Jessica Smail

2/15/2022

Audra was a sibling doula for my older daughter (5 years) during the birth of my baby in April 2021. I found her to be professional, kind, caring, and flexible. 

My specific experience was that I needed to be induced for this pregnancy, which was during the COVID pandemic. Audra visited us twice prior to the induction- first outside at a park and second at our home, to go through more specific details about our home, mealtimes, etc. She then came to stay with my daughter during the scheduled induction- which ultimately failed and I was sent home, still pregnant. We needed to reschedule for a 2nd induction and Audra was accommodating and again came to stay with my daughter during the induction. 

Additionally, Audra visited us postpartum and helped with belly binding and cooked a special meal for me. She was respectful of our space, and the meal was great!

My 5 year old daughter absolutely loved Audra, and for months afterward, asked when she would be back. 

Based on my experience, I would absolutely recommend her as a sibling doula to others.

Neelam Rawat

12/29/2021

Audra is an amazing resource and no words can describe how invaluable her support was for my husband and me during our first month postpartum. As first time parents who had no immediate family nearby to help us with the baby, we were extremely nervous, however, Audra's calm and composed demeanor helped ease our worries. We could always rely on her extensive knowledge when it came to child care. Right from day one, Audra was extremely hands on with everything. She took wonderful care of our newborn while being mindful of our choices . She also helped us with light household chores which made our life so much easier. I want to specifically mention the amazing comfort food she made for us each day. I can confidently say her meals helped me so much during my recovery. We trusted Audra enough to leave our baby in her care while we took a break to grab a quick cup of coffee or a lunch date.

I think we got lucky with Audra! I can vouch for her with absolute confidence.

Kurt Preugschat

11/19/2021

Audra was our doula for approximately four months.  Our son was born at 31 weeks and when we were finally able to bring him home, we were incredibly nervous about meeting all of his needs and keeping him safe.  We reached out to Audra for night support.  Our son needed special attention because of his special dietary needs and reflux.  It was also necessary to feed him every couple of hours even at night (at least initially).  From the very start, Audra came in and was able to give use confidence in her experience and her awareness of how to navigate an infant with special needs while trying to coach him into being more stable by helping him self soothe.  One of the great things about Audra is that she provided us with help and information that we didn't even think we needed.  She communicated really well with us about progress and gave us suggestions on things to work on while she wasn't there.  It is hard to imagine going through these first couple of months without her.  I can say with complete confidence that Audra brings a loving, compassionate, intelligent, and incredibly experienced doula to the table!  You can rely on her completely!

Archana

7/16/2021

Audra was a great help to us with our baby girl, especially since we had our 3 year old daughter as well to manage. She was always eager to help in any way she can and enthusiastic about the different steps in the daily life of a newborn. Her availability for overnight shifts was super helpful when both of us took turns taking our vaccine shots as we wanted to make sure that we are covered in case of any side effect from the shot. 

Josh Posthuma

7/14/2021

Audra was great. She stepped right in and was helpful the first night. We felt very comfortable having her in our home and with our son. 

Megan Posthuma

7/8/2021

Audra was a wonderful overnight doula for our son when he was 2-3 months old. She always arrives right on time or early, is very easy-going with any situation and really listens to all updates you have to give regarding your baby. She is wonderful with dogs- I think our dog Ruth enjoyed her as much as our baby did. She is soft-spoken and calming and a very warm and nurturing person to hand your baby over to- I felt confident she was taking excellent care of our little guy. She takes time in the morning before leaving to give full updates on anything that happened during the night, and to go over any tips she might have for helping your child's sleep, digestion, etc... She also reliably recorded all data from the night into our monitoring app so we could have a clear picture of wakings and feedings. Overall, wonderful experience and I would definitely hire her again. 

Chelsea

2/5/2021

Audra is a very experienced doula who is passionate and knowledgable about supporting babies and families! My husband and I hired Audra when our son was about 11 weeks old because we realized we needed a little more support, and she really helped ease our transition out of the "fourth trimester” and streamline our life as new parents. We learned so much from her about taking care of our son and helping him develop, and have already implemented many of her baby proofing tips as we get the house ready for his next stage. Audra also teaches baby massage, and taught us a calming routine which our baby loves. It’s now part of his bedtime routine and I think it’s really helped him wind down and sleep better at night. I also felt supported as a new mom, with Audra making sure I stayed hydrated and suggesting tips for increasing milk supply and self care.

Mindy

2/11/2020

Having Audra there at the birth of my daughter was in valuable. She was a constant study presents knowing went to help Anne went to give me space to breathe through it. She was steady confident and gentle and graceful at the same time. I appreciated her helping me get into different positions to help progress labor and also the support she gave my husband. He was nervous about having a homebirth and her presence called him just as much if not more than it calmed me. I highly recommend her as a Doula.

Michelle Salamanca

1/29/2020

I sought support for my pregnancy and necessary birth partner to help me through this important life event, given that the other parent wasn’t involved. For such a special occasion I had to find the perfect fit. With research and interviews, Audra was just that “perfect.” Audra’s calm and assuring demeanor, vast experience and advocacy guided my birthing experience wonderfully.

I wanted to attempt a VBAC. The process of birthing in a hospital is always intrusive. I needed Audra’s support to advocate for less invasive hospital staff monitoring in order to achieve as much of natural childbirth as possible.

After three children I’ve learned that having a Doula in any setting whether a hospital or home is extremely beneficial to the mother, family members and newborn. I benefitted from Audra’s support as she provided options, suggestions and implemented solutions to make my birthing experience less overwhelming. Audra focused on my needs and those of my family members as well. That which I was most grateful for was her personal care to my oldest son. In addition, as a personal touch, Audra created a beautiful memory art piece as a gift.

Audra provided postpartum care visits were extremely welcome at which she assisted in breastfeeding, providing and teaching me infant massage. 

I highly recommend Audra, she works as your Doula yet leaves as a trusted friend. 

Dr. Megan Saunders

1/16/2020

When I was pregnant with my first child, I felt a lot of anxiety about giving birth. Audra was there for me 100%, a warm supportive knowledgeable rock that I could lean on before during and after the birth process.  Her training in physical medicine, both massage therapy and craniosacral therapy, gives her an intuitive sense of how to help women find physical comfort during labor and ease distress.  As a physician I always recommend that my patients get a Doula, and often refer patients to Audra knowing that they will receive the highest level of care from her.

Matthew Smith

12/11/2019

Audra is an absolute gem, and a perfect postpartum doula. I'm sure she'd be great as a birth doula as well, but we only worked with her postpartum.

She is a great communicator and listener, which I think is the most important quality for a postpartum doula to have. She was also great with our 3-5 week old son, he calmed down as she held him and we felt totally secure with her caring for him. She gave some good suggestions on caring for him/ourselves but was sensitive and not intrusive at all.

She's also flexible to help with whatever needs done around the house - I was shocked at how much she got done during the day. Our floors were cleaner than they had been in a year! Her energy is very calm+loving and she helped my wife and I get some much-needed rest. 

Finally, she helped us with meal prep and is a gifted chef - yummy nutrituous food! We were tired and didn't know what to ask her to cook, she came up with great ideas and made delicious meals that fed us through the coming week.

You already know this if you're looking for a doula, but to remind you - this is a precious time in you and your baby's life. Working with a doula can help you relax and refocus on what matters. It's an investment, but for Audra especially - it's a fantastic and smart investment in your family's well-being.