♥ Just a fabulous experience all around with Lauren. I am a second time mom, and was planning a completely different birth the second time around. My previous girl was born with an OB/hospital – ended in an induction and a vaccum assisted birth. This time I wanted to go with Seattle Home Maternity’s birth center, and a midwife.
Lauren was local to me, but that is not why I picked her. She listened to me, and what my husband and I wanted. We really wanted a support system for both of us, and that is exactly what we got. We are pretty straight forward people, and not the “crunchiest” of parents. I was concerned that I would get a doula that was too touchy feely (although if you wanted that from Lauren I’m sure she would accomodate that), and Lauren said she would really listen and pay attention to what I wanted when I wanted it.
She was a great support via text with dumb questions from me, false alarms, and just all in all really down to earth. I never felt like she pushed anything on me, but she gave me so much information and referrals to choose from. It was a great experience. The birth was beautiful, and it wouldn’t have been the same without her. My husband really appreciated the support from her as well.
Thanks Lauren!!!!
♥ I cannot recommend Lauren enough! My husband and I hemmed and hawed throughout my pregnancy about if we should hire a doula. I wanted someone more experienced there to help me through the natural labor I was hoping for, but we wanted it to be our experience and it was a lot of money. Finally at around 32 weeks we decided to start interviewing doulas and we found Lauren. We are SO GLAD we did, and she was instrumental in ways we couldn’t even imagine!
From the very beginning Lauren got us. We would try to express things to her, and she would instantly understand what we meant and how that would fit into our desired birth experience. While we hired Lauren for her help during labor, she was monumentally helpful before and after as well. She provided me with exactly the support and information I needed when we found out baby girl was breech at 35 weeks and again as I approached 42 weeks and a hospital transfer. Afterwards she helped me process my feelings about my birth experience in a way no one else had been able to. And during my entire natural labor she was fantastic. Honestly, at the end of labor I couldn’t remember her doing much specific because I was so lost in labor-land. What she did, however, was support my husband so that he could be the support I needed (as we wanted), and to give him breaks so that when he had to run out to use the restroom or grab food or reheat the heat pack for my killer back labor or just sit down so he didn’t hurt himself I never noticed a lapse in support. I was free to focus on my own needs throughout my labor because Lauren helped to make things so seamless I didn’t have to worry about them. And afterwards my husband was extremely grateful for all she had done throughout. Even if I was too far gone to notice it much of the time, she was doing plenty (which was why I was able to retreat into myself and be too far gone to notice it)! Additionally, and this is a small thing but a big thing, Lauren grabbed our camera several times when she wasn’t actively otherwise needed and took pictures of our birth for us. I really wanted this, and we had talked about it ahead of time, but I didn’t want to hire someone just to take picture of our birth. Those pictures are so special to me and I am so grateful she stepped outside of the traditional doula role to take them for us.
Lauren was exactly the type of support we wanted and needed for our birth. She had a wide variety of tools available, and she offered them, but never insisted on them. If I said something wasn’t working it stopped instantly, even if it had helped every one of her previous clients. If I asked her to change something, she did it without missing a beat. She had no preconceived notions and really was focused on meeting our desires. Her calm but composed presence was amazing. This review feels so inadequate to express how wonderful she was, but we will definitely be calling her again for our next birth!
♥ Lauren was our doula for the birth of our son, Mac. We had planned for a home birth and after some debate as to whether we should hire a doula or not (we were worried about cost), thought it would be worth the additional support and so we found Lauren through our midwife. We absolutely made the right decision.
There are some people who have the innate ability to heal, comfort, and support others. Lauren is one of these naturals and on top of this has the training to back her up, as well as her own personal birth experiences. Through every painful and emotional moment, she knew exactly what to say and how to implement her tool kit of coping measures. She also knew when to jump in at the right moment and when to back off, sensing I either needed space or support from my husband or someone else. She backed up my husband in his support of me as well. During contractions she helped me focus on relaxing with calming words, touch, and massage. I think I must have told her she had magical hands many times.
We ended up having to go to the hospital in the end and were grateful she and our midwife came with us to help keep us on track with our birth plan as much as possible. The hospital staff also noticed her skills and commented how wonderful she was. We knew we were in good hands right from our first pre-natal visits with Lauren all the way through labor, and through the post-natal period as well. Her fees were also extremely reasonable. We highly recommend her as your doula and are more than happy to share more or answer any questions if you want to get our contact info through her.
Kelly, Woody, and Mac