Emily Mac
Maternal Wellbeing
About Me
I’m Emily.
I support women through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood with a unique blend of mental health expertise and practical doula care. My aim is to help you feel more prepared, more supported and emotionally steadier during one of the biggest transitions of your life.
Motherhood can be wonderful, but it can also feel overwhelming, messy and unexpectedly hard, particularly when you are used to being capable, organised and holding everything together. You may be worrying about how you will cope, whether you will still feel like yourself, or what will happen if your mental health begins to suffer.
My role is to provide calm, consistent and emotionally informed support, so you do not have to navigate pregnancy, birth or life with a new baby alone.
My own experience of motherhood
By the time I began working with mums and babies, I also had three babies of my own.
When I first became pregnant, I naively assumed my midwife would guide me closely through the whole experience. I soon realised that much of the preparation, decision-making and emotional adjustment was down to me.
I wanted desperately to do the right thing as a mother, but I also found the loss of independence and autonomy difficult. Becoming a parent changes so much, and even when you love your baby deeply, it does not mean that the transition is always easy.
I really needed someone experienced who could have told me if I was doing okay, who could have gently explored my emotional wellbeing (not just thrown the Edinburgh Depression Scale at me at the end of a visit), and also whizzed round with the hoover, sorted some laundry, and made sure I had snacks.
My own experiences have shaped the way I support women. I understand that it is possible to feel grateful and overwhelmed, capable and anxious, delighted and completely lost, sometimes all in the same day.
You deserve support through that transition, not judgement or an expectation that you should simply get on with it.
Why I do this work
So many women find the transition to motherhood harder than they expected. They may feel anxious, overwhelmed, low, detached or simply unlike themselves, yet not meet the criteria for specialist NHS mental health services. They are not in crisis, but they are not truly feeling well either.
Often, these women carry on quietly, telling themselves they should be coping or that other people have it harder. They may be offered limited support, face long waits, or simply not know where to turn.
That is the space I now work in.
I wanted to offer women more than occasional appointments or a narrow form of support. I wanted to provide something more personal, more consistent and more rounded: specialist emotional support alongside practical care through pregnancy, birth and the early weeks with a baby.
I had been interested in doula work for several years, and as I began developing my own service, it became clear that many women need both. They need someone who understands maternal mental health, but who can also help them prepare for birth, be there during labour and offer practical, reassuring support once their baby arrives.
My experience
I am a Registered Mental Health Nurse and trained doula, with over 20 years of experience working in mental health services across the NHS.
During my career, I have worked within adolescent inpatient services, acute adult wards, early intervention for psychosis and primary care mental health services alongside GPs. Most importantly for the work I do now, I spent more than six years working within specialist community perinatal mental health services, supporting women and families through pregnancy and the postnatal period.
I absolutely loved working within the NHS Perinatal Mental Health Team. I saw first-hand the difference that the right support during pregnancy and early motherhood could make to a woman’s mental health, her relationship with her baby and her confidence as a parent.
But I also became increasingly aware of the women who were falling through the gaps.
My training and qualifications
Alongside over two decades of mental health nursing experience, including eight years supporting new mums and families, I have completed additional training in:
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Developing Doulas Preparation Course
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for depression
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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills
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Specialist perinatal mental health training
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Brief solution-focused therapy
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Brief psychological interventions
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Watch, Wait and Wonder
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Additional perinatal and maternal wellbeing training
This combination of clinical experience, therapeutic knowledge and practical doula training enables me to support women in a way that is both professionally informed and deeply human.
Life outside of work
At home, life is full and noisy in the best possible way. My husband Ian and I have three daughters and a very large labradoodle called Milo, who keeps us all entertained.
When I am not working or ferrying children between clubs, activities and family life, you will usually find me lifting weights, doing Pilates, walking outdoors or drinking a very strong cup of tea. I am always happy to talk about my deadlift one-rep max, given half a chance.
Over the past few years, I have made a conscious effort to prioritise my own mental and physical wellbeing. Family, social connection, health and nature are the values that matter most to me, and they shape both my personal life and the way I work.
I am naturally sociable and love getting to know people properly, listening to their stories and building meaningful connections. I also know the importance of having space, support and care for ourselves, especially during demanding seasons of life.
Nature has become one of the quickest ways for me to reset. My husband knows that if I am stressed or grouchy, sending me outside usually helps. Bonus points if there is water nearby and an iced coffee in my hand.
And one final fun fact: I used to play the double bass in a county youth orchestra, and I still regret giving it up.
