Testimonial for Dannah Norris
We realized during our first childbirth prep class that we would benefit from a doula who could help us communicate with each other during labor and delivery. My partner likes a lot of feedback and affirmation, whereas I wanted to focus on working through the pain. Moreover, our due date was during Covid and all of our family lives out of state, so we knew we wouldn't have any local support. Both of us were feeling anxious about having our first child in the middle of so much uncertainty.
We selected Dannah Norris because she is knowledgeable, experienced, calm, and has a great personality that meshed well with ours. We met several times before our due date to talk through our questions, concerns, and birth preferences (she has a great template that prompts reflection) and sequence of events. During labor and delivery, Dannah guided me through contractions, calmed my partner and showed him how to be supportive, and reassured us both. Our baby was born right before a shift change when the night nurses were leaving and the day nurses were arriving; I would have felt lost in the shuffle if Dannah hadn't been there to remind us what would happen next.
Both before and after birth, Dannah provided a plethora of resources for our concerns and always followed up promptly when we had questions. We met with her several times postpartum to reflect on our experience and discuss new challenges. We sent her many panicked texts during the first week regarding feeding, diapers, sleeping, etc. and she always responded quickly with encouragement and suggestions.
We tell family and friends over and over again that hiring Dannah was the best decision we made. Hiring a doula is a significant investment, but based on conversations we've had with other new parents, having a doula's support was consistently the top factor between those who had a positive birthing experience and those who did not. We would absolutely hire Dannah again and highly recommend her!
-Amber
August 31, 2020
Dannah Norris
Doula Dannah
Birth Fee: $2000 to $2500
Postpartum Rate: $60 to $65
