I 100% would recommend hiring the Shoals Doula for labor support services. I met Katie at the hospital when my wife was in labor and she made our experience at the hospital so memorable with her calming, loving, and fun presence. She recognized what my wife wanted and did everything she could in ensuring her birth plan went smoothly by helping cater to her physical and emotional needs before, during, and after labor. Back Story: For my wife's first pregnancy, she said she wanted to hire a doula and have this individual come with us to the hospital. Completely clueless, I was hesitant and did not see the value from a cost perspective and overall thought it was a strange concept. I was definitely not sold on the idea and I expressed I did not like the idea every time the conversation came up. Well, we had our first baby during the height of the Covid pandemic and hospitals were only allowing one support person (me) at the time of our son's birth so hiring a doula was no longer an option as it was when we first found out we were pregnant. At the time, I was somewhat thankful the doula talk was over and that it was no longer an option, however I would have still supported my wife if it was still an option and if it is what she really wanted. My wife's pregnancy went well so I assumed we would go to the hospital and easily have the baby when the time came. As soon as we got there, my wife's birth plan began to unravel. The wireless monitoring did not work, she did not progress as quickly as hoped, her body had complications with the epidural, she or the baby did not respond well to Pitocin, and the list goes on. 36 hours later, my wife was laying on the hospital bed exhausted, hurting, shaking, and she developed a fever after her water broke. Long story short, we ended up in the operating room in an emergency C-section scenario. I had given her my all as an emotional support but was at my breaking point with seeing her suffer for so long. After they got our son out and he began crying, I lost it. I was sitting in the operating room emotionally and physically exhausted and had felt like I had been punched in the face without any warning. I remember the nurses in the operating room saying come here dad and take some pictures. At the time, I was so disoriented and felt numb to everything happening at a rapid rate. I gave the nurse my phone and thankfully she got some good pictures I often go back and look at. I remember thinking, this is supposed to be happy, it was not supposed to be this difficult. When things settled down and we got situated I just had an overwhelming thankfulness for a healthy mom and baby. I left out a lot of detail but that is the short version of how our first son's birth went. 13 months later, my wife brought me a cup of coffee one Saturday morning and she said "hey I am pregnant again". My wife wanted to go for a VBAC so the planning began immediately and we both were adamant that this time things would be different. As soon as she mentioned hiring a doula, I said let's do it, anything you need that you think may help, I support you entirely. When hiring a doula, she offers birthing classes, one on one consultations, recommended stretching routines, foods to eat/ avoid, etc. When the time came, my wife went into labor on her own. We called and asked when would be a good time to go to the hospital again even though we had been through everything with her. It was more for comfort at that point and hearing Katie remind us of everything was encouraging at the time. We ended up leaving for the hospital around 1:00 a.m. and Katie made her way to the hospital the next morning (she would have come immediately in the middle of the night if we had asked her to). When things during this birth started trending against what we had planned, Katie was there to offer advice and give us options over every important decision we had to make at the hospital. I was able to step out of the room periodically when my wife was laboring and take a quick "mental break" and that made a world of difference for me. I was able to come back in and could support my wife much better than I had during our first son's birth. Well, unfortunately she stalled at 8 cm dilation and we made the very difficult decision to go back in for a repeat caesarian before things turned into an emergency situation. It was definitely not the plan but having a doula gave us the confidence that we did absolutely everything physically possible we could and it helped when it came time to make difficult decisions. Having Katie involved with our second son's birth was so encouraging and I was so thankful she was able to be apart of this huge life event for us. Her being there also gave us closure on our first son's birth and that made all the difference and for that I will forever be grateful. read more

I felt deeply heard and supported during my pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum thanks to Katie. She is a fantastic doula and is wonderful at what she does. Being that it was our second baby, I hesitated to hire a doula as I naively thought I didn't need to but I am SO glad that I did. I initially hired her because our spiritual beliefs align and I really appreciate that but I didn't realize she was also a superstar doula. She took time to really get to know our family and listen to what our birth preferences, goals and dreams were. I know she had a huge part to play in how those goals and dreams were not only met but exceeded when it all was said and done. North Alabama is so blessed to have her! She truly empowered us to advocate for ourselves. I am so grateful for all the practical tips she helped me with that prepared my body and baby for an optimal birth. She encouraged me when I needed it and helped me stay grounded during some bumps in the road of my pregnancy. If I texted or called her, she responded promptly and went above and beyond to answer my questions. She checked on me leading up to birth and during postpartum and I felt really supported because of that. I had a very quick labor and birth in the middle of the night and she rushed to make it to the hospital and provided awesome comfort measures even amidst the quickness of it all. She is the doula version of super woman! I will forever recommend her to anyone who asks me about doula support and definitely want to hire her should I have more babies in the future. So grateful for her and all she did for our family. read more

Our experience with Katie, as both a Labor Doula and a Postpartum Doula, has been nothing short of excellent. I highly recommend her and her services. Katie walked alongside me for both of my pregnancies and offered endless encouragement, resources, and guidance. As our Postpartum Doula, she was an essential part of our lives for the first several months after our youngest was born. She showed up each scheduled day and offered to help in whatever way we needed, whether that was helping take care of our newborn, our toddler, daily chores around the house, food prep, support/encouragement/resources, etc. Katie also helped ease me back into the world and went with us on our first outings. Overall, I felt much more refreshed my second time around postpartum and I attribute that to having Katie's help. The postpartum period is an extremely vulnerable time, and I always felt comfortable around Katie to be my true self and let her know what I needed. She has a way of making everyone around her feel loved and valued. She went above and beyond to do special things for our family and I am forever appreciative to all the many ways she has helped us over the past several years. read more

Katie Terry lead my husband and I through the Evidence Based Birth class. As first time parents, I wanted access to all information to make decisions that was best for my optimal birth experience. Katie is passionate about supporting women in pregnancy and postpartum. She was easy to talk to and made us feel comfortable receiving information and in practice. I absolutely recommend her services to any family seeking informed and passionate support. read more

Katie's support was integral to both of my pregnancies and deliveries. Her expertise was especially helpful during the first labor/delivery and she went above and beyond to make sure the experiences were safe and tailored to what we wanted. Could not recommend her highly enough! read more

The light that Katie brings to the room is undeniable. We would not have had the birth we did without Katie's support. We had a breech baby and she threw SO many resources at us to try. Unfortunately baby girl did not want to turn head down so at 38.5 weeks after a failed ECV Katie recommended a friend of hers that is a provider out of town that will deliver our baby breeched vaginally. The provider we were with at the time had me scheduled for a cesarean and we really wanted a vaginal birth. We took the leap of faith to transfer and we were SO thankful we did. If it weren't for Katie we wouldn't have been as educated on our options and wouldn't have been able to have a vaginal birth. I will forever be so thankful for her kindness and quick response whenever I would text her early morning or late night. I truly cannot wait to have her by my side with future pregnancies. She's one in a million and you won't regret hiring her. read more

Katie Terry loves her clients and builds such amazing rapport. She was exactly what I needed in order to have the birth I envisioned for my second child. When things didn't go exactly as I had planned she was able to make sure I had all the information I needed to make the best choices for myself and my daughter. She was there anytime I needed her through my pregnancy and my birth. Every birthing person needs Katie as a part of their support system! read more

It was a blessing to have Katie with us for our home birth. She was positive, supportive, experienced and ready for anything. Grateful we found her! read more

Katie was our doula for our second and third pregnancies, and we had the pleasure of having her as our postpartum doula after our third baby was born as well. Let me just tell you, she is phenomenal at what she does, whether helping you prepare for your birth during your pregnancy, support during labor and birth, or postpartum support. My husband had to go back to work much sooner this time around than with our first two babies, so having The Shoals Doula - Katie Terry for a few days to help with things around the house was exactly what we needed. She knows a clean house and being caught up on laundry is important to me, so she took care of those things so I could snuggle my little love. She also helped take care of my older kids, brought snacks, drinks, or whatever I needed to me, and showed me how to use my ring sling. The list just goes on and on! Even though we didn't plan on having a postpartum doula this time around and it kind of just worked out that way, I'm so glad we did. She is truly amazing and has made adjusting to life with three kids so much smoother! We are so thankful for everything Katie has done for our family. She will always hold a special place in our hearts. This picture is of Katie reading a book to my 2 year old while the baby was sleeping and I had a phone call to make. read more

The Shoals Doula - Katie Terry - Doulas Near Me

Whew! Where to even begin?!? I told my husband as soon as we came home from a unexpected c section with our first since I knew her from my college years as her babysitter that I wanted to go for a VBAC and that I wanted Katie to be our doula. He had never heard of a doula, and wasn't sure what the purpose or the point was, but he willing to roll with whatever I wanted since my first birth ended so traumatically different than my "plan". From the first meeting, Katie impressed both of us with her professionalism and her ability to explain what a birth worker does and why they are valuable in the labor and delivery room. Throughout my pregnancy, Katie provided support for questions from prenatal visits, picking an ensuring a supportive provider, and educational services for us like childbirth classes and information. We took the suggested spinning babies courses and did all the stretches and exercises to the full degree to help prepare all the while Katie checked with us and made sure we knew our "birth options" and helped us create a birth plan from those options. We had done everything to prepare when I went into active labor and during labor Katie supported me, my husband, and even the labor and delivery nurses with knowledge and helped us stick to the plan we had chosen. She worked with comfort Measures and gave it 110% the entire time despite my labor taking way longer than anticipated. By the time we ended our birth, we knew we had done everything we possibly could have done to change the outcome even though things still didn't go "our way". Katie allowed me to have my feelings about there we were at, she held my hand, let me cry, encouraged me, and she supported my husband and made him laugh in a time that easily could have torn both of us apart. We absolutely could not have made it through without her. My husband has now changed his perspective and is literally telling anyone who will listen that they need a doula for their birth and that it needs to be Katie. She stayed with us postpartum for a few hours and then checked up on us the following days to come. I cannot recommend her enough. read more

The Shoals Doula - Katie Terry - Doulas Near Me

When my husband, Griffin, and I found out we were pregnant with our first child, we were so excited! That excitement was soon coupled with uncertainty and fear about everything related pregnancy and birth. I remember seeing an old friend from high school post about her birth with a doula (Katie). It looked so empowering, but I still didn't know what to expect. After leaving my first doctor's appointment, I felt like I had more questions and didn't know where to start. Cue Katie! During our first consultation, we immediately felt comfortable and knew that Katie was a person we didn't know we were missing through our birth process. If you are looking for someone to educate you on all options of birth and to fight for any preferences you may have, Katie is your person! We experienced the positive birth of our daughter and felt confident every step of the way. We will forever be grateful for the blessing that is - Katie Terry - The Shoals Doula! read more

I didn't have a doula with my first child and decided to hire Katie with my second child because a friend recommended her. Best decision I could have made for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I felt so supported and cared for and empowered! My husband also had so much more support and confidence. The postpartum support we had this time around was a game changer, and it significantly helped with reducing my postpartum anxiety. I was so nervous about having my second child because of the postpartum issues I had with my first. But after having Katie's support and guidance, I feel confident and empowered. Now I want more kids just to experience it all again! read more

My girl, Katie, has been a friend of mine for about 15 years now. We've been through many seasons of life together. She was my doula with my son born in 2021. My pregnancy and birth were incredibly different than many of her previous clients (global pandemic and changing hospital policies made things difficult). But through it all, she worked tirelessly to support me, my husband, and our baby. Katie even provided me with postpartum support at home so I could get some necessary things done (besides holding and feeding my child). She has been such a blessing to my family and I would recommend her to ANY person needing prenatal, birth, and postpartum support. She's fiercely passionate about advocating for others, highly educated in her field, and dedicated to her calling to serve others. She is the best doula in the Shoals, hands down. Reach out to her for all of your birthing and postpartum needs. You won't regret it! read more