About me

How do you pronounce her surname?

Hey, I’m Sarah Doman, it’s a tricky surname and is none of the following: Doo-man, D’man, or (my favourite) Doberman. This is how you say it- just like the word Roman but with a D. So now that’s out of the way – let’s get into it! 

If you are thinking about booking me to work with you in your pregnancy or to help you with your young child, or to work with your early years setting, these all require us working in close proximity, so I think it’s important that we get to know each other a little better.

Why I do what I do…

My favourite part of the work I do is I get to tell the best-kept secrets in the world:

‘’There is a secret in our culture and it is not that birth is painful but that women are strong’’
Laura Stavoe

And not so much a secret, but something we (including me!) need to be reminded if on the regular:

‘’The first five years have so much to do with how the next eighty turn out’’
Bill Gates

What I do…

I help people who have or are soon going to have young children.

1. Parenting
2. Birthing
3.  Educating

All these have something in common, and those involved in any of these things are not given the tools that are needed in order to thrive.

This is where I come in.

Having worked for over 13 years in the early years’ sector, in a wide variety of settings, working with different staff and their skill sets and hundreds of children I have an excellent understanding of the demands and needs of the sector. Working in the early years’ sector is incredibly challenging, with the aspects of care and education being intrinsically linked, whilst keeping up to date with best practices and managing a staff team on limited budgets (and the rest!). Getting the right staff, and creating a positive environment for them, and supporting and guiding them in the best way filters down into providing the best possible care and education for our youngest children. I totally get it, and with my extensive teaching background combined with my studies and qualifications I am confident to say that if you have a training and development need within your staff team, I can meet it. You can check out my early years consultancy page for my specialisms and read more about me by scrolling down.

How I got here…

I chose to focus my studies within the early years sector. When I graduated I knew this was what I wanted to pursue, and set about creating out-of-school projects which led me down the route of more formalised childcare. Since then I have run most childcare establishments you can think of; out of school clubs, pre-schools, day nurseries, trained as a teacher, and visited Sweden to study the renowned forward thinking education system, learning how to apply those principles here in the UK. I have led a number of Ofsted inspections, which I am proud to say obtained the setting an ‘Outstanding’ grading. Following on from this I have gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Early Years, and gone on to lecture on the Early Years Foundation Degree. As well as this, during my time running settings I have been lucky enough to be invited to meet the childcare minister in recognition of my work supporting vulnerable children.

How I got into birth work…

In 2017 I became pregnant with my first born, and I didn’t know anything about having a baby. I was scared about birth, what with the media portraying birth in the most unhelpful way, and stories that get shared with you are so rarely positive. I had heard about it firsthand too and following my sister’s traumatic birth, this changed the course of my birth preparation, and ultimately my career.

The way I prepared for parenthood was an awakening for me.

Once I took a hypnobirthing course, I discovered I had a choice about:

 1. Where I had my baby
2. What would happen if I went overdue
3. Whether or not I wanted a vaginal examination (not par for the course, I know, right?)

As soon as I walked out of the course, I began talking about how a birthing person and young child need the same environment, people and consideration given to their unique set of circumstances. Combined with my love of teaching and facilitating learning, it was early on in my maternity leave that I knew I needed to share this knowledge.

I have since gone on to have another baby in October 2021, and used what I knew to plan a beautiful birth experience, even going 2 weeks ‘overdue’, and navigating pressure to be induced.

Parenting starts in pregnancy…

My firm belief is that parenthood starts in pregnancy, and there are so many different facets of this journey which can be taken individually, or used as building blocks to support you as your family grows and you all need to adapt. Having a positive birth sets you up for the kind of head space you’ll need to be in as you adapt to taking care of a tiny human, as they grow, you need to understand the way your child is developing works and then there are the specifics of getting into what your family life looks like. I work on each of these segments with families as individuals, but as my business has grown, I now work with hypnobirthing clients to support them in parenthood, which I am absolutely privileged to do and love. This is where the beehive concept has come from that you’ll see on my logo, beautifully created little segments of honeycomb that are perfect on their own, but are amazing when they all fit together.

Take a look around, and see where you are at with your parenthood journey, or your early years setting and I’d love to help support you to get clearer on it, wherever you are.