Cassidy

4/7/2024

My husband and I had our first baby, a daughter, this past February. We decided on doing a home birth and the first piece of advice we were given was to make sure we had a doula to help support us during labor. This was hands down the best advice we received are so thankful for! From the first time we chatted on the phone with Emily, I knew she was going to be a calming presence during my labor. She not only comes with experience herself in doing home births, but comes with knowledge on how to best prepare for labor/birth - which she does in two home meetings prior to you giving birth. My labor was long - around 19 hours, and she was there for all of it. She was calm, came with many rememdies for pain management and also helped to support my mom and my husband during this process too, so they could be with me in the ways I needed them to be. She did everything she possibly could to help, and her efforts were noticed by everyone there. She was a fantastic addition to our birth team and really helped me navigate my labor experience by truly listening to me and giving me what I needed in each moment. We highly recommend working with Emily - she is a great support person during such a vulnerable time for mamas (especially first time mamas!). 

Megan

11/7/2023

I was blessed to have Emily as my doula for the birth of my daughter this past October. As a first time mom with a goal of a natural birth, I knew that I wanted to hire a doula. I was not sure what to expect of the labor and birth process, and my husband and I were unfamiliar with the pain management techniques used in labor. Emily met with us twice during my pregnancy to educate us and prepare us for birth. Going into labor, I felt prepared and calm, as I now knew what to expect and I had Emily and my husband ready to support me in any way I needed. My daughter was sunny-side up, which caused me to have back labor, so Emily spent hours doing counter pressure and holding a heating pad to my back, which made my contractions much more manageable. With Emily's support, I was able to achieve my goal of a natural birth. Both my husband and I felt extremely supported by Emily during the birth of our daughter, and we are so glad we hired her as our doula!

Sam

4/17/2023

My name is Samantha, and I am a mom of one wonderful son in the Madison area. When my husband and I found out we were expecting, we didn't know anything about doulas. Overall, pregnancy was going well. I found out that I wouldn't be allowed to have anyone at the hospital with me other than my husband...except for support persons. This was devastating at first, I'd been wanting my mom to be present. But I figured it would be worth the money to look into a doula for support. It didn't take long to find Emily! She did a fabulous job at helping me to be informed of all the options we'd be presented with during labor. She helped me clarify details on my birth plan and keep it simple - I've since learned they don't end up being very useful in such a fast circumstance, oops. When we got closer to the due date, I found out I would be induced, and was able to let Emily know so we could coordinate the timing of everything. I had a very long labor, and she was such a blessing to have present. She helped support me emotionally and physically, and this also allowed my husband to take a short break when needed. A few of the best things she did was having affirmations ready to help me through, and making sure that my labor positions were helping things along. She was able to take photos for us when our beautiful baby boy arrived, since we wouldn't have been able to have anyone else do that otherwise. She helped an otherwise stressful birth to have some moments of comfort and calm. She was kind enough to come to our home shortly postpartum and help make sure recovery and new motherhood were going well. I didn't know for sure at the beginning if I'd want a doula, but if we are blessed with another child, and Emily is available, we'd be happy to have her help again!