Testimonial for Nicole Chambers from Mary Shearman

Testimonial for Nicole Chambers

My partner and I knew that we wanted to hire Nicole/Ridge Meadows Doula Services pretty soon after discovering I was pregnant- even before we were settled on midwives. We knew we wanted a home birth and wanted the support of someone/s who would advocate for us during the birth itself and provide us with a lot of information to help us make informed decisions on the road to the big day. We knew it was a done deal when we walked into the consultation, Nicole and Ridge Meadows Doula Services were recomended so highly to us for everything from pre-natal classes to who to rent a birth pool from. In the 'early days' (i.e. prior to 37 or so weeks) Nicole checked in pretty regularly via e-mail- we had a fairly consistent back and forth happening where I was asking for information based on decisions I had to make with the midwives (whether or not to get a vitamin K shot for example) and she would send me (almost instantaneously) information from varying perspectives. Around the 37 week march we also did a private session with Nicole where she explained what to expect (as best as one can...) when going into labour. At 39 weeks, Nicole and I started texting- and would you believe she checked in hours before I went into labour because she her "spidey senses" were tingling. As my partner and I really wanted a home birth we decided not to call anyone until we were completely positive I was in acive labour, and in between contractions this sounded like a great idea- while the contractions were happening though, I really needed someone who had seen this a million (or at least over 200...) times before- so we called Nicole. Nicole arrived in my bedroom shortly thereafter to help "normalize" the process of labour and birth. She had really practical suggestions about what would make me comfortable- and/or help accelerate the process. She also was a boss hip squeezer. Follow-up was/is great too!

-Mary Shearman

October 23, 2017