Hiring a doula was a no brainer for my husband and I. We live 3000 miles away from all of our family and most of our friends, and with this being the birth of our first child, we were really looking for support and guidance through the birthing process. Shelia’s profile was on our birthing center’s site and after meeting her for the first time we had an immediate connection. Shelia is thoughtful, kind, and what I appreciated most is that she is open to all means of birthing a baby and can personally speak to both medicated and natural options. There was never a moment that I felt judged based on a decision I made and she never made me feel like any of my questions silly or uneducated.

I went into labor unexpectedly and four weeks prior to my due date. The energy was calm, collected, and when I was ready, Shelia was available. She immediately connected with my nurse who brought her up to speed medically, connected with my husband to see how she could best support him, and made sure that I was set up to have the most successful birth I could. As labor progressed she guided me through different methods like the ball, rocking chair and tub and ultimately, I birthed my beautiful daughter naturally. After we gave birth, Shelia photographed our first moments as a family (which was so uninvasive that I dont even remember it happening). About a week later, she gave us a letter (addressed to our daugher) which was our birth story. It was SO emotional reading it and reliving all of those special moments in bringing our girl into the world!

Our primary motivator for hiring a doula was to fill the void of support from family. Shelia has actually become a part of our family and will forever be a part of our daughters birth story, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We will most definitely be inviting Shelia to be a part of any additions we make to our family and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for that extra guidance and support.