Privacy Policy

Effective date: May 2026

At Amy By Your Side, your privacy matters. This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you visit my website, contact me, or use my birth and postnatal doula services.

This policy applies to my website, www.amybyyourside.uk, and to any personal information you share with me as part of an enquiry, booking, consultation or doula support.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Amy By Your Side is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

You can contact me at:

Amy By Your Side
London, England
Email: hello@amybyyourside.uk
Phone: 07399 482008

A business correspondence address can be provided where required.

Information I Collect

I may collect and use the following types of personal information.

Contact information

This may include your name, email address, phone number, location, and preferred way of being contacted.

Enquiry and booking information

This may include information you provide when you contact me, book a consultation, complete a form, join a mailing list, or arrange doula support.

Pregnancy, birth and postnatal information

Because of the nature of doula work, you may choose to share information about your pregnancy, birth preferences, postnatal needs, feeding plans, previous birth experiences, family circumstances, emotional wellbeing, or relevant health information.

Health information is treated as special category data under UK GDPR, which means it needs extra protection. The ICO explains that special category data needs both a lawful basis under Article 6 UK GDPR and a separate condition under Article 9 UK GDPR.

Payment and billing information

This may include payment status, invoice details, package purchased, amount paid, and billing records. I do not directly store full card details unless clearly stated. If payments are taken through a third-party provider, that provider will process payment information according to its own privacy policy.

Website and technical information

When you visit my website, some technical information may be collected automatically, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, and how you use the website.

This may happen through website analytics, cookies, or similar technologies, depending on how the website is set up.

How I Use Your Information

I use your personal information to:

  • respond to your enquiries;

  • provide birth and postnatal doula services;

  • arrange consultations, bookings and support sessions;

  • communicate with you before, during and after your support;

  • understand your preferences, needs and circumstances;

  • send invoices, receipts and payment reminders;

  • keep appropriate client records;

  • improve my website, services and client experience;

  • meet legal, tax, insurance and safeguarding responsibilities;

  • protect my rights, business and clients where necessary.

Lawful Bases for Using Your Information

Under UK GDPR, I need a lawful basis to use your personal information.

Depending on the situation, I may rely on:

Contract — where I need your information to provide services you have requested or agreed to.

Consent — where you have given clear permission, for example, to receive marketing emails or to share certain sensitive information.

Legitimate interests — where I have a reasonable business reason to use your information, as long as this does not override your rights and freedoms. This may include responding to enquiries, keeping basic business records, improving services, or protecting the business.

Legal obligation — where I need to keep or share information to comply with the law, for example, tax, accounting, safeguarding or regulatory responsibilities.

Vital interests — in rare situations, where information may need to be shared to protect someone’s life or safety.

For special category data, such as health-related information, I will only use it where there is an appropriate Article 9 condition. This may include your explicit consent, or where processing is necessary for reasons such as safeguarding, legal claims, or vital interests, depending on the circumstances. The ICO says explicit consent is one possible condition for special category data.

Sharing Your Information

I do not sell your personal information.

I only share or allow access to your personal information where necessary to run my business, provide support, meet legal obligations, or keep people safe.

This may include trusted service providers who help me operate my website, email, forms, booking system, payment processing, accounts, client records or other business systems. These providers may process personal information on my behalf, but they are not allowed to use it for their own purposes.

Professional Support and Reflective Practice

To work safely, ethically and responsibly, I may discuss aspects of my doula work with a mentor, supervisor or trusted professional support person.

Where I do this, I will only share what is necessary, and I will anonymise information wherever possible. This means I will avoid sharing names or identifying details unless there is a clear reason to do so.

The purpose of this is to support reflective practice, maintain professional standards, and make sure I am providing thoughtful and appropriate care.

Information may only be shared more directly if there is a serious concern about safety, safeguarding, legal obligations, or the wellbeing of you, your baby, a child, or another person.

I may also share information where necessary with:

✦ payment, website, email, form, booking or client record providers;

✦ professional advisers, such as an accountant, insurer or legal adviser;

✦ healthcare professionals, emergency services, safeguarding organisations or public authorities where necessary for safety, legal or safeguarding reasons;

✦ courts, regulators, law enforcement or other authorities if required by law.

Where I use trusted third-party service providers, I aim to make sure they handle your information securely and only for the purpose agreed.

Marketing

I will only send you marketing emails if you have agreed to receive them or where I am otherwise allowed to do so by law.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link, where available, or by contacting me directly.

I will not sell your details to third parties for marketing.

Cookies and Website Analytics

My website may use cookies and similar technologies to help it work properly, understand how visitors use the site, and improve the website experience.

Cookies are small files placed on your device. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function. Others, such as analytics cookies, are non-essential and will only be used where you have given consent through the cookie banner.

I use Google Analytics to collect general information about how people use my website. This may include things like which pages are visited, how visitors find the website, what type of device or browser is used, and how people move around the site.

Google Analytics does not allow me to see personal information such as your name, email address, phone number, pregnancy details, due date, birth preferences, postnatal needs, or anything you write in a contact form.

I use this information to understand what is useful, improve the website, and make it easier for people to find the support they are looking for.

You can accept or decline non-essential cookies through the cookie banner. You can also usually manage or disable cookies through your browser settings.

How Long I Keep Your Information

I only keep personal information for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected.

As a general guide:

  • Enquiry information may be kept for a reasonable period after your enquiry.

  • Client records may be kept for as long as needed for professional, insurance, safeguarding or legal reasons.

  • Payment and invoice records are usually kept for tax and accounting purposes.

  • Marketing information is kept until you unsubscribe or ask me to remove it.

If you would like more details about a specific retention period, you can contact me.

How I Protect Your Information

I take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration.

This may include password protection, secure storage, limited access to client information, careful handling of written notes, and using trusted service providers.

No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, so I cannot guarantee absolute security, but I will take privacy and confidentiality seriously.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have rights over your personal information. These may include:

  • the right to be informed about how your information is used;

  • the right to access the personal information held about you;

  • the right to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • the right to request deletion of your information in certain circumstances;

  • the right to restrict how your information is used;

  • the right to object to certain types of processing;

  • the right to data portability in certain circumstances;

  • the right to withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis.

The ICO says privacy notices should include people’s information rights and explain how people can complain if they have concerns.

To exercise your rights, contact me at hello@amybyyourside.uk.

I may need to confirm your identity before responding to a request.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about how I use your personal information, please contact me first so I can try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection regulator. The ICO explains that individuals have the right to complain to a supervisory authority about how their personal data is being used.

Third-Party Links

My website may include links to other websites. I am not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of those websites.

Please read the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When I do, I will update the effective date at the top of this page.

The latest version will always be available on my website.