My husband and I felt an enormous weight lifted off our shoulders

"From our initial meeting with Marie-Paul, we knew she was a perfect fit for our birth team. Being that we were expecting our first child, neither of us had any idea what to expect in the delivery room, but knew we wanted a natural birth (if possible) and felt that Marie-Paul as our doula would help facilitate that goal.  Boy were we fortunate!  Even though all of the childbirth education classes we took during the pregnancy were helpful and informative, when the time actually came and active labor kicked into full gear, everything we thought we knew went out the window in a big hurry.  My nerves were a wreck and breathing became a little unsteady while my husband frantically dialed Marie-Paul's number in hopes she'd arrive before the baby did.  Within minutes she was at our door and put us both at ease.  Marie-Paul gave me the confidence and assurance I needed to get my breathing and focus back on track and reminded my husband of some techniques he could use to help me during the rest of the labor.  After almost 16 hours, our son was born and although I'm almost certain he would have been born with or without Marie-Paul at our side, my husband and I feel an enormous weight was lifted off our shoulders allowing us to take the entire experience one contraction at a time.

I feel that if I learned anything from having Marie-Paul as our doula, it was that we all have a journey we'd like to plan for, and it's usually good to have a map or a general idea of where we're going. Ultimately though, life has a way of throwing in curves and it's always good to have someone who's been down a similar path before and who's sole purpose isn't to teach us to avoid those curves, but to face them and simply hold our hand beginning to end to get through them.  Thank you Marie-Paul, for your love, support and belief in us (even when we wondered if WE could believe in ourselves)..."

Tera Johnson-Swartz,
Massage therapist Berlin Wellness Group
&Michael Swartz