Mallory

12/15/2024

I was so grateful to have Emily as my doula for the birth of my first baby this past November. I had the goal of a natural birth, so I knew I needed to learn techniques that would help me cope with the pain as well as have someone to provide extra emotional/spiritual support, which is why we wanted to hire a doula. Emily did a great job of supporting me in the birth--she helped me find comfortable labor positions, provided counterpressure to help relieve pain, and spoke affirmations to motivate me. She also taught pain management techniques to my husband so he could take initiative and be a major support for me in the birth as well. Having Emily at the birth allowed my husband to take breaks when needed, and with the both of them switching off or combining their efforts, I was able to receive the constant support that I needed. We also did the prenatal education classes which taught us a lot about pregnancy, birth, the postpartum period, and so much more. The handouts were extremely helpful and made me feel more confident and prepared for the birth. Emily did a great job of informing us of all of our options and helped us make educated decisions for me and my baby. Emily was truly a blessing and both my husband and I felt very supported by her throughout my pregnancy and birth!

Jayden Clemetson

8/10/2024

Emily is so sweet, strong, and extremely knowledgeable! She can relate to anatomical breastfeeding issues and was able to explain her experience and what specialists and procedures helped with latch. She does VERY thorough prenatal education and was able to intuitively read what I needed during my labor. I also appreciated her additional rebozo training. This was my second birth (first birth at home). Emily is an open book if you want/need her to be and will very gladly share her personal experiences! My birth was all I had hoped for and couldn't have gone any better! 

Megan Raffel

7/8/2024

My husband and I worked with Emily for our first baby and first home birth. The amount of education and support she provided well exceeded my expectations. Emily came to our prenatal visits with a plethora of resources and handouts and allowed us to guide the conversation when we had questions and took charge when we didn’t. When it came time, and labor had started, Emily was easy to reach and came over when I decided I needed some extra support. When she showed up, she immediately started observing how I was responding to labor and gave me options for coping and working with contractions. This was a huge weight off my shoulders as I was unsure myself and how far along I was. Her energy was validating. Throughout the rest of my labor, she was very attentive. Almost as if she knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it. I rarely felt the need to ask for anything. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Jake

6/24/2024

I cannot recommend Emily enough.  She is a true professional that has a passion for what she does.  As a Father/Husband you want to know you are giving your wife everything she needs and has the best support system to do the hardest task she is about to face.  Emily not only was the best match for my wife but provided me with education, support, and guidance to feel confident when it came time for our child's birth process. We cannot thank her enough for all she did.  

Jessica

6/10/2024

We worked with Emily for my fourth pregnancy - we welcomed our daughter in May of 2024.  I can't say enough good things about the experience.  This was a pregnancy after loss as we previously experienced the stillbirth of our daughter in 2020. Pregnancy after loss comes with fears and anxieties which was one of the reasons we felt we wanted a bit more support for this pregnancy.  I strongly wanted to experience a natural, unmedicated labor and delivery and my husband and I felt it would be beneficial to work with a doula to have the added support to prepare for labor and delivery and I am so glad we did.  Emily was very respectful and understanding of our situation and tailored her services to our unique needs, she helped me work through some of my fears related to stillbirth and as we approached the end of pregnancy she was always available to help me weigh options and make decisions around my care.  Her visits to our home were always filled with great recommendations, information to consider and techniques we could use to prepare for labor and delivery.  Emily made both my husband and I feel well informed and prepared in the weeks leading up to labor and delivery.  I am so thankful Emily was there to help support both my husband and myself at the hospital.  She followed up with her postpardum visit which was much appreciated as we settled into life with our newest daughter.  Highly recommend working with Emily!  

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!