Being the man, you might think you have it easy; especially compared to the one actually giving birth.  This was our first child, and I can tell you from experience, as the man, and the father, it was truly the most difficult experience.  Hiring a doula was the best thing I did, and not probably, but for sure.  Without a doula I would have been completely lost, especially this being our first.  (Beth came in early in the morning, just a little bit before my wife went through contractions, and had a fresh cup of coffee for me, and from that point, she told me to leave and do what I needed to do; eat, smoke, or whatever I wanted to do.  I ran outside, had a quick smoke, and came back to my wife.  Beth was there sitting by my wife the whole time, until she started contractions.  Beth was there the whole time coaching my wife, and massaging my wife the whole time, as I was walking around frantically not knowing what to do, but she was there and made sure my wife and I were ok.  At one point, she told me to go have lunch, it was around noon or so, and I told her that I didn’t have an appetite, and I just stayed.  I felt really bad after an hour of her telling me to go have lunch realizing that she hadn’t had a lunch yet, so I told her to go and eat something, and she didn’t, she stayed with us the whole time, giving my wife points on how to make the contractions go easier.  During the actual birthing process, I thought I lost both my wife and son, not knowing what to do, but Beth was calm and made me calm down too, and said that everything is fine and normal, a few minutes later I heard my son crying- my wife went through a pretty hard labor and was a little out of the norm.  After the birth, Beth stayed for another hour to make sure all our questions were answered and that we were all comfortable, and after that she left so we could be with our baby.  2 weeks after that, Beth came to our apartment to check up on us, coached my wife some more on being a new mom, and just really helped us and made us comfortable.  Words cannot describe how helpful Beth was to us, and for as much as she charged us, she was definitely worth 3 times more than that, and my wife and I both decided that we were going to hire Beth for our second child.  Whoever decides to have their first child, or more, you should definitely hire a doula, and I recommend Beth from personal experience.

In thinking about the birth of our first child my husband James and I wanted someone with experience and knowledge to be there that could support and coach both of us through the whole process. We were so glad that we chose to have Beth as our doula! She was fabulous and did more for us than we could have ever imagined! She helped us well before the birth by going with us to our doctor appointment, talking with us in depth about a birth plan and giving me specific exercises, stretches and remedies to prepare for the birth. Beth would always keep in touch with me and she answered all of my questions and concerns when I had them. The night I went into labor Beth came to our house in the snow around 3am! Talk about dedication!!! She was with us every step of the way until our daughter was born 18 hours later! My goal was to give birth as naturally as possible and Beth was a huge part of me reaching that goal! I was able to give birth without a c-section, epidural or even pain medications. Beth’s advice from the start to “take each contraction as they come” and to “focus on something through the contractions” helped me immensely. Beth gave me the courage I needed when I doubted myself that I could keep going at times. Her experience helped me through the difficult parts of labor when I thought it would never end or that I wasn’t strong enough to continue. She was the voice of reason and always pointed out my strengths and what I could focus on next. She gave so many helpful suggestions about positioning, when to go walking, go in the jacuzzi tub, etc. and was a wonderful birthing coach! My husband was so grateful Beth was there to help him through the process and give suggestions so that he could participate as much as possible too. Even after the birth she stayed until all 3 of us were settled and she came and visited once we were home to see how things were going and if we had any questions or concerns. I am extremely grateful to Beth for all of her efforts! She is a wonderful, thoughtful and caring person who knows a lot about the birthing process. Beth will forever be a part of our birth story and we are so happy that she is! Her passion for the birthing experience and to empower women in their journey to motherhood sets her apart from the rest. I highly recommend Beth as a Doula!