LET'S CONNECT

Charlotte was my doula and an integral part of my home birth team.

Before she arrived, I have to say my labor felt really understaffed. No one in the room had ever been present at a birth before and so this was completely unknown territory. Charlotte arrived and said the exact words I needed to hear, “You have plenty of time.” “Do I?” I asked. She said, “Well you are still speaking in full sentences, so yes.” Her words were like balm to my fears and she continued to set the tone for an incredibly beautiful birth to take place. She asked, “Is there any music you want to put on?” and handled the soundscape of my birth space. Once the music was on, I began to drop in fully to the experience of giving birth because I felt safe to do so knowing she was with me, witnessing my process, and advocating for my needs.

When the rest of the birth team wasn’t quite on my page, it was Charlotte who spoke the words they needed to receive to get them on the same frequency as I was and brought us together as a team. It was Charlotte who was there giving me the perfectly sized bite of popsicle anytime I managed to surface from my primal place enough to say “pop.” She was the one who validated me in the positioning I took to make labor more ease filled, saying, “Oh yeah that’s a great position. Trust your body’s instincts, your body knows.” She was there to support my body going through the greatest dance of a lifetime.

She was also there to support my partner, empowering him to be as involved in the birth-giving as possible. At one point, I wanted my partner in bed with me as I labored. Charlotte literally supported him with her knees in his back in order to keep him on the bed so he could support me without me having to move or change positions to accommodate space. Because of her physical support of my partner in that moment, I felt safe and held enough to actually fall asleep between waves. Charlotte was the person who could watch what was happening and understand the timing of things to motion my partner around from my head when the time was right to catch our baby. She was the one to whisper in his ear, “take off your shirt” so he could go in to skin to skin with our child.

It is because of Charlotte’s experience, training, and intuition that our birth flowed with such ease. She was the eagle eye protector there every step of the way providing a sense of grounding a peace needed to bring about the most precious being in the universe. We are forever grateful.