My Doula Was Brandi Morales of Barefoot Birth : Part 3 | Tampa Bay Doula

"When we found ourselves pregnant with our 3rd child I considered having a doula again but wasn't completely happy with how things had turned out with the doula we hired for our second birth. My 1st was born through an emergency cesarean and 2nd was an epidural assisted VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), despite the goal of going med free with Bradley Method birth class preparation.  After meeting with Brandi, I was confident that she could provide much more support than our previous experience, and she was able to answer all of my questions with ease, demonstrating to me she had plenty of birth experience. We met several times in advance to go over my birth preferences and for her to get to know me and my husband. I was impressed by her honesty, openness, and calmness. I knew she would be essential to our med-free plans, she even showed us how to use the rebozo and the birth ball since I was concerned about optimal fetal position for labor.  when it came time for her to assist me in labor, she showed up and immediately got to work, setting up music and coaching me during each contraction, knowing when I needed just verbal reassurances and when I needed touch and how to squeeze my hips when the back pain started.  She took charge knowing we needed to go to the hospital and provided invaluable support during the 30 minute car ride, the entirety of which I spent in transition with stacked contractions. I credit Brandi's calm demeanor to my fast labor - I had a baby in my arms only 20 min after we got to the hospital, and less than 3 hrs after she arrived to support active labor! if it weren't for Brandi, I would have ended up with an unassisted bathtub birth or would have been at the hospital too early crying for an epidural.  Brandi also did a great job encapsulating my placenta and made me some wonderful herbal sitz bath satchels. I highly recommend her!" -Courtney Ullrich