Neither my husband nor I knew exactly what a doula does but we wanted all the help we could get and went for it. Holy crap - did we need a doula. Our birth plan, unfortunately, went out the window and crash landed in a dumpster fire. But Alice was there to explain what was going on, to support my husband as he cried seeing me in pain, to coach me through various positions to (successfully!) get my baby to go sunny side down when she was sunny side up, to hold my hand, massage my feet, go to the hospital and BACK when they turned us away, napped in our apartment along with my best friend, to work with the hospital nurses to help make decisions as close to my birth plan as possible, and when after I don't even know - 48 hours of labor??, I was told I should consider a C-Section for my health and the health of my baby, Alice was there to re-assure me that this wasn't my fault, that I can still bond with my baby, and that while this wasn't what I had wanted, it was the right decision. I needed to hear that from as many people as possible. When you go into birth wanting an unmedicated, minimal intervention experience, I'm sure there are some birth workers who take "natural" birth to the extreme and make people feel like failures for anything different. I received that messaging from a lot of people but not from Alice. Honestly thank goth for Alice, and not just for me as the birthing person but for my partner. Alice got him a sandwich for Pete's sake. If you only have one dude in your delivery room, let that dude be Alice. Also, his suggestions for a phone tree and one of those 3 tiered rolling carts were solid. Best thing in his birth bag: Lip goo. Trust.
-Angelica
November 24, 2023
Alice Arden doula services
Birth Fee: $0 to $2400
Postpartum Rate: $0 to $75