Shelia was such an amazing and important part of our childbirth journey, from the prebirth visits all the way to the postpartum visits.  During the first meeting with her, my husband and I liked her energy, approach, and communication style.  She’s warm, calming, and open-minded.  She was very supportive of our hopes for our birth journey.  Before our birth, she answered questions, made recommendations, and helped create strategies/techniques for pain management since we wanted an unmedicated birth.  She was very parter-friendly and made my husband feel involved throughout the whole process.  

She was by her phone and ready to help us stay calm at 3am when my water broke 2.5 weeks early.  She was willing to be with us either by phone or in person, based on our comfort level.  She was truly an advocate and a resource for us and what we wanted.  Because of her, my husband and I felt better informed of our options and more empowered to make decisions and have the birth that we wanted, including laboring at home most of the day.  During the labor process, she suggested several positions, helped my husband support me and feel involved, and coached me through my pain management strategies.  She did a million little amazing things to help us, like recommending we order food from the hospital ahead of time so that I could eat in the middle of the night (my post-birth mac-and-cheese was delicious).  She stayed with us for a few hours after the birth to make sure we were settled in and felt supported.

The photographs and birth story that she gave us are amazing and profoundly meaningful.  She captured moments that make me cry everytime I look at them.  We can’t imagine what this journey would have been like without her!  We will definitely work with Shelia again for our next pregnancy.  

Posted 7/18/2018