Laura was simply amazing! Her birthing class was fun, funny, and informative, and having her with me in the hours before my beautiful son arrived was priceless. She was a calm and joyful guide during my much-faster-than-anticipated labor. She helped me focus on what I needed to do to bring my baby into this world without interventions and without pain medications – and I did it! She is one of the major reasons that the memory of my labor and delivery is so sweet and fills me with pride. With her help, I met my goal of having an unmedicated birth, and my normally intense husband remained cool, calm and helpful. If you’re looking for doula, or just a personal and engaging birthing class, I wholeheartedly recommend Laura.
Laura assisted us with 2 unmediated natural births. One included a water birth. I could not imagine birthing without her. When choosing a doula, I only needed one phone conversation to know that Laura was the one for us. She is extremely knowledgeable, passionate and down right fun. All of these features combined provided both myself and my husband the strength to take control of our birthing experiences.Laura has mentally and physically support me through two challenging pregnancies, a posterior baby and a footling breech baby (which was manually flipped via version). With all of these challenges came 2 easy and fast births but not without concern. She comforted me and talked me through my worries. Because my first was posterior, Laura worked with me and did certain manipulations that actually rotated the baby! it was amazing. It made the birth 10 times easier with her in the right position. Simply AMAZING! You will love Laura’s fabulous bag, actually a suitcase, of tricks to help ease some of the toughest contractions. I really can’t say enough good things about Laura. She is simply so special to me and my family.
Laura Depasquale has attended both of our children’s births as a doula and I truly believe it was a huge part in making the experience as wonderful as it was. After taking her birth education classes, I saw how experienced, knowledgable and calm she was and I wanted her present. She was able to read me so well and her support made my husband and I feel so confident that we could have the natural childbirth we wanted and planned for. I think it’s a primal and natural desire for a woman in labor to want to feel supported and understood and Laura definitely has the intuition and experience to deliver (excuse the pun). As I told her in a wave of endorphins after the birth, ‘I love you!’ But it wasn’t just in the moment, I truly believe I couldn’t have done two natural childbirths without her there. If we ever decide to have more children, I would plan it around Laura’s schedule so she could be there. We’re so pleased we followed our friends recommendation of using Laura. She’s the best!
I had Laura as my doula for both of my children and was thrilled with her assistance in their natural deliveries. Laura provides a consistently calm and reassuring presence and is there for you every step of the way. For my first birth she came to my home in the middle of the night to help when labor got rough, and then followed us to the hospital. She never left my side (the doctors and nurses aren’t there much!) and I felt so much more at ease with her there. She was familiar with the hospital staff, procedures, monitors, equipment, etc, which was very helpful. My husband was also thankful for her presence. Husbands can be great support systems, but let’s face it – most of them have NO clue what it’s like to give birth, so they can only provide so much help. Laura also stayed with me immediately following my son’s birth when I had to be stitched up (oww!) and my husband followed our newborn to the nursing station for some minor breathing problems. I highly recommend Laura as your doula, especially if you are looking for a natural childbirth. She is truly a professional and you will not be disappointed!
My desire to give birth naturally originated because I wanted to avoid repeat cesarean sections, common in NJ. I was thrilled to find in Laura DePasquale both a childbirth educator and a doula. Six years ago my husband and I took her childbirth class with 3 other couples. It was great to do this with a small group of first time parents. Both my husband and I were incredibly prepared through the class, the readings, meditation practice, and more. Many of my friends haven’t had such preparation and as a result key decisions have been entirely in the hands of their doctors, leading to more interventions. Laura’s class helped me feel confident in my role in the birth process, including my ability to make important decisions and my knowledge of how a woman’s body helps birth her child. For me, it was a natural choice to hire Laura to serve as our birth doula for our daughter six years ago, and again for our son born earlier this year. I appreciated developing a relationship with Laura through her classes. If you don’t have this opportunity, she is very gifted at making connections with people and you’ll feel like you’ve always known her! Knowing that Laura would be present for the birth process gave me the confidence to claim the natural births I desired. The support she offered my husband and me was always very intuitive and welcome. People don’t realize that nurses and the doctor are not with you all the time in the delivery room, they are monitoring you from afar. To have someone with us who could help explain what’s going on, or help find a more comfortable position, or provide massage that gets you through the intensity of contractions, was absolutely priceless. I know that Laura’s expertise and interpersonal gifts directly contributed to my ability to have two exhilirating natural childbirths. Laura is incredibly dedicated to her clients. She is a true blessing to women and their partners in childbirth.
Laura was everything my husband and I needed during one of the scarriest, beautiful and hardest times in our life. She is extremely educated and is very supportive during crisis situations. All though our birth did not go as planned and ended in a Csection she was there by our side through out and especially afterwards. I suffered from some post pardum anxiety and she really helped me pull through. Also, my husband truly appreciated having someone we trusted along the way and through out the process. We love Laura and would highly reccomend her as a doula!