My wife and I heard nothing but great things from our in-laws about their experiences with their doula, so we were interested from the beginning of our pregnancy in finding one. We had spoken to one early on, but she was booked by the time we tried to hire her. Luckily for us, she recommended the services of Jordan Allen at Bella Vita Doula.
My wife and I were able to take a number of parenting classes through our hospital, but it was all very broad. It was absolutely invaluable having Jordan there to fill in the blanks we had from class, as well as providing a fuller, more comprehensive overview of the basic facts learned in our hospital classes. While our classes provided information about "most babies", Jordan's instruction felt more like we were talking about "our baby". Much of the information we got from other sources -- classes and our OB -- felt very medical, very textbook, and very impersonal. Jordan provided research based, data driven information, which empowered my wife and I to believe in ourselves, not just as individual parents, but as a team, soon to be in charge of a little life.
Speaking in my own experience, being a soon-to-be-father can often feel very alienating. Most folks -- family, friends, medical staff -- are rightly preoccupied with the health of Mama and baby, and the journey they're undergoing together. Lots of jokes about "you just helped with the fun part" can make it easy to feel like the non-birthing parent doesn't have a place in this journey, or in labor and delivery. From our first interaction, Jordan made me feel the opposite; that I was in fact one of the most important parts of "the care team", as she put it. I don't think it's an understatement to say that Jordan was one of the bigger parts of my support system during the pregnancy journey.
We also had the privilege to have Jordan for two postpartum visits, in which she provided lots of tips and tricks for new parents, and most valuably, how to find further support if needed, be it lactation consultants, parenting resources, and further explanations on the sterilized information we gained from class.
Jordan's pricing was very reasonable (I would say she should charge more) and was always available for my wife and I, be it for small questions, or broader conversations about something we had heard from one source or another. By far, the most valuable service Jordan provided was her unflagging certainty in my wife and I that we can do this. Due in no small part to her, we have. You could do no better than Jordan Allen. read more