Brandy Harris Doula Profile

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted an all-natural, non-medicated birth. Although I'm a very determined, strong-willed women with a supportive husband, I questioned whether or not I could actually do it. That was when I started to look into hiring a doula and found Brandy. She was there for our family through it all!

From giving me prenatal massages to take down the swelling in my feet to providing us with all the right education during times of doubt and from offering support and guidance during labor to being there during the most important moment in our lives, Brandy helped me reach my goal of having a wonderful, drug free birthing experience.

Armed with her passion, education and experience, she guided me down the path I needed with calmness and confidence. Brandy is an absolutely amazing doula and more than I could have ever asked for!!

 Brandy was the perfect support for me and my husband!! I am a labor and delivery nurse and was preparing for the birth of our second child, baby boy number two. I work at OU Children's where we have the midwives, but we also have the sickest mommies and babies from around the state as we are the only hospital equipped in the to provide the highest level of care. Therefore, I've seen how much can go wrong. From day one Brandy was always direct, honest, and up front with me and would tell me exactly what I needed to hear. She guided me to live in the normal, natural, and positive. I work always preparing for the 1% where things could go wrong, and Brandy pulled me into the 99% and empowered me to be positive and to believe in my body that it was perfectly capable. Brandy is well educated not only on the doula side of things but understands the medical aspects as well, not to say that she would guide your medical decisions in any way but that she can support you as she understands what is going on. She will advocate for you when necessary and will support your decisions. During labor Brandy was a constant calm and strong presence. She showed my husband how to perform counter pressure which was a lifesaver!!! She was constantly doing things to make my birthing experience better/easier/more comfortable and would give me lots of positive reinforcement and encouragement. This helped me to stay in control of my body, breathing, and response to labor, which makes all the difference when you are approaching full dilation and in the transition stage of labor. I can not say enough good things about Brandy! She was exactly the person I needed to support me in the beautiful birth of our precious son!! She also took some gorgeous photos of the birth which we will treasure for the rest of our lives!!! 

Brandyalso taught our hypnobirthing class!! She was super flexible and a lot of fun to be around!

As first time parents, my husband and I wanted to do everything we could to ensure an unmedicated and natural birth for the delivery of our baby girl.  I believe the best decision we made was hiring Brandy to be our doula.  Upon meeting Brandy, we knew she was a great match for us! 

She was so helpful in providing us with materials and educating us pre-labor. When the time came for the actual labor, Brandy was so helpful in supporting my husband and I to labor at home for as long as possible.  When I retell my birth story, I always say that when Brandy came over, it was like she flipped a switch and made the contractions really start to count!  She reminded us of techniques we had learned in our childbirth class and gave us the emotional reassurance we needed to be confident in our ability to birth a baby naturally.  She was able to recognize just when we needed to go to the hospital, and when we arrived, I was ready to push within one hour.   I'm happy to say we successfully had a unmedicated birth..  At my post-labor appointment, my OBGYN actually commented that Brandy was the most helpful doula she had worked with. Almost as important as her support during labor was her post-partum support. For us, breastfeeding was very difficult. I can honestly say that if I had not had her support, I would have a formula fed baby. I am so thankful for my breastfeeding relationship with my daughter, and I know it's due, in part, to Brandy.

When you hire Brandy as a doula, you get the added bonus of great photography!  I love looking back on the first moments my husband and I spent with our baby girl. I can't say enough wonderful things about Brandy, but I can say that I wouldn't hesitate to use her services again and reccommend her to anyone having a baby! 

Without Brandy, I do not think I would have had my VBAC. Brandy is so personable and knowledgable about birth. Before labor, she was there to support me, answer my calls, emails, questions any time of day. She had so much confidence in my body's ability to birth, probably more than I did! 

During labor, she was the perfect balance of helpfulness without being in the way. She knows what her place is, and she plays the role of doula perfectly. She knows how to fit into the situation where she is most helpful. I also know several midwives who love her and are big fans of her :) She reminded me to do things during labor that helped me so much (getting into the tub, deep breathing - to name a couple) and I think my husband and I would have forgotten to do those things without her. After laboring for 37 hours, the medical staff was ready to take me to a c-section. I was exhausted and agreed to the c-section after being "stuck" at 7cm for hours and hours. Brandy suggested the nurse check my dilation one more time. She did, and I was dilated and ready to push! Thanks to Brandy's suggestion I was able to have a healing VBAC!

Brandy was worth every cent and more! It was such a blessing to have a doula who I completely trusted. I wish I could remember every single thing she did for me, it was so much. The end of my pregnancy and my labor was significantly better because Brandy was a part of it. I would (and do) recommend her to anyone! 

My husband and I decided to hire a doula when I was 39 weeks along with our first baby.  I feel incredibly fortunate now that Brandy was available and said she'd take us on at such a late date.  I had a long labor, and the entire time she was quietly supportive and very gentle in her suggestions of things I could try to help the labor progress.  Her support of both me and my husband was unwavering the entire time, even when I lost faith in myself.  When I finally had to consider some interventions, she calmly talked over everything with us and didn't try to persuade us one way or the other.  The birth itself was a difficult one, but in the end I got the natural childbirth I wanted and I give a huge amount of the credit to Brandy.  I don't know what else to say; she's amazing!  Thank you Brandy!

Brandy was AMAZING when it came to the birth of our son, Kingston. Unfortunately, I had to undergo an induction, but Brandy was beside my husband and I the entire time. I was especially thankful she was in the room when the nurses and doctor continued to "recommend" I take certain drugs or stay in certain positions. Brandy was able to communicate with us what our options were so I was able to make my own decisions -- not what the hospital wanted. Although my son's birth was an incredibly intense experience, if it weren't for Brandy I believe I may have had to undergo a cesarian, something I was completely against. She was great before, during and after the birth. She performed accupressure several times while pregnant (probably more than what I paid for!), helped my husband with relaxation techniques during the labor and came over to make sure everything was going well after the birth. I also loved the fact that Brandy listened to me and suggested helpful things when he was past his due date. She was a Godsend during one of the most memorable times in my life. Therefore, if you're looking for a Doula who is not only helpful but encouraging and insightful, then please choose Brandy. She has an awesome future ahead of her as a Doula. We couldn't thank you enough, Brandy, for everything you did for Kyle, Kingston and I -- you ROCK!

The labor and birth of my son was the best experience in my life and without help of my support team, a large "part" of which was Brandy, that would have never being possible Brandy was very organized and also gave me some useful information during the visits that we had with her prior to delivery. I wanted to have a natural childbirth and Brandy supported me all the way through but I knew that if I wanted to use an epidural; Brandy would have supported me through that just as well. I read and knew a lot myself, but conversations with Brandy helped me understand more and also to be more confident and relaxed in my anticipation of the labor. Furthermore, I was very impressed that Brandy had a goal of becoming a licensed midwife and was working her way towards that goal. Brandy came to the hospital and supported me through the labor process. I knew what I wanted prior to labor. In the hospital I did not have to ask for anything as Brandy was simply doing what I needed, trying different things, bringing water and pillows, doing massage, dimming the lights, trying the bathtub, etc. It was extremely important that I knew I could trust Brandy and my midwife to attempt to follow our plan whenever possible. The trust and confidence was something that I believe also allowed me to be calm, confident through the process. Brandy was very familiar with the hospital, she knew what and where could be found or asked for. I felt that Brandy was present during labor, but she was not dominating the process, rather she helped me work through it and involved and helped my husband as well. I had a natural childbirth, and I know for sure that it would not have being possible without Brandy. Brandy was taking notes and during postpartum visit she was able to tell me some details about That Day in my life. If I have a second child and Brandy is somewhere near and available, I will be calling her :)!

If you're looking for a caring, gentle, and supportive doula, Brandy Harris is the doula you're looking for.  I have never met someone who is not a family member, who wants to be involved in every aspect of a pregnancy and child birth.  Brandy made herself available during any time of the day or nite to go to doctor appointment, massage my oh, so swollen feet (!) and aching back, and just anytime I had a question (which I had lots of, considering it was our first pregnancy!).  She would call me and check up on me if she hadn't heard from me in a day or so and she also provided me with tons of informational resources because I am a type-A personality!  She was also there as soon as it was time for me to go into the hospital for the birth and she was there the whole time helping and coaching me until we had our beautiful, healthy baby girl!  To make it even better, Brandy was a hit with my family!  My mom and sister, who is also an RN, asks about her all the time!  Brandy is absolutely amazing and she will do anything she can to make sure your pregnancy is as comfortable as it can be, whether she massages your body with herbal massage oil or brings you magical tea that makes you feel better in almost an instant, she is definitely the doula you want involved during your special time.

Brandy was an extremely important role in my vbac she was always there when I had a question and if she didn't have an answer right away she got back with me quickly with an answer.  She took pictures during my labor and right after birth which are the most amazing pictures ever!!!  She was supportive throughout my pregnancy and during my labor when I didn't think I could do it she reminded me that I could.  When a contraction would hit that was painful she would get me to move into a more comfortable position, she also held my hips through contractions to help with the pain.  I wanted  a natural birth and she helped me to accomplish that.  I don't know if my vbac would have been successful if it wasn't for her. 

I contacted Brandy when I was about 34 weeks pregnant. Initially I was hoping for a natural childbirth but was not very educated about it or even sure I could handle it. With Brandy's help, I became MUCH more informed about the process and how natural it was going to be. She eased my husbands worries about pain management and all the medical mumbo jumbo we would have to hear when the time came.  She provided tons of info along with pain management techniques and ways to stay comfortable until the big day. .Since I was having a hospital birth, she even told me about her experience or other doulas experiences at that hospital and with my doctor.  The day before the big day, Brandy spent a good amount of time doing some accupressure on me not knowing that it would actually work after only one try! It relaxed me enough to stop worrying so much which put me into labor at 7am after a FULL nights rest. I labored at home for a couple hours on my own and had Brandy meet us at the hospital. Immediatly the nurses tried to prep me for pitocin(why i dont know..i was already 6 cm dilated) and for an epidural. ...As soon as Brandy showed up, the nurses backed off a bit and realized i was serious ..Brandy reiterated the fact that i wanted NO interventions.  I had a baby monitor put on when they checked me but otherwise, i was free of wires and tubes and such. Brandy helped me in and out of the bathtub, rubbed my back, helped me moan :) and coached my husband on how he could help. At 9cm i decided i wanted to give up...Well, it ws too late thankfully!. The baby was placed on my chest and stayed there until I was ready to give her up to the nurses. brandy helped her latch on the minute she was born which calmed her down immediatly.  She stayed for a couple hours from what she says...i dont remember much afterwards!