karen werner Doula Profile

 Karen Werner was my doula when I gave birth to my daughter Marjaan, who was six weeks premature. I also received valuable postpartum support from her during the joyful yet challenging months that followed.

In the labor room, Karen was a strong advocate for me and my husband. My labor was long and the doctor had decided to do a vacuum extraction, ignoring our hesitation. Karen stepped into this situation and gave me tremendous strength and confidence and I pushed out my baby with her support. We strongly believe that Karen’s sensitivity and knowledge saved our child from potential harm and we are so grateful for that.

Although a strong and happy baby, Marjaan had acid reflux well into the first year and a half of her life. Karen was a wealth of information and provided immense moral and emotional support to our family. She is now a part of our family. I highly recommend her with no hesitation whatsoever to any woman looking for love and encouragement before, during, and after giving birth.

Asma Kazmi and Asad Ahmed

I wanted to have caregivers who where willing to support my goal for a natural, homebirth. But I also wanted professionals who would be available throughout and would look out for our health first. I chose to have Karen as my Doula and Dana Albillo as my midwife.

Dana, my midwife, took care of my medical needs; but I was also looking for a woman guide to be ‘near’ during this challenging, new moment of my life. In Karen I found nearly on-call experience, intuition, and the right combination of strength and tenderness.

Close to my due date, when I had a leak in my waters, it was Karen who rubbed my pressure points and got me into labor. When I was in transition and begged for it to end, it was Karen that reminded me that I was the one in control. When push came to shove (pun intended) it was Karen's voice that I remember telling me in the clearest language the 3 things I needed to do. A few contractions later when I met Baby, it was Karen asking what celebratory meal I wanted her to go out get me.  When I thought my baby seemed floppy and weak, it was Karen who came with a discerning eye, laughed gently, and told me that newborns are floppy.