UNCONFIRMED media rumours that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have hired a “childbirth companion” for the arrival of their first child have triggered an upsurge in enquiries, according to a Brighton doula.

Stories circulated last month that the heavily pregnant Duchess, who visited Sussex with Prince Harry last year, has “broken with royal tradition” to use a doula.

Since then, doula Eva Bay Greenslade says the “Meghan effect” has increased enquiries.

She said: “There has definitely been a rise in the number of women making enquiries because the stories about Meghan have raised awareness of doulas and what we do.”

Mother-of-four Eva has been a doula for almost three years.

She decided to become a doula after a midwife encouraged her when she helped out at the home birth of her sister’s third child.

She said: “It was a lovely experience and I was able to give my sister emotional support, helping her to focus on the birth by making the environment just right.

“When I started training to be a doula, I knew immediately I had found my niche in life.

“I feel empowering women to completely trust their bodies is key to birthing positively, as well as creating an environment both parents are comfortable in.”

Eva is registered with Doula UK, the membership association of the 700 birth and postnatal doulas in the UK, including around 35 in Sussex.

It defines the role of a doula as someone “who provides continuous flexible, practical and emotional

support for the whole family through pregnancy, birth and the early days of parenthood”.

Doulas, who work in both hospitals and homes, have basic training but are not medically trained.

Brighton mother Charlotte Clarke, 40, who lives with husband Will, used Eva as a doula during the third trimester of her pregnancy and for the birth of her daughter Madeleine, now six months old.

She said: “My mother had passed away, I have no sisters and no close friends nearby, and I didn’t feel I had any emotional non-medical support.

“My American mother-in-law knew about doulas so I found Eva.

“She helped me so much in my transformation from woman to mother and operated like you hope a sister would.

“She’s wonderful.”

Hypnobirthing practitioner Karen Knight, 45, the mother of three boys aged 17, 12 and eight, used Eva as a doula for the home birth of her fourth baby, who is now almost two.

Karen, who lives at Stanmer Park with husband Jason and their children, described the difference between the first three births, which she said were each traumatic in different ways, and the fourth as “like chalk and cheese”.

She said: “Eva was amazing for my fourth – she was the right fit for my family.

“During the birth, she dealt with people turning up at the door, including a meter reader and a neighbour looking for his dog.

“And when my mother rang, who she’d never spoken to before, she dealt with her with such tact.”

During World Doula Week, which takes place from Friday, Eva will hold a Meet Your Local Doula event.

It will be at The

Depot cafe, Pinwell Road, Lewes, from 10am to noon on Monday