I can confidently say that I wish I had Sam as my doula for all of my births. This was my third birth and I decided to go unmedicated and to have Sam in my corner made it all the more possible. I had a precipitous birth and she jumped in seamlessly, offering words of encouragement, advocating on my behalf, and using her knowledge to support me through the experience. I will be forever thankful to have had her by my side.

When we found out we were pregnant we knew we wanted to attempt our dream and have an unmedicated birth. We had chosen a hospital that is experienced and generous with unmedicated laboring women since this was our birth. While being pregnant Sam had encouraged and empowered both my husband and I. She canceled out all of the others who would scare us into going the other way. Throughout it all Sam was a great help. I had prodromal labor for about 6 days, Sam was a comfort through that time and helped me to understand the cues my body was giving, while encouraging me my baby is coming soon, and that we are all alright.

When labor had officially started, she was ready and made it to us in record time. Her presence truly helped us to have a calm environment, she was friendly with the nurses, and helped everything to stay stress free. She worked with my husband to relieve the pain of contractions, and help move us around to progress labor. It was really helpful to have her there in addition to my husband so that there was always someone to focus solely on me when nurses came in, and also for them to switch off on relieving the pain of contractions.

Towards the end I was in pain and fatigued, but Sam being a mother to her own boys encouraged me to run through the finish line to get our boy. Six hours later our baby boy was born! She was there to rejoice with us, and document the most monumental moment of our lives, the birth of our firstborn. We are both extremely grateful, and looking forward to connecting with her during our next pregnancy, labor and birth.

We cannot stress enough how grateful we are to have had Sam there. She helped make this a good delivery. We are hoping Sam can be present at our future births; she was wonderful beyond expectations!

With my first three children, I had uncomplicated, medicated labors with no doula.  When I was pregnant with my fourth child, I decided I wanted to have an unmedicated labor, if no complications arose.  My husband and I believed that having a doula would be a good idea but we were hesitant since we never had one before.  After peppering Sam with all our questions, we felt good about our decision and boy, are we BEYOND glad to have had Sam as our doula! 

Prior to labor, she met with us and went over what to expect with a natural labor, ways for my husband to help me, and labor postures to help me throughout contractions.  I had prelabor contractions for two weeks before I went into real labor and was able to reach out to her and she would check in on me.  When my water broke, I was terrified because I felt like my water breaking first would inevitably lead to medical interventions.  I reached out to her and she instructed me in methods to help my body progress into natural labor more quickly.  She patiently waited by the phone until we felt we were ready to not only have her with us, but also go to the hospital. 

Having someone who was knowledgeable, had a calming presence, and be our personal cheerleader was a huge blessing.  She was able to help guide us through the contractions and transitioning through the different stages.  She was very respectful regarding physically touching my body and would always ask for permission first, ask if counter-pressure was helping, etc. She supported my husband as my lead support partner through this experience.  She was very respectful to the staff and she also advocated for me. For example, when I wanted to get into the birthing tub, there were some setbacks from the staff finding the right parts, forgetting my request, etc. but she made sure I was able to get into the tub during transition, the hardest part of labor.  She also encouraged me when I would experience a contraction that was especially difficult by reminding me how each of those contractions were making progress in the labor – another thing I needed to hear during transition. Having someone who was calm, respectful, knowledgeable and joyful made the experience of birthing our son even more incredible. 

I write all this to say that if you are thinking about hiring a doula, do NOT hesitate in choosing Sam! My husband and I wish we could have had her for our previous three labors and I would advocate for the invaluable presence for doulas at all labors, medicated or unmedicated! If we ever have another child, we will not hesitate to have Sam as our doula again.