Testimonials

To all the mothers, fathers, and care practitioners who have provided me with these glowing reviews: Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Some of these testimonials were sent directly to me, many were taken from my yelp profile, and some from my doulamatch.com testimonials.

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Where to start…. I would recommend Sophia to anyone looking for a doula. She has found her niche as a superhero to expecting moms. There really isn’t enough i could say to express my appreciation and thanks to her. The short of it is that we did not have much time to get to know one another before our estimated date and Sophia made herself a part of our family and birthing team with ease. She was able to listen and incorporate our needs, and hopes and help us formulate an approach that was implementable and empowering and gave us the birth of our dreams. She wasn’t just a member of our birthing team, she was a beacon of light and knowledge and danced the dance of labor with me in a way that i could have only hoped for. I could not have had my baby, in such a beautiful way, without Sophia, and she will be our doula for all future babies.

The long of it is we came late to hiring a doula, at around 36 weeks, and the three of us (daddy, Sophia and myself) worked hard connecting and communicating . We had taken some hypno-centered birthing courses and wanted a natural home birth but could only afford a hospital birth. She advocated and hunted and was able to find midwives that could work with us on our budget and we were able to move forward towards a home birth. Whenever we had something we were interested in incorporating (pressure point touch, massage, different relaxation techniques, bonding strategies) she would find techniques and bring them to us. Her communication skills helped us develop, to our surprise, a deeper connection to one another and our baby and we left every meeting more prepared and ready for our birth. I was an educated and very happy pregnant woman, and we were a very connected and excited couple, Sophia was able to magnify those things and leave us feeling very capable, and empowered. She always communicated with my partner as much as with myself (a very important quality in my opinion), even though she was there to do a lot of work for me, the mom, she was ever empowering and supportive of dad. When our labor began, and Sophia arrived, she confidently eased and soothed the three of us through our 30 (or so) hour labor. She was always there for me but never stepping on dad’s feet. And here is where it is hard for me to really explain the magic of labor, but Sophia knew where to touch to get me to relax, where to push to ease the rushes, when to urge me to move, how to get me to breathe, and when things got complex and scary (we had to transfer for a cesarean, not due to any homebirth related issue) her words reminded us that we had the most beautiful birth we could have, we did the work, bonded on levels i didn’t know were possible, and that any birth was still our birth. The hospital was a less daunting experience with her on our team. We would not have our birth be any different than it was, and are so thankful to Sophia.

From Daddy:
From the moment we met Sophia she had a very comfortable aura that evoked both confidence compassion and fortitude of knowledge in regards to the birthing process.
There was a natural transmission whereby we went from being complete strangers to having an understanding of each other that felt intimate and empowering

When my husband and I were expecting our son, we were overwhelmed by how many decisions we suddenly had to make in such little time. We realized that as first time parents, a birth doula would be extremely helpful to us. As soon as we met Sophia, we felt comfortable with her. She’s gentle, non judgmental, bright, encouraging, knowledgeable, and overall a joy to be around. Our choice to have Sophia as our birth doula turned out to be one of the best decisions we made.

Before the birth, we had prenatal sessions with Sophia. We were impressed by how easy it was to coordinate dates and times with her.  We always felt more relaxed and confident about our son’s birth after our time with her.

My labor was very long, lasting several days and we saw many staff members come and go. Without her help, we would have felt so lost in the procession of rotating hospital staff. Each time a new set of doctors and nurses made their rounds with medical suggestions, Sophia was integral to helping us create a space where we were in control. She was incredibly helpful with pain management, and she worked tirelessly to guide me through a sea of contractions. Even a nurse who was once a doula for over fifteen years was in utter amazement by how effective she was in helping me breathe through the pain. To our amazement, Sophia humbly pointed out a critical complication that saved me from a lot of grief and greatly facilitated with a smoother delivery. Also important to note is is that Sophia offered my husband moral support and she gave him much needed breaks after his long stretches of not eating or sleeping. All the way through, up to the final push, she came through for us in more ways than we could ever count.

I imagine a time far into the future, a day when our son will be a grown man. He will one day share with his children the story of his birth. And that story will be remembered as a beautiful birth experience of which we owe so much to Sophia

– A, May 2013

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My husband and I couldn’t imagine the birth without the dedicated, knowledgeable and loving support of Sophia. From our first meeting she demonstrated a deep caring for us and our birth. She took the time to connect with us and learn about what we wanted from the birth. She is easy to talk to and has a true ability to get to know people in a short period of time.

I felt comfortable sharing with her our dreams and fears for the birth process. She utilized activities that helped my husband and I tap into what we really wanted as well and then helped us in learning to let go of our expectations.

At the birth she was a true advocate for our birth plan and supported me immeasurably. She let my husband take the lead and stepped in when he needed her too, which was really fantastic- I know he was grateful she was able to strike such a balance.

Sophia was responsive to my needs during labor and able to figure out just what would help- even if that met just observing.

She treated all the medical staff with respect and had the foresight to ask questions that escaped me during labor.  When we faced challenges during the labor, I felt confident and reassured by the way she talked through options and the implications with me. It was a blessing for us to have someone with our birth plan intentions at heart present things from a more objective perspective (i.e. less emotional and clinical).

Her post-partum followup was also great- by then I felt like I was meeting an old friend! We will definitely use Sophia for our next birth and I could recommend her to any pregnant mama!

I wish I could give her 10 stars!

C, November 2012

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Hiring Sophia as our doula was one of the best decisions we made in preparing for our labor/delivery — much more valuable than all the preparation classes that we took.  She was very open and honest in our pre-natal meetings about what we wanted for our labor/delivery.  She respected our birthplan, while at the same time adding valuable input from her experiences and generally making everything less stressful for us (first time parents).

When labor began, having Sophia there was a godsend.  She was always a source of positive energy and emotional and physical support.  She was the one constant in a rotating pool of doctors and nurses where you were not getting clear or consistent signals on how things were going or what should happen next.  Sophia was our rock of positivity to hang onto when our labor was not progressing well and stretched into the second full day.  She was amazing at coaching during the contractions, and she worked tirelessly through many, many hours of labor and then pushing and finally was there for our birth.

She also was there for us for a post birth visit.  We highly recommend Sophia to anyone who is seeking a doula, or even only just considering a doula.

R, Dad, 12/2013

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First of all let me start off by saying, that everyone should have a doula at their birth to help support them.  If you are looking for a loving, knowledgeable and all together wonderful doula, look no further!  Sophia is amazing!  She was such an integral part of my whole labor process and made sure that everything went according to my birth plan.  She acted as an advocate between us and the nurses/doctors and asked all the right questions to make sure that we were making informed decisions throughout the whole process.  She stayed up with me and my husband for over 24 hours and was there giving massages, helping me find my breath and giving much needed words of encouragement.  Above all else, Sophia is the type of person you can really feel comfortable with and open up to.  She is there to listen and give you whatever you need during your labor.  I absolutely love her and would definitely recommend her to anyone looking!

M, August 2012

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“I was with Sophia and the family for many hours. Sophia had an amazing connection with M, and also had at the same time awareness about everything going on around her. She took initiative and I did not feel like I needed to guide or give advice at all. As a midwife, I often find myself needing to do that with doulas and Sophia really was everything the family needed. If I needed anything she was right there as well.”

– Juli Tilsner, LM. Hombirth Midwife, Awakenings Birth Services

March, 2013