“At the last minute, I realized I wanted labor support for my attempted VBAC, and thankfully Susan was available. Susan, who has experience with a VBAC herself, provided the encouragement and practical support that I needed. She came to our house to prepare with us and had my partner and I go through exercises to learn the most effective pain management methods and style of support that we needed.
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect birthing team. With steady voice and hands, Susan coached me through pain management visualizations, reminded me to breathe, and cheered me on. She did a fantastic job working with my partner – jumping in where needed, but allowing him to take a lead role. She also worked very well with the hospital nurses and a midwife, who turned out were great. I’m happy to report that I had a successful natural vaginal birth and learned how satisfying it feels to be in control of your body and labor!”
- Mimi
“Cindy took the time during our pre-birth meetings to get to know me as a person; she was able to use methods that would best appeal to and help me personally. During childbirth Cindy helped me with pain by massaging me and helping me breathe for the entire 20 hours. She made sure I was comfortable and hydrated. At the hospital, I really appreciated how she made sure the nursing staff followed my birthplan goal and did not pester me with questions while I was having heavy contractions.”
-J.C.
“By the end of our labor we knew two things: that we were blessed to have our new son, Akiva, and that hiring Dolphin Doulas was the best decision we could have made. While our hospital experience was pleasant, our doulas were sharp observers and often read the signs of pregnancy minutes, sometimes hours before our nurses did. Susan saw that Mimi was in active labor simply by reading her body language, and knew she was in transition even when the hospital nurse was considering sending us home. When people ask us what we feel the benefits of having Dolphin Doulas were for us, we list a couple of things. First, the prenatal visits with our team of doulas gave us peace of mind that we’d be taken care of and have experts with us during the delivery. As first-time parents this was invaluable. Second, as we went into labor, Susan was available around the clock for consultation and answered any questions that arose, minor or significant. Third, as we went into active labor, we would venture to say it was even fun having Susan come to our place to do the unique Dolphon hypno exercises that helped us relax during deep contractions. Finally, in the hospital, Susan was a consultant and a partner. This is a service that we would both use again without question. We also just loved and connected with Susan, Cindy, Natalie and Katie– everyone we met in the whole group is fantastic!”
Thanks so much!
Lee, Mimi and Akiva
“I can’t imagine what my daughter Soheila’s birth would have been like without Susan. My husband and I relied on Susan for support, comfort, tips, advocacy, and pain relief and she delivered in every way. I decided to work with Susan because she gave the tour of the hospital where I delivered my daughter and she just had this nurturing, calming vibe about her. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. Susan was with us during the entire labor and delivery and what we appreciated most was that she patiently guided my husband through pain relief techniques and supported him so that he could support me. Her partner Jessica, though not required to be, was also present at the hospital and brought with her the same calming, peaceful feelings. I felt like I was in good hands throughout the whole experience. I also really appreciated Susan’s role as advocate and liasion with the hospital staff. That freed up my husband and my mom to simply be there for me and enjoy the experience. – Sierra
My experience with Susan was everything I could have wanted. When I met Susan, I was preparing for the birth of my second child and was extremely fearful of entering the hospital environment again after having had a disappointing first birth experience, (16 hours of induced labor followed by a C-section). Susan helped me work through my fears and encouraged me to find and practice a relaxation method that could help me through the labor. On the day my labor started, I was certain I was not in labor. I called Susan to let her know what was happening, and she told me that she was going to come over. Good thing that she did, because I was in heavy labor only an hour or two after she arrived. My goal was to labor at home as long as possible, and Susan’s experience and nurturing made that possible. With her knowledge of the birth process, she was able to gauge how far along I was, so we didn’t rush into the hospital before it was necessary. (If my husband and I had been alone, we certainly would have left hours earlier.) Susan helped me to get comfortable by using different positions, birthing props, and helped me walk around to speed things on.
At the hospital, she provided constant care that was essential for my goal of a non-medicated VBAC. As soon as we arrived at the hospital, I was overwhelmed by the harsh lights and constant chatter of the staff. Susan did everything possible to help keep me relaxed during the labor. She applied cool compresses to my eyes, fed me ice chips and applied counter pressure to my back. All of these essential comfort measures she provided without a word of direction from me. I was far too concentrated on remaining calm and handling the contractions. Susan also helped my husband to be as useful as possible during the birth by showing him techniques he could use to help me. She also supported him by making sure he got something to drink and a break from time to time. In short, I believe the success of our non-medicated vaginal birth after C-section was in great part due to the fantastic help we received from Susan. Her instincts, knowledge, and heart make for an incredible person and a wonderful doula.”
- Phyllis
“Susan is an awesome doula! I had a very difficult labor and she was there every step of the way trying to find ways to help me, and to help my husband help me through it. She’s an attentive listener and has a wealth of knowledge/ experience to share. My husband and I felt comfortable with her from the start. She is also trained in massage and reiki. I highly recommend her services.”
- Jeannie
“Susan is simply amazing, both as a doula and as a mediator. She was a tremendous help during the last few weeks of my pregnancy, helping both my husband and I navigate the difficulty of the unknown process of birth. During my fast and furious labor, Susan was invaluable and a great addition to the birth team with her calming presence and wise advice.”
- Milena
“I, admittedly, entered these proceedings as the embodiment of skepticism. Doula, I said to myself. Doooula. In my ignorance the word alone conjured up images of impersonal intervention, an obtrusive wedge between my pregnant wife and I, some inauthentic hippy vestige of commune life reducing the father to a functioning sperm donor while the women conduct the business of birth. After the events of this past week and the incredible birth of my first child, I can honestly and fully admit how miserably mistaken I was, and have graciously and humbly welcomed both my baby, and Dolphin Doula into our family with open arms.
With little protest from me apart from the “huff’ in my tone, we attended a “Meet The Doulas” evening at the Dolphin Doula studio in San Mateo. I was the only male on that particular evening (although that is not always the case) and the offerings of fresh fruits and teas and the subdued conversational tone and the pervasive estrogen in the air in part solidified my silent skepticism that this was at best an unnecessary extra and at worst artificial. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The hour we spent there went well. Well versed mothers returned to the Doulas, praising them for past performances and inviting them to be part of their current births. A second-timer vocally cleansed herself of the burden of not having opted for a Doula with previous pregnancies and cried out how horribly impersonal and forced, and cold and mechanical the experience had been with just the doctor in the “baby factory” hospital.
Our assigned group of Doulas made successive visits to our home over the months leading up to the event and made a deliberate and welcomed effort to learn my wife and I. I’m not much for guided relaxation techniques or hypnosis and the like, but I remained open to several ideas they exercised until the Doulas, myself and most importantly my wife were comfortable with their plan for ushering our baby into the world. They recommended literature and resources that we devoured and used to our advantage. They embraced my wife’s detailed Birth Plan which I teasingly titled My List of Demands developed an agenda of advocating on her behalf with the medical staff, concrete ways to insist on my wife’s specifics, and prepped us with their ideas for visually, auditorially and spiritually abating pain, and controlling breathing and anxiety.
Saturday morning the contractions began in earnest. I called the Doula immediately, in need of some personal reassurance. Susan was the consummate professional even while being aroused from pre-dawn slumber. One of the first things she said was “That’s completely normal”, while I gave her the details of what was happening, a play by play account of cramping, bleeding, laughing, crying and pacing, a theme she repeated over the course of the next 24 hours, and exactly what anyone needs to hear in my anxious state of excitement, confusion, ignorance and apprehension. She coached us by phone over the next few hours of “early labor” encouraging us to enjoy the comforts of our home as long as possible, as per my wife’s wishes all along. When Susan arrived at our home she was a vision of preparedness with her bag of tools, tricks and supplies, and an attitude of quiet confidence and experienced expectation.
I will spare you the details of our time at the hospital except to say that the card we were dealt at the table of labor was far from an ace, and such is life. We exceeded 24 hrs of grueling labor only made bearable by my wife’s inner strength and resolve and Susan’s presence and adherence to my wife’s wishes. She was the perfect liaison between ourselves and the medical staff, the perfect resource for fielding our constant questions, the perfect anchor for my wife to ground herself on in a sea of uncertainty with constant waves of pain washing over her. She asked the doctors the questions that were undoubtedly screaming in the heads of my wife and I, ushered us through breathing exercises and lengthy, soothing tub and shower treatments, all the while assuring us that each new turn and circumstance was “completely normal”. Susan effortlessly afforded my wife and I the privacy and intimacy we needed at times, and then soldierly returned to her post by my wife’s side, sometimes of her own accord, sometimes at the loud guttural prompting of my wife calling her name across the room. Susan orchestrated the proceedings beautifully, the hydration, the physical and spiritual nourishment, the coaching and encouragement, the massage and a calm collected voice for my wife’s ears to return to again and again throughout the internal screaming of the ordeal.
In the 25th hour, for physiological reasons and through no fault of Susan’s, it became necessary for a cesarean section. While this was a terrifying prospect and the last thing that anybody wanted, it was a prospect that everyone has to consider. Dolphin Doula’s maternal wisdom, academic preparation and infinite experience made even the most unexpected turns of events manageable and magical. (I want to add here that Susan far-exceeded her 8hr shift and stayed by our sides the greater part of 15hrs. The transition to the next “on-call” Doula on our team was both necessary and conducted seamlessly)
I’m writing this review, unprompted, from a genuine place of wonder and amazement and immeasurable gratitude to the women of Dolphin Doula. My beautiful wife and newborn baby are nursing by my side as I type. Every sunrise these days brings curious new experiences and unrivaled, joyous, growth and connection with ourselves and the world at large and I’d be errant to omit the importance of Susan and the Dolphin Doula staff for graciously and gracefully seeing us through to these days.
My thought for expectant mothers: I know you can do it without Dolphin Doula, I don’t know why you would. And to fathers: Trust the process. You’ll be glad you did.”
- Mike Heenan (Husband of Regina, Father of Jaelyn)
“I wanted to thank you and your team again. Melissa was absolutely fantastic and she truly made the birth of Abigail a pleasure for our family. Speaking from the mans perspective I was a little skeptical when my wife suggested we get a doula. As usual my wife knew better than me. I know deep in my heart that the 26+ hours of labor would not have gone as well without Melissa’s help. She kept my wife calm and focused through every contraction and it was obvious from the Abigail’s heart monitor.”
- Kevin
