The Waffles

2/15/2019

We could not have felt better supported leading up to and during the birth of our son. Kris has a lot of experience and is a wealth of knowledge. She is calm, confident and truly loving. She is also very supportive of various individual birthing and parenting styles. I have never met anyone who can remain so unbiased while being supportive of different views and choices. Due to her abundance of experience, she provides confident answers to all questions, birth related. It is amazing how many choices parents actually have during pregnancy, labour, delivery and once the baby is born. In some cases, decisions have to be made so quickly. Kris was there to help us anticipate these decisions/choices and best equip us to make the right decision for us. She also was there to ensure we felt confident to advocate for ourselves. This is something that is so so important. We felt so prepared. We loved the fact that we got to meet with Kris on several occasions and build a relationship prior to the birth of our son. Being first time parents, it was so nice to have someone go over all the “in-and-outs” with us, when it came to the birthing process. If we did not have Kris, I feel that the last couple of weeks would have been so stressful. I would have agonized over what was normal, when to call the midwives and overall what to do when labour started. Instead I knew I could contact Kris at anytime. My husband and I decided to have a home birth and were so happy with the overall experience. As soon as my labour started, Kris came right over. She was here for the 12 hours of labour as well as several hours after. Once our son was born, she even made us breakfast in bed! It was so lovely to be able to simply enjoy our little guy and be so well taken care of. Kris came with essential oils, TENS machine, birthing pool and many other aids that assisted in my labour. I can attest to the fact that a Doula is worth every penny. Kris is one of a kind!

Alex Banfield

1/15/2019

Kris is AMAZING! We approached Kris very late in our twin pregnancy seeking some post-partum assistance on Tuesday evenings. Kris met with us immediately and showed tremendous enthusiasm for also assisting with the labour, having never been involved in a twin delivery. Kris eased our concerns over what we saw as a financial burden taking on a birth doula, and was a massive part of what became an incredibly smooth and complication-free delivery of two healthy babies. Liam and Rylie spent 12 days in the brilliant Kelowna NICU and Kris was there every bit of the way, coming for regular visits and sending encouraging and messages of support throughout. We retained Kris' services for two months following our babies coming home and could not have been happier with investing in her expertise and wealth of support. Thanks so much Kris!!

Anna Cadger

1/15/2019

Dearest Kris, you made my birth dream come true! Thank-you so much for your support, especially in calmness. As you were, I became and the birth was beautiful. Thank-you so much

Selena De Vries

1/15/2019

Kris is an amazing doula. I didn't quite know what to expect being pregnant for the first time and found it super helpful to go through the different positions that would help with pain and understand the stages of labor and how the process may go from laboring at home to eventually going to the hospital. I definitely had an ideal birth in mind, hoping to do the majority of labor at home before going to the hospital and having a vaginal birth. However, my birth plan did a complete 180 on us! My little one was 2 weeks overdue and I was still not going into labor even with all the natural interventions we tried. We ended up having to get medically induced, which still didn't get me into active labor after 36 hours of it! Having Kris there every step of the way to talk through all the decisions we had to make from natural ways to get the birth going, to being medically induced, to manually breaking my water, and the eventual emergency c-section was incredibly invaluable. It's hard to put into words our sincere appreciation. After a long 4-5 days of medical interventions, our little one finally made his way into this world and am so grateful that Kris was there for us every step of the way. Thanks so much Kris!

Clea Haugo

1/15/2019

Kris was an amazing support for us leading up to our due date, during and after the birth of our daughter. She went above and beyond what we expected from a doula, working closely with us to customize our birth plan, while being sensitive to our needs. She offered a wealth of experience, knowledge and attention to detail and we are so grateful that we found her.

Megan Woodruff

1/15/2019

When I decided to hire a Doula it was because I was very anxious about childbirth and knew I needed extra support. It took me a while to work up the courage to get pregnant because I was afraid of a lot of things, labour being the main concern. I had heard so many horror stories from other women, some in my family and friends, and got caught up in how childbirth is portrayed in movies and on TV. I found Kelowna Doulas online and started looking at the different profiles on the site. Kris’ reviews from her clients were why I chose to reach out to her. When we met for a coffee, I asked Kris what her signature strength was and she said tough love. I knew that we would be a good fit from that point because I needed someone who would hold me capable, but also offer caring emotional support. Kris was very comfortable coming into our home, and got along well with all of our family, our cat, and our friends. When you are leading up to the end of your pregnancy, and especially after you have your baby, you want to make sure that no one judges you by the state of your home! Kris never made me feel like I had to have everything perfect when she came over, and would always offer to help clean, cook and do laundry She also gave me multiple resources to help me prepare for childbirth. My experience during labour with Kris was that she put me and my baby first. She listened to my wishes and memorized my mantras. She made sure that I stuck to my birth plan, even when I didn’t feel I had the strength. I felt safe and confident knowing I had her there. What I didn’t realize was how much I ended up needing her when I took my baby home. I am a worrier, and for a first time mom, it was a huge help having her on call to answer questions and calm my anxiousness. She picked up the phone at all hours of the night. Her dedication to my baby and I and our wellbeing was beyond what I could have expected.

Ashlee Robinson

1/12/2019

We were so lucky to have the birthing team that we had. Kris, our doula, was a solid rock the entire time for both myself and my partner. She was contorting her body in crazy ways, in our tiny home, to keep me comfortable and she helped my partner understand what was happening and would give him guidance or a break when needed.

Kris was a hand to hold for guidance before, during, and after our birth.We had time to meet and get to know her and her ideas to help with labour. During labour she was the exact help and support we needed. After the birth she was so helpful and comforting in the hospital. Once we we’re home, her home visits where always welcomed as she answered questions that I had, helped with some things around the house and, honestly, was a welcome visitor to break the lonely and scary first few days alone with our little one.

 

Catherine Duong

11/9/2018

We are so grateful for Kris and her support through this process. She is knowledgeable, experienced and right in line with my beliefs about the sacredness of childbirth. I am especially thankful for her ability to quell any fear and put us totally at ease. It’s a beautiful and powerful thing to be supported by a woman with so much reverence. Thank you Kris!

S T

11/7/2018

Kris was awesome And VERY affordable! We had really high expectations from her because our doula with our first was super good but was unavailable at the time i got pregnant with our second! And she surpassed our expectations!!! Highly recommend her and have recommended her to anyone I hear that’s pregnant! She was a great resource while pregnant even though this was our second she still gave us lots of new tipS, tricks and info!! i really appreciated how she took the time to figure exactly what my husband and I wanted out of our birth in this case we really wanted my husband to be more hands on involved as In him supporting me in different positions and pain relief techniques etc! Plus she has a tense machine you can rent too!! (Not all doulas do!) kris really made sure that thE way i wanted my birth to go was the way it happenEd And she also got some great pictures and videos of the whole experience! Her postpartum support was great as well! She even did my dishes, folded laundry, took out trash, changed babies buM, played with my older son so I could have some time with the baby all in all she was an amazing resource, help, friend and definitely an asset to the birthing team!!! Being her client was an absolute honour ?? 

Katie Huisman

7/14/2017

Kris Loewen has truly found her calling as a Doula. Having her by our sides during our home birth a few months ago was a gift to our family.

My labour started around 7:00pm, I called Kris, being my first pregnancy I didn't really know what to do, she arrived with an abundance of Knowledge and calm energy which was exactly what I needed. During my labour Kris was by our sides when we needed her and always an earshot away when we wanted space. It was awesome that she brought an arsenal supply of natural remedies and techniques to help cope with the intensity of labour and it really made all the difference for me in having a pain medication free birth. She was not only an amazing emotional and physical support for myself but also my partner who was right there with me. Her support doesn’t stop at the birth, she was there for us through our entire pregnancy and post-pardom.  After our daughter was born it was so nice to have her to lean on emotionally she helped me immensely with some breastfeeding difficulty and somehow got all my laundry folded and put away as well!  Kris is so easy to talk to about anything physically, emotionally and spiritually.  

If we are fortunate enough to have a second baby, I can't wait to have Kris as my doula again! 

-Katie Huisman 

Christina Hahn

7/13/2017

Kris was very compassionate and encouraging as a doula. She was level headed and helped keep me calm, even using a bit of humour to help ease the harshness of the situation. I had a rough labour of 41 hrs so her help was invaluable! I really appreciated her different techniques of movement during contractions, her use of essential oils and how much of a coach she was during the pushing.

I would highly recommend her and actually have done so. 

Haylie Harris

7/4/2017

I had never really considered having a doula, but after meeting Kris in my 6th month of pregnancy it was an easy decision to have her join us in our journey. She really, genuinely listened, and I even managed to switch to a midwife with her encouragement, which was what I had wanted in the first place. 

My baby gave herself an early start to her life, and Kris didn't miss a moment of it. She was a familiar face amongst a bustle of activity, and a calm and reassuring voice when decisions had to be made and our wants and needs had to be met. In our meetings before the delivery she took careful notes of what we wanted and hoped for, and that ensured that our wishes came through for our baby when we were overwhelmed. 

Kris is a wealth of knowledge and her experience is evident, both in her own family, as well as her experience with many other births. Her confidence is contagious, and it was an easy decision to ask her to join us for the upcoming birth of our second child! She is very dedicated to her work, as well as an active member of the community, and I would highly recommend her.

Sincerely,

Haylie Hamilton

Jennifer Klassen

4/10/2017

It's hard put in to words how much meaning and calm Kris brought to our birth day. Her steady, strong, encouraging and nurturing voice guided me through my contractions all the way through pushing out my precious son. Furthermore I believe she gives her all to each client and genuinely cares about everyone she meets. She is quick to laugh and welcomes you into her very unique world. I wish I had her for my firstborn and I wish I wanted more children just so I could create more memories like the ones she helped us make.

Beth Black

2/25/2017

I knew that hiring a doula for the extra special support and knowledge they provide would be huge support to us during the birth of our first child. Kris was the only doula I spoke to in person and I knew she was a great fit for us. I am very thankful for her encouragement and her knowledge in preparation for the birth, her voice, guidance, and ways in aiding with pain relief during the birth, and postpartum help with breast feeding. Kris also helped me into many different positions during my labor to try to get our baby to turn from its sunny side up position, and though in the end I had to have a C-section, it was due to my pelvis being to small for the baby's head. Kris and my midwives did everything they possibly could to help me deliver naturally, and I believe thanks to them, I have a very positive outlook on my whole experience and was able to labor at home for almost 24 hours before going to the hospital. Kris was there the whole way along being the best support she could be. She continued to help encourage and provide breast feeding support in the weeks following which is so helpful for a first time mom. Hiring Kris was well worth it, and I highly recommmend her to all. 

Ryan Martinez

2/23/2017

Kris was amazing. She really took the time to get to know my wife and I. She genuinely loves her job and helping new and young families through the process of having a baby. She was very thorough and thoughtful and really made us feel at ease every step of the way. Being the husband, one typically does'nt think about how helpful the doula is for them but I can whole heartly say that the whole birthing experience was planned and executed so well; It really allowed my wife and I to be at ease and soak in the experience of carrying and deliverinig our baby! Thanx Kris! 

Natalie Yakowich

2/22/2017

Kris was a phenomenal Doula for us. She provide excellent pre-natal support both with in person meetings and email/text questions. With her guidance we were able to develop a birth plan that I believe greatly contributed to a very positive birth experience for myself, my husband and our little one.  During my labour she was a calm and reassuring voice always making sure I was being looked after while also providing gentle and effective encouragement. At one point when I was focusing on simply making it through each contraction, she reminded me that we were working to "get that baby born".  This small cue helped me to focus on movement and positions that moved my labour along. After our little one entered the world Kris was a comforting and helpful presence, capturing some beautiful candid photos while giving our family time to bond. Her post-natal care was excellent as well, providing Breastfeeding support and answering the dozens of random questions that come up in the first few weeks of parenthood. I truly treasured Kris' visits even if it was just chatting over coffee while she held the baby and my arms got a break!  Because of Kris' excellent care and support I have recommended Doula services to every expectant mom I know and Kris in particular to anyone in the Okanagan. 

Jacklyn Patton

2/22/2017

I am incredibly thankful for Kris! I always knew I would want a doula if I were pregnant, but my husband and I live in Kelowna without any family or support, so when we found out we were pregnant I didn’t really know where to start. I did quite a bit of research, which eventually led me to Kris and I was pleased to find out she was available for my birth. I knew she was the one I wanted to meet with, but I was even more surprised than I expected—she was extremely personable and lovely to be around, I felt like I was chatting with a friend. If there was one thing I wanted from a doula other than expertise (which she absolutely has), it was someone I felt completely comfortable around, and that is the essence of who she is. My labor and birth would not have been the same with out her; she was literally the best decision I made regarding my birth plan. Aside from her extraordinary support during my entire labor and my son’s birth, she is also wonderful in the postpartum care. She gives amazing breastfeeding help after baby arrives, along with answering any sort of weird question you may regarding yourself or your new baby. I’m eternally grateful and would recommend her to anyone! Thanks, Kris, you rock!! - Jacklyn Patton

Lisa Corbeil

9/14/2015

Matty and I wanted to thank you for all your help during our Pregnancy, labour, delivery. We can honestly say, it would not have been the same without you. We will not forget your support, care and experience. As new parents, it was difficult to envision what the labour process will be like, but we can honestly say, without you, we feel that the experience could have been stressful and worrysome without a knowledgeable, seasoned, and caring Doula to gently hold our hand and guide us throughout the process. Your support was pivotal and ensured we were able to focus on the beautiful miracle of the birth of our Daughter without having to worry about all of the medical static going on around us. A true advocate in our corner that we trusted. Your support was invaluable – not only as a labor support person but also as someone helping us make decisions throughout our pregnancy and aftercare. You seem to have a gift of knowing intuitively what kind of touch feels good at any given moment during labor. My husband, who was skeptical at first because he had never heard the word “Doula”, is now the biggest advocate because you allowed him to be an active and calm supporter during our 25-hour labour. After we brought our daughter home, it was so comforting to see you come through the door and guide us through the first few days of caring for a newborn. Your presence during our Daughters birth and allowing us to make informed decisions means the WORLD to us.

Stephanie and Brandon

9/14/2015

When finding out we were expecting I knew I wanted someone at the birth to support my husband and I. Although we have very loving family, I felt more comfortable having someone there who was not only educated in the birthing experience, but had been through it herself and was specifically there to support us in whatever capacity we needed. I found Kris through a friend who had hired her as their doula. After our first meeting I could just tell she was someone who passionately cared about people and I knew I wouldn’t regret inviting her to share in our birth! She provided pre-natal visits, with both my husband and I, in which we were able to talk about our concerns, questions, and the overall labor experience. She is an amazing listener, giving her input and feedback, and ultimately letting us take the direction we felt led. I think one of my greatest concerns was not knowing how I would handle labor and whether or not I would be supported if I ended up wanting to have drug support. For some reason I always thought having a doula meant you “had to go all natural”. Again Kris is amazing with giving her input, but ultimately supporting you in what you feel most comfortable. So when I opted for the epidural during labor I felt fully supported and taken care of even in that decision. My husband absolutely loved having Kris’ help! There are so many things to think about during the labor process, and getting to the hospital, etc. He was so thankful to have a support person there for himself so that he could just focus on me. (continued on next testimonial)

Stephanie and Brandon

9/14/2015

(Continued from above) She was great through the whole labor experience, from the beginning phone calls to when she actually arrived at our house and we headed to the hospital. It was great to have someone to show us where to go, find more pillows when we needed them, and communicate with the nurses when we were "in the zone". It was a rather long labor and she was incredible at sticking it out with us and keeping a positive and caring attitude the entire time. We had a pretty scary experience when our little guy first came out and wasn’t initially breathing (he ended up being totally okay) but even through that she remained calm and focused on keeping us calm as well. Even after Finlay arrived she came to our house a few times, offering to help with the laundry or whatever we needed. She was so thoughtful caring in those first hazy weeks! The biggest thing I can say about Kris is that she LOVES people, and I am soon thankful she was there to love us through the whole experience. I really do recommend her to anyone I know is expecting!