Emily may have saved my entire labor experience of 24 hours - she was super helpful, encouraging, calming, and supportive, and I can't imagine what my labor would have been like without her. She takes charge, is calm and knows what she is doing, and she was helpful even in the few weeks leading up to delivery. She took time to meet with us twice (once to interview her in person and see if she was the right fit), and then again to have a plan in place and make sure we knew what our options were for various things. My baby was transverse, and she referred me to an acupuncturist who got the baby to turn head-down, and recommended exercises to do to at home to help get the baby in the right position.
My labor was the opposite of what I thought it would be like - my water broke 2.5 weeks early in the middle of the night and I went to the hospital with no contractions, and wasn't dilated. I was on pitocin for almost 24 hours, and once the contractions started, it was really painful. Emily was in the hospital with us for 12 hours and she was immensely helpful knowing what to ask the nurses for, she was reassuring and encouraging, and helped me get into different positions to try to get the baby to drop more and help the labor along. I could imagine some doulas being overly encouraging to the point of sounding like an annoying cheerleader, but Emily was nothing of that sort. She also was not the "crunchy granola" type of doula and was very open to my birth plan involving an epidural, etc.
Towards the end of labor, after the baby had been delivered and whisked away for measurements, I was left to deliver the placenta. Since my husband was with my son and the doctors, Emily stayed by my side and it was so nice to have someone there to reassure me. She even took great photos of the 3 of us right after delivery. Even at 2:30 am, she went to grab a sandwich for me since I hadn't eaten for 24 hours and stayed for an hour or so to make sure everything was okay and we were all doing well.
I can't thank Emily enough for being there on one of the most important days of our lives - the memorable parts, and the parts that I wish to one day forget ;) My labor was pretty rough and long, and I don't know how I could have done it without her. She's reasonably priced (I had talked to a handful of doulas and compared prices, some of them being outrageously expensive) and she was worth every penny. I had interviewed a handful of doulas and I found Emily's demeanor and personality was a great fit with ours. I've recommended her to a lot of other people and would happily hire her again if we have another baby! read more