Desiree Jolley

11/20/2018

Caty has been my doula for my two most recent births. The first of these births was a hospital birth with an OB. My OB was not very naturally minded and was a great surgeon. I didn't do my research very well after moving to Michigan on why this would be so important! Everything was great until the delivery. I had forgotten my birth plan and the nurse at the hospital was starting an IV per my OB's personal requirements (which he did not tell me beforehand). Caty stepped in and wrote my birth plan out from an email I had sent her, had me sign, and I didn't need an IV! All the while supporting me and my husband during my natural birth! Then my OB walked in and told me I had a lip of cervix left to dilate and since he had a c section to go to in 15 minutes that he could hold it back while I pushed my baby out. It was awful! I told him to stop and Caty helped me speak up for myself. I labored for another hour and was finally ready to push without any intervention. I'm so happy Caty was there to help me stand up for myself and for the birth I wanted. The nurses all raved about her. When I got pregnant with my next baby she was my go to for any concerns and questions I had. She is not pushy and helps you to look at all points of view. She helped encourage me during the last few weeks of my pregnancy and I had the best birth ever! It was the quickest of all the four and I think that had a great deal to do with the spinning babies techniques she gave me to do. I highly recommend hiring a doula for your birth. Caty is amazing.

Gretchen Stuart

11/19/2018

We worked with Caty over the summer of 2018 with our baby girl being born in September 2018. She and her partner Diane were great. Not only did they spend the time to get to know us at the two scheduled preparation meetings, but they quickly answered any question that we had from the very beginning until the very end.

The support she and Diane provided was invaluable, especially as we are first time parents. There are so many things going on that we relied heavily on them to translate things into terms we could understand.

Prior to the preparation meetings, they provided some recommendations for OB's and midwives in the area as we were clueless about how to go about choosing one. We didn't have the luxury of a significant amount of available time to interview a bunch of different doctors.

They also helped us to prepare our birth plan and discussed all the different options that we had to consider and why one might choose a certain option over another. They also got us comfortable ahead of time with different labor positions and how labor tends to work and progress so that we wouldn't be surprised.

Also, near the end of our pregnancy after we found out that our baby girl was breech, Caty came over to our house to help us with some additional positions and exercises to work to help our baby girl to flip. The baby did not end up flipping on her own, so we scheduled a version. Caty came to the hospital to support us for that. If it was unsuccessful, she planned to attend/support us for the resulting C-section. Since it was successful, we were induced, and she supported us during labor and attended our baby's birth. She took record of key moments within the labor for us to have afterwards, because we did not know to keep track at the time. She also took the initiative (with our permission) to take some pictures for us during labor and immediately after our baby's birth while we were bonding.

Makayla Schlenker Ross

11/17/2018

When we discovered we were expecting our first, we started considering our options. I was leaning towards a birth center or even home birth but my husband wasn't comfortable with that. So we compromised and chose a hospital birth with a midwife. Still, I felt the need for someone to assist and support me in a natural birth so I started looking for a doula. After meeting with Caty for our free consultation, the search was over as I fell in love with her! :) She was extremely helpful to this first-time mom, trying to figure out the details of what I wanted. Her help with my birth plan was priceless. Knowing my preferences, she was able to make very helpful recommendations during my pregnancy. When I went into labor, my water broke but contractions didn't begin, the on-call doctor got me frazzled about it, she was there for support and helped me to calm down and be positive. Even though I had to have pitocin, therefore making labor harder, I ended up having a great birthing experience, thanks to her support and techniques. I don't think I could have had a natural birth without her!

Jacy Steinfort

11/15/2018

Caty is very personable and approachable. Whenever I had questions about anything - cloth diapers, breastfeeding, natural birth techniques, what supplies to buy for the baby, anything - she would always respond quickly and graciously. As a first time Mom, I never felt I was a burden with all the questions I had. It was clear she views her job as more than just a job and truly cares about her clients.