Testimonial for Maria Luisa Dangond from Miguel G. Matos

Testimonial for Maria Luisa Dangond

My wife and I would not have had the amazing birth experience we had without Maria Dangond. As the husband/father/birth-partner in this experience, I did not think a doula would affect my own birth-experience as much as it did. I agreed to hire Maria as our doula mostly to support my wife (the two of them hit it off great from the initial interview). However, now that I look back at the birth of our first child, I cannot imagine how my own experience would have went without Maria. She provided support to my wife with massage, stretches, running a bath, etc. That much I expected. What I did not expect (and was pleasantly surprised by), was how much I ended up relying on Maria during the birth.

Since it was our first child, Maria was instrumental in helping us labor at home as long as possible. This let us arrive at the hospital at the right time (not too early and not too late). I was nervous about laboring at home, but Maria was so calm and confident that we should wait before leaving to the hospital that we followed her lead. Maria helped support me throughout the birth as well. She taught me about some pressure points that I could apply to help my wife deal with the pain (my wife decided to have a non-medicated birth and succeded in delivering without Pitocin or an Epidural - she's a rock-star). Maria also told me to grab lunch at the right time (My wife labored for 24 hours, and I had gone about 22 hours without eating until I finally grabbed a bite 2 hours before she finally delivered). I'm glad I didnt have to welcome my baby into this world on an empty stomache.

After we first interviewed Maria, I just knew my wife would get the support she needed to have the birth she wanted. I didn't know that she would give me the support I needed as well.

Thank you so much Maria for everything you did for us. We will give you a call again when we're ready for baby #2.

-Miguel G. Matos

January 28, 2020