Testimonials – Page 3 – Charity Jeffs

Kate

If you are looking for a mentor, an emotional support system, and a friend, look no further!

My husband and I were pregnant with our first and started searching for a doula as a part of our birth team. For us, it was important to have someone with us during our birth that would be able to remind us of our options and remind both my husband and I to advocate for ourselves during the birthing process. As a momma who birthed in a pandemic, it was easy to feel like everything was out of my control. Charity assured me that even in a pandemic, I could have control of my birthing experience. She was essential to my positive birth and if we have more children in the future she will be one of my first calls!

Charity also knew the importance of my husband’s experience as well! Prior to the birth she integrated all of our calls, skills to learn, and conversations with the birthing partner’s perspective. This allowed my husband to have the tools to take care of me emotionally and physically. Charity valued my husband’s feelings just as much as my own, which made us feel more empowered as a team going through the experience. Charity held my hand (and my husband’s hand) through one of the most important moments of our lives. I do not speak lightly when I say that I am beyond grateful for her support, comfort, and empowerment she gave to us. Birth can be scary because of all of the unknowns, especially if it is your first child. Charity was a calm and reassuring steadiness in a time where the world was so uncertain. We were more than clients to her. She was more than a doula to us.

We could not have had a better addition to our birth team than Charity Jeffs. We are forever grateful for her services.

Ashly and Benjamin

Charity was amazing to work with during our pregnancy and birth. She was very easy to talk to and knowledgeable about everything. She was very prompt in responding to any concerns I had during the pregnancy. During labor I had stalled at 5-10 min between contractions for a couple of days and she came over and helped me do different things to help reposition our baby and get labor going again. Within an hour or two of her leaving us to work on things we called in our labor team as contractions were on top of each other. I am certain that without her help we would have been stalled for a lot longer. During labor she was amazing in coaching my husband to help me. She was very open to do whatever we wanted and was a great support person during the pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.

As the father I had been some what apprehensive about potentially being sidelined in the process as the ladies did their thing, however Charity was great at taking time to address my concerns during the pregnancy as well as making sure that I was able to help my wife during labor. The whole pregnancy and delivery exceeding my hopes for how much of a blessing the whole process would be.

Colleen

I am so glad we chose Charity to be our doula! This was my third birth and I was really wanting to end on a positive note. I felt hiring a doula would be the perfect way to ensure a more enjoyable experience. She put my mind at ease about wanting to take a more natural approach to my labor, and assured my husband and I that she would be there to help us along the way through her knowledge and experience.

I was scheduled for induction, but even in the weeks leading up to it, Charity was available to answer any of my questions and ease my fears and anxieties. On the morning of my induction, Charity met us at the hospital and jumped right in! She walked with me and encouraged me to get moving to help my body progress, and when I wasn’t progressing, she helped discuss the options I had on how best to move forward. Charity was an extremely caring listener, and helped me make informed decisions. Once my water finally broke, I was able to labor in the tub at the hospital. Charity helped guide my husband to comfort me through contractions when they started getting more intense. She listened to how I was feeling and suggested different positions to help make me as comfortable as possible. After pushing for hours, with Charity and my husband by my side, the baby wasn’t progressing. We tried pushing in different positions, but a c-section was necessary. Charity was able to attend the c-section with my husband and I, and stayed with us for a little bit after the surgery, too.

If it wasn’t for Charity, there’s no way I could have made it to the pushing stage without pain medication. She was so encouraging and calm. Even though we ended up needing a c-section, I am very happy with the way my labor/induction went leading up to it. Charity made the entire process so much more peaceful and enjoyable – just what I was looking for with my last labor and delivery. Every mother deserves to have someone like Charity at their birth with them!

Liz

(First time parents)

I was interested in Charity for her experiences working with teen Moms. Knowing that our Doula was committing time to ensuring teens received the best emotional support and education during pregnancy and birth was a Doula I wanted to support.

I felt very comfortable with Charity. She was patient and interested in getting to know us. She was also very open about her experiences as a Doula and a mother. I appreciated her personal experiences as a mother. I knew regardless of how our birth proceeded, she would have knowledge and experience based on delivery vaginally, by c-section and VBAC.

Following an interview via zoom, I felt very comfortable in our preparation with two in-person meetings during pregnancy. Charity was very honest with us about how we should resource her and how labor may progress according to our wishes and the likelihood that it would not play out exactly how we envisioned.

When I went into labor, we knew we could call Charity whenever we needed. She joined us at the Birth Center after 5 hours of labor at home following a membrane sweep. I experienced back labor throughout my 13 hours of labor. The relentless nature of contractions made it difficult to stay relaxed. Charity was very helpful in re-directing my attention if I started to loose control and tense up. Charity also showed my husband and sister-in-law how to apply pressure to my back to relieve sensation of labor.

During the pushing stage, Charity was very helpful in reminding me how to push and offered lots of encouragement to help me get to the arrival of our baby!

Following birth, Charity checked in via text message many times and offered feedback based on our status. About a week postpartum we chatted via Zoom to review the birth. Charity’s document recapping the birth was very helpful. I felt very positive about the birth experience and the support Charity provided. Thank you!

Lynelle

We had a wonderful experience with Charity as our Doula! I was so thankful for her variety of personal birth experiences. I felt very mentally secure with her presence at my birth. I truly could not have done it without her. Thank you for helping me achieve my successful VBA2C, Charity!!

LaKeisha

My husband and I worked with Charity as our Doula for the birth of our son (late 2021). From the beginning, Charity showed concern in learning our needs for our birthing experience. I feel that she catered her approach based on our needs and shared great insights. She offered two prenatal visits, which really helped us learn more about what to expect during birth, but also questions to ask my midwife leading up to the delivery. She shared a lot of podcasts and books to read to learn more about a natural birth, but was not overwhelming with details. Having Charity as our Doula made our labor and delivery process more peaceful because we had another advocate. When there were questions and decisions needed for the hospital staff, we were able to ask Charity her thoughts. And she worked well with my husband to support him during L&D and allow for him to take breaks. I could not have had the best experience without having a doula and would recommend Charity to other expectant moms. My midwife team even shared how impressed they were in Charity’s style and ability to support during childbirth.

Tiffany

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

Anna

I loved having Charity as my doula! This was my 4th birth, first with a doula. She was there for me ready to help with everything. I had pain in my hips while pregnant and she helped come up with exercises that helped with the pain. When ever I expressed my fellings or fears she listened to me and helped me adress them. CHARITY helped my husband know what to do and how he could be there for me . She was there for me and didn’t pressure me to have the baby a certain way. She helped me learn my options and let me choose what would work for me and my baby. She is happy, calm and so though full. She knew I would want ice and cool rags for my neck before I did. She got me food afterwards. She made the room smell lovely. If I have another baby I would want Charity as my doula.

– Anna Schmid

Nicole

Charity was the most amazing doula I could have asked for. When my doctor discouraged a VBAC she encouraged me to get another opinion and possibly switch doctors. I was shy but she helped me feel okay. She found a great practice that supports trying for VBACs. She reviewed our birth plan and got to know our wishes. Having had a VBAC before, she was knowledgeable about the subject but never pushed her ideas onto us. She only gave us the necessary info so we could make informed choices, and then she supported us.

The day I went into labor Charity was almost as excited as we were! I had severe back labor, so she referred me to a chiropractor to help the baby drop. Then at my home she helped me mentally escape the pain to a happier place.

At the hospital Charity walked with us through the halls over and over. She showed my husband how to ease my pain. She let me lean on her during contractions and helped me breathe through them. She talked to me about my happy place and told me how strong I am. She and my husband had to push HARD on my back and hips to ease the pain of my back labor. She never complained. She helped me try some maneuvers to help the baby drop. She stayed by my side and helped with everything I needed. She only went to sleep when I did.

If I did not understand what was going on she explained it to me and was my advocate to help the hospital staff follow my birth plan as closely as possible. She was kind to hospital staff, and never overbearing.After being in labor for a few days I kept saying I could not do it anymore. Charity said I could do it, but that I didn’t have to. Once I got an epidural she told me how proud of me she was for making it that far. I had to have a C section and she waited while I had the operation, even though it was late at night and we hadn’t slept much for 3 days. She helped me with nursing and even got me a beautiful gift at the gift shop. The experience was absolutely perfect!

-Nicole Sampson

Jessica and Nate

Charity is a fantastic doula! Both my husband and I cannot say enough good things about her as a doula. This was our first pregnancy and I wanted to have some extra help, in addition to having my husband there. We are both private people and didn’t want to share the special experience with any other family members, so having her there to support us through the labor process was incredible. Charity is very sweet, patient, and motherly but she was also super motivating, which is helpful when you are in a lot of pain. She has such a calming nature that I was able to relax and was at ease during the whole labor process.

She met with us before the birth and we were able to talk to her about the most important things to us, which really helped once we were in the hospital. I was in labor for 27 hours and wanted to labor at home as long as possible before going to the hospital, Charity came to my home and helped me to relax and be as comfortable as I could be trying different positions and pain management techniques. When we went to the hospital she was a great advocate for both my husband and I. She helped us ask the right questions and make sure that we knew what was going on during each stage of labor, which was great for us because we had no idea what to expect! It was so helpful for her to be there so that I never had to be alone, yet my husband was able to go and eat a meal and take a quick break.

The thing that meant the most to me was that Charity paid attention to my husband and how he was doing. She didn’t ignore him or take his place she helped us have a wonderful birth experience together. We were really nervous about it all and she was there to make us still feel like our normal selves and be excited to welcome our sweet girl into the world. Seriously, I wouldn’t change having her as my doula for the world!

-Jessica and Nate Parents of Clementine