Fatima was my doula for my induced hospital delivery at Inova Fairfax. She remains one of the best…read moredecisions my husband and I made in our pregnancy and delivery journey, and we are so grateful that she shared in our greatest joy. She has a calming presence, a proactive nature and the composed resilience that make her a very welcome and extremely helpful presence during the most intimate and challenging experience of childbirth. She is also reliable and very responsive. Having Fatima with me felt like having a well-informed best friend to advocate for me and help me think through the many decisions I was making in my labor and reassure me in trusting myself and my instincts. She took the guesswork and decision fatigue away and as someone who is overwhelmed by information overload, this was priceless to me and saved me countless hours of research. My husband and I had several meetings throughout the pregnancy where Fatima explained all things labor and delivery related. Her presentations were comprehensive, clear, and very interesting. These sessions were also used for her to learn our preferences. Answering her questions about myself (for example: what brings me comfort, how I prefer to be attended to during pain) helped me learn more about my wants. She shared many helpful resources in our meetings, from documents to websites to books, and one particular resource about settling in with a newborn was extremely helpful to me as a new mom. Just prior to our induction, she walked us through what to expect, providing helpful concise literature on the topic. And before heading to the hospital she briefed us on some of the decisions we would have to make regarding the baby (such as administering erythromycin and vitamin k shot). When my contractions started, she gave recommendations to try for pain management as I labored. We really appreciated having someone there to take charge in guiding us so we could focus on being fully present in the moment. I believe that her gentle adjustments to my labor positions helped me dilate from one stage to the next. I'm very grateful that I was able to deliver vaginally and I would not have thought to make so many position changes while trying to manage the contractions. Having her to coach and direct that process was invaluable. As labor progressed, she was there to apply the comfort measures we had discussed ahead of time, playing the audio of my choice and sitting with me in supportive silence through the pain. She coached me alongside my husband as I pushed, and without skipping a beat when my baby was born, she took pictures and videos for us (a request we made ahead of time), helped me attempt to breastfeed, and even hand fed me my first post birth snack. I appreciated Fatima's follow ups postpartum as she would check in to ask how things were going, and when I shared my challenges, she provided suggestions that helped me greatly. She is a wealth of information and in working with her, I have benefitted from her knowledge throughout pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. I wholeheartedly recommend her as a doula and would be so privileged to be able to work with her again. Also, her Instagram is filled with excellent content for anyone in the season of babies, whether trying to conceive, expecting, or postpartum, or anyone who wants to support their loved ones through these seasons. I continue to benefit from her passion for her work, and I know you will too. If you are reading this at a time where you could use a birth doula, I wish you the safest pregnancy and delivery, and I encourage you to see if Fatima is a good fit for you, as I can guarantee that she is phenomenal, highly experienced, and so dedicated and committed to helping her clients in exactly the way they need.
