Comments for Your Birth Journey

Comment on Baby K! by Kenda Todaro

Kenda Todaro — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 01:39:00 +0000

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted a doula for support during labor, but I didn’t realize what a vital role Heidi would play throughout my pregnancy and beyond… She was the there for my first ultrasound and answered endless questions during the following months, offering advice and guidance. Heidi has extensive knowledge and resources about everything related to pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

We also decided to hire her for our childbirth classes. It was nice to cover the material in the comfort of our home and to have the course tailored to our specific needs. Once again, Heidi was a wealth of information and completely put our fears at ease. To my surprise, I became excited about giving birth!

When my water finally broke in the middle of the night, Heidi was the first person I called… And she was still there with me, 45 hours later, when I finally gave birth to my son. During that time, she intuitively knew exactly what I needed, providing comfort, support and insight when I had to make decisions.

Although I did not end up having the birth I planned, I look back on the experience fondly – Heidi helped me understand what I was going through during each phase, made me feel confident in my abilities and tirelessly encouraged me throughout the whole process. I couldn’t have made it through labor without her comfort and wouldn’t have known how to push without her coaching.

Heidi has an amazing ability to care for others and an almost psychic ability to know what someone needs or wants. She was my closest ally during pregnancy and has become a dear friend. I can’t imagine having gone through this experience without her… I’m not sure when or where I’ll have my next baby, but Heidi will definitely be there! She has a genuine gift for what she does!

Comment on Baby K! by Karin Czulik

Karin Czulik — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:05:03 +0000

Heidi was absolutely wonderful. She was there every step of the way during Kenda’s 45-hour labor and delivery, and of course afterward. Her calmness, confidence and caring made all the difference – for all of us. Thanks, Heidi, for your support! You’ll always be in our hearts.

Comment on Happy Birthday Baby E! by Kinsey

Kinsey — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:26:38 +0000

Heidi, Thank you so much for coming alongside us on this journey. We honestly couldn’t have done this the way we dreamed, the way it happened, without you there. You helped me relax and focus, and helped David feel comfortable through the whole process. There’s just no way we would have been able to do that on our own. We are so thrilled to have had a natural, water birth. But most importantly, we have a healthy baby. AND, thank you so much for taking so many wonderful pictures!!!

Comment on Baby “C” has arrived! by Jen, Tony & Chloe Marie

Jen, Tony & Chloe Marie — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:44:44 +0000

We are so glad we had Heidi as our doula. She took the time to get to know us in our pre-birth meetings. I was able to share how my family has a history of quick births and that I was under chiropractic care for my hips. She listened and reassured me that she would be able to help and support me in my labor experience. She helped us prepare for the big day and gave us suggestions of things to bring to help keep our energy up through the labor process. When the time came she was awesome and there for both of us. She helped remind my husband to eat as well as made sure I kept my energy up. We thought everything was going great, I had been in labor for 4 hours and then found out that my labor had stalled. The hospital wanted to send me home and I knew I couldn’t go home then. Heidi helped coach me through different positions to help get my labor get going again, she also spoke with our midwife on duty and told her about my family history and that I should not leave the area. Next, she turned to me asked me what was it that I really needed at that time and I said and IV (I was feeling light headed from loosing my food earlier). Heidi helped me tune into myself and make the request and the hospital listened. Soon after my labor picked up and went quickly with Heidi helping me to move into new positions and listen to my body. She helped make sure that everything in our birth plan was followed and not forgotten about. The birth of our little girl was wonderful and we are very glad to have had Heidi there to help us move through it. We would highly recommend her.

Comment on Happy Birthday Baby N! by Georgina

Georgina — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:42:57 +0000

It is great when you meet people you feel so comfortable with that it feels like you knew them your whole life. That is what happened for me and my husband with Heidi.
I had a great, super easy pregnancy, and everyone told me I was going to have such an easy labor and birth. I listened, but kept my mind open. I knew that you can’t control every aspect of your experience of birth, but one of the few things that I could choose is to be surrounded of caring, knowledgeable, like-minded people to support me, my husband and my baby in the choice of having a natural childbirth. Heidi was a fundamental part of the team that created a lovely, relaxing atmosphere for my labor. I treasure the memories of that night, it was magical how much love and presence everyone showed, and how beautiful was the enviroment we created together. When things didn’t progress the way they needed and we had to transfer to the hospital, Heidi’s knowledge and experience was key to support me decision and to help me find the best option. I felt so relieved to have her in those circumstances. My daughter was born through C-section with the care of an amazing team. She is a healthy, happy baby! It was incredible to see her being born and to see my husband hold her for the first time, tears in his eyes, all marveled like me at the miracle of life. I would be forever grateful!!

Comment on Happy Birthday Em!! by Heidi Biddle

Heidi Biddle — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:03:01 +0000

As the expectant father of a recent birth attended by our doula Heidi Biddle, I can honestly say that Heidi turned out to be the key ingredient in achieving the drug-free, vaginal, midwife-attended birth we hoped for, rather than an intervention filled trip to the hospital.

After about 20 hours of labor, my wife was ready for some pain meds – birth plan be damned. While everyone in the room knew that this was not really what my wife wanted, there is only so much reasoning a husband can do with his laboring wife. Moreover, the midwife’s role is not to talk the mother into or out of personal choices. This is where Heidi filled the void beautifully.

Heidi was able to cajole a couple more epidural-free hours out of my wife, while also helping me ease the concerns of our conflicted midwife who was unsure of how serious were my wife’s demands for pain medication. That extra time and effort Heidi coaxed out of my wife was all we needed to provide our baby girl with a drug-free birth. I’m almost certain that had Heidi not been there for us, we would have ended up at the hospital. THANK YOU, HEIDI!

-J. Scott

Comment on Happy Birthday baby E! by Clayton

Clayton — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:27:09 +0000

When my wife first brought up the idea of a doula, my initial thought was this was another uncovered expense that we could do without. We had already hired a great nurse-midwife, so what would a doula add to the equation? It turns out Heidi was the best addition to our birth team I could possibly imagine. Heidi won me over with her knowledge and expertise, and the reassurance that she was there to help me, the soon to be father, who had no clue what birth and fatherhood was about. Leading up to the birth of our daughter, Eloise, Heidi kept me motivated and on task with details that I normally would have let my procrastination get the better of. She was comfortable to be around and also responded to emails and text messages answering questions as they popped up. She became my birth book that I never quite finished reading.

When the big day finally came and my wife went into labor, Heidi was my first phone call. As the contractions started getting closer and more intense, Heidi came to our house and helped us cope with the stress of labor. After 24 hours of labor and no sleep, Heidi was my saving grace. After a total of 50 hours of labor and a transfer to the hospital, Heidi was still by our side providing encouragement and support. We successfully had a vaginal birth of a beautiful 8 lb. 3 oz. baby girl, and I was thrilled to have Heidi in the room with us to celebrate the occasion.

Comment on Happy Birthday baby E! by Margo

Margo — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:00:02 +0000

Heidi was incredible and played a huge role in making our birth experience a positive one. We planned a home birth and the moment we met Heidi we knew we wanted her to be a part of it. Long story short, after what seemed like days of laboring at home, we made the decision to transfer to a hospital. We had a long hard labor and barely escaped a cesarean (thankfully). I had really wanted a home birth, and I know that I tend to be hard on myself and those around me when I don’t stick to my plan. But, thanks hugely to Heidi, here I am 3 weeks later feeling very positive about our birth experience. In the meetings before the birth Heidi helped us sort out our priorities for our birth (ultimately, happy healthy baby and mom) and helped us to understand all the different options and consequences if we did decide to change our birth plan, which we did. Ultimately, she helped me feel like the decisions were my decisions (even surrounded by the doctors and nurses in stressful moments) and that I was educated before making those decisions.

Heidi was with us for a LONG time during my labor and she was present and positive and amazingly supportive the entire time (despite serious sleep deprivation and a very cranky mom at times!). At one point, before we made the decision to transfer, I looked at my husband and felt the panic rising in me and saw that he didn’t know what to do to calm me down…but Heidi did and she was right there. At the end of it all he said “I am SO glad that Heidi was there!”

Heidi truly was on our team the entire time. From the moment we began working to her and still today she is available for questions (even at odd hours), to give advice and reassurance and, when you really need it, with a cool washcloth and a drink of water. She was there to remind my husband and I to eat and hydrate (even when I resisted!) and was always a step ahead of all of my needs.

Thank you, Heidi!!

Comment on Happy Birthday Perry! by Megan

Megan — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 23:57:57 +0000

My husband and I were open to a drug free birth but after attending a hospital birth class we felt unprepared, after all neither one of us had ever done this before. In searching for resources we decided that a doula was the right choice for us. Luckily a friend recommended Heidi and upon meeting her we knew it was a great fit. Having Heidi felt like having a secret weapon, we didn’t have the growing anxiety as our due date approached and past, we knew that we had someone who was not only going to support us through the labor but someone who was our advocate and had our interests at heart. As for our big day, we simply couldn’t have done it without her!!! Heidi was such a calming and comforting presence in the delivery room. She was able to provide guidance we needed and decrease our stress, which really helped to make the experience a lot more joyful. Having Heidi by our side made this a wonderful process with a great outcome a natural birth and our sweet little Perry. I hope that you choose to work with Heidi the experience is priceless.

Comment on Welcome to the world Brixton! by Erika

Erika — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:07:42 +0000

After learning all about the benefits of a natural childbirth, we knew that having an experienced doula would help reduce the chances of medical intervention. After interviewing a few different doula’s my husband and I felt we connected greatly with Heidi the most. Her warm and supportive personality was exactly what we needed to feel confident to pull off our desired birth plan. With a history of c-sections in my family, I was worried I might not have the birth I truly wanted, but once my labor started Heidi was there to encourage me and reinforce the idea that my body was doing what it was made to do. After 13 hours of labor our little man came into the world naturally without any conflicts.
Not only was Heidi such lifesaver for me during my labor knowing exactly how to support each contraction, my husband also greatly enjoyed having her coaching. We couldn’t have done it without Heidi’s experience and encouragement.
Our birthing experience was overall such a positive and wonderful experience for both of us!
Thanks Heidi!