Caz Merrett
Starfish Doula
Hello, I’m an experienced birth doula in Yorkshire. I love meeting new people and exploring who they want to be. I also make bellycasts and run a pool hire service. Simply making the difference.
The area I cover
I cover all of West Yorkshire, and also travelling into surrounding counties: South/North Yorkshire, and Lancashire. I only offer support in person.
Getting in touch
More about me
I began actively doulaing in 2012 after being a member of a peer support group for VBAC parents since 2007. I trained with Developing Doulas in 2008 – one of the earliest cohorts. My background is in psychology and my interest in the transformative experience of giving birth and parenting gave, and continues to give, specific focus to my studies.
I predominantly offer birth doula support, but I also offer full spectrum and pregnancy-only support. I run a birth pool hire service in my local area, hiring out ten pools across the county. I make bellycasts and host Birth Blessing or Mother Blessing ceremonies. I’ve supported a wide range of parental birth choices for a range of families, from freebirth to scheduled inductions, and a range of scenarios, from first time babies to 7th babies, from single parents to parents who speak English as a second language.
I love to explore with parents what their ideal birth is and walk with them while they make that happen for themselves. There is no right or wrong way to give birth, only what is right for you. I enjoy meeting new people and finding out about them. I love to read and talk deeply about topics and ask questions to tease apart the underlying emotions and experiences behind the way that people feel and think. I hope to help them to look inside themselves for answers, to open their own doors that they need to grow, so that they can empower themselves and achieve their goals.
In all my work I strive to live up to the story that inspired my business name, and that has come to represent to many doulas what it is to do the work we do:
The man said, “You do realise there are many miles of beach and thousands of starfish? You cannot possibly make a difference.” The young woman listened, then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.”
If you are a doula looking for Primary Companionship, I am offering this service as well as one-off sessions. I am not a Doula UK member so I may be particularly suited to those who do not wish to join DUK. I will approach any Companionship relationship with the same gentle care and interest as I do my doula clients. My special areas of interest are VBAC/HBAC, homebirths, birth after complex previous births, teenage parenthood, Down’s syndrome, running a pool service, balancing doula work with home education, being a neurodivergent doula. I also have experience in supporting admission to ICU, accessing donor breastmilk, and supporting baby loss.
