New parents Ellen and Nate reflect on their positive birth experience with Janel by their side.
Janel guided Ellen and Nate to sway in union to help bring their son deeper into Ellen’s pelvis during active labor.
Finding out that I had a marginal cord insertion at our 20 week scan was the tipping point in our decision to hire a doula. Even though we felt really lucky to have amazing care through Oula, we knew we wanted and needed extra support. We set up Zoom calls with a few doula's that Oula recommended and Janel was instantly our favorite. Aside from providing more sessions (3 -5 more!) than any other doula we spoke to, she was professional, organized and warm. When we hired her, a weight was lifted and we felt immediate relief knowing that Janel would be part of our pregnancy journey moving forward. Pre-birth, our in-person and virtual sessions with Janel were structured and informative, so much so that we didn't even need to take a "new parents" class because we felt so prepared.
At 38 weeks I was induced due to IUGR caused by my marginal cord insertion. Even though we always knew that induction was a possibility, I had been hoping and planning to go into labor naturally and was super anxious. From the minute we were told we needed to go to the hospital, Janel was in constant communication with us and arrived prior to me being induced to help calm my nerves. She even brought her own massage oil, one from Aesop that she knew I loved and had tried to find with no luck, for me to use. It may seem like a small thing, but through the contractions it brought me a lot of joy and I was so grateful.
During labor, Janel guided us into positions to help move things along and when I needed breaks she'd massage my tension spots. When I decided to get an epidural 14 hours into my induction, Janel held my hands and told me everything was going to be OK.
We are so grateful to have had Janel in our corner and know that without her, our pregnancy and birth experience would have been much more stressful. I cannot think of a better gift to give yourself than Janel's support and we will 100% work with Janel again the next time around.