Beautiful Birth Experience Testimonial - Calderdale Hospital Birth Centre
Virginia was absolutely amazing throughout our pregnancy and birth and helped us achieve a very special water birth exactly in line with our birth plan. I would 100% recommend her to anyone considering a doula.
Virginia visited us three times for one on one sessions during pregnancy, these meetings were very useful for informing us all about the process of labour and birth as we were both first time parents. She listened really thoughtfully to what we wanted and helped us make a birth plan in line with our preferences. I really appreciated that she respected all our choices and wanted to work collaboratively with the midwives in the birth centre. She also sent us messages of support throughout pregnancy and useful links to resources when I had questions. It was clear that she really cared about supporting us, remembering when we had appointments and checking in on how things were going. My pregnancy went overdue by a week and she was incredibly helpful as a sounding board when I was considering my options around induction as I wanted to avoid this if possible.
On the day of the birth her support was absolutely amazing! Her and my husband were an amazing support team, making sure there was always someone there for me, and helping me advocate for support in the birth centre where I needed. The labour progressed quickly for a first time birth, and Gin came to our house as soon as she thought I was in established labour and then helped us decide when we should go to hospital. There were a couple of times in hospital where the midwives weren’t convinced I was progressing in labour, and questioned whether I was ready to go into the birth pool and then whether I was ready to start pushing. Both times Gin gently and respectfully helped me think through my options and advocate for myself. In both cases we were able to suggest and agree trying the next step that I wanted, and both times it helped progress things. I felt so much calmer and better able to focus on the birth as I always felt like I had a personal support there – whether it was a hand to hold, someone reminding me to drink, suggesting a different birthing position to try, and giving so much encouragement. Having someone there who has seen it all before and knew what we wanted was so reassuring, and it meant her and my husband could take breaks so I always had someone there for me.
I feel so lucky that I can look back on the birth as a truly positive experience and am so grateful to Gin for her huge role in making that happen and helping us bring our son into the world safely.