Testimonial for Renée Ahmadi MA CD (DONA) from Kate

Testimonial for Renée Ahmadi MA CD (DONA)

Neither my husband or I thought we needed a doula until our midwife suggested the idea and we decided on Renée. Renée offered instrumental preparatory sessions at our house. These sessions helped us to talk through what our hopes, worries and priorities were, get to know one another and gave Renée a sense of what spaces and props we had in the house that might be useful for labour.We are both certain that without Renée, my husband would have had one or two strategies for helping me stay comfortable and we would have ended up at the hospital early in labour. With Renée’s help, we stayed in our home much of the evening and used different rooms and props to change positions, keep moving, and to rest in a familiar space. Once at the hospital, Renée was great at getting us settled, keeping the lights low, and communicating with the midwife about what had and had not been working in the process so far. Renée had an amazing ability to anticipate, what I needed, before I knew or could vocalize what that was. She was also attentive to what my husband needed and what might assist him in supporting me best. Renée nailed the fine art of balancing when to be right by my side and when to stand back and attend to whatever came up in the background at all the right moments. Renée is strong, practical, funny and works so well as part of a team. She is a great advocate. Following the birth, Renée provided great support and again seemed to know just what balance to strike for being present for us and for giving us the space we needed as a new family. Renée’s practice of debriefing after the birth was also something I found beneficial and empowering. The continuity of her support through the final stages of pregnancy to life as a new parent was meaningful to us. If you are having doubts about whether you might want or need a doula, err on the side of hiring one, and contact Renée.

-Kate

August 07, 2022