Testimonial for Gabe Lazarus, CD, CPC, HCHD from Clifford Chafin

Testimonial for Gabe Lazarus, CD, CPC, HCHD

Gabe was a a fantastic help and really helped prepare and ground us for what was a very difficult and long labor. My wife wanted to do it all naturally but the baby's position was destined to make it very hard with lots of back labor and some tearing. The whole experience of labor kicked in right after a long exhausting day and went on for a long time. My wife does poorly when sleep deprived making it all the tougher. Nevertheless, she naturally labored for many hours successfully and Gabe really helped both make the experience positive and kept bringing new levels of energy to us when we thought we were at the end of our reserves.

There was a point where we were dizzy and frazzled and she kept coming up with new ways to find comfort and rest with props and tricks. The midwife was very distant and coldly professional so that we had very little information to go on and felt pressured towards paths that would lead to a C-section. Gabe's experience kept us laboring effectively to 8 cm and +2 position. At that point we could see my wife was really at the end of her reserves and needed some break for sleep to get her energy back for pushing. She helped me discuss the options and help Jill make the decision for an epidural to get a bit of relief and rest. Because we had done all the laboring up to that point we were not stalled out and then were able to, with a little Pitocin, have my wife finish dilating and push the baby out vaginally.

Although it was not a perfectly natural birth, my wife had the dream of avoiding surgery and delivering vaginally fulfilled and a beautiful happy baby arrive. Without Gabe I think we would have been routed down the path to a C-section and felt more disconnected from the whole process. She also was a great source of information before and after the birth. I had my doubts about the value of a doula am very happy we chose her!

-Clifford Chafin

August 23, 2016