Karen Bayne Doula Profile

Compassionate, creative, tirelessly patient, and profoundly knowledgeable, Karen was instrumental in helping my partner and I achieve the birth we wanted. We hired her initially for private childbirth ed classes and were impressed by how she wove current pregnancy, labor, and delivery research with her own experiences working with families in myriad birth settings and situations. And while her expertise and warmth first got us thinking about hiring her as our doula, it was the very attentive and empathic way she listened and responded to my concerns and hopes for my birth that convinced us she was right for us.

I ended up laboring for about 22 hours and she was by my side literally the whole time. Talk about stamina: I remember Karen rubbing my back with lavender oil for hours while I labored at home, all the while keeping track of my contractions and helping me feel in control of when we would finally go to the hospital. Once at the birthing center, she helped me make sense of some of the options that my midwife and nurses offered, and keenly made herself physically and emotionally available to me only when she saw I needed it--her support was never faltering, but also never overwhelming. She helped me labor in the tub for more than five hours, assisted with a tricky pushing scenario, and stayed for the perfect amount of time after our son was born to make sure our whole family was resting comfortably.

Ultimately, hiring Karen Bayne to be our doula made me feel more empowered and in control at my birth than if we had tried to do it on our own and helped our family be more confident in our choices. As a longtime pregnancy and parenting editor, I knew whoever we hired needed to impress us with their knowledge, lack an agenda, and seamlessly integrate with the hospital medical staff, in addition to being a solid interpersonal fit. And for us, that was Karen, through and through.

 I chose Karen as my doula thanks to her excellent qualifications and her effervescent personality. We expected to have a pre-natal meeting with Karen before I went into labor, but my water broke at 34 weeks. When we called her from the hospital, she was incredibly supportive and positive and came to the hospital to check in with us-- despite not being under contract with us until 38 weeks. During my natural labor, Karen was integral in helping me and husband to make decisions about medical interventions and in suggesting positions to speed labor and reduce pain. Karen gave me the confidence to believe in the power of my body to do what it needed to do, and she offered ways for my husband to help me with the pain. She also helped my husband to feel empowered in a situation that was intimidating and entirely out of his control. During every twist and turn of labor, Karen kept me focused and calm; even when I felt as though I couldn't go on, Karen made me believe that I could do it. 

Obviously going into premature labor was not in our birth plan, but with Karen's help, I was able to experience the natural labor and delivery I wanted. Karen also stayed in touch after we left the hospital so we could update her on how our new family was doing. The desire to have a natural labor and delivery involves anxiety, but adding a premature baby who needs care in the NICU after delivery to the mix created a very stressful situation for me and my husband. Karen's advice, warmth, and knowledge brought us peace of mind, confidence, and the belief that everything would work out. 9 months later, we have a healthy, happy son, and we couldn't be more grateful to Karen for helping us to bring Kieran into the world in a medication-free, calm environment.