Katie

4/11/2024

Welcoming my 3rd child I knew the best thing I could do for myself was get support during the day for extra sleep.  Allison was amazing and loving with my newborn baby.  It was so nice to escape for a shower or sleep knowing my baby was in good hands with her 14 years of experience.  Allison helped catch me up with laundry and dishes during the day as well.  It was also great to talk to someone with so much baby knowledge.  Not having to rely so heavly on family this time around this great too.  You would be lucky to have Allison support you in your pregnancy or post pregnancy journey.

Elizabeth Wood

11/25/2022

Allison provided tremendous support during and after the delivery of my baby boy. She was quick to respond to any inquiries and provided helpful / comforting advice. On a personal side she is so friendly and great with babies. I certainly recommend her to anyone looking for a doula. 

Jean

5/22/2019

I started working with Allison late into my pregnancy and Allison still made significant efforts to connect with me despite the short time between our first contact and my due date. She also gave me a ton of reources and information, including allowing my mother-in-law to participate in our early discussions.

Allison was highly responsive and always on call. She constantly reminded me to never hesitate reaching out to her, regardless of time of day/night. She managed expectations by informing me of her schedule, including her planned holidays. She made strong efforts to establish clear communication lines between us.

She was very informed and up to date on all pregnancy and post-partum related support areas. I felt 100% supported and she was able to keep my anxieties as a first time mom in check. She was gentle and supportive during my birth and reminded me of my birth plan and expectations -- which really helped calm me down and accept the outcome of my birth (did not go as I envisioned). 

I appreciated Allison's flexibility and efforts in working around my schedule prior to birth, and after birth as a post-partum doula. To accomodate my needs, she enlisted other doulas to ensure I receive the support I need where she could not be available -- she made sure she did not over-extend herself to be 100% there for each of her commitments.

On top of all this, Allison had excellent inter-personal skills. She connected well with my entire family, my midwife, and other doulas. In spite of her busy schedule and being a mom herself, she takes pride in her work and ensures she keeps her certifications up to date, attends classes to learn latest recommendations and guidelines.

I would work with Allison again on a future pregnancy (hopefully) and I would recommend Allison to all my family and friends who may need a doula in the future.

karen stolte

11/25/2013

Allison Heaney is a fantastic doula.  My birthing experience was joyful and fun.  We birthed our son in July at a hospital in Toronto, he was two weeks early and my labour did not start without the help of pitocin.  Allison helped us to make the right choice for our family about when to begin the drip and we felt empowered to take our time when the doctors were pushing us to begin before we felt ready.  Our birth was not exactly what we expected and we were still able to have the birthing experience that we had worked and hoped for.  We were a hypnobirthing family, having taken the class that Allison offers.  This method was incredibly helpful and allowed me to be present and unafraid.  Allison helped my husband to be the most amazing birth partner and we truly felt that the birth was something we did together.  The closeness that this has brought to us is incredible.  It was an amazing 3 person team!!

Allison helped to create the quiet environment that we craved by intervening with hospital staff and nurses to keep our space sacred.  During the most challenging parts of birth, when I started feeling overwhelmed, I would open my eyes and each time Allison was right there in front of me with a smiling face reminding me to stay within my body.  We had a very difficult  doctor and Allison really helped us to deal with her positively and with confidence. It worked and I had a relatively easy labour, 8 hours from start to finish, with good memories.  It remains my best day ever.

Our son became very ill two weeks after he was born with a (non-birth related) infection that he is still recovering from four months later.  In this most difficult time, the lessons we learned in our birthing preparation really helped us to navigate difficult medical waters.  Our confidence as parents has everything to do with our positive birth experience.  Thank you, Allison!

Irene Carl Sankoff

11/16/2013

I am so grateful that Allison was available for me. She was given last minute notice. Twelve hours after my water broke a week early and I was in the hospital waiting to be induced on a Holiday Monday in the summer, she got the call that my planned doula couldn't make it and was at my side in about an hour. We were strangers, but she quickly and gently got to know my husband and myself, always letting us take the lead. I was very scared, but her calm manner and reassurances kept me and my husband from panicking. She quickly saw how much difficulty I was having, and made suggestions to help me cope, both physically and emotionally.  She eased a lot of my fears by giving me the facts when I asked for them, and helped me weigh the pros and cons of every decision. I was very clear from the outset that I wanted an epidural and she supported me in that decision, right down to staying in the room with me while I had it. When I became afraid of the needle, she told me that the IV I already had in my arm was a more uncomfortable experience than the epidural would be. She was right, and I am so glad she shared that information because my labour was long and I am sure things would not have progressed as smoothly as they did had I not gotten some much needed rest while I slept through my contractions getting stronger as the epidural did it's work. After the birth, she followed up with me often to just make sure I was ok and even provided support over text messages. And, she even had a part in naming our daughter during labour. My husband was reading to me from a wonderful play called Peter and the Starcatcher while the nurses put the dreaded IV in. He was playing all the parts to distract me, and there's one funny, smart, tough but sweet little girl in the play. We had come in with a blank sheet of paper that said Baby Names at the top, and after Allison suggested we think about perhaps naming her after that girl, we left the birthing room with our little Molly.

Kim Drosdick

6/22/2013

We weren't sure about hiring a Doula but a friend urged me to at least look into it. She had said that if she could give me one piece of advice it would be to hire a Doula, it was a game changer for her.

We decided to start the process of searching beacuse we were a few weeks away from my due date and since I had developed gestiational diabetes our home birth plan quickly turned into a hospital birth plan. As well we would not have our midwife with us during the labour, only the delivery, so we knew we wanted a Doula.

We found Allison and we are so glad that we did!!! I honestly didn't know anything about Doulas, what they did and how it could impact what we were about to go through. Allison walked us through it all and was so informative and helpful, and really let us know that we had more of a say in how things could go than we ever thought.

We only got to meet with her inititally then once again before the birth. The night before our second meeting, and 10 days early, my water broke so it was game on! This was really where Allison shone! She was so instrumental in helping me keep my contractions at bay. Between Allison's life saving lower back massages and my husband's physical support, I almost riped off his hoddie pockets, they both encouraged me and calmed me and we got through it pretty spectacularly. After 10 hours of hospital labour (6 hours stalled at 8cm) I know that we both couldn't have gotten through it the way we did without Allison with us.

I would not hesitate to reccommend Allison to anyone, she is amazing! And if we find ourselves with a second babe on the way she is the one we are calling.

Thanks Allison, you were a star and we couldn't have done it without you!

Kim, Paul + Sam

Amy Smarkiders

5/7/2013

We really enjoyed working with Allison. She has a calm and sensitive demeanour which we found very helpful in those tense labour and delivery moments. Allison's knowlegde of L&D, baby care, and breastfeeding was reassuring to us. She was always an email, text or phone call away and came to our house the minute we needed her to prior to leaving for the hospital. My husband was a skeptic but nows tells everyone to get a doula! He felt so comforted by the fact that Allison was with us and assuring him that what was going on was completly normal.

Allison's post portum work has also been a great help. She helped with my first baby bath,introducing the bottle, setting up baby equitpment (monitor, play pen, etc...), folding baby laundry, and preparing healthy snacks for me to grab in the fridge for those last night feedings.

I would definitely recommend Allison's services and L&D support to anyone!

Melissa Hart

2/4/2013

 Allison was amazing throughout my pregnancy and labour. I really couldn't have done it without her! She was super relaxing, friendly, and calming even in the worst situations, and she was always armed with so much information so I could stay informed about everything that was happening. Even during some scary circumstances, Allison was able to calmy explain what was going on and choices I was able to make. Just having her around was so great, I can't say enough good things!! 

Rebekah Brannen

12/27/2012

Allison was a fantastic doula. She was a perfect match for me for a number of reasons. I never felt pressured or judged by her, even though throughout my pregnancy I went from wanting to deliver in the hospital to delivering at home. When I first met Allison, I was afraid I would meet a doula that was only interested in natural birth, and I was at a place where I planned to deliver in hospital and possibly with medication. She was not at all judgmental and planned to support me through a hospital birth. As the months went by, I started learning more about natural birth and home birth I started changing my mind. Allison provided me with a wealth of resources, from books to videos, and let me make up my own mind. When the birth day came, Allison arrived soon after I called her and helped me through my initial anxiety of being at home. Allison supported me to stay at home as she knew I truly wanted to be home. She spoke softly and also used hypnobirthing techniques, as I had taken a hypnobirthing pre-natal course. Allison was also great at observing how fast my labour was going - I was only in active labour for 6 hours and going a lot faster than even my midwives expected. Allison helped me decide to call the midwife sooner than I had planned, which was incredibly crucial, as when the midwife arrived I was already 8-9cm dilated! Through the pushing Allison held one hand while my partner held me other hand.  She helped me push at the pace I wanted to push, although my midwife was telling me to push harder and faster than I felt I should.  I ended up with no stiches, a perfectly healthy baby, and all aspects of my homebirth going perfectly.  Allison remained supportive with breastfeeding and answering questions during the next couple of weeks. I would highly recommend Allison as a doula as she provides non-judgmental support, has a calming presence, and is very knowledgeable.