Xtina, Josh, Rose, and baby Kit

Vicki is a dream doula! Working with her was an absolute pleasure. She appreciated, respected, and welcomed all three of us in conversations about every aspect of pregnancy, birth, and post-birth, including separate check-ins with each of the non-pregnant adults to ask how she could support us and what we were likely to need during the birth process. She not only remembered the right pronouns for us but code-switched smoothly in medical situations where we’d opted not to disclose them. She provided us with a wealth of useful, accurate knowledge, and always communicated clearly and warmly. She even made time to visit Manhattan and tour our hospital birthing center.

At the hospital, our doctors and nurses loved her. She knew just when to be pushy and when to stay out of the way. She followed our lead and was entirely supportive of our decisions; for example, she taught and recommended breathing techniques for pain management during contractions, and when we made the shift from “let’s try this without drugs” to “GET ME THE EPIDURAL NOW” she immediately buttonholed a nurse and had the anesthesiologist brought in. She texted informative, cheerful updates to our parents. (Parent-wrangling: possibly the most important of all doula skills.) Before, during, and after delivery, she was endlessly comforting and reassuring, and her calm presence and aura of experience and confidence helped us to stay calm too.

Since our child was born, Vicki has visited us and stayed in touch to make sure we’re doing well, and has cheerfully answered all our questions about breastfeeding and other parenting matters.

Our only regret about not planning to have another child is that we can’t hire Vicki again!

Xtina, Josh, Rose, and baby Kit