Brianna

7/18/2022

I cannot begin to explain how grateful my husband and I are to have had Lauryn on our team for the birth of our first child. Having planned for a natural birth, I knew that I wanted a Doula to help provide comfort measures and be another voice for me during labor, but Lauryn was far more than that. I immediately felt comfortable with her and knew that I could trust her. Since life doesn't always go according to plan, we found ourselves facing a journey that involved far more interventions than I wanted. Even weeks before D-Day, Lauryn helped us feel in control throughout the many different decisions we had to make. She helped us stay on a path that we were comfortable with and encouraged us to ask questions of our care providers that we had not thought to ask ourselves. I honestly cannot imagine how our birth would have gone without Lauryn and I can say with certainty that she will be the first Doula I call when we have children in the future. Thank you again, Lauryn <3

Tamra

1/5/2021

Lauryn is a fantastic doula and provides as much (or as little) support to the mother and partner as needed. She has been present at each of my three labors and births, and each time has been a somewhat different labor experience. Though my husband and I have become very familiar and comfortable with the natural process of an intervention free childbirth, we still find great value in having Lauryn as our additional support person during this time.

Prior to the birth she meets with you and your partner, reviews comfort measures, provided email and phone support as needed, and will help direct you as to when it is time to meet at your location of birth. In active labor she provides words of encouragement, physical support/distractions, will set up a calm birthing space, and provide recommendations to your support person for aiding the mother. After the birth, she will remain with you for a brief time to make sure that mom and baby are stable and supported. She provides a follow up visit about 2 weeks after the birth to make sure the postpartum period is going smoothly. 

I highly recommend Lauryn as a doula for your anticipated childbirth. If either mother or partner are interested in the concept of having an additional support person (who supports both the mother AND partner), you should contact Lauryn. I attribute my three positive birth experiences to having her set the stage for a calm birthing environment, trusting her to recognize mine and my husband's needs, and provide any comfort measures or supports (like snacks/water) as needed during the birthing time.

Elizabeth

2/27/2020

I really appreciate Lauryn's help and support during my labor, physically, mentally and emotionally. She was very in tune with what I needed to hear and when. She helped my partner feel supported as well. She took us through positions and movements that helped us in labor and guided us through a really rough patch in the labor. Her presence was very reassuring to me and also energizing. Although my partner and I prepared well for the labor, you can never really prepare for the unknown, having Lauryn helped me feel like I could do this and I was going to not only survive, but enjoy my experience of birth and labor. I recommend having Lauryn support you and your family through this journey. 

Florence Dei Ochoa

2/2/2019

Lauryn was a real delight and equipped for my surprisingly fast delivery! We kept in touch before delivery and she reassured me when I kept having false contractions that everything was going to be ok! I love that I could communicate with her at any time and she was attentive to all of my crazy questions. I highly recommend her as a partner for your partner or for any mama. We were a great team.

Kristen Ruble

2/2/2019

We are a military family who arrived in Tucson for the birth of our second child.  We landed when I was 34 weeks along and I realized that I was going to need some extra support during the birth of our baby since my husband would be away training.  As soon as I met Lauryn I felt instantly more at ease and knew she would help mitigate any of the difficulties during the birth for our unique situation.  She came to my house before the birth to show me the techniques and talk about the birth plan we will be using to help me through an unmedicated VBAC.  My water ended up breaking suddenly in the middle of the night and Lauryn responded promptly with words of encouragement as well as what to expect in the next couple of hours.  When she met me at the hospital she was very responsive to my needs and served as my advocate to remind both myself and the nurses of my wishes.  Furthermore, she set up and constantly connected my husband via Facetime so he did not miss a moment.  I had a successful unmedicated VBAC and I attribute a lot of this success to the birth team around me, and Lauryn played a crucial role on this team.  After the birth Lauryn provided a thoughtfully written birth story filled with details that made us laugh along with photos for us to remember this experience.  I would highly recommend Lauryn as a doula for any expecting mom who is looking for some warm, informative guidance through birth.

roxanne franklin

8/24/2018

I had a wonderful experience with lauryn not only was she so sweet but she stepped in as my hired doula‘s back up when my baby decided to show up at 37 weeks but now i can see why! We had never met her but day of my birth we called as i was instructed by shannon my doula at blessed birth. Once she arrived she took over the situation very calmly introduced herself and started using her magic trying to get a feel of what i wanted to make my birthing experience comfortable. It was easy because we had already went over many techniques with shannon. Lauryn just made what we choose really easy. my birth plan of not receving the epidural was possible thanks to the encouraging words of lauryn and my husband. Few hours in my precious baby boy was here.

I highly recommend both shannon and lauryn at Blessed Birth.

Nayeth Cortes

11/19/2016

My husband and I decided to choose Lauryn mainly because the fact that she is bilingual (we both speak english but spanish is our primary language), her being fluent in spanish made us feel so much more comfortable and allowed us to establish a better connection/relationship with her as this was our first baby and we didn't truly know what to expect as we wanted a natural birth, without any medication/anesthetics/narcotics. Another thing we really liked was the fact that she is very knowledgable in topics we had an interest in, such as cloth diapers and breastfeeding. She also has a great personality and is super friendly, making us feel very comfortable and confident. She was always available whenever we needed to reach out to her to ask her questions and/or to keep her updated. During the transition from early labor to active labor, she arrived at the hospital promptly and ready to assist both me and my husband, using breathing/relaxation and visualization techniques, massage, position changes, and when I would start to lose focus due to the contactions Lauryn would bring me back, and when it was time to push she guided me to push correctly and efficiently. Lauryn performed such a great job that evening that she even received kudos from my midwife. I would definetly recommend Lauryn for your doula needs.

Tamra Kasprzyk

11/2/2016

Lauryn was recommended to my husband and I by some friends who also worked with Lauryn for their child's birth. I wanted to be able to deliver without the use of an epidural or other medications that would affect the baby. I also wanted someone who would be able to support my husband in coaching him through his support of me during labor.

We initially met with Lauryn about 4 months before my due date to see if we wanted to "hire" her as our doula. Both my husband and I had good feelings after meeting her and decided to pursue the the process of working with her. She came out to our house a few months later to do a "practice" in comfort measures for labor.

When "Labor Day" came it was easy to call up Lauryn and tell her that I was in labor, and although she was originally going to come to our house, we decided to meet her at the hospital. She helped me and helped my husband help me through each contraction, offering suggestions for different labor positions to try, or various adjustments that could be made to help tolerate the pain and relax through each contraction.

It was a 14-hour labor, and I didn't once ask for an epidural, but was very close to it because after that amount of time, I was ready for it to be over. Soon enough I could feel it was time to push, and out came a baby girl-the doctor was not even there in time! Lauryn really was instrumental in encouraging me, and my husband, in the natural birth process.

Lauryn came to our house a couple weeks after the baby was born to follow up with how our adjustment to our new life with a newborn. She offered various postpartum resources if I ever might need them, as well as brought some delicious cookies.

Thanks, Lauryn, for helping us have a successful childbirth!

Katie Flores

6/2/2016

For our first child, my husband and I were aiming to have a natural birth without use of pain medications/epidural.  At first I was skeptical about hiring a doula thinking that we could figure things out on our own.  However, we were first time parents and didnt really know what to expect.  In addition, I tend to have a low tolerance for pain, & I needed all the help that I could get to endure a labor and delivery without intervention.

We could not have been happier in our decision to hire Lauryn and we truly feel that she was extremely instrumental in ensuring that I labored and delivered without the use of pain medication or epidural, and was able to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Drake.  Lauryn provided a couple of practice sessions beforehand, and utilized a great template to help us create a birth plan.  I was scared about what labor would bring, but overall felt prepared and confident that the techniques that we practiced would help and that our plan was practical and solid.  Throughout the process, Lauryn's kindness and professionalism were evident, and she was able to provide me with exactly what I needed to get through each contraction, whether through massage, suggestions of position changes, counting, and most of all, making suggestions for ways that my husband could assist as well, thus allowing him to take an active role in the labor and delivery process.  At one point in time, I thought that I wanted an epidural because I was nearing the end of my rope and I was scared of what pushing would entail.  However, Lauryn was able to redirect my attention, and persuade me to wait until being checked by the doctor.  When I was checked, I found out I was already at 10 cm!  So I pushed and pushed with a renewed sense of mission and energy.

If you are looking to have the best birth experience possible, I would highly recommend Lauryn.  We couldnt have done so well without her!