Testimonial for Melanie Russell
Melanie is amazing. Hire Her. I didn’t think I wanted a doula (my husband and I are both private, I didn’t want one more person to have to talk to/share with, I didn’t want a cheerleader or someone to tell me I was doing a good job), I set out to hire one only because the midwives I was seeing told me they liked their first time moms to have one. Then we met Melanie. We hired her on the spot because she felt like a friend. I didn’t want to have to share with a stranger or invite a stranger into our space but Melanie from day one felt like she belonged in our family. She was warm and genuine and approachable. She is realistic but also GENUINELY positive, we never felt like we were being sold leprechauns and unicorns but she was a refreshing change from the reaction you usually get when you tell people your goal is unmediated childbirth. Melanie made my husband and I BOTH feel like “we can do this” having her in the room when I was in labor was priceless. She helped my husband help me. He never felt replaced or removed from the process and I never felt like I wasn’t fully supported by both of them. She had solutions for everything – counter pressure, cold rags (that smelled amazing and helped get rid of the vomit smell), ideas for hiding my IV (which grossed me out), ideas about positions and movement. With Melanie and my husband there to support me, I never once asked for pain medication, never once felt like “I can’t do this” and never once thought “we’re never having another baby”… If you don’t want to buy into the horror stories that immediately begin surfacing when people find out your pregnant, if you want to trust your body and want to feel like you are going into labor with a full tool box, hiring Melanie will be one of the best decisions you make.
-Jay N Kate
December 01, 2014
Melanie Russell
A Brighter Birth
Birth Fee: $1800
