Your Blessed Birth

We chose Ashley to be our doula for the birth of our third child. We were attempting a vba2c, and wanted someone with experience helping vbac moms. Ashley was the perfect person for our situation.
It’s hard not to love her when you meet her, she’s extremely personable and engaging and so very encouraging and supportive, all things you want for someone who is going to see you in labor.
Her experience was invaluable. This was our third kid, it wasn’t like we didn’t know what labor would be like, and yet because both of my other births ended in surgery, we still felt insecure about things. Ashley was so calm the entire time, before and during labor, she answered questions and reassured me at times but she also stayed out of the way when I didn’t need her. I know that sounds strange, but it was so helpful. She made me feel like she trusted me and my birthing body and she didn’t distract me during labor.
My husband was so grateful for her help, my labor was long and things got serious late at night, so he was exhausted. He and Ashley were a perfect team, trading off who was sleeping and who was comforting me, so I never felt alone.
One thing we really wanted from her was to know when it was a good time to go to the hospital, because we really didn’t want to go too early and end up on a clock. I can honestly say if she hadn’t been the we wouldve gone a lot earlier. She gave me an idea of what internal signs to look for (vocalization) and when I hit those signs she let me be the one to decide it was time to go. She never rushed or pushed us, we both felt like we were in control of this birth, a feeling we did not have with the other two.
Because of Ashley I got to the hospital fully dilated (a HUGE victory for a vbac mom) and pushed a baby out within a half hour of being there. She held one of my legs and my hand (my husband had the other side) while I pushed, and encouraged me the whole time, and I had a completely natural, beautiful, calm birth.
The support didn’t end with the birth either. She checks in on me still, and when I got mastitis and couldn’t nurse for a while, she found me donor breast milk so my son could still get that nutrition as I healed. Who does that? She’s amazing.
Anyone would be lucky to have her at their birth, but especially vbac moms, if you want someone to help calm your fears and create an environment of peace, and help you to trust your laboring body, you could not do better than Ashley.

Love Ashley! Kind, caring, and she REALLY knows her stuff. I highly recommend her for anyone looking for Hypnobirthing classes or Birth Doula service.

My partner and I decided to hire a doula late in the game when I felt I needed more support than I was receiving from my OB (and starting to get really anxious about labor). When we met Ashley we instantly knew it was a match. She asked us all the right questions to get is thinking about our upcoming birth, was available anytime we had questions or concerns, helped us create our birth plan, and worked with us on techniques to use in labor.
On THE day, Ashley met us at our home and supported us there until it was time to head to the hospital. Once at the hospital things completely deviated from our well-​intended plans, and had we not had Ashley by our side we would not have felt so calm. Having someone who knows the ropes supporting us through difficult decisions in times of rapid change was beyond valuable to us.
Ashley is kind, funny, practical, and incredibly knowledgable. She is the person you want in the room with you to offer relief for your partner, massage your back during contractions, and offer assurance during decision time. We are so blessed she was part of our birth story.

As a new doula in the area I have gained such wisdom from Ashley. She is a wealth of knowledge and cares deeply for the families she serves. She has offered me great guidance. I’m sure she would make a great doula for any family and would not hesitate to recommend her to others.

Ashley wasn’t my birth doula but she is an inspiration as a fellow doula, an energetic mother of triplets and a loving wife! I think she would be a wonderful asset to any mama’s birth support team! I hope you will consider Ashley when it is time for you to journey into motherhood. Ashley is sure to make your experience a positive one. Your partner may need an extra hand and some great ideas for comfort measures! She will help your partner to help you through labor. After all it’s not just the birth of a baby, it’s the birth of a mommy too!
«There is a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.» ~ Laura Stavoe Harm

Ashley was a godsend during my natural labor! I was originally scheduled with another doula, however, she was busy at another birth, and so Ashley was called to my rescue when I was admitted to UCSD L&D early that morning. We immediately hit it off and she was on top of everything from communicating to my family, doctors and nurses to making sure I breathed through every contraction and letting me hold on to her when things got really intense. When I wanted to give up she was right there saying I could do it. You can’t go wrong with Ashley as your doula. I could not have survived my labor without her!

After interviewing a handful of doulas, my husband and I knew right away Ashley was the one to be my birth doula. After talking with her for about an hour we knew she was smart, knowledgeable, dedicated and efficient. The more we got to know her we realized how resourceful she was, even though she hadn’t been certified at the time we met her. She has a very bubbly personality and likes to talk with you about everything about babies and pregnancy. So you get to know each other very quickly.
We had a couple of meetings at our home before the birth to get to know each other and to go over the details of the upcoming birth. We had lengthy conversations regarding baby stuff that lasted a few hours and went over the birth plan on our final meeting. I let Ashley know I wanted to do as natural as possible without pitocin and epidural.
As soon as my water broke one evening, I let Ashley know and she let me know what I had to do or could do. She always gave me the option to do what WE wanted to do and never tried to persuade us to do anything. We decided to wait at home rather than go to the hospital right away like the doctors told us to do. We went to the hospital the next morning, but took our time. I was having contractions, but they weren’t serious enough. We asked Ashley to meet us at the hospital. Throughout the night, we were texting each other, so I know my husband, Ashley and I really didn’t sleep much.
At the hospital, Ashley wasn’t there, but she was delayed due to family duties. As soon as she arrived she knew exactly what to do and just talked my husband and me through everything. She told us what to expect– what the nurses and doctors would say to us, and she explained some of the terms we didn’t understand. She was familiar with the hospital machines and told us how to read them. She also befriended all the nurses and doctors that came through the door and made everyone feel at ease– including us and the hospital staff. She helped me to the bathroom and massaged my back. She was there the whole time giving me feedback and cheering me on when I was breathing
to ease the contractions.
I was admitted at around 9 and gave birth the next morning at around 5 AM?– I can’t remember now. haha. Ashley was with us the whole time except when she had dinner and when she had to get a couple of phone calls from home.
Ashley was amazing at the time of delivery. She was on one side and my husband on the other and let me know exactly what was happening. She encouraged me and guided me if I had any doubts or was feeling too painful to push. I had no complications and delivered a very healthy boy.
If there was one thing I would do differently, I would ask Ashley to record the timeline of my delivery event because now I don’t remember the time it took and all the nitty gritty detail of my time at the hospital because I was in so much pain. But Ashley was so involved the whole time, I’m not sure she could’ve actively recorded everything.
My husband and I had doubts about even getting a doula at first with all the expenses of buying baby stuff. However after our experience with Ashley we thought the money was more than well-​spent and we just wonder what we would have done without her enormous help – especially my husband! In other words, she is a ‘god send’!

I was so nervous about going through my pregnancy alone due to my husband being deployed so for this pregnancy having a doula was a must. Ashley was such an important person to have at my birth and still is such an amazing person to have in my circle. For me, Ashley’s presence was all about having someone to assist in case my husband couldn’t make it home but when he did make it she worked with both of us to ensure our confidence with or birth plan. when things didn’t go as planned Ashley was there to make sure that my husband was confident and that I was comforted during the unexpected all natural delivery. Ashley is warm and non– judgemental. She is a great trustworthy person to have with you.