I am so glad that I hired a doula with my second baby!
Having Stephanie as my cheerleader and knowledgeable support doula was the best decision I made for my birth experience. In the beginning when we were waiting for my contractions to pick up speed she helped me stay distracted and passed the time easily with conversation and actions to help labor progress. My favorite and most memorable thing Stephanie did was draw a luxurious bath for me with mood lighting, my music preferences, and aromatherapy. This bath was the best transition tool for me and that relaxed me enough to go into the pushing phase. The pushing phase was very intense and Stephanie was so reassuring and encouraging and on my side. She knew I wanted to be in a birthing tub and she was so good about communicating with the nurses my status and assisted me in the tub. It was so nice to be able to stretch out and move around in the tub. I so appreciated her advocating for me to get what I wanted for my birth experience. Unfortunately, I was not able to birth my baby in the tub, I needed to move to a bed, this was upsetting for me and Stephanie kept me focused. She reassured me that the change in plans was common and for the best to bring my baby into the world. Once he arrived Stephanie was so great to remember to take pictures. I was so relieved my baby was here that I wasn’t thinking about my camera. Those pictures Stephanie took of the first minutes of my baby’s life and then she took the first ones of me holding him are so precious to me! Once we were home Stephanie stopped by to check on me and talked through my birth experience. I will always highly recommend hiring a doula to any expectant mama!
