Testimonial for Simone Toomer, CD/CBE(DTI), IBCLC, CBC, LCCE, ISE from Elise Mimura Brandenburg

Testimonial for Simone Toomer, CD/CBE(DTI), IBCLC, CBC, LCCE, ISE

We hired Simone as a postpartum doula for our first baby because both our families live out of town and we knew we had no idea what we were doing! I am so glad we did. From the initial conversations, she was warm and relaxed (which helped me relax). The first time she came over we happened to be in the middle of a diaper change. Unfazed by our psycho, barking dog, she washed her hands and jumped in to finish up the diaper change. She gently held our baby as if he was her own and I was struck by her warmth and the type of confidence that comes from knowing what you’re doing.

Over the course of our time with her, she showed us how to bathe the baby, use the breast pump, bottle feed, and improved the baby’s latch significantly. She answered any and all questions we had and encouraged us to ask more. In our discussions about formula, going back to work, nyc schools, and parenting in general, she offered her experience free from judgement and always held the view of, whatever works for your family.

I will make sure to mention that she has a great sense of humor and a lot of common sense (something I don’t take for granted and things you cannot train for). I will also make sure to add that it’s not easy for me to ask for help, even as incapacitated as I was from the c section. Simone continued to take initiative over and over so I didn’t have to make any akward requests. She seemed to know what I needed when I needed it.

I am so grateful for her help and would recommend her to any family. She is truly wise, knowledgeable, dependable, kind, and intuitive. She has helped me embrace parenthood and I don’t know what I would have done without her.

-Elise Mimura Brandenburg

December 18, 2018