We did not know what to expect hiring a Doula. We interviewed several people and far and away felt most comfortable with Rachel. It was a no brainer to hire her. She was an invaluable resource during my wife's pregnancy. Extremely knowledgeable, open to different perspectives and does not pretend to have all the answers, nor does she act as if it's her way or nothing else. Far from it. My wife works in medicine and I worked in medical administration for many years. We did a ton of research on pregnancy, development and the birthing process and i feel we were probably better prepared than most first time parents. Our birth plan had a lot of flexibility built in to it and we certainly didn't expect reality to comport to our ideal, but what happened in my wife's labor just shredded all of our plans in to ribbons. I could hear the cosmic giggle from the hospital room.We basically ended up with the inverse of our birth plan. Without Rachel we would have been lost at that point. She is great at all aspects of her job, but when it comes to the peri-labor period (game time) that is where I would say she is truly world class. She is an incredible advocate and communicator and has an aura of being totally locked in to what she is doing. Admittedly, i've only worked with her, but i know quality, genuine care and competence when i see it. I'm sure there are other people on her level, but i can assure you there are not that many. Rachel is VERY intelligent and genuinely kind and this is her calling, it's obvious. I'm pretty sure she would be very good at whatever she applied herself to, but i'm sure glad she has applied herself to this. I am tough to please and can be difficult because i expect a lot from people. With Rachel though i have no critiques, no notes. Except that she should be cloned and put in every L&D ward. You need to hire her, you will not regret it. She is solid gold! read more