The gift of life
Carly Lord was 19 years old and had just moved to Victoria when she discovered she was pregnant. The teenager was mourning her mother, who’d recently passed away, and living in a new city a long way from family and friends. There was no one to wrap her in the love she needed to get through one of life’s biggest journeys.
During a hospital check-up, a social worker suggested to Carly that a doula (a skilled birth support worker) might be able to provide the comfort and care she craved.
“I didn’t even know what a doula was – it was a totally foreign concept to me,” says Carly, reflecting on those anxious months before she gave birth to Huxley, now eight. “It’s scary enough being pregnant, let alone when you’re young or have no support. It was a really challenging time and it was so isolating, not knowing anyone and not having had any exposure to pregnancy or birth.”
In a somewhat meeting that changed both of their lives.
