When we were interviewing doula's for the birth of our first child, my wife knew from the initial phone call with Donna that she was the one. Put aside her massive amount of experience and knowledge, she just felt like the right person. She is so down to earth and supportive. My wife knew from the start that she wanted and epidural. No judgement at all from Donna. Just support.
Admittedly, the whole process is completely overwhelming. Donna helped boil it down to a plan for us. She also let us know what we needed to know and what we just needed to be familiar with and she would remember it for us come the birth of our baby. Leading up to her due date, my wife and I were very nervous. But our meetings with Donna helped keep us calm and confident.
Come the day my wife went into labor Donna met us at the hospital not long after we knew that it was the real deal. In the initial hours, she helped keep my wife calm and positive. But, to no fault of Donna's, the labor did not go smoothly. First, my wife's epidural kept wearing off, making her increasing frustrated. Second, she just wasn't progressing. We eventually had to try a little pitocin which restarted her progress, so that was good. But then she stalled again. Donna was great throughout the whole thing. She helped us roll with the punches throughout the process. But finally, after watching the sun go down and come back up and still stuck at 9.5cm, the doctor and my wife decided to call it and have a c-section. But, the entire night, Donna was right there doing an amazing job!
We didn't plan on a c-section and that is ok. We didn't plan on pitocin and that is ok. Donna prepared us for what could happen. We knew it was possible. As Mike Tyson said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." But, we simply could not have made it through that whole night without her. Her support for both my wife and me was invaluable and we are eternally grateful!
-Ben Breslau
May 22, 2015
Birth Fee: $1600
Postpartum Rate: $40 to $45