We were delighted to work with Julia as a doula for the birth of our son. As a birth assistant, Julia was a pleasure to work with both before and during our birth. She was very attentive while I was in labor, offering suggestions for comfort measures and how help things progress that were specific to my situation and preferences. I was also grateful to have someone with us who was familiar with the Bradley method. When it came time to push, I was struggling to figure out how to do it until Julia stepped in and helped me find a way to breath and push that worked for me. I don’t think we would have made it through without her!
As we also had a doula and a student midwife on hand to help with our birth, Julia was also able to provide us with birth photography to capture the arrival of our son. We didn’t have a photographer on hand when my first son was born (just our own cell phone cameras!). I hadn’t wanted to invest the money when I wasn’t sure what the experience would be like or how I would look in the pictures. I also wasn’t sure about having a camera around when I knew I wouldn’t be fully dressed! But after our first son was born, I missed not having something to help us remember those moments when he arrived or better photos of when he was really truly “freshly” arrived.
I’m so grateful that Julia was able to capture those precious first moments with the birth of our second son. I’ve enjoyed looking back on the pictures over the weeks since our birth to remember what it was like to hold him for the first time, and the experience of working together with my husband to finally bring our son into the world. My concerns about how I would look in the photos have also totally evaporated. The pictures Julia captured are truly beautiful, and I can’t wait to share the photos and our birth story with our family–and with our son, once he’s older. Thank you!
-Susan Brucker
March 19, 2022
Focused Birth doula and birth photography
Birth Fee: $1200 to $2000
Postpartum Rate: Not specified