[Before starting, I feel I should disclose that Mona is a good friend of mine and has been since before I became pregnant]
I feel so blessed to have had Mona as my midwife for my pregnancy and birth of my first child this past year. The more time that passes and the more I hear the stories of other mothers the more I realize just how excellent the quality of Mona's care was. To sum up my experience with Mona in a few words, I felt: empowered, safe, informed, respected, so happy and grateful.
Things I appreciated:
- Mona answered all my questions and I had A LOT.
- She really knows her stuff. She knows what birth practices are evidence based and which ones have unnecessarily become standard procedure. This is huge. As I learned more and more about birth even after giving birth, I was delighted to find out that all the best practices were part of mine. The lactation counselor who visited me in my first week postpartum and after asking me questions learned that I had a natural unmedicated home birth, breastfed exclusively starting soon after birth, did skin to skin time, delayed cord clamping, etc and commented "you really had the ideal birth. Most moms don't know to do all that and later wish they did." I thank Mona for helping me understand all those healthy practices.
- Mona always treated me as the one in charge of my birth and even reminded me that I as the mother am the one who gets to choose how I want my birth to be rather than tell me what I need. Truly empowering and supportive.
- At the same time when I wasn't sure what decision to make Mona would talk through it with me and gave me resources to educate myself. Truly went above and beyond. She loaned me several books from her personal library, was available to answer questions even outside of visits by text and phone, and she and her partner Fatima connected me to some amazing resources in the community. I learned SO MUCH about birth.
- Mona truly cares about your wellbeing as a whole person not just on the physical level. She went above and beyond to always make sure I felt heard and check in on how I was doing from pregnancy to postpartum.
The only downside? Mona set such a high standard for me that now it's hard to find other healthcare professionals who live up to it! I'm so grateful because she has helped me to see what true care can and should be. Now I can never go back to being a passive "patient". She has helped me to believe that my wellbeing is worth it and I am the one in charge, which has been truly life changing for me. I am so grateful and I can't recommend Mona enough! read more