Birth Your Roots – Doula & Photographer

Erica helped my husband and me with the birth of our first child in March this year, so this review has been a long time coming. We spoke to a few doulas before we decided that Erica was the person meant to support us through my first pregnancy and the birth of our baby. Erica is exceptional! She is warm, knowledgeable, knows exactly when you need her, how to help and how much to help. These are skills that cannot be taught or learned, but has to be innate, which really makes her one of a kind. She is a natural caregiver and has an amazing ability to be very calming and reassuring, which is so crucial during labor. Besides being an enduring pillar of support for my husband and me during my very long labor, she was fantastic throughout my pregnancy from answering all our questions, to giving us tons of vital resources, to just being there (via email, phone or texts) especially the last few weeks of my pregnancy. Beyond being an amazing birth doula, Erica is a brilliant birth photographer, and has captured beautiful, momentous and sentimental photographs that we will cherish forever! She has left an indelible mark on our lives. Anyone would be lucky to have Erica as their doula.

When I started preparing for the birth of my son I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hire a doula. I didn’t have particularly strong preferences about how the birth should go besides avoiding unnecessary medical interventions. I wanted to try for a natural birth, but I was worried that a doula would be too «touchy-​feely» or worse, would pressure me or make me feel bad about choices or outcomes that didn’t lead me towards an unmedicated birth.
Meeting Erica immediately changed my mind. She was so warm, open, and knowledgeable that she quickly put me at ease. I am so happy to have met her and to have had her presence during my labor and delivery. From the first prenatal visit to the postpartum follow-​up Erica offered amazing support and consistently useful information that helped ease pain, fear, and anxiety.
During my nearly 48 hour labor Erica was crucial to helping me and my husband feel calm, comfortable, and in control. 36 hours in with very painful contractions that were still too far apart, she was incredibly supportive and helpful in making the decision to go to the hospital and ultimately to get an epidural and start pitocin. After that I was finally able to get some rest and the labor progressed smoothly from there; after 20 minutes of pushing (during which Erica was a great support) my son was born!
I’m so happy with how everything went and will forever cherish the precious photos that Erica took in the minutes after the baby was born. I would heartily recommend Erica to other expectant moms– certainly to those who know they want a doula and are really hoping for an unmedicated birth, but especially for those like me who aren’t totally sure what they want but know that they could use a strong support during the process, no matter how things ends up going.

Erica attended the home birth of our son as our birth photographer and was absolutely amazing. Not only was she totally respectful of the birth process, but her presence was both supportive and calming. I felt completely comfortable and at ease having her there which is so important when inviting another person to be present at your birth.
The pictures she took were absolutely incredible. She managed to capture the true essence of my birthing experience and I feel so blessed to have these photos to look back on. In addition, she is so sweet and thoughtful. I really couldn’t recommend Erica enough as a birth photographer!

My husband and I met Erica through the expectant moms group she co-​hosts in Cambridge on Monday nights. We liked her thoughtful and nonjudgmental perspective on pregnancy and birth from the get-​go. So when we came to the decision to hire a doula for our birth, there was no question that it was Erica we wanted by our side. Luckily, she was available!
We met with Erica several times before the birth. She listened to our needs and worries and helped us create a comprehensive birth plan. From the beginning, she was full of helpful resources, from belly mapping info and baby-​positioning exercises to hypnobirth recordings and suggested reading materials.
Our son was 9 days late, and Erica was very accessible and helpful in supporting our goal of avoiding induction, even when the doctors were pushing pretty hard for it. She suggested acupuncture to encourage labor and provided a list of recommended acupuncturists — and I honestly think that was what helped get labor started (contractions began 12 hours after I got poked!).
My labor lasted about 20 hours — and I’m not sure if I would have had the unmedicated experience I did if not for Erica. She was absolutely essential to achieving the birth I wanted. She gave us space during the early laboring we did at home, then arrived just in time for us to head to the hospital. Throughout the rest of labor, she was as present as she needed to be. When I got fatigued, she always had a new position for me to try. She made sure my husband ate and took breaks when he needed them. She was there with massage techniques and essential oils at the most important moments. She was never overbearing or pushy, just supportive, encouraging, knowledgeable and kind.
Erica’s photography is the icing on the cake of her services. It’s entirely optional, of course, but I absolutely recommend having her snap a few shots when she can! After having her there though the labor, it seemed perfectly natural for her to capture the first moments my husband and I spent with our new son. I almost cried when we got the pictures. They were so beautiful! We’ll treasure them forever, along with our amazing birth experience — all thanks to Erica.

This is written by my wife & I totally agree: My wife and I were very happy with Erica’s help during the birth of our first child. During our interview meeting, before we even hired her, she showed us exercises and gave us tips to help turn the baby into the optimal position. Then and during our prenatal visits she was very informative and confident while also fully supporting our goals and wishes for our birth. I ended up being induced so we did not have the experience of laboring at home, but Erica was involved by phone to maintain support during the induction process. Once I started active labor she arrived quickly and was a wonderful addition to the labor team. She was both a supportive and encouraging presence while also somehow not being too obvious and allowing my wife to be my primary focus and therefore the person I remember the most clearly from labor and delivery. When the midwife made suggestions for position changes, Erica spoke up with her own ideas. The best and most impactful suggestion for my entire labor came from Erica — it was for the final position for the actual delivery. It was something the midwife and nurse had never done before but after having spent the day with Erica they trusted her and agreed to try it. It turned out to be perfect for me and I am so grateful that Erica suggested it! It is a wonderful bonus that she also does photography. I’m sure we wouldn’t have thought to take even one photo immediately after the birth of our daughter and we are so lucky to have a bunch of gorgeous photos of our new family at a very unique time.

Hiring Erica as our doula was a wonderful decision. As first time parents we did not know what to expect so it was very comforting to have Erica with us during labor and delivery. it was great to meet with her prior to the birth to discuss what we wanted out of the experience and with her help, we achieved most of them. She made us feel very comfortable with the whole process. Also, her photography is amazing and we are forever thankful for the memories she was able to capture! We would highly recommend Erica to anyone!

Erica was our doula for the recent birth of our son and we are so happy we had her as a part of our team. From beginning to end, she was helpful, thoughtful, unassuming, knowledgable and professional.
Our prenatal meetings were great opportunities to set the tone for our birth, helping us to identify our needs and intentions as a couple while also building rapport.
Her attendance at our son’s birth was incredibly helpful for both me and my husband. She offered support, guidance and calm and consistent energy when needed. She was never intrusive, always knowing when to step in with words of encouragement and when to be a calm support, letting my husband and I work together through the process.
As a sweet bonus, she took some *wonderful* photos as we shared our first moments as a family of three — images we will cherish for years and will someday show our son as we tell him his story.
We would hire Erica again in a heartbeat and highly recommend her services!

After meeting with Erica and two other potential Doula’s for our first child, my husband and I decided to hire Erica and could not have been more thrilled/​happy with our decision.
From the moment we met Erica, we both felt a comfort that we knew we wanted from a doula. Erica was professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable in all areas (pre/​post partum and labor and delivery). She helped us prepare for our birth and reminded us that this was «OUR birth» and that we had a voice in the whole process.
During L&D, Erica was with us every step of the way and made us feel empowered. Her support was unwavering and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
Erica is also an extremely talented birth photographer, capturing the best (and emotional) moments during labor and after birth, while being unobtrusive and letting my husband and I enjoy those moments as a couple-​we feel so grateful to have those moments captured!
We can’t thank her enough!

Erica was my Doula for my recent birth (a VBAC). I cannot recommend her highly enough. She is kind, witty, supportive and empowering. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted a Doula or whether it would be useful, and I am now convinced that without her support and services I would have had another C-​section and still be recovering from it.
Before the birth she was very patient with my questioning. During the birth she encouraging and uplifting without being at all intrusive — instead she made me believe I could do it.
I will add that the photos she took are simply amazing. And very precious. One thing I really loved is that because I was doing it without pain medication I can’t really remember my husband being there that much as I was rather distracted. And she caught some really special moments of him looking lovingly at me. They are the nicest family photos we have ever had taken.

My husband and I hired Erica to be our doula for the recent birth of our first baby, and were very pleased with her services. For us, it was comforting to have someone familiar and supportive be part of our birth at the hospital, since everything else about the process was new and unfamiliar (since our OB is part of a practice, we didn’t even know who the Doctor would be!). Erica knew when to step in and when to let my husband do his part, and was never intrusive. She also took really nice photographs of our new family immediately after birth. What I also appreciated was the process of exploring and envisioning what we wanted the birth to be like ahead of time — this allowed me to get in a good mindset and made me feel like I had tools on hand for dealing with whatever came our way.