Hillary Wakefield

7/19/2024

I am eternally grateful that I had Thalia as my doula during the birth of our daughter. This was mine and my partner’s first baby, so everything was all new to us. Thalia helped to create my birth plan ahead of time. During our prenatal appointments, she made me feel very confident in my ability to birth my own baby exactly how I wanted to: drug free and at home. During my labour, Thalia went above and beyond to provide stellar support. She had lovely essential oils for aroma therapy. She brought me delicious electrolytes and fed me snacks in between the waves. She massaged me, provided words of affirmation and encouragement, and knew when to offer suggestion of a change in movement or position. She could intuitively tell that a contraction was starting without me saying anything, and was always able to apply the exact amount of pressure that I needed to my back. My labour went on for 37 hours and included some twists and turns that I didn’t expect, like two trips to the hospital (one to ensure baby was head down, and then again for a shot of morphine to get a nap after I had been labouring for 24 hours and was still only 3cm dilated), having my water broken after labouring for many hours, use of a catheter, a shot of oxytocin, and a five hour pushing stage, a large portion of which was on my back. Despite all of these unexpected elements to my labour, I never once felt like I couldn’t go on, like I wanted to give up, or overcome with fear. I attribute a great portion of this to Thalia’s calm confidence and belief in me. After I birthed my daughter and subsequently the placenta on our bed, Thalia went to our kitchen and cooked us a healthy, delicious and warm postpartum meal. This was in the middle of the night after supporting us for 37 hours. Thalia was the MVP of my birth experience. I never want to give birth again without her!