cultures worldwide, far beyond my desk in Helensbrugh, babies are born, people live and die and the world keeps spinning. Pregnancy has long been celebrated with rituals focused on nurturing and supporting the mother, rather than just planning the perfect Instagram moment. These traditions emphasize connection, wisdom-sharing, and, dare I say, actual real life support. I think it’s important to say though, there’s a difference between being inspired by these traditions and being appropriative of them, so definitely consider that before you just grab one off the shelf kind of thing.

Here are a few beautiful examples:

Blessingway (Navajo Tradition)

Unlike a baby shower (which is often just a lot of baby grows presents and weird games ), the Blessingway is a sacred Navajo ceremony centered around the mother. Women in her circle gather to offer blessings, share stories, and quite literally wrap her in love and encouragement. Sometimes, they create a beaded necklace, each bead symbolizing a wish for her journey ahead. No awkward “guess the baby food” games—just pure community.

Seemantham (South Indian Ritual)

In South India, Seemantham is a celebration that again focuses on the mother’s well-being. Family members recite prayers, offer gifts meant to bring prosperity, and pamper the mum-to-be with traditional music and massages. It is a pregnancy pause, to honour the work she is doing growing her baby and about making sure she feels cherished and held towards those last few weeks – It’s not about blue or pink balloons!

Arvigo Mayan Abdominal Massage (Mayan Tradition)

This beautiful tradition is not a single event, but rather something that has been passed down through generations to support fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery. It is a practice where women gather to perform gentle abdominal massages, believed to promote a healthy pregnancy and ease labor. Talk about ancestral strengths – I love this.

Pregnancy Cradling (Ghana, Akan Tribe)

In certain Ghanaian traditions (and this holds a soft spot for me because my mum was born in Ghana) a pregnant woman is surrounded by elder women who cradle her belly and chant blessings. This is meant to ensure the safe arrival of the baby and provide emotional and spiritual support. Can you imagine the power of this, as opposed to a tea party or similar where mum-to-be is shattered and overwhelmed in both love and stuff!

There are more, but you get the point. None of these traditions are about ‘stuff’ or performance. They are about community, village, support, all things that are essential in our life and parenting, and yet things that we are deprived off in the society we live in.

These rituals and community make a difference. They start our mothering journey off in a space of sacredness and wisdom; when the wise women gather in love and joy to celebrate, it is a passing down of power and magick. Yes it sounds witchy, because it is! It so beautifully is.

I’m running pregnancy yoga classes now in Helensburgh and this is what I want to share with the gorgeous mamas coming to stretch and connect with their babies; the rituals and relationships we forge that sustain us are so much more essential that capitalist systems want us to believe. I haven’t decided if I will yet, but I’m feeling really drawn to doing a ceremony at the end of this block of classes. Inspired by, but not imitating the traditions from around the world, I’d make my own mothers blessing ceremony, because though yes the wisdom is celebrated in different ways, ultimately there is an innate wisdom within all of us. Our ancestors birthed us, and we birth the future. We are the ancestors of our great great grandchildren, and honouring that feels incredibly special.

That’s it for tonight, thanks so much for reading,

with love, Rohana x

Why Preparing for a Homebirth is Vital Work

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

We’ve been hunked down today in Helensburgh during storm Eowyn, watching videos of flying roofs and seeing pictures of just how much damage has been caused by the winds.

It is a powerful reminder about just how incredible mother nature is. It is not to be taken lightly when there is footage of Helensburgh leisure centre losing its roof or of the garages on the street I used to live destroyed.

There have been many concerns, while my kids have played and watched and cuddled and fought through the day, I’ve had the joy to know they are safe, they are here, and we can stay put; something I’m grateful for. We’ve watched in fascination and at least for a moment we spoke about why this is an example of how much respect nature deserves, because it is immensely powerful.

At the same time, I’ve thought about S, my youngest bubba and how I had him in the living room of my last home here. I’ve thought about the drive out of Helensburgh for As birth and how we had to journey to outside of Glasgow… and how I would not have wanted to be doing that journey today.

Of course, these are extreme circumstances and usually there’s no major storm around, but without a doubt we can say babies have been born today… storm or not, its someone’s birthing day.

Imagine travelling to hosptial in a storm, with no guarantee about road safety, contractions presumably well underway, and the worry of “if there’s a tree blocking the road will I get to hospital in time?” Or “have the midwives managed to make it in for their shifts?” Or “what if the wind gets worse … ?”

It’s pretty scary shit isn’t it?!

And so, I thought I’d share here, that while yes, it’s unlikely that you’re going to have a storm blowing in the middle of your labour, your really cannot know that it won’t happen… so preparing to hunker down, stay home and birth your baby without risking a car journey, might be a really worthwhile consideration. 

Ultimately, I’m not taking about just a homebirth, I’m talking about essentially planning for a freebirth, even if you have absolutely zero intention of ever actually doing it. Preparing for that worst case scenario where you can’t drive out of Helensburgh (or wherever you are reading this of course), or where you get told there’s no midwives available… it means you still have a huge amount of knowledge, confidence and flexibility around your birth. It means that if the worst case scenario comes, you’re not going to freeze or panic or anything like that, you’re just going to carry on and birth your baby like the goddess you are.

With S, I planned and freebirthed him, because I knew that was what I wanted. He was born in Helensburgh last summer, in a house we’d moved into 2 weeks beforehand… we had prepped for a homebirth, and we had prepped for a freebirth, because with K, we hadn’t, and I had learned my lesson. N

No there was no storm or weather warning… but if there had been, I’d have still been at home, cosy, and brought him earthside knowing we were exactly where we needed to be. Thinking about this, I have a really strong pull to share just how important it is to prepare the plans.

Before today I used to tell clients we’d prep 3 plans, an ideal, an intervention and an emergency, but after this, I’m thinking of adding another one in… or at least bringing up the “have you got an idea about what you’d like to do if the actual weather prevents you from safety leaving home while in labour” plan – I might need a shorter name though!

Anyway, if you’re pregnant and not planning a homebirth, in fact, even if a homebrith is not your ideal birthspace, I genuinely think everyone should have a basic homebirth plan, so that if shit hits the fan, you know you still got this!

Thanks for reading and happy planning,

Rohana xox