If a more positive birth experience is what you are looking for then Charity is who you want helping at your delivery. She is full of compassion and very passionate about helping women have positive birth experiences. She is very knowledgeable about the birthing process and different relaxation and coping techniques.
When we expressed interest in having Charity help, she started sharing materials and resources with us to help us be informed about natural hospitals births. She introduced us to books that walked me through the labor process and brought understanding about what happened during my first birth, which in turn brought emotional healing. Becoming well informed helped me make decisions about what kind of birth I wanted. In her first visits before the birth, Charity guided us through coping and relaxation techniques that my husband and I could practice together. She talked through our ideal birth scenarios with us, helped us create our own birth plan (which made communication with the nurses at the hospital go very smoothly), and she helped us mentally prepare to make decisions in less than ideal situations.
When I was induced, Charity came as soon as we asked her to come. She came prepared with tools (essential oils infuser, a rebozo, honey sticks etc). She new what she was doing and appropriately suggested different coping techniques at different stages of labor. I especially appreciated her skill in recognizing when I needed distraction from contractions in the first hours of labor verses focusing on my happy place during the time of transition. She helped create a positive, team-like attitude as she, my husband, and I worked through contractions together. I appreciated how she reminded me why I chose not to have pain medication and then was open to support whatever path I chose. I could not have been induced and given birth with no pain medication without Charity. She is a fantastic doula.
-Tiffany Kunzelman