Rachel H.

6/9/2010

Jesse is an absolutely amazing doula. We interviewed about four doulas and the choice was obvious. While we were immediately impressed with the facts: Jesse has the experience of over 300 births and the knowledge that comes from training other doulas, what decided it for us is Jesse's incredible compassion, warmth and strength. Our birth didn't quite go as planned (and I bet almost no births ever do!) but even so, earlier this week I found myself telling a friend that I had exactly the birth I wanted-- even if it wasn't the birth I expected.

During the birth Jesse was phenomenal. I had very intense back labor and Jesse had so many great ideas to help me get through the contractions; it was remarkable how she intuitively knew exactly how long to stick with each technique and what to try next. And this is something worth emphasizing: Jesse's intuition and connection with the birth process seems other-worldly. For example, I called Jesse four or five times before the "real deal" thinking I was in labor. Each time (even deep in the middle of the night) Jesse was patient and kind and helped me understand what was happening with my body and my baby. When I truly went into labor I was sure it was just another fake-out. But when I called Jesse-- somehow, almost magically(!), she knew it was the real thing and she was by my side an hour later.

Jesse went the extra mile for every detail of our birth. For example (one of many): we wanted to have our five year old daughter present at the birth. Jesse found and arranged for a wonderful, Montessori trained, doula-in-training to be our daughter's support person. This was the sort of phenomenal support we received from Jesse before, during and after the birth. Really, if you are looking for a doula, shop around. But if you are looking for an intuitive-other-worldly-faerie-of-good-birth-magic-vibes-and-yet-still-practical-but-brilliant-problem-solving, Jesse really is the one to choose.