Jos Smith the yoga doula sitting crossed legged and smiling at camera

My Philosphy

Pregnancy, birth, and the fourth trimester are deeply transformative times, best met with mindfulness and steady support. My approach is shaped by my work as a birth doula and many years of teaching yoga, supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and into the early days of parenthood.

I care deeply about the physiology of birth, and about a woman's right to autonomy in her own birthing experience. When women are well informed, respected, and supported, their innate ability to birth and care for their babies can unfold with strength and ease.

What gets in the way, more often than not, is everything happening around her: care built to manage risk, rather than protect what birth actually needs. Safety. Privacy. Quiet. The freedom to simply be left alone.

Birth is a profound, uniquely personal experience — never one-size-fits-all. My role is to walk alongside you, helping you stay connected to your body and intuition, and build trust in your own process. I bring a calm, grounded presence, honest conversations based on evidence, and advocacy that centres your voice and your choices.

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About Jos

Hi, I'm Jos - I'm a doula, a yoga teacher, and a mother. I live in Crouch End, North London, with my husband, our two teenagers, and our dog. I support women and families across London through pregnancy, birth, and the early tender weeks of parenthood.

My own journey into motherhood has led me to this work. Both of my births were deeply transformative, each with its own set of challenges, but equally empowering in their own way. What made the biggest difference was feeling informed, supported, and safe. Having a doula by my side during my second birth was life-changing. She truly listened, helped me understand my options, and reminded me of my strength. That experience sparked something in me — a deep calling to offer the same kind of steady, compassionate support to others.

Yoga has been a constant anchor throughout my life, especially during motherhood. After the birth of my second child, when I felt depleted and was struggling with anxiety, yoga gave me space to breathe, reconnect with myself, and begin to heal. This inspired me to train as a yoga teacher, later specialising in pregnancy and postnatal yoga. I quickly discovered how much I love holding space for women — deeply listening, sharing, and fostering a supportive community during this transformative time.

Those conversations and connections brought me back to that calling, and I trained as a birth and postnatal doula with Nurturing Birth.

My practice continues to grow through ongoing learning, reflection, and the rich insight that comes from walking alongside families. My background in yoga and mindfulness weaves through my approach, helping me bring a calm, steady presence to the families I support. The families I work with often describe me as warm, grounded, and quietly confident.

I've supported many kinds of births, from home births to planned caesareans and everything in between. Whether you're preparing for your first baby, hoping for a VBAC, wanting a different experience after a previous birth, or needing help navigating the maternity system, I'm here for you.

Away from work, the simple things in life bring me joy — coffee, cooking, yoga, and spending time with my amazing children, who continue to be my greatest teachers. I also love being outdoors, whether walking my dog in nature or enjoying a sea swim. These moments help me feel grounded and connected.

If you're looking for warm, grounded, and experienced support on your journey into parenthood, and would love to explore working together, I'd love to hear from you.

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  • Birth and Postnatal Doula - Nurturing Birth

    Recognised Birth and Postnatal Doula - Doula UK

    Supporting Homebirth - Emma Ashworth 

    Biomechanics for Birth - Molly O'Brien, Optimal Birth

    Advanced Biomechanics for Birth - Molly O'Brien, Optimal Birth

    Consent: Rights in Childbirth - Emma Ashworth

    My Rights: Vaginal examinations in pregnancy and birth - Emma Ashworth

    Supporting Neurodivergent Birth - Victoria White, ND Birth

    Supporting Every Birth (supporting families experiencing loss) - Michelle Every

    Full Paediatric First Aid Qualification

    DBS checked

    Fully insured

  • Pregnancy Yoga teacher training - Nadia Narain, Triyoga

    Postnatal Yoga teacher training - Nadia Narain, Triyoga

    200h Yoga teacher training - Holly Warren, YogaLondon

    100h Apprentice Module - Holly Warren, Yoga London

    Yin Yoga teacher training - Norman Blair

    Relax & Renew Restorative Yoga teacher training - Judith Hanson Lasater

    Yoga for lower back pain - Donna Farhi

    Embodying Insights - Yoga, Breathing, Meditation and Study 5 Day Intensive - Michael Stone

    Refining Adjusting Skills (Ashtanga Vinyasa Primary and Secondary Series) - Brian Cooper

    Learning to Float - Linda Douglas

    The Importance of a Healthy Psoas Muscle - Bridget Woods Kramer

    The Art of Vinyasa: Intelligent Adaptation in Movement and Form - Richard Freeman

    Precision and Grace: shoulders, neck and upper back - Bridget Woods Kramer

certified nurturing birth doula logo
registered with doula uk organisation
certified in using biomechanics for birth during pregnancy and birth
trained in supporting neurodivergent birth

 My Process

01

Inquire

Get in touch to book a discovery call with me.

02

Book

Choose one of the support options I offer & sign a Doula agreement.

03

visit

Book our 1st meeting to start our journey together.

  • We felt so supported throughout - Jos has lots of resources and information to share, as well as being extremely knowledgeable about all different aspects of pregnancy and labour. We had the added bonus of living near to one another, making pre-and post-natal meetings super easy. Jos was flexible, calm and positive and made me feel confident in my decisions and encouraged a lot of self trust. She also knew the local hospitals and their services really well. I’d recommend her doula services wholeheartedly.

  • I had the pleasure of working with Jos for the birth of our first child. As a first time father, I was initially apprehensive that working with a doula would somehow demote/encroach on my role as birth partner to my wife during the main event.In fact, what I soon realised from our preparatory work together is that having a doula made me a more empathetic and informed partner throughout the pregnancy and gave me the confidence to advocate for our birth choices during the labour. Jos’ focus on empowering her clients with knowledge and her easy going approach while in labour made her an indispensable addition to our birthing team, ensuring continuity, humour and agency throughout the birthing adventure.

  • We started working with Jos early on in our pregnancy journey and she has been an invaluable support throughout. Given neither me or my husband are from the UK, we felt like we needed support from someone who knew the system and was able to guide us through the multitude of choices you are faced with pre and during birth and we couldn’t have asked for better support. Jos is very empathetic and she would always guide us through different scenarios without judgment, supporting us by sharing a lot of resources that would help us make more conscious choices. Despite not having the birth we had planned for, I had a wonderful labour experience thanks to the support that Jos had given me and my husband pre birth and during the actual labour. Jos is a fantastic person and professional and I couldn’t recommend her more!

  • Jos is a fantastic doula and I’m so glad she was part of our pregnancy and birth journey. She is easy going, down to earth, understanding and so knowledgable. She understood us and our birth preferences and was always on hand - both in person and on the phone - to answer any of our questions or ease our worries. The resources, information, podcasts and knowledge she provided us with were so valuable, especially as this pregnancy and birth had a number of scenarios and issues that we weren’t expecting and hadn’t experienced with our first baby. Having an independent third party to turn to, to ease my anxiety and to hold my hand throughout was so important to me and I don’t know how people manage the journey without it! I cannot recommend Jos highly enough.

  • My wife and I would highly recommend working with Jos as a doula. We had a great experience in preparation for birth, during labour and beyond. In particular, we’d highlight the breadth of her knowledge, understanding of the local NHS trust, the incredible judgement she had during labour and openness to all kinds of questions. We had a very positive birthing experience and Jos was an integral part of making that a reality.

Interested in working with me?

If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call. I'll share more about how I work and the different ways I can support you during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal weeks.

book a free discovery call →