Pragati Marks

12/16/2024

Rachel is an amazing doula and we were lucky to have the opportunity to work with her for the birth of our son.  This was our first child, and Rachel helped us to prepare and feel confident heading into the birth.  She provided actionable insights backed by years of study and experience, and also provided constant support throughout the process.  Anyone would be lucky to have her as their doula!

Ahuva

12/14/2024

We were so fortunate to have Rachel as our doula. Rachel was an excellent Doula both before, during, and after birth. Aside from her help in the delivery room, we met with her before our baby was born and she helped us prepare for birth. She also came to our house a few days after our baby was born and gave us helpful advise for breastfeeding/pumping. She was such a nice and calming presence to have with us especially since this was our first child and we did not know what to expect. She was always so responsive whenever we communicated with her. In the delivery room, Rachel was so attentive to anything we needed and knew exactly how to communicate with the Doctors and nurses to make sure all of our needs were met and we were as comfortable as possible. We were so priveleged to have such a wonderful doula at our first birth. 

Fiona S.

12/2/2023

Rachel was our birth and post partum doula. She split birth doula responsibilities with another doula we contracted with - this was our preference so we definitely would know our backup doula if that became necessary based on scheduling or length of our birth. Rachel provided excellent prenatal education. She arrived promptly once we asked her to come to the hospital. 

Our birth plan had to change significantly from what we had hoped for due to preeclampsia. Despite all the issues we had to adapt to Rachel worked cooperatively with the midwifery and hospital staff to try to help us have a birth that was close to what we had hoped for. When our birth ran long, she was able to seamlessly and professionally loop in the other doula for support. We decided to work with Rachel because we liked her evidence based birth background and thought she had a great attitude and philosophy around birth that aligned with ours. What I didn’t know when we decided to work with Rachel was that we were also deciding who would hold one of my hands in the delivery room and support us during some of our most difficult moments. We’re so happy Rachel was able to be present for the birth and thankful for her. 

 In post partum Rachel primarily helped us by handling laundry and dishes. She also helped me rearrange my nursing stations to be more efficient, helped troubleshoot minor breastfeeding issues, reminded me to stay hydrated, cooked meals, and minded the baby so we could get some crucial sleep in the early days. It’s not always easy to let someone into your home but Rachel always figured out a way to help even when we were too tired to figure out a list. She was also a great sounding board in the early days as we sorted through all of the intense feelings of early post partum and the huge adjustment coming home. 

 Overall - super happy we worked with Rachel, and so thankful for her!

Dominique Austin

8/17/2023

This was our first baby and Rachel was there every step of the way. She helped prepare us and gave us suggestions throughout pregnancy of where to go and classes to do. When it came time to the day of, we had an emergency C section which we didn’t exactly get to plan for. By that point though Rachel knew us well and knew what we wanted. I did a ton of preparation for birth and knew what I wanted to ask for, but when it came to it, in order to not stress me out, I was letting the doctors deter me from some of those wishes. Rachel was SO good and patient with me and reiterated what I wanted multiple times throughout the day to different doctors and nurses and made sure our hospital staff knew what I wanted when I could not find the words myself. I will be forever grateful for that because it made me have a completely different experience and one that I can say was a good one and a very happy day for us, even though I was unbelievably scared of a c section. Because of her, she was able to come in the room and hold my hand during the epidural since partners are not allowed in at that point. When I asked for Fleetwood Mac to be played and the doctors weren’t feeling it, she put her phone next to my ear and played them for me. She talked me through surgery. When the baby didn’t cry right away, she comforted me when the nurses and doctor weren’t saying anything. When they made my partner and the baby leave the room while I was getting stitched, she stayed with me and held my hand the entire time. She stayed and made sure I could breastfeed and felt good about it. When they wanted us to supplement or when I had low blood pressure during our stay, she responded to my frantic texts within minutes. In the end Rachel truly is the reason I can say we ended up having an absolute perfect day and look back on our baby’s birthday with lots of joy. Thank you so much for that?? We are forever grateful.

Brianna Stoltzfus

10/18/2021

We had a wonderful experience working with Rachel. She was available by text or phone leading up to the birth for any questions I had, and met with us in person twice to talk through the birth plan and our thoughts about postpartum life. There were so many things to think about when it came to the birth, and it was so helpful to have a knowledgeable guide to help us talk through our options and preferences. She saved me from many an anxious Google search regarding strange pregnancy or post partum symptoms, and was a relaxed and encouraging source of support as I navigated non-stress tests and extra medical decisions and experiences related to gestational hypertension. 

I appreciated her non-judgemental, warm, and down to earth personality; she truly supported our decisions about what type of birth we wanted. Because of my gestation hypertension diagnosis, I did not have the ability to avoid a lot of medical interventions during my induction, and she supported us every step of our highly medical birth situation. She was highly skilled at helping us work with medicals staff, and she was a welcome presence while we waited on my labor to progress. As someone who is not comfortable in medical situations, I appreciated how she helped deintensify our interactions with the staff and the hospital room environment in general. My husband also enjoyed working with her and found her to be a helpful partner in the effort to support me.

She was really involved with active labor, including coaching me through pushing technique, even holding one of my legs for multiple hours as I pushed! She was dedicated to being present for the birth, even though I started pushing at 2 am--she ended up spending almost 24 hours with us. 

My husband and I highly recommend Rachel as a considerate and dedicated doula. 

Lauren Jirinec

10/13/2021

My husband and I were so incredibly lucky to have Rachel as our back-up doula!   Rachel and I were introduced to one another at 41+ weeks since our original doula had an emergency, however she was an immediate support to us.   At ten days past my due date, there was talk of a medical induction at a hospital, despite my wish to deliver at the birth center.  Rachel was a constant comfort throughout and offered reassurance as I tried a last ditch effort to get things started with a foley bulb catheter.  Rachel stayed in constant communication and made herself available to meet us at our home if labor intensified.  Ultimately, things progressed quickly and we decided to meet her at the birth center.  Rachel was there minutes after we arrived and despite not having physically met her prior to labor, it was an immediate bond and she jumped right in to help me cope with each intensifying contraction.  Rachel had such a calming demeanor!  She was at my side throughout the entire labor giving encouraging words, suggesting various positions to help cope with pain, and applying pressure to my back throughout each contraction.  Ultimately when it was time to push, she paged the midwife.  With Rachel's support, I was able to deliver naturally at the birth center!  Rachel took wonderful pictures of our first moments and stayed with us post delivery to relive this amazing experience, answer questions, and provide breastfeeding support.  She stayed in touch with us when we were discharged home later that day and within the first week had come out for a postpartum visit.  Rachel was so incredibly sweet and thoughtful - she had brought some postpartum essentials and even got our toddler a big sister gift!  My husband and I were so fortunate to have her as our doula - Rachel was an amazing coach and support and she had such a positive impact on our birth experience!  We are forever grateful!