At The GIFTED Journal, we champion stories that matter to increase representation and aspiration in the arts and culture space. With pleasure, we introduce Dionne Goldson - the Founder of DforD. A registered midwife, practising Doula, and Creator of the DforD Gown - a staple piece revolutionising pregnancy-wear, both in and out of hospitals, Dionne is a grounded powerhouse. We take a moment during London Fashion Week to celebrate Dionne and her inclusive DforD Gown campaign.

Dionne - you’ve had a busy summer! Congratulations on everything that’s been taking off for you as a doula and designer.

It has been a very busy summer, it feels as if I’m coming out of hibernation. Life as a Doula and Designer is as full as it is rich. I am lucky enough to be able to pursue my two passions: creating and caring. I feel 2022 has been my foundation year, a launch pad to take-off from. I’m out of the conceptual stage and my visions and dreams have finally been brought to life. It’s exciting!

We’d love to hear about your career change: from 12 years in the fashion and styling industry, to maternity care, then circling back to designing - how has this journey been for you?

This journey has been… let’s say scenic! Fashion and styling comes as naturally to me as caring for people. When I was younger and embarking on adulthood and my career, I thought I had to choose. I did - I chose fashion, but ultimately caring kept calling, especially birthwork. Deciding to pursue a career in midwifery wasn’t the hardest part, shutting off my creative nature was - it felt like torture.

After a period of studying and working as a Midwife within the rigid environment of the NHS, I knew deep down that this was not my path. There were so many things that I didn’t agree with and the culture was not as caring as one would expect. I finally claimed both sides of myself and stepped forward with confidence knowing I had a unique perspective on both fashion and maternity care.

You describe traditional hospital gowns not being ‘fit-for-function’ during pregnancy, birth or nursing - please share why.

When anyone thinks of a traditional hospital gown, they associate it with someone being ill, injured, vulnerable and most likely immobile. The only activity the wearer of the traditional gown is expected to do, is to lie down and be ‘patient’.

This subliminal message and association exists in every person’s mind all around the world. We often don’t even think about it, that is, until it’s our own turn to wear one. Then suddenly all of our fears come rushing in. We lose our dignity, our autonomy, our independence and power. As a Midwife, I saw this change in psyche occur countless times: we cannot underestimate the power of negative thought processing when it comes to our health and well-being, especially within pregnancy and the birthing process.

Pregnancy and birth should signify the epitome of wellness, so why would we robe expectant mothers in the attire of those who are sick? The fact that the traditional hospital gown does not allow skin-to-skin - a vital part of the birthing process that regulates the baby’s temperature, heart rate and breathing - was and is wild to me. Coming from a design and Midwifery background, I didn’t understand how mothers were expected to breastfeed with dignity in traditional gowns, which can occur 8-12 times a day - sometimes more. This is especially crucial in hospital settings, after surgical births or when mothers are being clinically observed.

Pregnant, birthing and nursing people need to freely walk, bend, squat and sway. Traditional gowns simply don’t allow this, because it’s not what they were designed for. I couldn’t help but think how I would solve this. It became a bit of an obsession to be honest... Designing in my spare time, between long shifts, little by little I made progress. I bothered my anaesthetist colleagues on their lunch breaks with endless sample revisions. Over time and so many iterations, I did it. I made a gown fit-for-purpose, with none of the negative associations of the traditional gown.

You offer holistic care packages as part of your services as a doula - how do you typically care for mums-to-be at the beginning of their pregnancy journey and beyond?

I have been a Doula since I was 17 years old, when I was called to attend my first birth by my mother’s best friend. This early introduction to birthwork taught me that it should be continual, and take into account all elements of health (social, physical, emotional, spiritual), and be parent and baby focused.

In my practice, this means that I meet parents/families before birth, around 30 weeks into pregnancy. Before or later can be facilitated, but I’ve found that this kind of time-frame is important for preparation. It’s not kind or wise to flood an expectant mother/parent with all the birthing and baby information at once, especially when everyone (and their Aunty, literally!) has an opinion or a horror story to pass on.

After we decide to work with each other I attend their homes, we get to know each other and I tailor the support to their needs and requirements. We discuss what a safe and satisfying birth means to them, chat about birth preferences, learn new skills such as colostrum harvesting. Their birth partner is taught touch and massage techniques. We go over baby positions and what that means. I ensure that they feel confident in communicating with healthcare professionals and are aware of their rights. In the weeks leading up to the birth, my client’s receive a DforD Gown (of course).

I am always reachable by call/text/video/email throughout the time I work with my clients. I go on-call from their 37th week in pregnancy until their birth - this means that my phone is glued to me. No partying, no commitments to plans with family and friends and I stay within a local radius to my clients. When they feel that they are in labour, they call me any time, day or night. I then attend their home and support with my skills and experience for labour and birth support in conjunction with their Midwives.

To be very clear, I never assess, diagnose, treat or advise. I do not utilise my Midwifery skills as that’s not what I am hired to do. I don’t work with families that don’t have a Midwife and my clients are aware of the limitations of my Doula practice. Yes, I’m a Midwife, but I am not their Midwife.

They are always in touch with their maternity providers to ensure safety and transparency. If my client’s aren’t planning a homebirth, when the time is right, I attend the hospital or birth centre with them. I work to provide emotional support, suggest activities, massages, acupuncture, encouragement and in some cases advocacy - I am on their side/by their side. My knowledge of clinical navigation around guidelines is especially useful for my clients wanting individualised care plans - gatekeeping knowledge benefits no-one in the end.

I stay with all my clients until their baby’s first feed. This is important to me, as it’s usually when the family feels safe. After their birth, I return to their homes, providing breastfeeding support and guidance. My hands-off approach means mothers feel confident in their positioning skills and I get texts from clients a year later thanking me for the support in the early days of their baby’s life.

I also provide a space for debriefing - talking and listening to the families and their experience of the pregnancy and birth. It can't be underestimated how important this is, especially for the partners who are often ‘forgotten’ about. Sometimes my clients want to give their maternity services feedback about the care that they received. I can help them formulate this.

I also provide a closing ceremony - which is a ritual that takes place in many indigenous communities worldwide. This involves a massage, tying and untying of woven material around the mother’s body with post birth affirmations written with that particular family in mind. It’s an opportunity for the birthing person to thank their body, be held, pampered and to close that chapter in preparation for the next.

With the fashion industry being one of the leading factors contributing to climate change, how does the DforD Gown encourage a mindful approach to pregnancy?

One of the reasons I stepped away from fashion was the sheer amount of waste and lack of creativity and innovation. In the mid-00’s celebrity culture and fast fashion was taking hold of the globe. For an Art & Design Graduate it felt vacuous, shallow and boring.

If I could have afforded to put on a final degree show back in 2003, it would have involved making sustainable (we called it ‘eco’ back then), multi-functioning clothes and accessories. I knew intuitively that 2-in-1’s (if made correctly) were better for the consumer's pocket and the environment.

I knew that if I was to ever create an item it would have to have multiple practical uses, be manufactured sustainably using recycled or biodegradable fabrics and not take advantage of cheap labour. The DforD Gown meets those specifications and I am committed to continuing my research into more sustainable production lines and materials.

Looking ahead, what’s the vision for the DforD Gown?

I clearly envisage the DforD Gown to be the norm in all maternity settings; firstly within the NHS, and then globally. The DforD Gown is not only for birthing mothers, pregnant people and nursing newborns, but can be used as a more dignified gown for mammograms or breast operations in general, due to the ease of opening and closing for clinical assessments and treatments.

The DforD Gown is one of five designs that I’ve created for pregnancy and beyond. I plan for all five designs to be fully realised and applied in health and retail settings. I hope that with growth, the label will be able to develop innovative ways to deal with textile waste into new, exciting products that can be worn by people every day, in multiple ways.

Amazing! What advice would you give to someone at the beginning of their journey, perhaps at a point of a career change, unsure of whether to take a leap?

I try not to give advice, but to support and mentor people to figure out their best decision. From my experience, a passion is the love we have as a young person for something pure, true and most likely reflects what we are naturally good at.

A way of knowing whether we can make money/living/career/life from something is if we are continually called upon to do it. For me it was fashion, styling and caring - I didn’t need to choose. I imagined a limitation which most likely stalled my development, but nothing's ready before it’s time (I’m sure there's a labour induction pun in there somewhere!).

For me, whenever I thought about whether I should take the leap or not, I thought about the alternative: I replaced the word ‘scary’ with ‘exciting’ and kept it moving.

Launching this career took a huge sacrifice; I’ve had to move homes, downsize, change plans and invest savings - gulp! But, I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t have a dream, so if you do have one, go for it - just don’t say I told you to!

We love to share recommendations to our readers. What are you:

Listening to? ‘A Time For Healing’ - by Kahil El’Zabar Quartet, ‘Velvet Rope’ - Janet Jackson and ‘Blessing me’ - by Mura Masa, Pa Salieu, and Skillibeng

Reading? ‘Brit(ish)’ by Afua Hirsch and ‘Period Power’ by Maisie Hill.

Watching? ‘Soft White Underbelly’ (YouTube) and ‘Big Mouth’ (Netflix).

DForD Gown: For Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond