“Emily was an incredible asset to us during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum! During pregnancy, Emily was a great source of information for both my husband and myself. This was our first baby, so we had lots of questions, and didn't know what we didn't know! Emily answered every question we had without judgment and with unbiased, educated answers. She helped create our birth plan using a premade template that was so helpful to have, and was always available to answer any questions we had. We had multiple FaceTime calls to go over the stage I was in in pregnancy, check in how we were doing, and offer advice on what to do next on our to-do list.
During labor and birth, Emily was an amazing support person for both of us. My husband supported me, and Emily supported him with advice and offered different labor positions, support tactics, and had a bag with what seemed like a never ending supply of tools to assist during labor, such as a labor comb, fan, pump for the birth ball provided by the hospital, and high protein snacks! My labor was very long, so when my husband needed to rest, Emily stepped in as my support person. I was extremely comfortable with her, and trusted her to help me through the process. She also helped us make decisions when labor stalled and I felt frustrated and stuck. Her advice was always given without her personal opinion, and only offered us facts on how procedures would affect me and my baby. Emily was at the hospital with us for over 24 hours, and never seemed to tire of supporting us through bringing our son into the world. I truly don't know how either of us would have been able to do it without her help!
Now during postpartum, Emily has checked in on us via text and phone calls many times, offered advice and help when I've asked for it, and even came by to visit in person. While here, she helped with food, laundry, and caring for our newborn when we felt like we didn't know what we were doing!
I have no doubt that this process would have looked much differently without Emily involved, and I'm so glad that I didn't have to experience it without her! If you're interested in using a doula, look no further than Emily; if you're on the fence about using a doula, just know that your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience will be much better with Emily involved!” - L.R.