Testimonial for Raya Sagdejeva
As I was expecting our first child during COVID and in-person prenatal classes were not available, my husband and I decided to hire Raya as a birth prep doula. We first met with her over zoom, and we immediately noticed her positive and kind energy. From the beginning she made sure to ask about our goals for birth preparation and what we were unsure or anxious about. She planned sessions around our individual preferences and questions rather than just sticking to a pre-set curriculum. She made sure to highlight resources and techniques that she felt were really helpful, and always sent organized written resources to summarize and supplement our conversations. We had a few socially distanced sessions on our porch, and she was able to show me some labor positions to try, and show my husband some counter pressure techniques to use for different scenarios. After our sessions, we both felt much more prepared for the physical, emotional, and logistical aspects of birth! We felt that preparing in this way was so much more personalized and empowering than attending a traditional birth prep course would have been.
I want to highlight one particular way that Raya went above and beyond for us. My doctors found a rare complication that had some associated risks for the baby, and I found googling it too scary and overwhelming. Raya offered to research it for me, noting that it's easier to look stuff up when it's not quite so close to home. Then, she sent me a clear, non-alarmist summary of the data she found. This was really helpful and saved me a lot of stress.
Overall, we highly recommend Raya for pregnancy support!
-Laura T
October 18, 2020
Raya Sagdejeva
The Durham Doula
Birth Fee: $700 to $1250
Postpartum Rate: $25 to $40
