I can't believe our luck in finding Kelly. We had our first baby in October 2021 and hired Kelly about six months before our due date. We picked her because she took time to get to know us in our initial interview - not just our birth preferences but our personalities and interests. This remained true during all the time we spent with her. She really paid attention to our needs and concerns. By the time we got to the birth, I felt like we had a close friend in the room with us.
The birth itself went so much faster than any of us expected I had prepped with Kelly to do all sorts of movement and pain management techniques, but we didn't have time for any of that! Kelly stepped up in a way that I didn't even know I needed. She managed the hectic environment. She made sure my husband ate. She made sure I understood what the nurses were saying to me. She put my hair into a ponytail and helped me find my chapstick :) I don't think I could have done it without her!
I reached out to Kelly after seeing her post on the Westminster mom facebook group promoting her services as a doula and placenta encapsulation. This was my second pregnancy and I was interested in the placenta capsules to help me with my postpartum. Kelly scheduled a zoom call with me and it was a chance for me to get to know her and the process of placenta encapsulation as well as her to learn more about me and my pregnancy. As a Latina, I have often been dismissed by my doctor on my pain or concerns and having a chance to name that out loud with Kelly gave me so much power through my storytelling.
My first labor and delivery happened during March 2020 1 day before the lockdown began, I delivered my baby girl at 35 weeks and was induced with pitocin and got the epidural. I did not ask or know the pros and cons of either medication and felt robbed of how I envisioned my delivery. Once I got home I struggled with low milk supply and was so stressed every time I fed my baby or had to pump. I had severe Postpartum Anxiety (PPA) and rage and I felt so alone and not worthy as a mom.
When I got pregnant with my second baby girl I wanted to feel empowered and educated on the choices and decisions that were best for my health and my babies health. After sharing my story with Kelly and telling her my concerns with having another preterm labor and having PPA during postpartum, Kelly connected me with another doula who had openings in March. I connected so well with the other doula as well and began the process of getting educated at birth, I read a hypnobirthing book and learned techniques that help lower pain and increase oxytocin.
Kelly picked up my placenta from the hospital and then delivered my pills at home and continued providing support throughout my postpartum. The placenta pills have worked amazing, I did not have PPA or rage and my milk supply has been phenomenal. If I knew what a difference having a doula there to support me through pregnancy and beyond I would have hired Kelly in 2020! I have nothing but positive things to say about her services. She is an amazing doula and overall person to have by your side!
My husband and I were on the fence about working with a doula for the birth of our first child, but we are incredibly glad that we chose to work with Kelly. She is knowledgeable, kind, and reassuring — like a wise girlfriend and coach rolled into one. We appreciated the chance to get to know her and talk about our goals, anxieties, etc. for birth in the months beforehand, and to learn about options for pain management and discuss our plan for labor. It was also helpful to me to have someone to text and chat with throughout my pregnancy after appointments and when I thought of random questions. Kelly made it clear that no question was stupid, and she was always super responsive.
After a slow start, my labor progressed quickly and I had a much faster birth than any of us had expected. I had fully planned on getting an epidural after using other forms of pain management (Kelly was always supportive of this decision), but suddenly I was out of time and it wasn't an option. Her calm demeanor and positive words were helpful at a time when I felt kind of panicked. She was the one who called the nurse into the room when it was clear things were moving quickly, and the hospital staff wasn't prepared. There wasn't even a doctor present when my daughter was born, just Kelly and my husband and the nurse — and holy cow, we're glad Kelly was there! At one point my husband jokingly asked the nurse if he should scrub in and she hopefully asked, "Are you a doctor?!" (He's not.) It all worked out fine and after the birth, Kelly did everything from helping me fix my ponytail to making me a juice drink when I felt dizzy and tired. She also took beautiful photos for us that we will cherish, and was almost invisible in doing so. Because of her, I got to see moments like my daughter being weighed for the first time (which I missed when it was actually happening).
In short, I cannot recommend her enough.
I will never not have a Doula ever again - and I hope for every kiddo in our family that our Doula gets to be Kelly! Especially in the unsure times of Covid, Kelly helped offer support to my husband and I in a time where having a baby in a hospital had been turned upside down!
Kelly has a fun demeanor - she brings that to every room she walks into. In moments where a joke could be cracked, she was quick to lighten the atmosphere of the room - a quality I truly enjoyed when I was laboring (both at home and in the hospital!).
Kelly is wise - she helped us know some of the details that would happen immediately post-birth so we could go into the labor room educated. She never gave her opinion without us asking directly for it, but told us what to look up & what the potential options were. Especially with this being our first baby, I was so grateful to know ahead of time about antibiotic ointment & delayed cord clamping...two things I would have previously had NO idea about!!
Kelly is a gamer - once my water broke, it was game time. From the moment Kelly entered the room, she was "in the zone". She knew how to coach my husband to help and and was at my head offering encouragement between contractions. During contractions, she was quick to offer physical relief by smashing my hips together! If anything can feel good while in labor, it's that maneuver!!
Kelly is an artist - she got to bring a camera in to our labor room & after having conversations about it, knew what kind of photos we desired. The moments she captured are worth millions to us. She has an eye for the beauty of birth and knew how to capture the moments that would be empowering and evoke emotion for YEARS to come.
I can't say enough about our experience with her. She added so much joy to our birth and continues to support us in the early days (& hopefully forever more!) of our family!
Kelly was an absolute GIFT to our pregnancy journey! As first time parents, my husband and I had no idea what to expect as we journeyed into parenthood. Kelly's support, wisdom and encouragement were unmatched! She was incredibly easy to communicate with and responded quickly to our emails/texts. She provided a ton of evidence based research and information that allowed us to make informed decisions when it came to our birth plan -- which my husband and I found super helpful!
I could go on and on about how incredibly valuable Kelly was to our pregnancy journey but what I remember most is her calm and steady presence. My birth went nothing like I imagined it would, and Kelly's steady presence brought a lot of peace and assurance to my husband and I.
I would highly recommend her, and we will definitely be giving her a call if/when we get pregnant again!
Kelly was recommended to me by a friend, and I am so happy she was! I got in contact with Kelly early in my pregnancy and we had a video chat meet-and-greet. Kelly is very personable and I felt like she was a great fit for me and would be a great addition to my labor and delivery story. She requested that I keep her updated on my appointments, including my chiropractor appointments, so she could stay in the loop with what my body was doing. She also sent relevant articles, gave advice, and was just there to talk. We had another video chat with my husband, and I appreciated how Kelly always wanted to keep him involved, know his thoughts and feelings, worries, etc. It helped her get the full picture and let me know she cared about my whole family. Around 36 weeks, Kelly came to my house (mask and all!) to further discuss my wishes for labor and delivery, as well as options for pain management. We had a great visit and, again, I felt really comfortable with her. I ended up delivering late, but Kelly checked up on me often to see how things were going, right up until my induction date. The day that I was induced, we texted until I told her I was ready for her to come in. She made sure I always had water and always reminded me to actually drink it. She kept in mind how long I had been doing any one thing for pain management and suggested different options every so often. During birth and shortly after, she took many many photos of me, my husband, and my new baby. I really love them! She captured so many things that I missed, and I love looking back at them. One of my favorite things Kelly does is take notes during the labor and delivery, and then does a debrief with you later (about 1 week postpartum). I didn't realize how therapeutic it would be to go back and remember or tall through my experience, but I really appreciated it. Overall, I had a wonderful experience with Kelly and would highly recommend!
Considering Kelly's personality and our common beliefs both spiritual and lifestyle, we hired her right away! My due date approached and pre-labor symptoms began. Knowing Kelly was an expert in everything pregnancy, I began to text her almost daily updating her on my symptoms and receiving really useful and compassionate feedback. Well... my due date came and went and I began to feel very insecure about having my baby on time. This was an extremely emotional time for me as I had my heart set on a natural birth with my doula. Kelly texted me daily and listened to my concerns with empathy to rival Mother Theresa! Not only did she offer the most perfect comforting affirmations, but she also continued to offer advice on how to induce labor naturally and safely. Finally, 10 days after my due date, labor was naturally induce. My water broke at home and my body was thrust into high intensity labor. My husband was an irreplaceable comfort during drive, however as soon as we got to the birthing center, Kelly leapt into action coaxing my hollering self out of the car. Moments after entering the room, my contractions intensified even more and Kelly allowed me to hold onto her arm, hips, and shoulders as the contractions waved through me. I remember feeling so physically and emotionally comforted by her feminine touch. Shortly after, I was pushing and Kelly continued to offer verbal and physical support with her soothing voice. I loved how Kelly listened to me between contractions and affirmed me instead of offering advice on how to cope with the pressure and pain. When it was time, Kelly helped me to the birthing tub and then naturally took a back seat while my husband stepped in to support me. During this time, Kelly captured the most amazing moments of the birth with her camera and later shared these priceless, raw, and absolutely stunning photos with us. Hiring Kelly was the very best decision we made and I couldn't imagine having gone through this season without her!
Kelly was caring, compassionate and a prayerful women of God. She made an immeasurable difference in the way I experienced my pregnancy through a pandemic. She gave my husband and myself the emotional and physical tools we needed to prepare us for L&D. She prayed for me more times than I'll ever know. She supported me and my husband through labor, reminding him of ways to help me and encouraging me to make informed, well thought out decisions as we labored. And when things didn't go according to plan she was present through it all. Even more, she helped me pick up the pieces as I recovered emotionally and physically postpartum.
She's an incredible doula. I am forever grateful for her service, her kindness and her spiritual support!
My wife and I are so grateful that we were able to use Kelly's doula services for the recent birth of our first child. We interviewed with several potential doulas before deciding on Kelly, and we feel we really made the right decision going with her. Kelly is so knowledgeable, warm, friendly, and professional. Her services were invaluable to us, and we recommend her 100%; especially for new mothers and fathers.
This was our first birth, and we had a an extremely positive birth experience with a long labor and very minimal pushing time at the hospital. We attribute a lot of of this to Kelly. Being able to labor at home for 25+ hours before going to the hospital helped us minimize the risk of medical intervention during our birth, something that my wife was terrified of. Once we were at the hospital, Kelly helped me feel comfortable asking the nurses and docs questions. I also took a lot of queues from her, (helping my wife push, giving her relief with massage, suggesting different laboring positions, and giving her overall support). Kelly's presence, as well as her advice and laboring relief techniques were crucial in helping my wife get through one of the scariest days of her life. We couldn't be happier with her services.
When/if my wife and I choose to have another child, we will likely be calling on Kelly for her doula services again.
My husband and I just had our first child, and we cannot imagine not having Kelly throughout the pregnancy. Kelly is warm and nurturing. We felt very comfortable with her from the beginning. Kelly was an excellent resource throughout the pregnancy whether it was questions about the physical aspects or emotional/mental support. For my actual delivery, my goal was to labor at home for as long as possible. Kelly came over when we asked her to and helped us progress at home. She was all about what I felt comfortable with. We worked through different positions and techniques to help things along. When contractions picked up in intensity, Kelly and my husband helped get me through. At the hospital, she was invaluable as support for not just me, but also my husband. She was able to help him ask the right questions and get information from the staff. I am very happy with our labor and delivery experience, and I truly believe it would not have been as good without Kelly. We will definitely be recommending her to other expecting parents and will work with her again, if we have another baby.
We used Kelly's doula services with our second baby. Our first pregnancy and delivery were nothing like we had hoped for and we were hopeful that having a doula would allow us to feel more satisfied the second time around. What I expected when we asked Kelly to join us for our birth was that she would be a helper and coach on the day of our birth. What I found was that Kelly was all that and more. The most surprising part of my experience was the ongoing support throughout my pregnancy. Kelly regularly checked in with me after doctors appointments and just helped me troubleshoot everyday issues such as nutrition and exercise within pregnancy. Kelly's encouragement to me was powerful, as my second pregnancy also did not go exactly the way I hoped. She helped empower me to advocate and not give up on my hopes for this birth, in spite of the things that had come up in pregnancy. I did end up with an induction, which was not my hope, and even with the induction Kelly's support allowed me to carry on to the point where I was able to deliver my daughter naturally, which I no longer believed was possible in the context of an induction. Kelly was fun to have in the delivery room, many times helping me laugh to help lighten the mood. She was also strong and deeply encouraging. I will never have another baby without her!
Kelly was an amazing doula to me for the birth of my daughter! My birth experience did not go as I was hoping, but Kelly's support and encouragement made a huge difference and made the experience much more positive! She took turns with my husband pressing on my hips during every contraction, let me squeeze her hand, was a support person for my husband, prayed for me when things got really tough, came in the middle of the night and stayed until morning, texted and called me before and after the birth and always let me know she was there for me, and was so supportive when I was not at my best. I don't think I could have gotten through that birth experience without Kelly. Kelly is very knowledgable about birth, labor positions, comfort techniques, and breastfeeding. Kelly is an awesome doula!
Kelly was great! She helped so much with the birth of our 3rd child. We had interviewed her once and scheduled a follow up but our baby surprised us by coming 3 weeks early. We called Kelly from the hospital around 8 pm to see if she would be able to make it and she travelled all the way to Sky Ridge in time for the last part of labor and the birth of our daughter at 11:30. She has a very supportive and easy-going approach and was supportive of our choice to have a hospital birth with an epidural. Despite the fact that we hadn't gotten to know each other very well yet, I felt very comfortable with her and appreciated her calm and encouraging presence. I highly recommend Kelly!
Throughout my pregnancy Kelly was always a source of knowledge and comfort. Any time I had a question she knew the answer or found it out- she even sent me videos of exercises to help me with what I was going through! She was a constant source of encouragement through my labor, she was there for me after with so much help with breastfeeding, and she loved on me and my baby! I would recommend Kelly to anyone- she is the most kind, caring, empathetic, hardworking, encouraging person I have ever met! I honestly don't know what I would do without her!
Kelly was nothing short of amazing. She provided my fiancé and I with so much warmth, knowledge, and comfort during our labor experience. We felt like we could completely count on her during our pregnancy to answer any questions or concerns we had. We loved her and can not wait to have her as our doula for our future children as well!
Kelly was fabulous. My fifth child was the first labor and delivery having a doula, and I was not disappointed! Kelly was at my side when I needed her, encouraging me and helping me to relax when things really got rolling! I am truly grateful for her being involved in the process!!
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