Testimonial for Melissa Reinhardt, CD
I found Melissa the night before the 37 week ECV for our first baby. We had been thinking about asking a doula to help us at the birth but hadn’t started researching because the task felt overwhelming to me. A good friend of mine had her baby early and very highly recommended Melissa's services. That made the first step easy. From my first panicky pre-ECV phone call, Melissa was an understanding, encouraging and reassuring guide. She instantly helped relieve some of my many anxieties around birth, which can be so unpredictable and often include scary possibilities. So many times in the ensuing weeks, she clearly explained and re-explained data and doula wisdom that helped me have the resolve to make decisions for myself and for my baby even when our medical team was recommending actions that were not medically necessary and sometimes contrary to my goals for the birth. My husband and I thought Melissa did this in a professional way that didn’t undermine our medical team’s expertise but provided context from her perspective as a non-clinical provider. She shared, from her experience, how to prepare for a natural birth, what to expect if induction became necessary, caught that my water broke and I didn’t know it! and followed through with her confident guidance throughout our birthing journey that indeed took unexpected twists. Personally, I never thought I could be happy with a cesarean birth, but Melissa coached me through the emotional roller coaster in the month before Avi was born, so by the time the decision needed to be made for a last minute planned cesarean (after a stalled induction and "fetal intolerance to labor"), I was completely at peace and could enjoy the miraculous process of our baby breathing his first breaths and coming to us safely. Melissa exceeded our expectations for a doula, and I don’t even want to think about what our experience would have been without her in our corner.
-Gabriela Wilson
April 17, 2026
Melissa Reinhardt, CD
Riverbend Doula Services LLC
Birth Fee: $2200 to $2500
