Erin G.

10/29/2022

Antonia is a knowledgeable, deeply kind, and compassionate individual. She is a dedicated doula and is “in this profession” for all the right reasons.

Antonia has been so supportive of our family from the beginning. Although our professional relationship has churned it course Antonia still remains a family friend. Which speaks to her character,  a truly nurturing  individual.

We would be so honored to have Antonia be our doula when we welcome our future children.

Rachel

10/14/2022

Antonia is hands down the best investment I made for my birth experience and I would hire her over and over again (and plan to) for future births.  Antonia completely exemplifies the meaning of Doula.  She was my birthing advocate through and through and became a dear friend.  She is incredibly kind and compassionate and very knowledgeable about birth (all aspects, physiological and spiritual).  Antonia was present for me throughout my pregnancy both in person and by phone.  I especially leaned on her during the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy when I was "late" and needing alot of emotional support.  I cannot attest enough to the amount of presence Antonia gave me during this difficult time of decision making.  Antonia helped me to stay true to my birthing desires and was there for me as I birthed my beautiful baby boy at home! I feel so grateful to have had my ideal natural birth and I know that it was in part possible due to Antonia's presence! THANK YOU ANTONIA!

Kimi Thomas

7/16/2018

Antonia was a fantastic resource and an incredible support person during our labor and delivery. She has a calm demeaner and a wonderful sense of humor that really earned our trust, making this experience all that more enjoyable. Antonia's pre-partum visits really helped us understand what to expect during labor helped us to create our birth plan, and enabled us to get to know her better before the delivery day. On the big day, Antonia was there during the nearly 24 hours of labor and was an amazing support person to not only myself, but also to my husband. She suggested breathing techniques, different labor positions, and asked gentle probing questions to find out how she could better support me, without feeling over-bearing. Overall, my husband and I had a very positive birth experience and I highly recommend Antonia!

Matt Macdonald

7/15/2018

We recommend every birth be attended by a Doula. No amount of childbirth education can substitute for the coaching and support we received from Antonia.

Antonia is intuitive, knowledgeable, warm and a fantastic listener. We met fairly early in the pregnancy, and easily developed a trusting relationship. After interviewing several doulas, we chose to work with Antonia because she made us feel at ease. Initially, we were not thrilled that our insurance only provided the option of a hospital birth. However, Antonia helped us write a birth plan and communicate our hopes to our medical team in a way that minimized Chloe’s fear of medical interventions. Antonia was a calming presence in the room.

For Chloe, as the Laboring Mother, Antonia was helpful as a coach in identifying coping techniques, re-centering breathing, and differentiating between the muscles to use for pushing. She also provided much needed breaks for Birth Partner, Matt. Chloe’s back pain was only lessened with constant pressure, so Matt needed to be physically and mentally alongside Chloe for the majority of the labor. Trusting Antonia to take care of the coaching and communication, areas where Matt felt least confident, freed up Matt to focus on supporting Chloe instead of managing medical staff. Antonia was a tremendous advocate, helping us ask questions to make sure we made informed decisions, were aware of which decisions were critical and understood everything that was going on. After the baby was born she also helped us process the experience and learn how to breastfeed.

We feel so lucky for how our birth turned out and Antonia was a big part of that.

Katie Dawson

7/3/2018

I could not be more thankful to have met Antonia and that she was our doula. We had an emergency during our birth, please read on for details.

Antonia met us at the hospital. I opted not to have an epidural for this birth (I did with my first.) Antonia stayed completely engaged with me during labor, anticipating my needs and breathing with me. It is hard to describe how fully she stayed engaged, how comforting it was to have her there. Antonia's personality is, in my perception, calm and reserved. She is a bit like a yoga instructor, rather than a "coach", guiding you through the most challenging meditation/yoga class of your life :)

Our baby, due to his size, became stuck during delivery, in what is an emergency called a shoulder dystocia. The midwife called for support immediately, supporting staff (NICU nurses and others) flooded into the room. Our baby was blue upon his birth, with an APGAR of 4. Antonia remained utterly calm, present, helping me breathe through the panic attacks, comforting me: for example helping me to be comfortable with washcloths (warm or cool depending on what I needed at the time), holding my hand and being with me as my husband went with our baby to the NICU with our son. My husband texted with Antonia pictures and to share updates of what was happening.

I was very impressed with how well Antonia collaborated with our labor nurse and midwife. It was clear both during and after my baby was born that my nurse and midwife were extremely grateful to have her present. Our nurse articulated to Antonia that she was grateful, thanking her for being there and for all her help.

Antonia was an excellent resource and sounding board from the beginning and forward. I would absolutely have her at my next baby's birth, and recommend her with a joyful heart. She is truly a wise birth doula, with beautiful wisdom and skill.

Jamie Erin Mooney

6/1/2018

Antonia was back-filling for our planned doula and I am very grateful that she was with my husband and I. She exemplifies the traits I was looking for in a doula: well-informed, supportive, non-judgemental, fun to be around. My husband and I wanted a doula because we felt we needed help navigating the hopsital system and because our family support is across the country. Antonia and my husband functioned as the necessary backbone I needed to make it through an arduous and taxing multi-day labor.

Ultimately, Antonia served as a foundational support to a labor that didn't go as planned.  As labor intensified and circumstances changed, stress levels increased. More providers were brought into the room and the scene/mood quickly changed from calm and manageable to stressful and chaotic. Prior to the escalation of my birth situation, Antonia helped me advocate on my own behalf, translating questions from providers into more of a series of options with clear pros and cons (based on our birth preferences) instead of the alternative of just doing what the provider found as the most desireable approach. She helped me understand the impacts different options might have on labor and baby and allowed me to make more informed decisions.

One of my strongest memories of the birth is Anthonia's calm and stabilizing presence as she helped ground me mentally to focus on the task at hand and ignore the choas of the room. She was able to recognize that my ability to cope was slipping and she used touch and tone to help stabilize my emotions which allowed me to focus on pushing the baby out.

There are few things I would want to repeat about my child's birth but I would absoultely not want to do it without Antonia.

julia li

5/29/2018

We were impressed by Antonia from the get-go and couldn't have been happier with our decision to choose her as our doula. She is warm but professional, helpful but not pushy, and provides answers in a completely objective way. We never felt like she was asserting her viewpoints and had complete peace of mind that she was in our corner on our delivery date. Our circumstances did change b/c our baby was breech, so we can't really attest to her labor/delivery services. However, Antonia was present for our c-section, took lots of pictures, advocated for our needs, and helped me with breast-feeding. By the end of our pregnancy/birth experience, we felt a close bond with Antonia and our post-birth appointment with her was more like recounting events with a close friend.

Erin Chonko

5/8/2018

Antonia is an amazing doula! Her fun loving presence has a way of making everyone around her feel at ease. In the weeks leading up to the birth of my first child, Antonia not only taught us a ton about what to expect and provided resources to us, but also worked with us to build out a birth plan that was what we wanted. During labor and my son’s birth, Antonia anticipated our needs and provided just the right kind of support by being both nurturing and rational. She helped us to navigate the entire process before, during and after birth. My husband and I have really wonderful memories of our son’s birth and we owe a large part of that to Antonia. She’s a wealth of knowledge and a gem. I highly recommend Antonria to anyone.

Miyoko Beetem

4/16/2018

I highly recommend Antonia, who served as our doula for our second child, a scheduled c-section. (We lived elsewhere for our first).

Antonia was everything we could have asked for: incredibly knowledgeable about the birthing experience and ways to assist both me and my husband, a wonderful personality fit (positive, calm, funny, supportive) and someone who so easily was able to jump in and share in all of our excitement.

At our prenatal appointment Antonia was great about learning about me, what contributed to my positive first birth experience, what I was nervous about, what kind of support I wanted, what my birth preferences were, and what I had questions about. My biggest concern was going into labor before my scheduled c-section date and questioning my decision to have a second c-section versus try to deliver vaginally. Antonia was so supportive and non-judgmental and helped me work through this by practicing saying to her what I’d want her to say to me in that situation. Because of this, when I ended up going into labor before my c-section date, I felt very confident in my c-section decision.

At the hospital, Antonia was a great support for both me and my husband. She was excellent at prompting me to communicate everything I needed and wanted to with the hospital staff, and was happy to communicate it for me when I requested. She was full of joy and excitement during the appropriate times and attentive, aware and supportive at the times we needed that.

After our baby was born, Antonia helped us with our first latch, and then she visited us the next day while we were still at the hospital, which was so nice. At our postpartum appointment, Antonia was great at answering my questions and offering support.

Throughout, Antonia was warm, loving, attentive, supportive, inquisitive, and kept a wonderful sense of humor and joy. She has a wonderful spirit and was the perfect presence. I highly recommend Antonia.

Karima Rasul

4/8/2018

As a first time mom, I knew I wanted the support of a doula in the room when I gave birth to my son in March 2018. The research was clear on the benefits of a doula; I wanted someone there to advocate for me, who was also familiar with the hospital and the staff.

Antonia was wonderful throughout the process -- when I went into labor early, she provided my husband and I will exercises that moved the labor away from my back and helped to manage my pain. We were in close contact during early labor and into active labor. Antonia met us at the hospital when my husband and I jumped the gun and headed to the hospital only to be ultimately sent home. When it was go-time, she was vocal in the room, she let me know my rights as a patient and ensured we stuck to my birth plan. She was non-judgmental of my decision to have an epidural, and came prepared to work through multiple positions to help my labor progress. Immediately following the birth, she was there, helping my baby latch and teaching me the basics of breast feeding.

Antonia's presence is calm and accepting. In the weeks following my birth, she was quick to provide us with resources and answer questions. When I called her desperate with pain from breastfeeding five days after I gave birth, she connected me with a colleague with specific lactation experience who helped talk me through it and provided suggestions on relief.

My mom, my husband and my mother in law all agreed that Antonia was extremely helpful and supportive during this new and scary process called childbirth. I highly recommend Antonia's doula services and support!

Hanna Steffl

3/11/2018

I can't imagine having done this without Antoina!

We connected late in my pregnancy, I think I was less than 2 months away from my due date at the time.  I wasn't terribly familiar with the doula role, but my husband kept encouraging me to look into it.  I'll be honest - I thought the emotional support role was HIS job!  But then I had a phone call with Antonia and she helped me understand that she could provide support to both myself and my husband, as well as educate us both about the process and what to expect, and also be one more person on our team when the big day came.  My family and friends live 2,000+ miles away, so Antonia's kind an encouraging words of support made me feel so comfortable and more relaxed about the whole affair.  Each time we met, she took the time to explain the various stages of labor, techniques for pain management, some postpartum specifics, etc.  She always came prepared to our meetings with some educational topics, as well as took the time to chat with us and get to know us as a couple.

I ended up going almost two weeks past my due date, and with each passing day was a little more frustrated and ready to get this show on the road!  It was invaluable to me to have Antonia to talk to about what my contractions did (or didn't) mean, what to expect, the pros/cons of continuing to wait vs. scheduling an induction.  I was very uneasy about scheduling an induction when my doctor said we couldn't wait any longer.  Antonia called me almost every night to check in on how I was feeling - physically and emotionally - and I appreciated that more than I can say.  When the day came to induce, she was SO helpful in supporting not just myself but also my husband, reminding us of questions to ask, and just a general comforting presence.

I would highly recommend Antonia as a doula.

Anita Thomas

2/17/2018

Antonia was amazing to work with! We hired her about a month before my due date and it was a great decision. We has planned to have family around during the birth, but the baby came slightly early and it would have been really difficult to get through without Antonia. She is empathetic, caring, and an excellent listener. She helped both me and my husband during the pregnancy and childbirth experience. Antonia was reading my cues as well as my husband‘s and was super accommodating in pre and post natal visits. During the birth, she was present the entire time and was a great birthing coach. I hope she’s still around our area if we choose to have another child. Antonia is a lovely person and we’re so happy to have hired her and cannot recommend her highly enough!