Melinda Ferguson, CD(DONA), PCD(DONA), PDT(DONA) Doula Profile

My wife and I could not be happier with our decision to have Melinda as our doula. The prenatal care she gave us helped us emotionally prepare ourselves for the birth and early days of parenthood.

At the birth itself, she was amazing. Because of her constant presence, words and actions, I was able to focus exclusively on helping my wife through every contraction, and after the birth on being with both my wife and newborn son. She worked seamlessly with the midwives, and made sure I was taken care of both physically ("Sean, make sure you eat something!") and emotionally ("Take a deep breath, dad").

The post-partum experience has been, if anything, even more essential. We know that we can call her whenever we need, whether it is for breastfeeding help (and oh boy has THAT been a huge help) to a kind word of encouragement to two sleep-deprived new parents. I can't tell you how invaluable it is to hear her say "yes, it's tough being a new parent, but you two are doing a great job and it WILL get better".

In short, if you're looking for a doula to provide you equal parts practical and emotional support, I have nothing but the highest recommendation for Melinda.

Sean, Mikayla, and little Atticus

Melinda was a wonderful part of birth experience with our third baby.  I had a second VBAC which was non-medicated.  My labor and delivery were both quick.  Every wish on my birth plan became a reality!  I give this credit to Melinda.  She has a peaceful, calm, reassuring demeanor.  I, of course benefited from this, but so did everyone else, ....hubby, nurses, midwife.  This makes all the difference in the world in getting that atmosphere you want at your birth.  

Melinda saw me through a change in care providers about five weeks before my due date.  The obgyn I was seeing had pre-scheduled a C-section "just in case".  This made me so nervous and I never saw this coming!  Melinda was immediately available to discuss things through and gave us a lot of information.  Because of her knowledge, my husband and I were able to make a decision to change providers.  The support Melinda gave us was awesome.  I felt very empowered and confident going into this birth.  What a JOY!  Thanks Melinda!

Susan     

My labor and delivery were uncomplicated, so I figured postpartum would be the same, right? No. I was one of Melinda's "crisis moms." On day four or five of our daughter's life, my husband called around to several postpartum doulas in the area because we were out of our minds with exhaustion, and needed some serious guidance on how to proceed with the goal of keeping our sanity intact. Melinda came out to meet us that same night, a Sunday, and agreed to work with us starting the next day.  We worked with Melinda for a few weeks, and she helped us get back to a bit of reality, with a lot of practical suggestions and emotional support. We had family visiting for a couple of weeks after that, and I thought we wouldn't be needing to meet with Melinda after that. That wasn't the case.

By the time our daughter was about six weeks old, I had developed a serious case of postpartum depression, and we again called Melinda at a crisis point.  She came to visit us right away. Melinda, with her reassuring, caring, practical manner, helped me survive the four most difficult weeks of my life. I really don't know how I would have done it otherwise. She was the only person who was able to sit with me in my depression without being critical or questioning or uncomfortable with my discomfort. She offered many knowledgeable, practical suggestions, including the referral to a mental health provider, but the most valuable part of our time together was the fact that she simply spent time with me, and talked to me as if I was still a normal person. She gently but firmly guided me back into a functional place. Melinda's confidence gave me confidence. Just knowing that she had seen other women through postpartum depression helped me believe that I might be okay too.

I highly recommend her to anyone needing a little bit, or a lot of support. She is respectful and strong, and her strength helped me regain mine.

After interviewing about 5 doulas, we decided to hire Melinda.  We were so happy with the decision and the outcome of our birth.  She was the steadfast presence with valuable experience that my husband and I were looking for in a doula.  She attended the birth of our second child, which was an unmedicated VBAC at Swedish Medical Center, attended by an OB. 

She came to our home during labor and helped assess when to go to the hospital and helped keep us calm and relaxed.  Although this was our second child, our first was delivered via scheduled c-section due to breech presentation, without going into labor, so this was all new territory for us.  As labor progressed at the hospital, her calm face and gentle guidance was what kept me steady and focused and was key to me achieving the birth I desired.  She reminded us, at just the right times, about communicating our wishes with the hospital staff and also what was normal during the course of labor and delivery.

I would highly recommend Melinda as a birth doula - she was exactly what we were looking for!

I don't think I can explain how much Melinda has helped our family. She was my doula for both of my births.She helped me get through very long labors, make hard choices, and be content with the outcome. Melinda is the only reason I made it through my first birth. With her at my second birth I knew everything would turn out for the best. She is very gentle and kind. She never pushes you to pick one way over another. She is very knowledgeable and has many tricks up her sleeve to help you. Melinda is very selfless, I felt that I was the only one she cared about and she did everything in her power to help me. I can not  express how wonderful she is just with words. I will be forever indebted to her, for her kindness, attention and knowledge.

Originally we hadn't planned on having a doula; however, after receiving information regarding how helpful doula's can be, we decided to seek one out.  Melinda went above and beyond for us.  She really helped to prepare us not only for labor and delivery but for being parents as well.  She checked out our nursery and gave us tips on stuff we needed and didn't need.  She guided us in developing our birth plan and educated us on all of our options and possible labor scenarios.  During labor, she helped to keep David as the primary support person while supporting both of us in the process.  She even brought chocolate in case Melissa needed it to help get her through labor.  After the birth, she was there for us to answer questions and ease our minds regarding the trials of being new parents.  Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery and Melinda was a big reason for that.  You can tell that she is passionate about what she does and really desires to form a bond with her clients.  We look forward to working with her again for our next child and would definitely recommend her to everyone.

I spent most of my pregnancy expecting labor and delivery to be a miserable day or two that I would just have to get through in order to meet our baby. Having a number of friends and family who have had long unproductive labors, most of the information I was getting focused on the negative aspects of the process. Yet at the same time I was reading about the joy and wonder of a positive birthing experience. I began to realize I could and should expect more when it came to delivering our daughter and that a doula could help me get there. Melinda was recommended to us and we liked her immediately. She spent hours with us prior to my due date addressing our desires, fears, concerns and goals. She understood the birth experience I wanted and guided us through my labor with a perfect balance of encouragement and support. Melinda helped with general and specific decisions along the way including when to go to the hospital, tips for coping with pain, and the pros and cons of suggested interventions. She was with us throughout labor and completely involved with the birth, providing breaks for my husband and continued support for me. When my daughter was finally born I was elated. I was amazed at the joy of the entire experience and would not have had that without Melinda’s help. Her postpartum support was equally valuable, from follow up visits to check in calls to help with breastfeeding. Melinda made the difference for us and I highly recommend her services.

We were very happy with Melinda's services. It would have been much harder going through labor without her support (and I may have ended up with IVs and pitocin and stuff, which I was avoiding) - she was very helpful in suggesting positions, and giving ideas to help keep labor moving (like accupressure). She gave my husband a break when he needed one. After the birth, she helped get us started with breastfeeding. The prenatal visits were helpful in preparing my  husband and me for the birth - he'd been working out of state, so he hadn't gotten the childbirth classes, and these helped getting him the information he needed. After we were home from the hospital, she was very helpful with suggestions about breastfeeding when my son was having trouble latching. I would definately recommend her to anyone looking at hiring a doula. We plan to come back to her when we have our next child.

I really feel that I would not have made it though labor without Melinda. Ok maybe I would have made it, but it would not have been as comfortable and I think I would have had more complications. My water broke two weeks early. She met us at the hospital and helped me to walk around and do a few things to start labor better. She helped my husband to be able to rest through the early part of the overnight labor. I never ended up needing pitocin, thanks to being able to start labor on it's own. She was very helpful in suggesting position changes and reading when I needed something, encouragement, a change, or my husband's encouragement. She was with us for the entire 20 hour labor. And helped us get started breast feeding. It was very helpful to have a consistent helpful person, since the nurse shifts change every 8 hours. Melinda personality worked perfectly with us, she suggested a variety of options with solid background information which allowed us to make informed choices. She supported every one of our choices. The per-natal and post-partum visits were extremely useful and informative. She had the perfect balance of professionalism and caring for us. I would recommend Melinda to any of my friends or any of you thinking about a doula.