Amber & Alex

9/15/2020

When we started looking for a doula in March 2020, hospitals were starting to implement restrictions on numbers of birth attendants allowed. Joyce met with us remotely to interview and for prenatal meetings once we hired her. We decided to retain her services despite not knowing if she could attend the birth in person or would be remote-only. Luckily enough, by the time of our due date, she was allowed to attend and was with us for 27 hours.

We are incredibly grateful for her knowledge, compassion, advocacy and personalized care. She worked very well with the nursing staff, and due to her depth of knowledge and evidence based training she helped us narrowly avoid needing an emergency cesrean. Our outcome would most certainly be completely different had we not had Joyce helping us. Her services were truly invaluable and are deeply appreciated.

If we have another child, she'll be one of the first to know we're pregnant!

Rachel

7/9/2019

When we found out we were pregnant my husband and I did not know much about Doula services. When we met Joyce and knew we wanted her to be a part of our birth experience.

During pregnancy Joyce was always available by phone and email for questions and new mom concerns. She had many useful tools and knowledge for during pregnancy. We enjoyed her Savvy Birth 101 class. Joyce walked us through what to expect during pregnancy and labor. We took full advantage of Joyce's registry system. Our family was so happy to be able to put toward something so important to us.

Joyce was very prompt when we called her to join us at the hospital. She was with us for over 30 hours of our long labor and birth. She was a key part of my birth team and helped me through hard decisions. Joyce was wonderful about predicting my needs and keeping me positive. We had to make alterations to our birth plan and Joyce was instrumental in helping us come up with the best decisions along the way. We appreciated her diligent note taking.

Postpartum, Joyce was wonderful about checking in and making sure our new family was happy and healthy. When an issue would arise she was quick to give feedback and support. I don't even want to imagine how our birth would have been without Joyce. She gave us much needed love, support, and tools to guide us into parenthood.

Emily

5/8/2019

I had such a wonderful experience with Joyce! She was so informative and really gave us all the information we needed to feel confident going into birth. During the actual labor she was a rock. She was so comforting and accepting and just a wonderfully stable force to have!!! I would recommend her to all of my pregnant friends!!

Laura Stegherr

10/14/2015

For the birth of our first baby, we planned for a natural childbirth, and we knew we wanted the help of a doula to provide us the needed expertise and emotional and physical support to help us navigate this journey. Joyce was everything we could have asked for in a doula, and so much more. Joyce met with us several times before the birth and walked us through natural birth relaxation techniques, reviewed every detail of our birth plan, and gave us information and tips that went above and beyond the hospital birthing class we took. Then, we were thrown a curveball at week 40, when I was told I needed to be immediately induced due to a medical complication, turning our natural birth plan on its head. However, Joyce was there at the hospital soon after we called her, and was there at our side for the labor and delivery. Then, immediately after being born when our baby had difficulty breathing and needed to be resuscitated, prompting an immediate transfer to the NICU, Joyce stood by us and provided us comfort during what was a very scary process. This allowed my husband to go with our baby to the NICU knowing that I would not be alone in those first moments after birth because Joyce was at my side. In those first terrifying and confusing hours after our baby's birth, Joyce was a godsend, going above and beyond what we had ever expected a doula could do - from literally holding my hand as I was being attended to after the birth, to taking detailed notes of what the NICU doctor and nurses were explaining to us - we could not imagine what our baby's birth and the hours afterward would have been like without her assistance. Joyce truly defines what a doula should be, and we would absolutely recommend Joyce to anyone considering a doula for their baby's birth.

Beatriz B

1/21/2013

     We hired Joyce as our doula for the birth of our second child because it was very important to us that I try for a VBAC. I was quickly impressed by Joyce’s professional and comprehensive website. She was always very diligent about returning phone calls/emails/text messages in a timely manner. She met with us on various occasions before the birth and went over our “wish list”. She is very knowledgeable about the birth process, the medical interventions, and birthing techniques/exercises.
     During my labor, we were thrown a huge curve-ball that prompted my doctor to want to skip the VBAC attempt and jump to a C-section. Needless to say, I was in tears! Joyce was able to calm me down, evaluate the situation, and we proceeded with the VBAC. Joyce met me at the hospital within an hour of my call. I cannot describe how priceless it was to have Joyce there to assist us during my first labor experience! She knew how to massage me, kept me changing positions, drinking water, and encouraging me through the process. Ironically, my husband just couldn’t get it right and Joyce just KNEW what to do and had great stamina doing it! She kept an accurate log of my labor experience, acted professional with the medical staff, and was even our impromptu photographer! I didn’t realize how “intimate” labor could be and really appreciated Joyce helping me during the WHOLE process (like helping adjust the fetal monitors that kept moving around).
     Even though I ended up with a repeat C-section, I consider my labor experience a success because Joyce helped me find the strength to attempt a VBAC when the odds were against me and helped make my labor as bearable as labor can be. I am grateful that Joyce encouraged me to VBAC so that, as she puts it, my son was able to pick his own birthday! I highly recommend Joyce as a doula!!!
 

Melissa Hnosko

4/7/2012

 There are a lot of things I could say about my birth experience with my second child, Cora, but the first of which has to be how glad I was to have my doula, Joyce, in the room with me.  Joyce comforted and encouraged me throughout my labor and delivery and made what had previously been a frightening experience into a joyous one. Joyce's experience with laboring women, doctors, and midwives, was made evident in the support she was able to provide for me. Her calming and knowledgable presence, and her respectful, intuitive nature, truly contributed to our positive (and positively unmedicated) birth experience. 

Amy Street

3/30/2012

 Joyce is a close college friend of mine. When I was expecting my first child, I found out she was working on doula certification and asked about it. She provided a lot of information about the doula role and the benefits of hiring a doula. Once I decided I wanted a doula, Joyce was my natural pick, not only because she is a friend, but because of her confident, supportive, and calm demeanor.

Joyce was knowledgeable and helped me get answers to my questions before, during, and after delivery. She was positive, friendly, and respectful of my choices. Joyce was a great comfort to me during labor since I did not have an epidural. She was able to suggest many helpful techniques for pain control, and she breathed with me through my intense, late labor contractions. Joyce helped me to remember to change positioning frequently, thereby helping labor to progress.

When I became pregnant with my second child, I called Joyce right away to get on her calendar. She was wonderful once again. She didn’t mind me calling several times when I wasn’t sure if I was having false labor or early labor. When it was finally showtime, Joyce was a soothing influence, helping me to relax, even have fun(!) while laboring. With this labor and delivery, I used a midwife at a hospital instead of an OB like I used for my first child’s birth. The combination of midwife and doula is something I highly recommend for low-risk pregnancies. I particularly recommend Joyce Dykema!