Jade Herrera

1/30/2023

As a first time mom, I felt anxious about childbirth as I have heard the horror stories from friends. Sonia helped me relieve a lot of the anxiety through talking about what is making me feel anxious. Choosing Sonia felt right for us. On our initial consult, I felt at ease with Sonia. My impression of Sonia was that she is professional, organized, knowledgeable, calm and compassionate. I appreciate that Sonia listened patiently, took time to get to know me, and would address my concerns. I could see she was passionate about her work, and I could imagine her helping me and my husband during a stressful time/childbirth. She felt like a friend that I could trust. In addition, I value knowing the evidence behind things especially when making health decisions. Sonia explained or linked me to multiple resources. 

Working on my birth plan with Sonia helped me to advocate for myself. Sonia was respectful about my decisions and cared about me having the experience that felt right to me. During my labor, the nurses at the hospital were ready to give me an epidural. Because this was not part of my birth plan, I was able to advocate for myself and decline. I preferred minimal medical interventions if possible.

Sonia’s affirmations were invaluable to me. She helped me to focus especially during the transition phase of labor and pushing - she told me to listen to my body when I felt the need to push. She stood by me, my husband, and the healthcare team. She helped position me and put pressure on my back to help with the pain. She took pictures of our experience for us to remember. She explained things so I would know what’s going on. Also, she involved my husband in this experience and provided resources to him too, which was important to me. 

My feelings of anxiety about childbirth lessened because I knew that we could find support in Sonia. With her help, we had a beautiful birth experience.

Catherine

9/2/2022

Sonia was the perfect childbirth support I wanted and needed. I had a traumatic first birth experience and wanted a doula by my side for my second birth to provide consistency and advocacy. I got that and so much more in working with Sonia; her warmth, positivity, and extensive knowledge gave me confidence even when I was the most anxious. Ultimately, I had a really great birth experience and I credit Sonia for helping me navigate what worked best for me in our prenatal sessions and in the labor and delivery room. I’d highly recommend Sonia to anyone looking for doula support. Thank you, Sonia!

Beth Munoz

8/24/2022

Sonia played a big role in our second home birth, both as doula and as an apprentice midwife with Community Birthworks. From our first meeting with Sonia, it was clear to us that she possessed a special combination of skills and knowledge that would provide the kind of wise, warm, trusted care that anyone would want during their birth process. Her communication skills and her presence helped us feel confident we’d be able to get what we needed, and understand how to partner with her before, during, and after birth. Her kind and authentic approach to doula-ing made us feel like we were in great hands, freeing us to focus on other matters. The night and morning of labor and birth, Sonia arrived swiftly and immediately stepped into the process, holding space, utilizing her experience and knowledge to guide and physically support Beth through the more challenging phases of labor. Our baby was sunny side up (occiput posterior position) and Sonia guided and supported Beth in specific positions during labor to get the baby to spin around - and we were successful! In our preparation with Sonia, Beth shared a goal to try and stay more grounded and meditative through contractions. Sonia’s eye contact, physical support, and breath coaching supported Beth through painful back labor contractions and a beautiful water birth. In our pre-birth meeting and during the birth, Sonia also provided Ricki with coaching to physically support Beth. Sonia was also great with our toddler and two dogs during prep meetings and the birth. Sonia is an amazing Doula and we feel so grateful that she is part of our birth story. 

Elizabeth Cato

8/23/2022

I will be forever grateful to Sonia to the amazing love, compassion and guidance she provided us throughout our birth and the prenatal and postpartum period. Her beautiful calm energy, intuition, and wisdom deeply impacted our birth experience and saw us through so many challenges. When I experienced complications related to preeclampsia in the days leading up to the birth, Sonia was there with us every step of the way to help us make sense of what was happening and provide us with information and options. When I got the call from the hospital that I had go in urgently to get induced, Sonia helped me process and make sense of this unexpected change and helped me reground and still feel empowered to have the birth I hoped for. I felt at times that she knew me better than I knew myself - when the OB pushed to move towards pitocin, she advocated for us to wait 15 more minutes and sure enough that was all I needed to go into active labor. When she joined us at the hospital, she immediately jumped in and read my body and cues and then helped modify the environment and provide the tools that enabled me to honor my body's needs. My son ending up presenting with shoulder dystocia (a birth trauma where the baby's shoulders get stuck behind the mother's pubic bone) and though he thankfully was born safely and healthy due to the interventions of the medical team, I held on to a lot of fear, guilt, and shame related to it. During our postpartum session, Sonia helped me process and release the trauma I was holding on to and make peace with my body and my birth. Her postpartum session was truly transformative and the series of ceremonies she facilitated were immensely healing and beautiful. My first birth was without a doula and I am so grateful Sonia was part of our team this time around and will always be grateful to her for the important role she played in bringing my son into the world.

Jackie JS

7/30/2022

I’m so happy and grateful Sonia was our doula! Not only is she a genuinely caring, down-to-earth, and thoughtful individual, she has a ton of expertise and knowledge as a homebirth and hospital doula. All of our prenatal visits were informative, supportive, and eased any worries we had. She’s extremely professional, organized, and had great communication; I really appreciated her post-prenatal follow-up emails with resources and her text/email check-in’s. My partner also felt like he received the support and guidance he needed for the labor and birth of our baby. We had planned to have a homebirth but in preparation, she walked us through a hospital birth which is what we ended up having. Throughout my labor, she helped us navigate decisions and believed that I had the strength to have a natural birth; I can still remember her speaking love and power during my surges. Sonia is truly one of a kind and we highly recommend her services!

Mirasol

7/8/2022

Sonia is an amazing birth worker. Her kind, caring and powerful presence was instrumental in my ability to live out my dream of a natural birth despite much pressure by doctors to have a c-section. Honestly, words cannot do justice to Sonia’s support and caring during this most important time in our lives. Her classes were informative, personal and easy. She made a point to make sure that my wife as the non-birthing parent felt completely included and validated. She was an excellent facilitator to help us create our birth plan, which was so helpful for us and the doctors. As I went into labor at home, Sonia was right there helping me cope with the growing intensity of the surges/contractions. At the hospital, her presence was medicine for both of us. Her kindness, humor and caring helped us both regain our equilibrium when we both were pushed emotionally, physically and spiritually to our limits. I am so grateful for her strength to help remind me of my vision when I was about to throw in the towel. She helped me take a pause, which allowed me to regain strength and for my body to progress enough to go forward in natural birth. When the transition phase came, Sonia was preparing chucks and helping make the hospital bed conducive to alternate positions such as squatting and standing. She is a birth warrior and we could not have done it without her! You know that Sonia does this work from the heart because she gives 200%. We are so grateful for her and feel she is part of our family.

Gabrielle S. Casasola

12/16/2021

I wasn't sure what to expect from a birthworker. I am a first-time mom with a lot of questions and knowing a lot of myths. Both my partner and I are so happy Sonia was able to be there through our journey. One of my main goals was to truly understand the whole pregnancy and birth process so that I could make decisions for myself without feeling pressured by doctors or other people. Sonia answered all my questions and explained everything I had concerns about, giving me the confidence, I needed. I always felt like I was talking to a friend which helped me feel completely comfortable, I never felt embarrassed or ashamed which was important to me. She also helped me feel like my pregnancy and birth were more than just physical and were very spiritual. Sonia stuck by me postpartum and continued to guide me. She made me feel like myself, my partner, and my baby were important to her, and I really appreciate that. It is obvious Sonia is passionate about her profession and helping people. I couldn't have asked for a better experience!