David Goldman - douladavid

My husband and I feel extremely fortunate for having the opportunity to work with Doula David and we would highly recommend his services to anyone looking for birth support.  Immediately upon meeting David we knew he would be an excellent fit for us.  David is competent and experienced; his passion for doula work and his respect and appreciation for the birth experience are evident.  His is grounded and down to earth and was a wonderful collaborator.  He always took our wishes into consideration and really spend the time to get to know my husband and I in the months and weeks before labor began.  Most notably, when my water ruputred early, David spent over 24 hours assisting us at our home as we tried to induce active labor.  When it became apparent that I would need to transfer to a hospital, David came with us and did a masterful job of working with the hospital staff and advocating on our behalf to ensure that our birth plan was followed.  After our son was born, the delivery nurse told us that David was the best doula she had worked with in 40 years of nursing.  We realize that it may not be intuitive to request a male doula but never once did we feel that gender played any part in the experience we had with David.  We trusted him completely and were both absolutely at ease with him at our sides as he supported and guided us through birth.

Posted 9/6/2012

I was pregnant with my fifth child and knew I wanted to have a doula present. I originally contacted David as a doula for my husband and children. However, after a few prenatal appointments with him, I couldn't imagine having anyone else helping me cope through labor. His personality is amazing, and he has quickly became part of our family. The prenatal support we received from him compares only to our midwives'. He has been there for every silly question I have had (which was surprisingly quite a few for a mom with so much experience!), and he has really made himself available to me. By the end of my pregnancy, I was so ready to be done I could scream. David spent the better part of three days visiting me, giving me suggestions of things I could do to encourage labor to begin, and sifting me to make sure baby was in the right position. Once labor started, he stayed as close as he could without being in my space, but once I gave him the green light to arrive at my home he was here nearly immediately. He and my husband went to work getting my labor tub and bed ready (I still thought I had hours until birth). I was able to relax and focus while they took care of everything, allowing me to progress rather quickly. When labor actually kicked in, all I needed was my husband, and I wasn't really aware of anyone else. But, in the photos of that time, David was there, constantly observing, waiting for a cue from one of us that his assistance was needed.

After our little boy was born, and we had time to connect with him, David explored our placenta with us, and then took it to our kitchen to begin the encapsulation process. Our midwife gathered us together, and expressed her concern that our baby most likely has down syndrome. David has been a strength to us dealing with such a surprise, and finding how to cope with such unexpected news. I have been extremely blessed to have found a friend in my search for a doula, but isn't that how it should be?

Posted 1/24/2012

Wow, what can I say about Doula David?! He is amazing, but that hardly sums it up. The amount of passion for his work, commitment to his clients and the knowledge he has for birthing Mama's and their Family memebers is overwhelming. I had the pleasure of working with Doula David recently at a homebirth. He was there for the client well before the birth, during the labor (that went rather quickly) and after taking care of the family and encapsulating the placenta. I have no doubt in my mind that he loves his work and brings such and amazing atmoshere of trust to every birth and Family he attends too. Truly blessed to witness a Guru in this field and can not wait to see him work again (or with him). Thanks David for fueling my passion and helping Mama's on thier journey.

Posted 11/17/2011

David was an awesome support during a very long labor! He was there for 5 days of pre-labor and almost 2 days of strong labor. He tried everything to help me go into active labor for those 5 days because it was very intense and I wasn't getting any rest. After my water finally broke my labor fizzled to a stop we tried everything again this time including Castor oil and herbs and what finally worked was shirtless pictures of Justin Timberlake and Ewan Macgregor, sappy 80s music, a breast pump and a foot rub! My contractions came on hard and strong and after a while we transferred to the Birth Center. Unfortunately I wasn't progressing there either. David was encouraging and again had all kinds of suggestions for getting things going. The midwife said we should try manual dilation of my cervix since everything seemed to be in a funny position. It was the most painful thing I have ever gone through in my life and honestly I don't remember much of it because I couldn't focus on more then the pain. I do remember my mom and David trying to help me focus through the pain and holding my hands. I dilated to some and I couldn't tolerate the pain any more. Again we tried a few more things and still no progression so the midwife decided we should transfer to the hospital. I was disappointed and upset because my previous birth there wasn't so great but again David was encouraging and a huge advocate for me there. He talked to nurses and doctors and made them give me space and time when I needed it. I even peed on him in transition and he didn't even blink. He videoed my birth for me (which from first push to baby was all of 5 minutes) and cried when my baby was delivered. He stayed with until I was settled. He also encapsulated my placenta for me and made several prints for us to keep and the pills have been awesome for my recovery! I am so thankful he was there and we definitely plan on having him at our next birth.

Posted 8/11/2011

 We had a long strange journey with David and I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a doula. My partner was due November 8th. We have an older child, who was 4 at the time, and during the summer we started making plans for her brother's birth. We hadn't used a doula the first time around at a birthing center, but then we hadn't an older child at that point. We didn't feel the need for a doula for either of us at our home birth, but we decided to ask David to be our daughter's doula. It was an odd request, but David was willing and indeed delighted to take on the role of our daughter's support, guide, and guardian during the birth. It was a very difficult decision to make to plan to have our daughter attend her brother's birth and we knew that we had to be able to place all of our trust in David. He earned that trust through his "getting to know her" sessions and by bringing her age-appropriate birth books and listening intently to all of our plans for her comfort, safety and enjoyment of the birth. And wow how plans changed and changed and changed. David helped a great deal with advice and actual errand running during the natural induction phase.  In the end, our son was born three weeks late in the hospital and David continued his role as advocate, but was not present at the birth. He provided lovely post-partum help at the hospital as well as in our home, bringing us food and holding our son while we took care of other details. He also encapsulated not only my partner's placenta, but the five-year frozen one for me as well. It had been our intention to bury the placentas together, but instead we got these amazing pills (like anti-depressents and sleep aids and caffeine supplements all rolled into one with no side effects!) that David encouraged us to do. Much gratitude for that as well as so so much more.

Posted 3/31/2011

David was such a reassuring presence during the birth of our son. He was never intrusive and seemed to have an instinct for when to provide support and encouragement in just the right way. His voice was soothing and grounding and helped me focus on my inner strength to bring Kyler into the world.

Posted 12/10/2010

After the birth of our first child, I decided to have my placenta encapsulated.  David was fantastic!  He was prompt, enthusiastic, and quite affordable.  David was able to pick up the placenta and return the capsules within a day of the birth.  He also provided a dried portion to bury beneath our ginko tree and a couple imprints of the placenta as an added bonus.  I am thrilled with the results and am convinced that the capsules helped me to heal swiftly and allow me to be better equipped to deal with post-partum emotions.  Thanks David! 

Posted 12/8/2010

After the birth of my daughter I decided to try placenta encapsulation. Viola was born a little early and caught us off guard so I hadn't contacted David yet. Two weeks went by before I remember my intentions. Luckily my placenta had been double bagged and stored in the freezer since shortly after Viola's birth. I contacted David and he responded very quickly and within a day he came to my house and picked up the placenta. The next day I had 83 capsules and began taking them right away. I wasn't entirely consistent taking the pills and the only emotionally hard days I had were following a day of not taking any. Other than those rare days I felt really great. I was able to stay in my baby bliss without unwanted emotional lows and I had much more energy than I would have expected considering the sleep deprivation. I would recommend placenta encapsulation to anyone interested. David made the process very easy and comfortable. - Megan

Posted 12/7/2010

David has the doula spirit.  He is a very thoughtful, observant, and gentle soul.  He is patient and personable and fascinated by the birth experience.  I am an experienced professional doula in the Seattle area and I worked with David as my apprentice with one client.  His insight at our prenatal meetings was valuable and his presence at the birth was very helpful and focused.  He brings a new perspective to this role and I admire his courage and curiosity, and I hope to remain his colleague and doula sister.  I am proud to call him my doula 'brother'!   

Posted 5/8/2010