Calm and Confident Doula Care

We are so happy that we chose Melinda to be our birth doula. Melinda is the epitome of professional. We interviewed a number of Doulas, however Melinda’s professionalism caused her to stand out from the rest. Unlike a few of the other Doulas we interviewed, she did not put a time limit on our interview. Melinda lit up when she spoke about her work, which she is so clearly passionate about. She thoroughly answered all of our questions and had questions of her own to ask. Even before we hired her, she took notes on her ipad as a way to keep track of our hopes and needs. She continued to document everything on her Ipad throughout our time together.
Melinda touched base periodically over the course of my pregnancy and seemed to genuinely care. Though she was a few hours away with her family for the days leading up to my labor she was incredibly responsive and made us feel that she was eager to hear from us. I do not know if I could have lasted as long I did with an extended three-​day prodromal labor if it weren’t for Melinda’s calm soothing guidance and support.
Over the course of these days Melinda regularly offered to come over and help me through my contractions, when we finally took her up on her offer she got me through what was probably the most physically challenging night of my life. I give her a great deal of the credit for getting me through, so when I finally checked into the hospital I was 4 cm dilated. This could have very well been what allowed me the vaginal birth that I had hoped for.
Melinda was also a great support to my husband. We both always felt that she had our backs. (For me, both literally and figuratively.) Melinda is no nonsense and serious about what she does. If you decide to hire her as your doula you can rest assured that you are in good hands. Without passing judgment, she will help you to make important informed decisions. She has found the perfect balance of being an advocate and support to her clients without overstepping in a hospital environment.
Lastly, we were grateful for the two pre-​natal and two post-​partum visits, where again Melinda gave us plenty of her time and expertise without ever making us feel rushed.. Melinda’s rolling scale fee system is incredibly fair as you never know how challenging or long your labor will be. We highly recommend Melinda if you are searching for a Birth doula.

1 year ago today, I was eagerly waiting for my labor to begin. I contacted Melinda one month before my son was born. I had 3 doulasto interview, but I knew I wanted to hire Melinda when I met her. She was professional, calm and friendly. Most importantly, it just felt right. I know this sounds vague, but I believe its the first thing you consider who to hire as your doula — compatibility. One needs to feel safe during labor, and trusts the birthing team. Your instinct will tell you who is right for you, just like how falling in love on the first sight works.
Highing a doula was one of my best decisions for my pregnancy and birth. As our families were all very far away, I needed someone to support me and my husband during labor, someone with knowledge, and not emotionally attached like family does (my mom totally freaked out when we phoned her during my labor. That was not what I wanted. Giving birth is scary enough for new moms!)
Melinda is just like her business name says: calm and confident! The whold birth was a blur right after baby came out, but I can still remember her caring and encouraging smile every time I looked at her crystal clear. It calmed me down a notch instantly. Melinda is not a big person, but I was surprised how strong she was! For a long period time during my labor, I was standing and inclining on her with my whole pregnancy body weight! Even my husband couldn’t stand it. I seeked for her support more than my husband’s during that whole time. Not only she supported me, she supported my husband. She made sure that my husband have food and rest as needed. My husband said after my birth that we totally need her for our next baby, and I agree!
Melinda provided me with excellent postpartum service too. Every time I called, she replied right away. My emotions would be too much to handle without her help during that 1^st month!
All in all, I highly recommand her! You will not be disappointed!

Melinda has been an absolute life saver for our little family. I really don’t know how we would have survived the newborn days without her. My post partum period has been really lovely and I attribute a lot of that peace and confidence to Melinda’s support.
Melinda joined us 10 days after the birth of our first child. We had absolutely no idea how to care for this little one and were sleep deprived and just a mess. She provided newborn care instruction, breast feeding help, light housekeeping, overnights and even let me borrow books and baby carriers to try out. And excellent new mama support. She gave me not only the tools to care for my baby, but the emotional support I needed.
If i have another baby Melinda will be one of the first phone calls we make!

Melinda has been my doula with the birth of my first child in 2008 and my second child in 2010. The first time around we were the new and nervous expecting parents. Melinda not only helped us prepare for the birth and the postpartum but also helped us identify and address our concerns (its not as simple «10 finger and 10 toes and we are good»). She called me through out my pregnancy and after to check up on me and talk about anything that an expecting mom is dealing with but is outside of what my OBGYN would talk about, meaning more then stages of labor and medical concerns. I had a 25 hour back labor which started at 2 in the morning. Melinda was there from the time we called her to come at 4 am till a few hours after our baby was born, plus the postpartum visits. It was a relief to have her update our family in the waiting room in a calm and reassuring voice of what was happening through out the labor. Melinda took turns with my husband to breathe with me through the 17 hours of contractions, was a huge source of support when I faced my fear of the big, scary epidural needle, and held my hand when the damned thing was being inserted, and reinserted (but I won’t go into that, it was great having her there though). During the rest of the labor, once the drugs kicked in, she remained with me, helped me push for 3 hours and helped my husband and I mentally prepare for the C Section. Melinda was our patient and calm support person. Our whole family in the waiting room appreciated her help during my labor. We could not imagine doing this without her and knew then that we were going to hire her again.
During my second, much harder labor, Melinda was again our doula for the whole time as well as the pre and the postpartum visits. As soon as we knew that we were expecting again we called her up so that we could reserve her in advance, way in advance. I highly recommend Melinda due to her knowledge, calmness, non judgmental approach and understanding what a woman goes through during labor. I am so glad that we found her.

When my husband and I found out we were pregnant for the first time, I really wanted to get a doula. This was the first pregnancy for both of us. For me, I hoped a doula would give me peace of mind and I thought it would help take pressure off my husband.
After interviewing a few doulas, we decided on Melinda since she seemed to understand and agree with our wish to have a doula who would facilitate, but would not interfere in our communications with our OB/​GYN. We also did not want a doula who was going to push her own birth philosophy on us.
Turns out, Melinda was a very bad choice. She is very pushy and she clearly annoyed our OB/​GYN who we really like and respect. Most of all, she added to the stress of the birth experience since she annoyed both me and my husband. We just wanted her out of there! She is very opinionated and by the end, she had insulted just about everyone in the room.
If we have a second child, we still would be open to the idea of a doula, but we definitely would not choose Melinda.