Testimonial for Alycia Cullen CD(DONA)
Alycia was my doula for my first daughter, Ellie, and was critically important for both me and my husband. My birth story is complicated - Ellie was born preterm at 33 weeks due to PPROM - a rare complication that is not well understood. Alycia and I had only our first meet when I went into labor, but she was still able to intuit what I needed when I needed it most. We had chatted intermittently enough for her to know how much my husband and I had read up on the birth process, what our general preferences were, and any pre-existing medical conditions (history of excruciating sciatica). Prior to Ellie's birth, I was in the hospital for about 5 days with early labor and hospital monitoring due to PPROM - thankfully Ellie was a champ the whole time, with a strong heartbeat and activity. Alycia checked in with me during that whole time, making sure she was involved and aware of anything I needed and how or if I was progressing. Once I began to be in active labor, Alycia arrived swiftly, and started helping me through my contractions using a variety of methods, and from that she could tell what support I needed most and preferred, and also helped my husband understand better how to help me through labor. During the whole 18 hours of my active labor, the only position that was comfortable was standing, so Alycia stood with me, continually providing the back support. She was also critical in helping me think through critical medical decisions with the baby's health and my health in mind - she encouraged me to ask questions, to ask for time to think, and to know its okay to say no or to ask for more information to a drs suggestion. Being able to have that mental and emotional support I think made a huge difference in my feeling like my birth story was mine - that I hadn't just been whisked away and treated without my say, that though this wasn't ideal, I still had a say and I still felt informed about what was happening to my new little family.
-Josie
February 04, 2020
Alycia Cullen CD(DONA)
Advocate Birth
Birth Fee: $1800
