Home Birth VBAC
Our journey from blindly trusting OBs to going with homebirth midwives for our prenatal care in the third trimester to catching our own baby in a fast birth and getting my successful VBAC would not have been possible without Leila. This journey was responsible for our rebirth as well in terms of trusting our instincts and Leila has been probably the only witness to all of it. She has truly been a confidant and a shining beacon in our awakening. When we first started interviewing doulas in the middle of my second trimester, our sixth and last interview was with Leila. It went on for 2 hours instead of a typical 30 mins -1 hour window. Both I and my husband instantly knew she was the one who would help us in our birth. We are so glad she felt the same connection and despite her busy schedule, and us being an hour away from her, she chose to support us. This has been the best thing that happened to us in this pregnancy since, after that, we really started to educate ourselves and started making informed decisions instead of blind trust. I am a VBAC mom and in order to find a VBAC supporting provider was itself a challenge. VBAC supportive vs VBAC tolerant we understood this difference because of Leila and could change our providers before it was too late in the last trimester. Thanks to Leila, again, we found the best midwives Michelle and Jaclyn who were truly caring and supportive throughout our last but critical caring months. Leila introduced us to the three sisters of balance from Spinning babies, I learned so much from her yoga classes, her keep ups and squats gave me the mental and physical strength I needed to birth my baby in a pleasurable and pain-free yet intense fast birth. We used to look forward to her prenatal visits. She prepared us so well that we knew how to prepare our older child for homebirth, how to assess any situation with the BRAIN formula in decision making, and how to trust our instincts in the same. Her teachings saved us from making some bad decisions on chiropractors and I could find the best chiropractor I adored, and could also stand up against some unreasonable recommendations by consulting OB for VBAC. We could own our birth preferences and our birth! We also knew instinctively what to do with the unsupported birth situation. Leila was connected to me on daily basis, supporting me emotionally with any and all stresses before and after birth like a mother, a close friend, a sister.
Leila was over the phone while I was in unexpectedly fast labor, drove as fast as she could to reach 10 minutes before the birth during my critical pushing stage. I believe just having her was so reassuring and helped me reduce tear during birth. Although my labor was fast, I had prodromal labor for a few days. Leila gave me the strength to go through it and taught me to "observe" the change and go through the required work at home and office as a distraction during those days. Tightening slowly became surges as she mentioned but she still encouraged me to proceed with normal chores through the early labor. I am so glad I did because that probably helped with getting my mind and body ready for the fast active labor that came upon us. Leila always told me not to expect or envision labor in a certain way since any labor can be unpredictable. I am so glad I followed her advice, I could really enjoy my precipitous birth like an adventure with my husband, instead of fretting about it. Leila was by my side for the slightly intense postpartum experience where I had a hemorrhage, making sure that I get my choices and others in my team are believing in me just as she did. I could recover faster and could avoid hospital transfer with my midwives and Leila's support and the mental strength I got from my birth. She was managing our older kid while keeping one eye on me, feeding and hydrating me during all this time we were trying to stop the blood. My older child adores Leila, he was listening to her earnestly and was behaving his best throughout this somewhat unexpected experience.
Leila has been absolutely an angel helping us deal with all the postpartum stress related to hospital visits for baby jaundice etc., taking care of our older child and home, especially with no help from family and friends due to covid. She not only helped us physically taking care of some stuff at home and keeping our little one while we sorted some urgent issues with extended family, but she also supported us in dealing with the emotional stress with pediatricians. Leila saved us our breastfeeding experience by recommending a nursing vacation to increase the milk supply while the pediatrician's recommendations were forcing us to switch to formula.
We would like to highly recommend Leila. She is a kind-hearted, dedicated, and passionate birth worker. It is our absolute pleasure just knowing her. Leila has a welcoming, warm demeanor infused with a lot of strength and confidence needed for a to-be mother to have a positive pregnancy and birthing experience. She has truly been a blessing to our family! Thank you Leila with all our hearts for everything you have done for us and what you are doing for society. We love you!