As soon as I met Charito and Eric, I fell in love with them as a couple. Which is awesome, because one of my doula friends, Sam Talbot always describes the doula’s main job as being “to fall in love with the birthing woman.”
They were a beautiful couple, excited about starting a family. During our prenatal visits, I watched them get more and more excited about their upcoming birth experience, and I think I was just about excited as they were.
They loved their hospital birth, and Megan Taylor, a local birth photographer, joined us all to document it. The photos were amazing… I really love working as a doula with a birth photographer present… always so many beautiful moments that families can treasure.
Here’s what Charito and Eric had to say about their experience:
Jessica, your passion and enthusiasm for positive birth experiences is infectious and we learned so much from you as you supported us though my pregnancy and birth of our daughter Amelie! We felt at ease with you right away and being able to ask you all our many questions about what to expect at the hospital, developing a birth plan, etc which really normalized the experience and helped us become more informed and in control of our choices.
Your pre-birth support helped us to look forward to our birth experience with excitement rather than fear and anxiety! And when labour began, from the moment we got to the hospital you were a calm and grounding presence during each contraction and moments that could have been much more stressful. I remember being in the tub during one particularly strong contraction and feeling so grateful to you as i listened to your guiding breathe and words of encouragement.
Thank you for your breath, your humor, your intuitive support. Thank you for holding the gas thing for me, for fetching us sandwiches on the first bewildering day after, for guiding Eric to breathe with me and sensing when i could only focus on him (this gave us a beautiful moment in our relationship). Also, being able to laugh and chat in between contractions did wonders to help me gather my strength for the next round.
Jessica, you’re truly a wonderful resource for nervous new parents like us! We are forever grateful to you for helping to make the birth of our daughter more relaxed, positive and fun. I will never forget the moment she entered the world and being surrounded by positive, loving and supportive people – thank you!!
– Charito, Eric and Amelie (Read more testimonials here).
For an idea of the kind of support I can provide during your birth, read What does a doula really do?
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