Testimonial for Victoria Michonski CD, HCHI, CLC from Julie Downey

Testimonial for Victoria Michonski CD, HCHI, CLC

I don't even know where to begin with this review so I'll start by saying that Victoria was nothing short of essential to our birth experience. Natural births can happen at Prentice Hospital and I truly believe that having a doula made it possible.

Victoria had come highly recommended to us, but we interviewed a handful of doulas to make sure we had done our full due diligence. She was warm and engaging and I felt immediately comforted by her, even from our initial phone conversation. She came to our home twice during my pregnancy to meet with myself and my husband. We got to know each other a bit better, she walked us through the birth process and gave us a better idea of what to expect since this was our first time.

When the day arrived, she was available in the middle of the night for texts and phone calls when my water broke, and would have come over to the house if I had needed her. She met us at the hospital and right away went into action. She came prepared with oils and got to work with accupressure massage to help keep my contractions going. She worked to help me find comfortable positions as labor progressed, and just seemed to know what I needed before I did (at one point she appeared with popsicles which felt like the greatest gift in the world at that moment!). She was able to give my husband a break and he felt OK leaving for a little bit because she was there. Honestly, I cannot say enough about how much she did to physically and emotionally support us through the process. She stayed with us for the 13+ hours of labor at the hospital and after, to ensure that we got a good start to breastfeeding. Post birth, she was available by text and email at any time for a huge range of questions.

I'll end by saying that my husband was super skeptical about having a doula and he refers to Victoria as a ninja :) Can't recommend her highly enough!

-Julie Downey

November 10, 2015