Andrea Williams

6/17/2015

We first met Rylie when I was 6 months pregnant with our daughter. I found Rylie to be a great listener, and both my husband and I agreed very quickly that she was the right person to help us.

As a first time mom, I was absolutely terrified about the birth process. She met with my husband and I and listened to all of my fears and concerns. She was always patient, and provided us with lots of information (books, videos, websites, studies etc) to educate us and to bring me confidence. She helped me to see birth as a positive process rather than something to fear.
Rylie even helped me to find a team of midwives (not on easy task that far into a pregnancy!), as I was very unhappy with the GP that I was seeing!

When the big day finally arrived, Rylie was an incredible support to me, my husband and to our 2 dogs as well! She gave me strength, and helped me in every way possible. In the end I gave birth at home to our beautiful miracle baby.

Rylie's support throughout the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy, the birth, and beyond was such a wonderful gift. She's an amazing person and doula!

Ashley Hansen

9/25/2014

For the birth of my first child I was attempting a home water birth and as a single mom I knew I'd wanted to be surrounded by supportive women. When I met Rylie I instantly took to her personality - she just seemed like exactly the type of woman who I'd want at my birth. My labor was pretty fast and got intense fairly quickly so when Rylie showed up I was very relieved to see her. She went above and beyond anything I could have expected when it came to support and encouragement and she was very respectful in showing my mom and two best friends how to help when they wanted to get in there too. I had a wonderful network of people there (9 in total including the midwives and photographer, whom she worked very well with) but I have to say that having Rylie there was a big part of the reason I was able to keep going when I thought I wanted to give up and transfer to the hospital for pain relief. She had such a strong presence and she knew exactly what she had to do and when. She understood what I meant when I told her in our prenatal visits that I needed someone to keep me grounded, focused and basically tell me what I needed to do to follow my birth plan. Rylie was kind and gentle, but at the same time she provided the confident guidance that I needed to just "be" in the moment, stay positive and not think about how many more contractions I was going to have or how much longer it was going to be. There are no words that can describe how thankful I am that she was able to be there for me and my other support people.

Laura Lee

9/9/2014

“Meeting Rylie was a gift to Peter and I! She was the calm, supportive presence that we needed for our labour.
Rylie joined Peter and I in the evening when my labour started to intensify. She immediately noticed that I was keyed up and needed to be taken care of and to relax. She seated me on an exercise ball with my head resting on my arms while she massaged my back and gently massaged my belly during contractions. It was exactly what I needed to catch my breath and relax. Each time, we found that things weren’t working anymore or just needed a change, Rylie knew what we should do next – hands and knees, the bath, being upright and leaning on Peter, the stairs. I felt relieved that she was able to help Peter support me and that they were able to spell each other off, keeping the team around me fresh. Rylie took care of all the important details like preparing little snacks to keep me sustained and keeping me hydrated.

I laboured at home as long as possible and when it was time to go to the hospital Rylie accompanied us. Her calm reassurance was helpful to keep me focused as the experience intensified. At times when I felt I couldn’t continue, she reminded me of my mantras. Some reflected my Christian faith which helped keep me centered in the moment. As we made decisions on how to proceed, Rylie gently and helpfully reminded us of the preferences we had articulated, while listening to how we were feeling and what we wanted in the moment. I am so grateful for Rylie’s presence, her support and encouragement throughout my pregnancy and birth of my son. I highly recommend Rylie as a Doula. She has a keen sense of what to do and when.”