Testimonial for Laurie Levy
We loved Laurie's humor and calm, experienced vibe from the very beginning, and felt strongly that she would be a really positive presence during our labor and delivery at Swedish Ballard. (Note: We did not realize she was part of their program when we contacted or hired her.) I wasn't opposed to delivering in the hospital, but really wanted to aim for a low-intervention experience. HAH! We plan, and the Universe laughs at us, right? After seven pretty easy, uneventful months of pregnancy, we suddenly ended up with preeclampsia and an unplanned induction three full weeks early. Laurie was a big factor in allowing me to feel like I could still handle it -- despite the fact that when I was admitted to the hospital, we hadn't yet confirmed or written up a birth plan, hadn't packed a "go bag," and didn't even have a dog sitter lined up! During the nearly four days of labor and delivery (because inducing at 37 weeks is a sloooow process) she was our touchstone, normalizing the craziness of the experience and helping us avoid all sense of negative judgment when we made choices and agreed to things that were wholly different from what we initially thought we wanted or needed. With the exception of my waters breaking spontaneously and having a successful vaginal delivery, I ended up with literally Every. Single. Thing. that I'd initially said I wanted to avoid, and I still came out of the experience feeling entirely fine with that. I won't say that we wouldn't have gotten through our birth experience with Laurie's help, because we received excellent care at Swedish, but I truly don't think that I would have come out of it feeling so at peace with all of the decisions we made.
-Dana and John Bettinger-Jacobs
February 10, 2017
Laurie Levy
Laurie E. Levy Inc.
Birth Fee: $3500
