"Once at the hospital Debbie was the first to notice that our daughter was face up from my contraction pattern - even the nurses hadn't identified that." Natasha
"I hope I'm not intruding here, but perhaps a father's perspective will be of value to some folks. We left our OB at 30+ weeks (with our first child) for a midwife at a birth center, and it was one of the best decisions we've ever made. It's also the direct result of Debbie's counsel. My wife met Debbie at a BIRTH Fair, and she was struck with Debbie's candid manner and strong convictions. We were considering enrolling in one of her classes, so I called Debbie out of the blue to... uh, interview her. I'll never forget that conversation. I asked her to state her agenda and voice her biases -- something our OB had resolutely refused to do. Debbie took a deep breath... and spoke her mind. That's rare, and it's valuable. We took her class. We took her on as our doula. She became a friend. She was with my wife literally EVERY moment throughout her labor and delivery -- she never left her side. She was the voice of comfort in my wife's ear, and a voice of reason in the room. She was patient, and always positive -- but here's the thing: Debbie has the rare ability to tread the fine line between keeping things positive and keeping things real. She never drifted into sappy clichés or empty chatter. She brings sincere passion and energy to birth, but she also understands the depth of emotion and intensity and pain of the experience." Brian
"I wanted to try natural childbirth, but at the 12th hour, Debbie supported my decision to have an epidural, and afterward, when I verbalized that my childbirth experience was "less-than" because I had an epidural, Debbie had something to say... "Everyone has a different experience. You did everything you could to bring your baby into this world the way you wanted, and in the end you just needed a bit of support to do that, don't let that take anything away from your unique and wonderful birth." She was right. I appreciate that Debbie knows just what to do and say at the right time, just when it counts most. And let me just mention, I did get that "natural" birth I wanted, with my second child, my daughter, (2 years later) and Debbie was right by my side the entire time! Debbie, we can't thank you enough for making this experience one of the best of our lives!" Julia
"She has a wonderful gift for offering support, not pressure. She stays so calm, always aware of when I might need an encouragement. She offers suggestions for things that might provide comfort and relief without pushing them. She's a tranquil presence, undemanding, and has real faith in a woman's ability to birth her children in the way of her choosing." Larissa
"Having the right doula at your birth is important to your birth experience. As a midwife with a homebirth practice I appreciate Debbie's assistance at births. Her knowledge base is huge, her experience level is very high and she has a lot of wisdom being with women. I highly recommend Debbie to my clients." Carol, Midwife