Karen Ressue & Randall Holl

6/11/2024

Alysa is incredible. She guided us through our first birth experience in a positive, reassuring, knowledgeable, and meaningful way. We are grateful she was there with us the entire way. When we have a second baby, we want Alysa with us again.

Alysa's warm, radiant, positive energy put us at ease instantly. This is our first child. We were overwhelmed. Through prenatal visits, she kindly and patiently helped us understand what to expect, answering endless questions. When the due date arrived we felt ready.

The due date passed. Alysa remained ready for the call; checking in regularly. Five days later, in the middle of the night, Alysa was overjoyed to receive our call. She tracked with us through early labor and joined us at the hospital exactly when we had planned.

Alysa was thoughtfully attentive to our needs through a full day of laboring - she helped with stretches, repositioning, and kind, light-hearted meaningful conversation.

When Baby was ready to arrive, Alysa knew just what to do. It was obvious that this is what she was made to do. This is her passion. She filled the room with whole-hearted cheering and encouragement and was hands-on in the best ways. She guided Dad kindly in ways that he could be actively helpful and fully present.

At one point Dad became very anxious over how things were going. Alysa's kind and soothing words, sincere eye contact, and gentle hand on the back assured him that Mom and Baby will be okay... the anxiety subsided. And Alsya was right, everyone was okay. Alysa stayed with us very late into the next night until we were safely moved to our postpartum room.

There's no way we would have wanted to do this without Alysa, even if we could have. She was such a blessing to have with us through the whole experience. We are grateful to have her as part of the story of the birth of our son. And we look forward to carrying on this new relationship ever more.

Liz

3/7/2024

Alyssa was our doula for our first birth. I was committed to an unmedicated birth and Alyssa helped me be confident in my preparation, and was essential during delivery to get me through it. I had a great medical team, but the additional focused support and encouragement during the birth process was so meaningful and needed by both my partner and I! I had a beautiful birth experience and don't think I could have had this experience without Alyssa there from start to finish!

Elcin

1/10/2024

I loved working with Alyssa as my birth doula. She has been very knowledgable and supportive through my pregnancy. She provided emotional support throughout the end of pregnancy and reassured me about how things were progressing and helped me to process confusing and stressful medical situations. 

She continued being very supportive during my birth experience which was a long vaginal birth.  

Overall I would highly recommend working w Alyssa. She was respectful of medical team's recommendations and my wishes. I never felt pushed in any way (I heard from friends that some doulas can be very opiniated). Alyssa was very supportive. 

Megan Dupuy-Todd

5/22/2023

Though I was excited to meet our daughter, I was pretty nervous about the birth experience especially because I likely wouldn't have my regular doctor at my birth since they rotated with another practice. The moment we met Alysa we knew she would be a great fit. She is warm, confident and caring and quickly put us at ease. She made us feel like she was an old friend right away. She gave us great advice not only in preparation for birth, but also for our postpartum experience as well. She was easy to talk to and helped ensure that we were prepared! We ended up needing to be induced at 41 weeks and Alysa helped support us through the process and made us feel confident in our decisions. I would recommend Alysa to everyone and encourage you to have her on your birth team! She is absolutely AMAZING! 

Carli D

4/1/2023

We feel so fortunate to have met Alysa early on in my first pregnancy. From the beginning, Alysa has a way of making you feel like you've known each other forever and made a really safe and nonjudgmental space to discuss anything and everything on our minds. There is so much information to sort through about pregnancy on the internet, from doctors, friends etc. that left me initally feeling overwhelmed and pressured. I credit Alysa's evidenced based approach to helping me truly understand the different options I had and empowered me to make choices that I felt best fit my needs and create a more positive pregnancy experience. The more formal sessions included in her services were informative and flexible to meet what topics would be most helpful to us, but Alysa also made herself available for adhoc questions and convos along the way which I appreciated so much. We were able to build a great relationship and I look forward to working with her again in the future!

Lauren

3/9/2023

Hiring Alysa was one of the best choices we made for our pregnancy. As first time parents, we had no idea what to expect with pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Alysa was so helpful in making sure we knew all of our options for birth classes, for the birth itself, and for what to expect at different parts of pregnancy. We could bring her any questions, at any time, about any topic, no matter how strange. We never felt judged for any concerns or topics we brought to her. She was extremely supportive throughout the entire experience. My birth experience was amazing - everything went smoothly, and I was able to have an unmedicated birth even with induction - and it was in large part thanks to Alysa and her suggestions and guidance.

Maria

2/9/2023

We are so lucky to have found Alysa. She gave us incredible support and knowledge-based guidance throughout the third trimester and in the labor and delivery room when I gave birth to our daughter (our first child, so this was all new to us). We were looking for evidence-based doula support, and Alysa has a tremendous amount of knowledge from her work as a doula and from her professional research experience. She was able to answer every question and to direct us to further resources that helped us be as prepared as we could be for what ended up being a very smooth birth experience. Also really important to us was that (1) she made two home visits prior to the birth and asked us all the right questions to help us develop our knowledge and our birth plan, and (2) that she was there in the delivery room up to and after the birth of our daughter, and she knew exactly what we wanted and was there to advocate for us and also to ask me the right questions to ensure I felt heard and in control throughout. And she made herself available, day and night, before and after the birth. Plus, as a bonus, she is a certified lactation consultant! We cannot recommend Alysa enough!

Allie A

1/26/2023

We feel so lucky to have found Alysa! She was an incredible doula to have on our birth team and just an all around amazing person to get to know, she made us feel so comfortable that it felt like just meeting with a friend from the first time we met! Her knowledge and guidance was amazing, she provided us with evidence based research and let us make our own decisions and supported us with whatever direction we went. We were especially thankful for the comfort measures she taught us and the support provided leading up to the actual labor. Our birth was different than what we had planned for unexpected medical reasons, and she was with us every step answering questions we had and just generally supporting us emotionally during the entire experience! The birth experience itself was so positive, and we were so glad to have Alysa with us to back us up and also help us advocate for ourselves. Her aura and presence alone helped us relax and be fully present in the moment, our labor and delivery room felt like a spa, and having her by my side helped immensely drown out the medical (sometimes anxiety inducing) side of things and just focus on me and my baby. Alysa also was certified as a lactation consultant before our birth so we were very lucky to have her on our breastfeeding journey! We cannot recommend her enough!!

Sarah L.

9/30/2022

I can't say enough about how much Alysa helped me and my husband through our fertility journey and the birth of our son. Her knowledge and generosity of spirit were a shining light for us during some very difficult moments. She has been kind yet fierce advocate when we needed one the most. 

Alysa provided invaluable emotional support and information while we were going through fertility treatment. She did a fantastic job of holding safe and non-judgmental space for us to discuss and process the many stresses and hard decisions that are an inherent part of fertility treatment. 

I also can't stress enough how helpful it was to have her assistance during what turned out to be a very long and grueling birth experience, ending in a c-section. I honestly don't know what we would have done if she hadn't been there to support me during the end of my surgery when my husband needed to leave in order to be with our baby during his own medical treatment. Her support, advocacy, and validation helped enormously during what had the potential to be a very traumatic experience. 

Lisa Francisco

7/15/2022

Alysa was wonderful to work with. She was accommodating, encouraging, knowledgeable, and just plain awesome. I really felt comfortable with her and like we connected on more than just a professional level. Not only was she incredibly receptive of my wants and needs, she was also very open in return, which helped me both to trust her and to feel better about my birth experience. She advocated for me, but also helped me learn to advocate for myself. While my birth experience didn't go exactly as I had hoped (because when does it ever), Alysa helped me to feel confident in the choices I made throughout and feel like I was in charge of my experience. The birth of my first child was fairly traumatic, so being able to turn it around and be more in the driver's seat this time made for a much better overall experience that I could really enjoy and feel much more satisfied with. She clearly really enjoys her job and helping people to have the birth experience they are hoping for. I would absolutely recommend her!

Tara Peck

2/10/2022

Alysa was an excellent doula! Her upbeat attitude and full on emotional and scientific support really helped boost my confidence. I desperately wanted to have an entirely natural labor which requires research, tons of pain management techniques and confidence. Alysa's attentiveness to detail leading up to and during labor was a key aspect in the success of my goal. She was quite the swiss army knife of a doula, she had a plethora of supplies, booklets of information, and an unlimited supply of positive attitude and reassurance. We did it! We brought our baby girl into this world 100% natural with the help of Alysa. 10 out of 10 definitely reccomend ??

Katy A

12/23/2021

Alysa was our backup doula who arrived after our primary doula had to leave for a family emergency. We had never met and yet it seemed like we had known her for a long time by the end of the labor! Alysa was very considerate and emotionally attuned to our needs. She was very supportive as we navigated difficult decisions and also had a variety of coping tools to try. We appreciated her reassurance and support throughout the entire process. She brought a great positive energy to the room. 

Jessica

12/8/2021

What can I say about Alyssa she is absolutely amazing when we first met she was so calming so fun so bubbly so knowledgeable and just one of the kindest people I have ever met she made me feel so comfortable with my anxiety about being pregnant because my pregnancy was a surprise pregnancy was a non-expected pregnancy and she made me feel so comfortable she was there through everything she always kept in contact with me through text through call she came out and saw me numerous times brought these amazing essential oils for me to smell and pick so I had something that was coming and that I like during labor she brought all kinds of information all kinds of pamphlets and books and all kinds of different things for me to read up on when it came down to being due to have the baby she was on call for me she was constantly texting me checking up on me seeing how I was feeling when labor hit it was very spontaneous it was not like any of the other labors I've ever experienced my water broke while driving she was very calming when I called her to let her know said I'm on my way I will meet you at the hospital pawn arrival at the hospital she came in ready with her hospital bag she brought these amazing LED light candles that were so relaxing immediately set up the essential oil machine with lavender that we requested she was standing by me every step of the way asked me if there was anything that I needed any type of massage I'd like or any type of drink I may want or food or anything that she could do to help me feel comfortable she was the best advocate I could ever have the nurse that I had was very by the book very strict tried to take away my moment and was very rude was very about medical textbook where my doula was letting her know and everyone know that this is Jessica's pregnancy this is Jessica's birth this is what Jessica wants and just kept advocating for me she was right there when I was giving birth and never left my side