Danielle was friendly, approachable, professional, and knowledgable. We found her through the Minnesota Birth Center where I planned to deliver my son. When we found out that my son was in footling breech position and would likely need to be delivered via c-section, I doubly appreciated Danielle. She was able to give me lots of great information on ways to encourage the baby to turn, but also helped me to stay positive and never, ever made me feel like my son's birth would be a failure if I wasn't able to deliver naturally. Danielle was exactly what I hoped to find in a doula-- warm and supportive of natural childbirth, but also comepletely nonjudgemental of my decisions and ultimate experience. As it turned out, despite a number of efforts to turn the baby, my son refused to shift from breech position and wound up needing to be delivered via c-section. Danielle was phenomenal during the process, she made sure I was as informed as possible about what would happen (it was very reassuring to me that she had been a doula for others in similar situations), arrived early to support my husband and I as we prepared for the surgery, and stayed afterward to ensure that breastfeeding was established and that I was recovering well. I really can't express how helpful it was to have her there during crucial moments where I could have felt very alone (particularly when my husband first went to hold the baby and I was--obviously-- unable to get up and go to where he and the nurses were standing, the time between my husband and son going to the recovery room and when I was able to join them, etc.). An added bonus to all of the support and information that I didn't think about: Danielle got some wonderful pictures of the birth and our new family in the recovery room which allowed my husband and I to focus on the most important task at hand, getting to know our baby, but also have some priceless moments documented.
-Molly McGraw Healy
December 29, 2014
Birth Fee: $1400
Postpartum Rate: $30 to $40