Taryn Goodwin, CD(DONA) Doula Profile

Words cannot describe how thankful we are to have had Taryn by our side during our pregnancy and delivery. I was attempting a VBAC, and although it wasn't successful we were so pleased with Taryn's support and educated information. Having another C-section could have been detrimental to my opinion of myself and my ability to labor but with Taryn by our side, we were able to come up with a decision that we are totally happy with. I feel everyone, regardless of their birth wishes should have a doula. The support is tremindous and you automatically have a soul sister for life. Our best wishes go out to this amazing person, we love you Taryn!

Sincerely,

Carrie Tiger

Taryn is a very warm & supportive person.  She has an indepth knowledge of the medical establishment & what needs a couple has to do to get the job done.  She prepared us for all situations, all the while, keeping positive.  Although our situation wasn't as easy as we wanted, she was with us to the end, when the Dr. said she couldn't come into the operating room for the C-Section.  She was waiting for me when I woke up in the recovery room.  We would definitely recommend having Taryn as our doula.

I cannot say enough great things about Taryn! I would recommend her to anyone considering having any kind of birth. She is truly an advocate for the families and for what they want. She is always positive and always on your side. She will believe in you even when you don't. I was concerned my husband who is an amazing coach would be left out if we got a doula, but instead she was the exact help he needed. She guided him on how to help me and allowed him to rest when he needed so he could be best able to help me when things got really down to the wire. Our birth was 35 hours long so there were definitely times when he needed a break. Taryn was at the hospital with us and by our sides for over 20 hours of this labor. I am not sure how we ever would have made it through without her. While my birth did not turn out how we had originally planned, it could not have turned out better in my opinion. Taryn helped us get all of the things we truly wanted out of our birth. After 34 hours of labor, our baby was at risk and we went in for an emergency c-section. Even as we were going in to the operating room, Taryn was letting my husband know of his rights and advocating for him to the staff that he wanted to be there the whole way. I can not speak more highly of Taryn and would not hesitate for a second to refer her to anyone.

There are not words to express how grateful we were to have Taryn with us during our pregnancy and birth. I chose to hire a doula for my second child for various reasons. Although the birth of my older son was fantastic, there were aspects of it I wished were different. I wanted a totally natural labor and delivery without ANY interventions. I also wanted to labor at home. Due to my GBS status and spontaneous rupture of membranes, I had to spend 19 hours in the hospital and many of the interventions I had dreaded were performed. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed. My husband was not completely sold on the idea of having a doula, but after meeting Taryn he was completely on board. She was fantastic throughout my pregnancy. Any time I had questions, I knew she would be available and would have an answer with resources to back it up! She is not only caring, but very knowledgeable too! When I finally went into labor (on my own!), I knew she would be there whenever I called! I labored all day and she was so supportive, even when my opinionated (but loving) mom and sister were pushing me to go in to the hospital during early labor. I waited until my body told me it was time before going into the hospital. Amazingly, we made it to the hospital and I was fully dilated and ready to push! Taryn helped me breathe through the urge to push while they rushed me to a birthing suite. Within minutes my midwife was in the room and it was time to deliver my beautiful baby girl! I was successful in laboring at home as long as possible and avoiding all interventions. For me, having Taryn there was more about the emotional support. Knowing she understood and believed in everything I wanted from my birth experience gave me the confidence to do it! I could not be more pleased with the way everything went! If I am blessed with another child, I will not be doing it without Taryn by my side.

No first time mother knows what to expect when it comes to the preparation, involvement, and feelings of childbirth. Fully trusting somebody to help me through this process was something I was having a hard time with. Within the first few minutes of meeting up with Taryn, I knew that we had made the right decision. I felt like I had known her for years. She was going to help me through the hardest time of my life, and I think it's very important that you have somebody who is very calming, understanding, and helpful.

I had a 36 hour natural childbirth and labored at home with her before going to the hospital where we found out I was already 8cm dialated! I was amazed! I had so much fun going through the rushes and trying different positions.  She rubbed my feet and kept me completely calm and relaxed the entire time. Not only did she help me, but she helped Zac and I feel extremely close. When contractions got harder, she showed Zac how to compress my hips and (God bless her) they pushed as hard as they could on my hips every contraction for HOURS! Incredible!  I was pushing for 3 hours and she knew just what to tell me to keep me pushing through the pain and to focus on holding the baby. It was a PERFECT night. We both had a blast with her!

She then took her help above and beyond when I had trouble breastfeeding. She even referred me to somebody who saved my ability to breastfeed my son. She saved a huge part of my life that I will cherish forever, and I will never forget that. Taryn is an amazing person and is now very dear to my heart!I would also highly recommend placenta encapsulation. It is a wonderful process and helped me get through some very hard weeks after birth. I had energy and composure. It was a blessing!

I truely love her and couldn't have done it without her immense wisdom and care. 

I'm a pretty shy person, it takes me a long time to feel comfortable around someone but from the first time I met Taryn I felt so comfortable and relaxed. She has an amazing warmness about her and I am so blessed to have had her as my doula. I had a beautiful homebirth. Taryn seemed to sense what I needed before I even had to ask.I gave birth to a 10.4 pound baby boy in a pool in my living room. Taryn helped me get through the toughest parts of labor, which for me were mostly mental, she had total confidence in me and my body. She also helped my husband be involved in the process, with out her there I'm not sure my husband would have really known how to support me. Even though we both had read and researched, when the time came he still seemed a little unsure of himself. His support meant so much to me and Taryn helped him feel confident. My birth experience was one of the most amazing things I've ever got to experience, and Taryn is one of the reaons why. I highly reccomend her

I knew as soon as I became pregnant that I wanted a natural normal child birth experience.  I found Taryn by chance and from our first consultation I was put at ease.  My pregnancy became high risk and Taryn was there to calm my nerves, offer encouragement and support.  Taryn was such a calming influence.   We talked through all the possible scenarios and of things that could go wrong so when things did not turn out as planned I was much more comfortable with my unplanned cesarean section.  Taryn assisted in getting my 35wk6day newborn latched right on and nursing within minutes of returning from the operating room.  I was so pleased with all of the support Taryn offered.  She helped me feel empowered in my decision making throughout my pregnancy, in the hospital and after I returned home as a new mom.  I know I would not have felt as comfortable with my complicated delivery without her support.   When we are ready to have another baby there is no one else I'd rather have walking me through it again than Taryn. 

 Before I became pregnant, I knew I wanted a doula by my side.     I was so excited to find a doula I could relate to, here in Oklahoma City.  Taryn and I  had about four or five meetings, each one was full of information about my journey.  I could confide in her and ask her any questions, I felt completely safe and understood.  I really like Taryn because she is into the holistic beauty of birth, she is knowledgeable about herbs, exercises, birth literature, meditation, comfort techniques, and most importantly she trusts women's bodies.   I wanted a natural, peaceful, drug free birth, and that is exactly what I got.  I thank Taryn for being my ally, I could call her anytime with  questions or concerns that I came across.  She was more available than my busy hospital midwife.  Taryn kept me focused, calm and centered.  I remember that she had such a strong powerful look in her eyes, (during the time when the pushing was really hurting and  I had flickers of self doubt) as she joyously kept reminding me that I was about to meet my little boy.   He came soon there after!  Taryn also helped me after the birth.  She encapsulated my placenta, coming over to my house the very next day to prepare the pills.  That medicine has helped me tremendously in feeling good and balancing my hormonal post birth shifts.  Taryn also prepared an herbal mixture for sitz bath to aid in the healing.  My wonderful doula is also an excellent documenter of momentous occasions. She prepared my "birth notes".  Birth notes are my birth story( going into labor, hospital, etc)  from her perspective, she had the times in there and everything!  It was beautifully written,  a tremendous gift for both my son and I.  I can't thank her enough for her service to humanity.  My experience with Taryn Goodwin was life affirming, gorgeous and sacred.  

My wife went into labor in the early morning. Taryn came to our home to help with the early portion of labor, then we moved to the hospital as the labor progressed. Taryn was very familiar with the facility where we delivered, so she was able to get us to Labor and Delivery much more quickly than if we had been by ourselves. She talked us through the process so we knew what to expect, and reassured us every step of the way.

Taryn really made me feel at ease with the whole birthing process. She suggested ways for me to connect with my wife and support her through her labor, and helped me get more involved. Taryn really took the pressure off me so that I could enjoy the experience, and know that my wife and baby were in good hands.

 
I cannot express how blessed I feel to have had Taryn at our birth. With my first child, I had an emergency c-section that left me full of emotions and fears that I didn’t always know how to handle. Taryn was there for both us as we prepared for an all natural VBAC.  Before the birth, she helped us deal with numerous questions we had regarding the necessity of ultrasounds, ways to avoid further c-sections and my positive group b strep test. On the day I went into labor we called Taryn and she was at our house within the hour. Her mere presence when she walked into my home calmed my nerves. She had almost a magical way of knowing exactly how to relax me during contractions, and her reassuring words kept me mentally on track for the natural labor I wanted. Her extensive knowledge of women and the birth process shined through during so much of my labor and she was able to answer every question I had while labor was progressing. This kept me from doubting myself and my body, which is so important for VBAC moms. Additionally, much of Taryn’s help was allowing my husband to be fully involved in the birth. She was the reason my husband never had to leave my side. She would show him different ways he could caress me, or different positions we could get in together to help progress labor along. When transition hit and I started to doubt my abilities, she kept telling me “You’re doing it. This is the hardest but shortest part.” During the pushing phase there were many times where my emotions were so high and the feelings so overwhelming that I wanted to give up. Since my husband was standing to the side of me and I couldn’t really look at him, I found Taryn’s kind eyes and locked into themand I found strength to go on. My husband and I both say to this day that we don’t think we could have had such an awesome, natural and successful VBAC had it not been for Taryn’s help that day.

I had a wonderful experience with Taryn. Like most things in my life, I didn't realize until the 11th hour of my pregnancy that a doula would be a good idea. I was a vbac client and was starting to get the feeling from my midwife group practice that my planned hospital delivery would not afford me a lot of labor support, even though I was going to a great facility and was a midwife client. In fact my midwife did suggest it, saying that she really wouldn't be showing up until it was really close to pushing time. That stressed me out a lot as I had a young toddler at home, no local family or other kind of support for his care as we were fairly new to the area. I was most concerned about my toddler and what would happen to him when it was time to go to the hospital. So I began making phone calls to doulas.

After speaking to a few doulas I called Taryn. She responded so clearly and confidently about how to handle my situation and had ideas that had never occurred to me, plus great resources. Pheeewww! I was so excited and relieved all at once and we hadn't even met in person yet.

There were a few more emotional obstacles that Taryn saw me through, such as going 2 weeks past my due date. Taryn helped me to stay calm and confident through this & magically I went into labor on my own within a day of having to be induced.

Once we arrived at the hospital I was a little shocked to discover that I was only 2 inches dialated. Taryn helped me walk through my labor around the hospital to get labor progressing. If she hadn't been there to make sense of my pain and experience I probably would have not tolerated my husband pushing me to keep walking as I had with Taryn there to help us. Within about an hour I had dialated to a 5. Taryn had a very magic touch that helped me through my labor and 2 hours of pushing to finally greet my little baby boy via vbac! It was the best experience of my life and I couldn't have done it without her!

My experience with Taryn was awesome. It felt good to know that I had someone to back me in the decisions I was making during the birth of my baby. I went into labor early on a Friday morning and my baby wasn't born until 10am Saturday morning. We called Taryn to come over Friday evening becuase we were sure that it was the real thing. She got to my house at about 8pm and stayed with us throuhout. My husband and I couldn't have done it without her. She helped keep morale up and kept me focused and helped me to remember that even though I was tired or it was painful, my baby would be born soon and it would all be worth it.   I consider myself lucky to have had such a wonderful birth at the birth of my son.

My experience with Taryn was incredible!  I owe the world to her.  It was nice to have someone there to walk me through my labor and delivery.  I am a first time mom and didn't know what to expect, and not really had any kind of pain for comparison.  She told me what to do and I just did it, which made it a walk in the park.  Ok maybe not a walk in the park, but you know what I mean.  She knew exactly what to do at exactly the right time.  My baby was malpositioned and so was causing severe back pain, so Taryn applied counter presser to my lower back to relieve the pressure during contractions, which helped tremendously.  We tried several other positions as well, which all helped at the precise time.  With Taryn by my side I sucessfully delivered a healthy baby girl naturally with no medical intervention.  I would recommend her to anyone...specially to first time moms!  Thank you so much Taryn!  It was a huge blessing to have you and your services!  I couldn't have done it without you!

God Bless You!
Meg

My experience with Taryn was amazing. I had planned on having a natural drug free delivery for months and then decided to get a doula. At six days past my due date my midwife and I agreed it was time for her to come out. I called Taryn to let her know we would be inducing the next day, she was supportive of my decision and helped me make sure this is what I really wanted to do not just something I was being forced into. We got to the hospital at 6am the next morning. When things got intense Taryn suggested using the TENS unit to try to help and it did. Taryn was amazing through the birth, helping me with whatever I needed, and somethings I didn't know I needed. She helped me breath, rubbed my feet and legs, she help me try different positions to get the baby to move down and relieve the pain, she also helped my husband to know what to do. My midwife came in and checked me and said I could get in the water to help relieve the pain, Taryn and my husband set right beside me the whole time reminding me that I could do this, even when I was telling them that I couldn't, Taryn would say "but you are doing it." My baby girl was born in the water at 6:20pm wide awake and ready to nurse. I couldn't believe how awake she was for hours after birth, but I guess that's how they are when they're not drugged during birth. Taryn stayed with me and help me get her latched on to nurse. She came by the next day to see how I was feeling and brought me this beautiful story of my birth through the eyes of the doula, she had been taking notes, I am so thankful for that. I can now read that story and look back at that day and smile and remember things that I may have otherwise forgotten. My advice to anyone who is pregnant, get a doula, I honestly don't think I could have gotten through it the way I wanted with out her support. Taryn is an amazing doula and now an awesome friend. Thank you Taryn for helping me bring my beautiful baby into the world.