Marissa Valente Pacheco

3/30/2022

Since our baby's birth, I have been filled with joy, overwhelming support, and searching for a way to properly articulate the experience to others. In those communications one thing is always clear, neither my partner nor I can imagine what the experience would have been like without the incredible Shannon Mackey! Shannon takes her role as a doula very seriously. However, it is her friendly, inviting, and familiar demeanor that allows her to feel like family. She provides knowledge, insights, and a support person to check in with if questions arise or you need a friend to talk to. She supports all types of birth and truly allowed my partner and I to take the lead, while feeling like we had access to all her knowledge to lean in to. She helped us think about aspects of birth and labor that we had not thought of. When I went in for the "past due" ultrasound, my ob suggested an induction. It was then that my partner and I went to the hospital to begin this process. We had no idea we would be starting on a 54 hours process to meet our son. Shannon was prompt and available to discuss induction, my options, what it would look like, and how it compared to my birth plan. She provided information that was not given by medical professionals and allowed me to feel empowered. She showed up early in the induction/labor experience and stayed with us until the very end (even sleeping on the floor one night). She provided endless support, brought us food & tea, walked the halls, sang to us, explained medical jargon, advocated for us, and cried with us. In the middle of labor, I vividly remember her telling me a story. This is a story I now tell my son. To say that Shannon acted as our doula somehow feels like an understatement, we feel like she is family and will not experience a pregnancy, labor, or birth without her there. She truly was invaluable to our birth experience. We HIGHLY recommend Shannon Mackey for all aspects of family planning and support.

Elena

3/29/2022

Our experience has been incredible. She has been our cheerleader, confidant, mentor, caretaker and friend.  She coaxed us through sleep deprivation and uncertain tears.  She has been a tether through our first three months of parenthood.  Her expertise and advice are so helpful.  She brought nourishment literally and figuratively.  In this time of isolation she offered a trusted connection to the world outside our home.  We parent better because of Shannon.  Any newborn parent would be so lucky to have her as their doula.

We worked with her as a pre and post-partum doula.  Although our birth experience didn't follow our vision, we had space to heal and manage our emotions around it with Shannon's support.  She offers the most heart-felt hugs when that's often all I needed.  
We learned to swaddle, worked through colic, trouble-shoot bottle intolerance, manage pumping and attempting breast feeding, and curing a wicked a bout of diaper rash to name just a few early challenges she helped us handle.

she is available by text anytime.

I didn't know I would need her, but I did and I remain infinitely grateful she is part of our family.

Ashley

3/29/2022

Shannon is amazing at her craft of helping families bring home a new baby. She's magical with babies, but more importantly so in tune to the parent(s) and their needs as they navigate this new love, responsibility, and change in their lives. She's a great cook, lovely resource for newborn questions, and not afraid to be a self-starter and just get some things done while you sleep or get out of the house. We found the greatest value in her helping us work through the emotional roller coaster of newborn family life. We would not hesitate to use her again!