Testimonial for Gretchen Retka
I’m so happy that we chose Gretchen as our doula.
We talked to 5 people and liked several. I ended up deciding that Gretchen was the only person we’d talked to who I felt truly not self-conscious around. (There are only a handful of people on the planet I don’t feel self conscious around, so this was an exciting and fascinating feeling for me.) This was the _perfect_ choice - I had 15-20m of pushing (4-5 contractions), which is super fast for a first child. Gretchen and my midwife mentioned that it was likely because I’d been so willing to wiggle and flail around during the segments of labor just before and that had helped my daughter navigate into the right positions much faster. That would have been a much different experience if I had been worried about what my doula would think of me!
Gretchen did an excellent job “project managing” my contractions, especially when they were strong enough for me to have trouble concentrating or really connecting with what was going on around me. She observed how my body was moving and requested props like the peanut ball, then got them positioned for me at the right moments. When I was using the nitrous I didn’t initially realize most folks couldn’t easily understand what I was saying through the mask - Gretchen was doing an excellent job of translating my mumbles to everyone else in the room.
When it came to pushing she was also an excellent coach: encouraging me to hold my pushes extended longer, and explaining why it was going to matter as well as which parts of my body to pay attention to to make it happen.
What we were looking for:
* A lot of experience with the labor and birth process.
* Could identify decision points during labor, even if we didn’t realize it was one.
* Flexible and creative, not dogmatic. I never felt judged for any decision, or locked into any of my ahead-of-time plans. Amazing!
-Emily and Phil
April 15, 2023
Gretchen Retka
Holistic Sister
Birth Fee: $3000 to $3250
Postpartum Rate: $30 to $35
