Testimonial for DC Birth Doulas, LLC
I had a fantastic experience with DC birth doulas and highly recommend them.
I went into my pregnancy with the full intent of having a natural, unmedicated birth but learned around 37 weeks that I would have to have a c-section because my baby was in breech position and stubbornly unwilling to flip. I was devastated about this and reached out to the dc birth doulas team to simply notify them of the change to my birth plan. During the final weeks of my pregnancy I spoke with Amy multiple times - both leading up to an ECV procedure (attempt to flip the baby manually) where she talked me through what to expect based on other clients with whom she had worked. After the ECV was unsuccessful and it was confirmed that a c-section would be necessary, she helped me think through some of the logistics of the c-section and educated me a bit on my options, specifically in the context that attempting a VBAC with future pregnancies was important to me.
I wound up going into labor naturally before the c-section and had about 5 hours of contractions. Sarah P. was present for the hours leading up to the surgery, during which time she did a fantastic job of helping to relieve my pain and also ease my anxiety about the procedure. While I believe it's atypical for a planned c-section patient to have a doula present, I would have still signed on with the DC birth doulas team had I known at the beginning of my pregnancy that the outcome would be a c-section.
Sarah was an incredibly comforting presence to have there with me throughout such an anxiety-inducing event, and she did a fantastic job of keeping my husband involved in the process and making us both feel at ease. We were joking around and laughing far more than I ever expected going into a surgery I was so fearful of.
I will definitely be reaching out to dc birth doulas for my next pregnancies and cannot recommend them highly enough.
-Emily Afzal
April 13, 2015
Birth Fee: $800 to $2100
Postpartum Rate: $50 to $60
