I cannot recommend Jen enough! We are a couple that tends to over analyze, research, and prepare for everything as much as we can. Even with all that and it being our second birth, we relied heavily on Jen’s expertise as we dealt with decision after decision through labor. When my water broke, we talked immediately and she gave us some tips to get labor moving and calmed my anxieties of a similar sequence of events with my last birth ( that led to more interventions than I wanted originally). Jen helped us navigate pressure from our midwife to get induced and also figure out what reasonable options were at each decision point, discussing evidence based research and asking the right questions for us to discover what we wanted to do. She never pressured us into a decision but rather helped us figure out what WE wanted.
When she met us at the hospital, I immediately noticed her presence as she made sure I was hydrated, provided comfort measures through back labor and a premature urge to push, and explained what was happening at each step. I was able to have the natural birth I wanted and I truly believe I wouldn’t have without Jen’s help! She stayed after the birth to help me breastfeed and process everything that happened. Even at our postpartum visit, Jen talked about parts of the birth that I didn’t realize I had questions about, validating what I was feeling. She even provided my husband some tips on how to process his own labor experience and how to navigate parenting a toddler through this transition.
In every aspect from labor preparation, labor, to postpartum, Jen made each experience easier for us to navigate and I can look back and know we made the right decision at each step of the way. I could say so much more but will cut off here and just say - hire her!!