​I was pregnant and new to the Charlotte area. I had two children previously in my old home town with an OBGYN I had known for years and in system that was more patient-centered (in my opinion.) Back at home, the same doctor cared for me throughout my pregnancies and delivered each of my babies. In Charlotte – I was surprised to experience that a single doctor did not commit to my care throughout the pregnancy and the doctors were clear that they could not make a commitment to try to be there for my delivery.

 

Times had changed – the last time I was pregnant was 11 years ago in addition to being in a different place. Given that I was forty years old and had a life-threatening pre-existing condition – the pregnancy was categorized as high risk. Given my high-risk status, I was filled with anxiety of seeing different doctors for each prenatal visit and not knowing who would deliver our baby. I was nearly seven months pregnant and had to switch prenatal care providers for a variety of reasons. Terrified. Exhausted. Stressed. I was about to break down.

 

Then, when my husband and I were in a childbirth preparation class, we met Stephanie Rodriguez, a doula.  I never used a doula before and I did not know what role a doula played in the pregnancy. But during the class, my husband and I were so impressed with Stephanie’s knowledge and how she interacted with the other expecting parents that we wanted to hire her. She did not solicit her services in that class. In fact, we hunted her down. We could not remember her name. She was the smart doula in the class who ‘kept it real’ by answering questions directly, explaining the risks and rationale in a logical yet optimistic manner. We called the hospital system to find out who she was. The hospital staff had to get her permission to give us her contact information – and then we connected with Stephanie!

 

She immediately made me feel at ease and made a commitment to me that she would be there for me as I craved consistency of care for the remainder of my pregnancy.  She provided the right balance of care for me and partnership with my husband. She met with us in our home – provided in depth education on what to expect. It was the little things that gave me comfort. She provided me with positive affirmations and helped me to understand the internal strength that I had to do this given my condition. She planned out the labor process with us. One visit was in our home where she coached my husband and I to practice various labor positions for delivery and prepare for the unexpected. 

Stephanie was patient-focused and was always provided me with emotional support. As the time came closer for delivery, she texted with me in both the early morning and midnight hours to give me the peace of mind I needed when I needed it. I knew that she was busy. She had a family of her own, other clients, another job – but she had a way of making me feel like I was her only priority. She was like superwoman – always there when I needed her. When the time came to go to the hospital, she met my husband and I there right away. I was in labor for 17 hours with several complications and she stayed with us at the hospital the whole entire time. In the beginning, she huddled with me and my husband and we came up with a game for what role she would play in interacting with the hospital staff vs. my husband’s role. She quickly established rapport with the nurses, midwife and doctors. That rapport was greatly needed because the labor and delivery processes were touch and go and an all hands-on deck approach was needed. My blood pressure dropped and spiked out of control. Anything that could go wrong – went wrong (the epidural was only effective on half of my body, severe back pain, etc.).Consequently, Stephanie’s planning for the unexpected paid off. I wanted a vaginal delivery and I was afraid that towards the end we would have no choice but to deliver the baby via C-section. I was fully dilated but the baby was stuck – he was crooked and not directly in alignment with the birth canal. While my husband handled the tough conversations with the medical staff – Stephanie stayed with me and provided emotional support, nourishment when I was tired, pain relief through some special way of massaging my back and feet. I don’t know how she did it, but she had a natural way of easing the pain. 

The doctor and midwife tried everything to get the baby to come out from trying to reposition him to different labor positions. Finally, the midwife looked at Stephanie and said ‘I don’t know what else to do’ and Stephanie looked at me and said “do you want to try the position we practice at your house?” I said ‘yes.’ The midwife and doctor yielded and Stephanie jumped into action. She helped me to turn into position, coached me through breathing while in this unique posture. The back pain went away and the baby starting moving into the birth canal. Within the hour, I was able to push and felt our baby moving down with each push. Momentum was on our side and he was born healthy. But it wasn’t over. My placenta became stuck and wouldn’t come out.

 

Suddenly, I have a beautiful newborn baby but I had to remain in ‘deliver mode’ while the doctor literally scraped the placenta out. Ugh. I share these intimate details because it correlates directly to Stephanie’s care she provided as a Doula. Stephanie stayed in the room with me and my husband through this complication. She ensured that even though this was happening, I still received the dream delivery that I wanted. With my husband keeping his focus on me – Stephanie grabbed my hubby’s camera and took pictures of our baby boy as he was getting cleaned and weighted. If Stephanie was not there, we would not have been able to capture those moments (as we were tied up in resolving the placenta complications.)

In the end, the nurses and midwife kept saying to me ‘where did you get that doula – she was amazing!’ ‘She was the best doula I’ve ever seen at this hospital’ ‘did you know that most doula’s leave after you begin labor, she stayed all the way until the very end?’ I had no other doula experiences to compare, but all I know is that my husband, Cayden (new baby boy) and I were beyond impressed with the service she provided. If someone was looking in on this experience, they would believe that Stephanie was my childhood best friend or a close family member the way she went above and beyond to take care of me. I am proud to endorse Stephanie as an extraordinary doula who takes the time to listen to your needs, brings a purpose-driven philosophy to her practice and adapts her approach to meet your family’s individual tailored needs.

Sincerely,

 

Monica and the Sauls Family