From a client:

I toured Birthing Your Way and was very impressed with the environment and the knowledgeable staff. I had planned to deliver my baby at IHC in Provo with a local doctor but I felt I wasn’t getting the prenatal care that I had hoped to get. My visits were rushed, my questions were unanswered, and my preferences didn’t matter. This was my first baby so I had a lot of concerns and questions and I felt there had to be a better way, so that’s when I called Birthing Your Way. My husband and I were very impressed with the low cesarean, forcep and induction rates that are typical of a birthing center.

After a lot of thought we switched to this birth center and are so glad we did. I felt I got the best of care and attention from prenatal to delivery. These women went the extra, extra mile to see that I was prepared, healthy and informed. They encouraged me to take classes, recommended books and websites that were so helpful to my individual concerns. The care I received at Birthing Your Way was excellent. I delivered my beautiful baby boy at Birthing Your Way and it was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it!

From Amy:

What I especially like about Heather is that she was very helpful, but not intimidating. I never felt like she was judging me when I expressed doubts or concerns about how to do something.She also made an effort to focus on me, the mother, which I believe was crucial to getting me back in the swing-of-things after childbirth.

I am sure our experience wouldn’t have been so smooth if it hadn’t been for Heather’s calming and educated presence. We certainly hope to use her again if another baby comes along, and I happily recommend her to anyone I know who asks about using a doula!

Ten months later, my husband and I still talk about how much we loved Heather!

From Heather Lewis:

I want to enthusiastically recommend Heather Shelley as both a labor doula and childbirth educator.

Heather and I clicked almost immediately after we met. After discussing our philosophies on pregnancy as a normal event until proven otherwise, I knew she was going to be the person I wanted in the room with me. She was knowledgeable, professional, and I felt very relaxed around her. She also has a fabulous library of childbirth books and videos.

I wanted to have a natural, drug free childbirth at the local Austin birthing center. My husband was initially not so excited about this ‘weird’ birthing center idea. Over a few months with Heather’s help, I was able to educate my husband about birthing centers and midwives, and we were able to make my husband much more comfortable with the idea of the birthing center.

Part of this process was taking Heather’s Lamaze Childbirth classes. My husband learned about different types of birthing environments, and some of the women in the classes shared their different experiences with hospital births. After learning about what birth should look like, my husband was finally willing to tour the birthing center.

My husband and I learned a lot about relaxation and focus techniques from Heather and her partner Laura, and when I finally went into labor at 41 weeks, I needed every one of them. I was in back labor for the entire labor, so I was grateful for the classes.

I even succeeded in my goal of spending at least half my labor at home. My family has a history of 20+ hour labors. We just take forever. I went into labor at 3am with contractions coming regularly at 13-15 minutes. I spent the next 6 hours in the shower and on the birthing ball in my house until my husband woke up. Thanks to Heather’s great classes I was able to get through these first hours, and let my husband sleep.

I knew I’d need him more later in the day. We even managed to go out for breakfast. By 3pm though, things had starting getting a lot more uncomfortable, and we decided to head to the birthing center, and we called Heather to meet us there.

The birthing center was incredibly busy that night, if we had not had Heather, we would have been alone for much of labor. Heather and her partner Laura were fabulous while I spent most of labor in the tub at the birthing center. She always had new positions to try and helped guide my husband through supporting me. She took over when my husband needed a break or had to call family, and when I needed to be left alone to pace or yell or hold on to the wall, she knew when to give me space.

After 21 hours of labor at the birthing center, my son arrived happy and healthy, and I’m glad we had Heather there. She was exactly the support my husband and I needed. I only wish she were going to stay in Texas so I could hire her again for the next baby!

From Michelle:

I wanted to write and formally thank you for all that you did to help make the birth of my daughter a wonderful experience! Your presence was exactly what my husband and I needed to ensure that our wishes for a natural, loving birth were fulfilled.

I have to admit that I was unsure of exactly what your roll would be, since I had never had the pleasure of having a doula present at the births of my other children, but your support to the both of us was invaluable and I would highly recommend you as a labor assistant to anyone I know.

My daughter’s birthday will always bring back memories of having you there to help guide me and my husband in ways to focus on enjoying birth as a natural and peaceful event. I sincerely wish you all of the best in your career as a doula, and hope that all of your other clients feel as lucky as we do!

From Kelly:

I highly recommend the Lamaze classes at Birthing Your Way to any mother wanting to feel strong and confident in her labor decisions. After class each week, I felt more empowered as a woman and a soon-to-be new mother.

They taught us how to speak our mind and be heard while also educating us about what to expect in both labor and new parenthood. They helped us practice different scenarios to help us know how to respond to different situations. I’m grateful the class focused on all of the aspects of labor and recovery.

I had planned on a purely natural labor, but ended up with a c-section due to complications. Luckily, I never worried and felt confident the whole time because I knew all of my options and felt confident I was making the best choice for me and my baby.

I hope everyone can feel as comfortable and prepared for labor as I did after the birthing classes at Birthing Your Way.

From Barbara:

Heather was our doula for the birth of our first child. At the encouragement of our birthing class instructor, my husband and I interviewed several doula candidates before deciding on one. Once we met Heather, we just knew she was the person we wanted in the room with us when our son was born. She was warm, confident, and non-intimidating and we felt comfortable with her at once and throughout every moment of our birthing experience.

Heather supported me as I labored at home in the tub, taught my husband how to help me with hip presses, and was physically there with me during each contraction. I never felt alone. My birth did not go exactly as planned and having Heather to rely on helped me feel unafraid. Her expertise was invaluable to us as first time parents.

She was so wonderful during our hospital birth that my doctor asked for her card so she could refer other patients to Heather! The birth of a child is so special and I would not hesitate to share that experience with Heather again.