Over the course of the last 20+ years, I have had the honour to have been invited into the precious and intimate moments leading up to and and through the birth process for my clients. What follows here are just a few comments and notes that my clients have shared with me.
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"We interviewed three doulas but after meeting Sam, we knew we wanted her to be with us during the birth of our first child. It was clear we had made the right decision after we took her prenatal and breastfeeding classes.
She was caring and encouraging during the 22 hours of labour and especially supportive for Phil as well. We had great discussions AND a lot of fun in between contractions. She is extremely knowledgeable on everything regarding labour, birth, breastfeeding and childcare and we respect her opinions immensely. The labour went just as we had planned and was the most wonderful experience. Sam played a big part in helping me have a natural birth.
I don't even know if we would have any photos of Mom, Dad and Baby in those first few moments if it wasn't for Sam. And we would have paid Sam's fee JUST for the Birth Story that she wrote - it is that fantastic. Now we have a detailed account of the birth of our little girl - Elle Lily Schlatter.
It meant so much to us to have Sam there for the most important day of our lives and we really hope to work with Sam again in the future." – S. Schlatter
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"We loved your classes! We used tons of the advice!" - A. Franklin
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"Sam was an amazing coach. As first time parents, we were anxious about the birth of our child and had many questions in anticipation of the big event. Sam helped us to understand what would happen, contributing excellent resources for traditional and alternative health care considerations. We were lucky to have Sam with us before and during labour -- it made all the difference for us." - J. Abray-Nyman
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"We found Sam through our midwifery clinic and signed up for her prenatal classes. I was instantly drawn to her knowledge and calm presentation. As first time parents we didn't know what to expect or who would need more support, mommy or daddy. We knew that Sam would be the perfect addition to a very special and scary event, and she was. Her postpartum help with breastfeeding was invaluable. The more mommies' stories I hear, the more lucky I feel. At a time when so many families are treated like numbers, and so many women fear labour, Sam embodies the natural beauty that becoming a mother is. Thanks for everything Sam!" – A. Hasselfield
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"Your prenatal class was very helpful for us in those “aaaahhh … what do we do now” moments – we referred back to you a lot! We lucked out to have you as a teacher for that class – you actually made it comfortable for Mike to be there – which is a plus!!!" – K. Cadden
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"As our post-partum doula, Sam was an enormous help to us after the birth of our first child. Her compassion and wisdom anchored us during the chaos of those early weeks. She had a remarkable ability to always give us exactly the right counsel at the right time, telling us what we needed to hear when we were completely overwhelmed.
As amateurs, we could not have asked for a better teacher when it came to the practical aspects of caring for a newborn - Sam gave us the confidence we needed to breastfeed and care for our baby, all the while making sure that we were fed and cared for ourselves.
Fourteen months later, we remain deeply grateful for Sam's early influence and support, and for the positive impact she continues to have on our relationship with our daughter. We cannot recommend her highly enough, and would consider ourselves blessed to have her as our doula again in the future." – J. Chin and D. Pedersen
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"Sam was my breast feeding instructor at Trillium and it was the best part of the whole pre-birth process I recieved. I loved her attitude, the way she had and understanding and compationate nature. After getting to know Sam outside of the hospital and once I had given birth her insight into nursing and the birth process was abundant and very helpful. I appreciated her professionalism and knowledge. I would recommend babyREADY services to anybody, you will be in the bests hands possible."
Loving Mother of Two. Both Natural births and nursed till my offspring were 18 months. R. Avramovic
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"Todd and I took your Childbirth/Breastfeeding class in December and thoroughly enjoyed your teachings and felt so much more prepared for the birth of our child by the end of the classes. You made the class entertaining and the information was presented in an interesting and informative manner. Thanks to your positive reassurance during the class I decided to go about my labour medication free and not once during the labour did I consider changing my mind. If I hadn't taken
your breast feeding class as well I know for sure I would not have been able to breast feed my child, you taught us it really isn't as easy as it should be and takes practice and determination to make it work--and to be pain free!
If I hadn't already decided to go with a midwife I would have loved to have gotten the opportunity to have you as my doula. You really made me feel more confident and informed about the whole birth experience and if Todd and I ever change our minds about having another baby (!) I would definitely love to take on the experience of child birth again with you as my doula." – S. Timmerman
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SAM'S PRENATAL CLASSES
"My very first class was a little stressful. Not only was my husband out of town for work, not able to attend the first class with me, but i was also an hour late myself due to experiencing my first complication with my pregnancy. I went to the hospital to just make sure everything was okay, thinking i would have plenty of time to be at the class but unfortunately it took a little longer then i anticipated. To make a long story short, i opened the door to the classroom an hour late, and sat down as quickly as possible.....trying not to disrupt things too much. Then of course the phone rings, and my heart just sunk because i knew it would be upstairs calling me to come back, and me once again disrupting the class. But Sam's smiling face passed on the message that i didn't have to return upstairs after class. The following week, she immediately asked if everything was
okay, only knowing me for an hour tops!! I thought that she was so caring and knew that i would enjoy these classes! I don't think we could have had a better teacher!!"
SAM THE DOULA
"If only we could have found her sooner!!! That was both of our feelings, after only a few pre-natal classes with Sam...........i knew she would have been wonderful to have every step of the way. ( if we are brave enough for a second!!!)......HAHAHA
We loved having Sam present during the labour. When it came down to an emergency C-Section at the end, i remember being upset, crying, and looking at Sam for re-assurance that it was the right move........i heard the doctor tell me everything that we needed to know, but something told me i needed to hear it from SAM to know it was what needed to be done!!" – L. McIntyre
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"Thanks so much for your answers to my questions. You've confirmed my instincts as I hoped you would!" – T. Frantsi Bhupsingh
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"We attended your prenatal classes in September, and had a great time! We learned some new things, had lots of laughs (you are so funny and charismatic), and best of all, felt respected, validated, and supported in the parenting choices we had made a long time ago (it was great to meet another cloth-diapering, breastfeeding, natural birthing mama!)" – A. Denomey