We might have “graduated” from doula support, but the positive impact will always be a part of our first experience with parenthood.
Jylane was invaluable to us, especially since our baby boy came three weeks early and she jumped in to make our transition as easy as possible. Her calm presence and helpful advice made our first month and half with our newborn an enjoyable experience. It all went by in a flash! With Jylane, nights were not scary taxing times of pure exhaustion. In fact, she made them a time of bonding and learning. We valued her support so much that we ended up extending hours past our original plan!
Jylane & Paula made welcoming our newborn a breeze
Jylane has been an absolute pleasure to have with us. We’ve been so grateful to have an extra set of expert hands helping us through these first few weeks. My husband has said it’s felt like “an angel showed up in the house”, enabling him to get a full, uninterrupted nights rest during overnights. We’ve also learned quite a bit from Jylane- though I’m not sure we’ll be able to replicate her swaddle anytime soon (it’s so good & Zoe loves it). Most of all, her presence has given us such peace of mind.
Highly Recommend!
I can’t speak highly enough of Emerald City Doulas and our doula, Christi. We worked with Christi for both the birth of our daughter 4 years ago and our son 2 months ago, and we were fortunate to also purchase postpartum support the second time. From the start, Paula was very response to my questions and getting all the administrative pieces set up. Christi contacted us quickly too and was there every step of the way for both pregnancies. My second pregnancy was more difficult, and I reached out to Christi several times for support. Once I was struggling with dehydration (I didn’t know it at the time), and I contacted Christi who suggested what to do and to contact my OB, and the OB confirmed everything Christi already said. So she knows her stuff!! Both of my labors were challenging too, back labor with babies positioned such that they needed to be turned during labor. Christi helped support both me and my husband, her knowledge of pressure points to reduce pain were vital to my comfort, and most importantly, she was supportive of me and whatever decisions I made regarding delivery. Lastly, Christi provided 5 overnights with our son and provided detailed reports to me on how they went. It was great to discuss feeding and toileting of our newborn with someone knowledgeable. I really think that helped ease our transition into a family of four. We are so appreciative of Emerald City Doulas and Christi, and I couldn’t imagine my pregnancy and delivery without their support!
Highly Recommend Emerald City
We are using Emerald city doulas for labor support, postpartum support (100 hours) and prenatal massage. Since first speaking to Paula in my search for a doula I felt immediately comfortable and have had nothing but an amazing experience thus far. We felt that every doula we interviewed was extremely qualified and would have been someone we would have been happy using for both labor and postpartum support. The most difficult part of working with Emerald city doula so far was choosing between the doulas we interviewed. My two prenatal appointments with Christi so far have been so informative and made me feel much more prepared for labor. She has consistently checked in on me and been available for any questions I’ve had throughout my pregnancy. I started receiving in home prenatal massage from Tori in my second trimester and it has made such a difference in how my body feels and my overall stress levels. She always asks my preferences for pressure and focus for the massage. I started getting bad lower back pain during my second trimester which significantly improved with her massages. I also love that she can come to my home and that she has such a wealth of knowledge on pregnancy and birth to help me with any questions I’ve had regarding any new pregnancy symptoms or sensations in my body. I will update my review after our experience with labor and postpartum support but thus far cannot recommend Emerald City enough!
Great Coach!
I hired Christi to help a friend through labor and delivery and beyond. Christi connected easily and was a great help coaching, advising, and nurturing her.
The Best Decision I Made
With impending childbirth being so stressful (especially if both partners have full time jobs and another kid like we did), booking our post-partum doula through Emerald City Doulas took a huge weight off our shoulders. We got to interview the doulas who were available in our time frame and pick one to be our “main” doula while the other one we liked was available as a backup if needed.
The booking person was also incredibly helpful in walking us through the options. We ended up booking a short-ish amount of time to see how things would go, then ended up adding on some time to get us up to the point when I would be going back to work full time and our baby would have alternate care. Our doula (Christi, she was so fantastic!) was able to make the schedule work with our added time.
In addition to the extra sleep we got with this service (we booked nighttime only), there was also a huge value-add. Christi talked to us ahead of the birth and gave us some info about the hospital I was delivering at (thank you for the nitrous oxide tip, it was amazing) and helped later on when I was comparing breast pump options. She also gave us her expertise in relation to possible tongue-tie and lactation problems. She even recommended a lactation consultant, who also turned out to be great. AND she helped us figure out which formula would be best for our baby given that our older kid had a bunch of food allergies when he was born. We checked in with her every evening that she worked (though sometimes just my husband because I was already in bed!) and she sent an extremely detailed summary via text at the end of her shift in the mornings. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
Highly Recommend!
We contracted with Emerald City Doulas for Labor, Postpartum (100 hours), and Placenta Encapsulation for my first birth in August 2021. I cannot recommend Emerald City Doulas enough! From beginning to end, they were so easy to work with and super accommodating. Our labor doula, McKenzie, was there for me any time I needed anything! Any question or concern I had, I went to her first. She was very reassuring and a wealth of knowledge. During the birth, she was super helpful and supportive.
Christi and Jessica were our post-partum doulas. Due to the nature of my husband’s job, he was gone for the first 4-ish weeks of our daughters life, which was super challenging for both of us. I don’t know what we would have done without Christi and Jessica during that time! They fed me whenever I woke up to feed the baby and helped take care of little things around the house. They were super flexible when we needed to add ~50 extra hours. Jessica’s kids were feeling under the weather one time so out of an abundance of caution they arranged for another doula to fill in for her. Everything was made super easy and seamless, and I would recommend them to anyone who is pregnant.
Thank You ECD!
Return customer here. Recently had our 2nd baby in March and looking for overnight doula support. Since we used ECD before, we did not need to interview doulas since we know we wanted Christi to continue providing care for our family for continuity. All communication went smoothly and we determined when Christi will start and what time her shift will be as long as it works for her schedule and both party agreed. Christi also checked in on me prior to our contract and she was able to introduce me to Tori, who specializes in prenatal and postpartum massage when I told her I was having really bad sciatica pain during my pregnancy.
Tori was a lifesaver during my 2nd and 3rd trimester of my pregnancy. It’s hard to find a prenatal massage therapist, let alone one that travels to your home!! Her massage was awesome, she will check in on you on the pressure and if you want any abdominal work done. I felt completely relieved and relaxed after her massage. Yes, you will feel sore the next day but that’s what a good massage is and you don’t need to ice it or anything unless you want to! I have yet to try her postpartum massage to help with my fascia post c section because it’s that good and you want to return to get more so you can get some proper self care.
Fantastic Care!
We enlisted the help of Emerald City Doulas for the birth of our second son, prenatal massage, and post-partum care (which is ongoing). We’ve had a truly wonderful experience will all doulas who have cared for us.
Meaghan supported us during labor last year. She was present, compassionate, creative, and eloquent in explaining to us status and options. She really listened to our wishes and deftly navigated hospital staff and procedures with me. We could not have had a better experience.
Tori has given us post-partum support – both night and day shifts – since my son was 2MO, and has gone and beyond in caring for our family. She’s been understanding of our crazy family schedule and flexible with scheduling, and always very reliable. More importantly, she is very respectful of our family values and routines, and our parenting style. I trust her fully with our son.
Tori also helped lessen rib pain I experienced throughout my pregnancy with prenatal massage (something no other massage therapist was able to help me with).
Based on my experience with Meaghan and Tori (and Janie and Amy, who have filled in some shifts), I wholeheartedly recommend Emerald City Doulas to anyone in need of prenatal/labor/postpartum support.
Can't Recommend Enough
We are so happy we hired doula Amy for postpartum support. She is very cordial and sympathetic and I felt comfortable with her right from the first moment. It is such a relief to have someone so experienced and calm by your side in the first couple of weeks. She was very supportive, open to any question or request, and offered a lot of good advice and information. Some nights she provided help and support when I was breastfeeding, and other nights we just let her take care of the baby all night so we could sleep. She is truly a professional, exceeded our expectations and it is obvious that she loves what she is doing and does it with all her heart.
Invaluable Postpartum Support
We feel that Shannon and Jessica’s support the first three days was invaluable. We have been telling all of our friends that postpartum doulas are game changers. In just three days they provided us guidance, structure, and most importantly rest so that we started off parenthood with full tanks and our first week home with the baby was an absolute joy.
My partner learned so much from just watching Jessica handle the baby and having some extra hands to get things done until we built our routine was wonderful.
Shannon is so loving and kind, we slept amazingly well knowing our baby was in good hands. She gave us soothing tips and such wonderful detailed notes that helped us learn about our baby’s behaviors.
They both encouraged us and told us we were doing great too, which was a wonderful boost of confidence as first time parents.
Jylane Is Our Fairy Godmother
By the end of our month with Jylane, we were routinely calling her our Fairy Godmother. We felt so supported and our baby loved her. Not only did she provide us with much needed overnight respite from our cutie pie, but she also cleaned our house and did our laundry, which helped us a ton! Jylane was always there to provide resources and answer questions. Five stars, hands down! We will miss her so much.
So Grateful For The Peace Of Mind
As soon as I found out I was pregnant I started my search for a doula and I’m so glad we found Shannon. She was extremely helpful in planning for labor & delivery and helped us navigate all of the advice and research out there. As a first time mom, I was so nervous and Shannon made sure to give me detailed answers to all my questions. She even went above and beyond to take a Spinning Babies course so we could use the techniques. Shannon was very flexible doing virtual or home visits for pre-labor and Childbirth Education and gave us tips for our nursery and changing stations.
It was important to us that our experience reflected our faith and Shannon was so amazing in helping us pray even during the difficulty of labor. She will forever be in our birth story and our hearts.
After our son was born, we had Shannon come over for a couple nights and I can’t stress enough how valuable that was. Our son bonded with her right away and I felt completely comfortable and was finally able to get some sleep. When Shannon woke me for feedings she sat and talked to me and gave me tips and it meant the world not to be alone!
Great Decision - First Time Parents
As first time parents, we were looking for some extra support and education before, during, and after delivery. We worked with Christi throughout and immediately connected with her. She was incredibly knowledgeable and set us at ease throughout our journey. Our delivery ended in a c-section after a long day of laboring. Christi advocated for me in several ways during that day, acted as a second support partner, and ensured my partner could focus on me and the baby.
We also had her come a few nights after we got home from the hospital to help us rest – and trusted her completely with our days-old baby. She was wonderful and we look forward to keeping in touch with her as the baby grows up!
Best Decision We've Made
We’re first time parents and contracted Emerald City Doulas for their postpartum services. We had heard stories of what it would be like with a newborn, and with our family and friends so far away (plus COVID restrictions), we knew we were going to need all the help we could get.
Emerald City Doulas made it so easy to be matched with Jylane, and we are forever grateful. Our little one was born early, so Jylane was very helpful in getting our gear all set up and providing helpful tips so that my husband and I could get some decent sleep and not get too overwhelmed with our new responsibilities. We will be forever grateful Jylane was part of our little one’s life for the first few months.
The Best Experience For 1st Time Moms
As first time parents, my boyfriend and I were rightfully nervous about child birth and the first few weeks of infant care. We’d heard horror stories from friends and family members about how painful delivery was and how the sleepless nights left them going crazy. We knew there had to be a different way, and we wanted to have an experienced partner that would support us both emotionally and physically. Holy cow did Emerald City Doulas blow away any expectations we had. Working with them was the best decision we’ve made so far in our journey, and we recommend using them to any first time parents.
Danielle was an incredible Birth Doula and taught me how to release anxiety and negative assumptions to step into the hospital with a confident zen focus. I credit her optimism and candor as one of the reasons I had an incredibly short birthing time and really lovely experience. After coming home with our tiny peanut newborn we worked with Danielle and Jylane, who switched off on night care with us. They would bring the baby to me when she needed feeding, than change, burp, and sooth her back to sleep. This allowed myself and my partner to get double the amount of hours that we would’ve had if we’d went it alone. And let me tell you, sleep is GOLD as a new parent. During feedings we would also talk and I was able to express any concerns or difficulties I was having at that time. Jylane is a goddess in natural child raising and Danielle is a miracle Seattle researcher, and they both were incredible resources during those first few weeks.
We now lovingly refer to Emerald City Doulas as our ‘Fairy Godmothers’ and after only 6-weeks with our little bundle of joy, are starting to plan for our next child. You can bet both Danielle, Jylane, and the Emerald City Doula team will be apart of baby number two’s life!
Doula Is Family
We met Christi at the beginning of our pregnancy and cannot recommend her and her team highly enough. The services offered were over and above our expectations.
Christi is an excellent judge of character and knew exactly what would work for us during birth. She effectively communicated with the medical staff and advocated for my birth plan wishes. She was also of great support for my partner, offering great advice with compasion and humor.
We also attended their childbirth classes, which were very professional, well explained and presented with hands on interactive exercises. It helped a lot in preparing for birth and baby.
During postpartum, Christi answered so many questions and gave us lots of practical advice and recommendations. I can confidently say that it was way more helpful than what we got from the mother&baby hospital postpartum checkups, lactation consultant and pediatrician.
We even have her on tape giving our little girl her first bath 🙂
Fantastic Doula
We decided to hire a doula rather late in the game (think 3rd trimester), and were lucky that Christi was available!! She was the only doula we interviewed, but she was the perfect fit for us. Christi shared with us her background and philosophy on labor and delivery, and it matched exactly what we were looking for: support for my support people (my husband and mom). I needed someone in the room to help coach them how best to help me. Christi was excellent in checking in with me the weeks prior to delivery, and answered any questions I had. The day of, she was INCREDIBLE!! After 20 hours of labor, she was invaluable to our team; and she did exactly what she said she would do, coach my support team. Even my mom, who seemed hesitant about having a doula, raved about Christi and how helpful she was. I would highly recommend her and Emerald City Doulas, and if we have another, we will definitely be working with them again.
Ah-Mazing
We first met Paula and Christi during Labor and Love, a course they offer to assist new parents with all the upcoming transitions. At first meet we felt super comfortable with them both. When my hubs got me post partum doula hours for Mothers day I couldn’t have been more thrilled. We don’t have any family nearby or much support so it was so wonderful to have Christi come and look after our little one. She is full of wisdom and knowledge and I couldn’t put a price on the sense of comfort she gave me. I would highly recommend Emerald City Doulas and we will definitely be working with them again.
The Right Doula For Us!
Christi joined us as our labor doula for the birth of our first child. We met her through Emerald City Doulas, and we can’t say enough positive things about the entire experience. Paula of Emerald City met with my husband and talked in detail about their services and exactly the kind of doula we would want. We interviewed three of their doulas, picked a back-up, and found the best fit with Christi. She was easy going and shared with us her birth stories and professional background. We appreciated that through her work history, she was always dedicated to helping others and often in difficult situations. Christi was committed to supporting the mom AND empowering the partner through the (potentially) many hours of labor. She definitely views a doula as part of the team. Pre-labor, we discussed the various steps of labor and scenarios should medical interventions be appropriate or necessary. For Plans A, B, C, etc, we practiced corresponding comfort techniques and talked through logistics. Christi spent just as much time teaching my husband as me. Because we were informed and would have her dedicated attention, we felt more comfortable and prepared for what might happen in the hospital. At the hospital, Christi’s experience and benefits really shined. She knew many of the hospital staff and was our interface with them throughout. We chose to hire a labor doula to add active physical (and emotional) support and a personal advocate to our medical team. Christi met all of those needs. We would highly recommend her and would add her to the team for the next little one.