Testimonial for Lydia-Carlie Tilus from Maria

Testimonial for Lydia-Carlie Tilus

Lydia-Carlie has been nothing but amazing as our doula! I decided to hire a doula after much thinking and realizing that to achieve my goal of having an unmedicated birth, I needed a support system in place other than my spouse. I searched for a Doula around 35 weeks of pregnancy. I felt rushed to establish a relationship with someone who would present at the birth of my daughter, and Lydia made that transition pretty easy! She is very easy going, mindful, and respectful. When we first met Lydia, she was very thorough in having us think what our birth wishes and visualize the birth, even though we are all well aware that birth can be an unpredictable process. She also had us think thoroughly about what support system we will have for the postpartum period which made us realize we were unprepared for and so it was nice that she reviewed that with us and we planned . In our birth plan, she never pushed any agenda with me and worked with me to create a plan for pain management that was most suitable to what I know helps me.

When I went into labor, she was very calm about it and we made a plan to meet up at the hospital where I was set to deliver. As my husband was dropping off the car, I kept being in labor with strong contractions every 3 minutes and honestly if it wasn't for Lydia there to help get through the contractions until I was seen in triage, not sure how I could have made it. She has a calming presence which I think goes a long way when you are in the thick of strong waves. She came prepared with our birth plan and was able to speak on my behalf when I was't able to. Because she knew techniques that work for me to deal with pain, she was quick to whip out these things (heat pads, counter pressure, reminding me to breath, and coaching my husband). She was like mama bear, watching out after me and making sure that I was being cared for. I am planing to have her be our doula for our next baby :D!

-Maria

July 07, 2023