Danielle Phillips-Skiba

3/22/2022

Caitlin stepped in when my primary doula broke her foot. We had a prenatal meeting. She came to the hospital when I started to really feel the labor and need extra support. She was with us for over 10 hours, providing support and knowledge. Additionally, she checked in several time postpartum, and came to the house for a visit.
Caitlin assisted me into various positions to help baby descend into the birth canal. This was super relevant, as I had been induced for my blood pressure, so baby wasn’t quite ready. She also helped my husband to help me with certain laboring positions. Caitlin offered essential oils, which I found very useful to help keep me calm. When I thought that the pain was going to last too long, she asked if I’d like to use a comb. As a fellow doula, I looked at her so confused. She explained it so I gave it a try. I loved that comb. It was super useful for me.

Leanne

10/29/2021

Caitlin provided excellent support for my husband and me during the entire labor and delivery process. She helped me advocate for myself through many medical decisions and a very long and difficult labor due to being induced at 39 weeks. The induced labor was very difficult and I eventually made the decision to get an epidural which I had not wanted, but definitely needed, and Caitlin encouraged me through this decision. She reminded me that I was making the right decision for my body and kept reminding me how strong I was, even when I felt discouraged and like I had failed when I wasn’t able to manage the pain. 

Unfortunately, the baby was not in the optimal position and would not descend through the birth canal, so we ended in an emergency Cesarean birth, but Caitlin encouraged me to try my hardest through the long labor and the 4 hours of pushing. She recommended different positions for pushing to try to turn the baby. I was encouraged by my doctor's to induce at 39 weeks because of my Type I diabetes, which may or may not have been necessary. I'll never really know, but I didn't want to risk waiting longer. Caitlin's support through the entire process helped me be confident that the decision to deliver via Cesarean after a failed labor was the correct one. I had not wanted this, but she reminded me over and over that every decision I made in labor was the right decision and I couldn’t have done any better. We had literally tried everything and sometimes these things don’t work out the way we want, but Caitlin told me that I was one of the strongest women she had met and her confidence in me helped this first-time mom not feel like a failure. I would highly recommend Caitlin to any other mom looking for support during labor and delivery.

Taylor Prody

10/4/2021

Caitlin was an incredible addition to my birth support team. She was caring and
thoughtful to not only my needs but my husbands too. She was prepared and ready to
take action at any given moment. For me this was great to have when I was in labor
and couldn’t think about anything other than what my body was doing. Before labor I
really valued the education she brought with her to explain things so I could better
understand the norms of what to expect with my first pregnancy. I was extremely
anxious leading up to labor, becoming impatient after my due date came and passed
and Caitlin was there to support me emotionally, checking in daily to see how I felt and
giving me ideas of things to do to take my mind off of it. Having someone who
understood all the feelings you can have was a big help to me. I really needed it and
didn’t know I needed it at the time. My husband and I have tried to figure out if she
was more support for me or him and it might be equal. She was there by my side in
the moments he needed to step away for a minute. She suggested things to him to
help me that he wouldn’t have just known to do like where to put counter pressure or
how to sit with me in support, or even just reminding him to eat as well as feeding me.
She was even more helpful when we transferred to the hospital and helped me make
decisions on interventions that I didn't want but knew I needed. Overall, I couldn’t
imagine my first pregnancy and delivery without her by our side.