Doula Shamika: Transforming Long Labors into Calm and Empowered Birth Experiences
My labor was days long, and if I didn’t have Shamika, it would have been a nerve wreaking, horrible experience. She was my advocate throughout my time in the hospital. When doctors or nurses came in to tell me something stressful, she was able to calm me down, explain the situation clearly, and made sure I had enough time to make a sound decision for myself and my baby.
I am super grateful for all that she has done for my birth journey. My path toward a natural birth was set in my mind, and I was mentally prepared for the pain of contractions but not prepared for the stress of doctors and nurses. When I got to the hospital, I was only 2 cm dilated, which was surprising, and I was disappointed.
“I am super grateful for all that she has done for my birth journey.”
Coco’s M’brace: Empowering Birth Experience and Support for Confident Decision-Making
Shamika came in right away and put me in a better mindset. She made sure I was comfortable. We labored together from 8 am to 2:33 am. She put me in all kinds of positions, gave me great tools to distract me from pain, slowed me down, and asked smart questions when the nurses and doctors wanted to progress my labor in a different way that was not on my birth preference page, explained and gave me time to make my own decisions.
Overall, I felt like I would not have been satisfied with how my baby’s birth turned out if I was rushed by my doctors. Shamika was able to stop them from making me decide right away and gave me some time to make a decision without pressure. She was there for my golden hour. She taught me how to let my baby latch on and start the process of feeding. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have found her before going into labor.
She held my hand through a very long and difficult labor without giving up on me or showing any type of weakness. She left at 5 am when she was sure that my baby and I were well taken care of. Not only do I feel like I made a friend that I can trust with my life, I felt like I met a special person that really cares about what she does for a living and believes in her work!