TESTIMONIES

“She loved me through my beautiful mess of labor. She kept my birthing space sacred and treated me as holy.” - Mama Cassi Burton

MAMA TSACHII

You've helped me extremely. You inspire me. Your energy and your calm demeanor is so commendable. I just adore the women that you are and hope I can have as much grace as you do one day; and we're the same age. You have a beautiful spirit. And I cant thank you enough for coming into my life and being here for me. I look up to you more than you know even just in the little time I've known you. Yes I love those. My bedroom mirror is full of positive affirmations. I'm trying... Daily and I feel it working. I am healing my mind, body, and soul! Things are working in my favor and I trust God's plan for my life. Thank you again, Michelle, for everything you do. I hope we can be friends for a very long time.

MAMA CASSI

Anyone would be privileged to have Michelle as their doula. She has a calming and loving presence, and she will attend to you with unceasing patience and compassion. She is what every expecting parent needs at their birth (husbands will benefit too!). I’m an introvert and was on the fence about having another person with us during such an intimate time—especially since we already had a midwife and midwife’s assistant—but I’m so glad we did. My husband and I both felt supported and I feel like I gained a true friend. She has seen me at my most vulnerable and still has so much love for me— and I have so much love and appreciation for this woman. I will be forever grateful for the support and preparation she gave me that allowed me to have the birth of my dreams. Michelle will support you so well throughout every part of your journey: pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Having her companionship and help is worth much, much more than she charges. The work that she does to empower women is the work of an angel!

She loved me through my beautiful mess of labor.

She kept my birthing space sacred and treated me as holy.

She filled the room with her calm and loving presence.

She sought out needs and filled them quietly.

She held space for me to labor as I needed moment to moment.

She stood by with confidence in me when I needed to find my own path.

She buoyed me up in my moments of doubt.

She watched and loved me as I became more vulnerable and powerful than ever before in my life.

She was there as I crossed the threshold and became a mother.

She preserved the hallowed moment that I first held my precious babe in my arms.

She loved and served me postpartum past the point when most new mothers have been forgotten.

She has captured my fondness and gratitude forever for what she has done for me.

She is my doula.

DAD ROBERT

My wife and I took a hypno-birthing class and learned that there was something called a doula that could help with the labor process. That sounded like a pretty good idea, so we did a little research to try to find a good doula. Going into labor for our first baby, I was feeling a little overwhelmed even after taking some classes. When we are paying thousands of dollars to go to the hospital and are not very knowledgeable about a process that could lead to a C-section or very difficult complications from interventions, a doula seemed like a pretty good deal.

We interviewed a few doula’s, and were comfortable with Michelle. We were impressed with her, and did a little more research and found someone else we knew that Michelle had been a doula for, so we decided to move forward.

At our next consultation, Michelle showed us some counter pressures, which were really helpful for me to relieve some of the pressure my wife was feeling during early labor, with only me to support her. Michelle brought a back-up Doula with her, so if she wasn't able to make it for some reason that we would be comfortable with her back-up.

Once my wife and I arrived at the hospital, my wife was considering using medication, because the contractions provided more pressure than my wife was expecting. Before hopping on the medication bandwagon, we called up Michelle and she came over to the hospital. After Michelle arrived, I immediately felt calmer to have someone that we hired to help us have our Birth Plan, instead of the hospital’s routine.

One of my concerns was that the Doula’s would get in the way with the hospital staff. As it turned out, I was able to focus on my wife, while the Doula’s were able to help smooth over a lot of the communication.

Michelle brought her back up Doula with her, which was critical to our success. I was exhausted after being up most of the night, providing counter-pressures & emotional support. It really is a lot of work to help support someone going through labor.

We tried several positions to try and get our baby to change positions, but our 8 lb 10 oz baby came out Sunny Side Up. My wife was amazing! With the Doula’s help my wife was able to give birth unmedicated to avoid the slippery slope of interventions. 

I think next time we will hire two Doula’s from the get-go. I felt the support I needed to enjoy the beautiful experience of having our sweet baby born, and highly encourage anyone having a baby to hire a Doula, or even better, two Doula’s.

MAMA KELBIE SORENSEN