Testimonial for DC Birth Doulas, LLC
My husband and I were DC Birth Doula clients for the birth of our son in May 2015. We chose this particular group because we wanted a group who would be supportive of us regardless of how our birth happened without pushing us into any one "preferred" birth outcome. The practice rotates between Amy, Sara and Sarah, and the doula who ends up with you at delivery is mostly based on their schedules. I ended up with Sarah Paksima, who was amazing. She showed up at the hospital at around 12:30am (I had been induced earlier that day, but only recently had started feeling strong contractions) and helped me through active labor by rubbing my back. Since I had been induced, I was hooked up to monitors and that limited my mobility, but Sarah was able to help me relax in spite of that. I also had gone through several days of a failed induction earlier that week and she was an accessible and knowledgeable presence via text, which I hadn't really been anticipating.
Ultimately, I ended up with an epidural and an instrument delivery. Sarah was great at helping me push through the epidural, and was also just a supportive presence to talk to and ask questions of during the rest of my labor. And, after my son was finally born, she helped me with breastfeeding and showed me how to get a good latch. Regarding the epidural, I had gone into this not wanting one, but after hours and hours of no progress, both Sarah and the midwife who was on call at the time thought that the epidural made sense. It was nice not to feel judged or like a failure when I made that decision.
With DC Birth Doulas, you get a "pre" meeting (they come to your house; Amy did mine and was awesome), you get the doula with you during whatever part of labor you need them for, and you get an hour-long follow up. The follow-up was actually really helpful.
If I were to have another kid in DC, I'd choose them again in a heartbeat.
-Sarah Bryner
May 31, 2015
Birth Fee: $800 to $2100
Postpartum Rate: $50 to $60
