Jennie Zimburean Doula Profile

The selflessness, kindness and strength that Jennie demonstrated while guiding us through the birth of our first child was uncanny. Jennie's personality and kindness showed through immediately and we soon felt as though we had known her for years. 

Jennie was with us every step of the way. Our labor proceeded for roughly 34 hours from the time Jennie joined us. Her role in the experience was almost as vital to me as it was to my wife. Right from the beginning, Jennie was not only by my wife's side but also making sure I continued to eat and drink and even allowed me a 15 minute nap when delirium and exhaustion kicked in. :)  She did all of these things with the utmost respect for our privacy and intentions, never intrusive or pressuring.

There are a few stages that Jennie helped us through especially. We had to transfer to the hospital and our insurance did not cover our midwife once we were also under the care of an OB. Jennie was able to make this a smooth transition for us. We eventually (unfortunately) had to undergo a Cesarian. Jennie suited up in OR clothes with me and was there with us there as well. These were all presented to us as options. She never assumed or imposed. We couldn't have imagined parting with her at that point. Our son had to go to the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit). Jennie stayed with my wife while I went with our son. I can't imagine what leaving her side would have felt like if it wasn't with Jennie in my place. Because of Jennie encouraging and helping my wife to pump as soon as she was able, my son never had to eat any formula.

All of these things made the role of a doula (and Jennie specifically) a clear necessity. Our experience was wrought with tough decisions and obstacles. Jennie helped take what could have been an absolute nightmare and make it the greatest experience of our lives.

We had a great experience with Jennie, who we hired as a birth doula and ended up using her as a post-partum doula as well for almost 3 months.  We felt like Jennie understood what we needed from her during our birth experience, and our pre-birth meetings helped give us, first time parents, confidence in her experience.  We were glad to have Jennie with us at the hospital.  After we got home, she followed up with us quickly and offered us continuing help.  The recovery from the birth turned out to be more difficult than we had anticipated, and we were glad to have someone we already knew and felt comfortable with help us out with our brand new baby.  Jennie was great with our baby and gave us a lot of useful tips on feeding, sleeping, and other aspects of baby care. 

Jennie was our savior when we could not see straight 3 weeks into being first time twin parents. She was knowledgeable, calm and great with our twins. We used her as a postpartum doula so that we could get 7 hours of sleep without interruptions. I am a better mama because of Jennie.  I would highly recommend her for your postpartum needs.

This was our first child and so we were both very unsure about how the birthing process would be for us. Adding to this unknown was the fact that our pregnancy had complications that completely changed our birth plan. We contracted with Jennie after interviewing her as we felt she had a calm demeanor and was informative without judgment. She was very flexible with our schedules meeting with us multiple times prior to the birth including a visit at the hospital were Renee was on bed rest. During labor she provided not only support to Renee but also Russell. He has said multiple times that the benefit of having Jennie in the room helped him more than it helped Renee. She stayed with us the entire time we were in labor remaining positive, engaged and a calming presence. One particular moment toward the end of the birth that stands out is when the doctor was describing the different methods for assisting in getting the baby out. Jennie leaned over to Renee and spoke only to her and confirmed all that the doctor had said was true and accurate. Given the highly stressful and emotional state, it was comforting to have someone in the room on our side and willing to validate our decisions. We both were very happy with the decision to partner with Jennie as our doula. She exceeded our expectations and provided us the necessary support during an event that changed our lives.

We used Jennie as a post partum doula for our twins from the time they were 4 to 13 weeks. As a new mom to twins I cannot emphasize how exhausted I was. We decided early on for my mental and physical health we would need to get some night help. Jennie would spend the night with the twins and I could get a chunk of uninterrupted sleep which made me a better mom. She is a very calming person and I could totally relax and trust the twins were in great hands when she was here. She is very knowledgeable about newborns and I learned a lot from her. I highly recommend Jennie! 

I was in the third trimester of my second pregnancy, and terrified of what this birth was going to be like. My first delivery was very different from what I had wanted. It was a hospital birth, and I felt scared and very alone. I was very at ease in all my communications with Jennie. She has a wonderful and giving nature. During my labor and delivery Jennie was waiting for me in the parking lot and helped me walk into the birthing center. She held my hand and barely left my side. It was like having a best friend there to serve me no matter what. I was having some painful back labor and she put ice in a hot water bottle and helped me put it on my back, and that was immensely helpful. I was so glad to have her experience and expertise in a lot of different areas of this process. After our son was born she slipped into the back ground where she took some wonderful pictures I will treasure for always. She was a silent presence that made me feel at ease, and at the same time she was my voice, and would ask regularly if I needed anything. She was usually more aware of my needs than I was. I am so grateful to have had Jennie at our birth, she helped me stay on purpose and not lose sight of what my goals were. Thank you Jennie, we will definitely be contacting you in the future!

The impending birth of our first child was incredibly exciting as well as scary and we knew that we wanted to enlist the help and guidance of a doula.  We found Jennie through doula match and were so grateful to have her help us through this most amazing and empowering experience.  Jennie's knowledge and passion for helping with the birthing process was evident in our first meeting and we picked her over 4 others that we interviewed.  Jennie helped educate us about what we may experience before, during and after the birthing process and she was available at any time to answer questions.

Jennie provided two pre-birth visits, help with our labor and delivery and two post-partum visits.  With Jennie's guidance, we were able to achieve our ultimate goal of birthing our daughter without the assistance of any drugs and we are still in awe of this amazing experience!

We would highly recommend Jennie to anyone seeking excellent doula service.

Ruby & Kurt Lohmann

Hi there,

I been with Jennie  during delivery about  10 hours at Overlake Hospital.

Jennie helped me very much.  She was there when I need it.  Her support was incredible.  She came when I asked her 2 am and stayed until I gave birth 10 am.  She had very strong mind direction such as Emma breath out or make animal sounds because your pain is very high or Emma take posture on hand and knees it helps baby breathing and your pain.  I am very tired but she says -- Emma, you can do it until I give birth.  At postpartum, I recieved some phones where I can call when I very stressed or my dipression gets worse.  It is really helpful to talk out my need to someone and to get feedback on what to do.  This communication really helps with feeling that I am heard and someone is there to listen.