When I was pregnant with my first child, I went into it knowing what kind of birth I wanted--shorter labor, no tearing during pushing, no epidural. I had heard a lot about Donna’s program from my sister-in-law but didn’t live close, at the time. We decided to go through a birthing center, hoping they could give us something similar.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. My appointments were ten to fifteen minutes, max. They didn’t talk with me about diet or supplements at all. When I asked what prenatal vitamin I should take, they didn’t have an answer for me. They weren’t concerned if I gained a lot of weight. When I stated that I wanted to avoid tearing (already understanding how to do so because of my sister-in-law), their answer was, “Sometimes tearing just happens.”

The birth experience was a horror story like you hear from some women, not what I was hoping for. The midwives were completely hands-off, not even staying in the room the entire time I was pushing. My labor was 11 hours long and the contractions were hard. I had no support to not tear while pushing and was feeling so done, that I didn’t have it in me to do the things I needed to avoid it by myself. I tore and had a longer recovery from that. They were trying to let me be in total control, but instead, I felt alone and unsupported. I came away still not wanting to use epidurals with future births, but also feeling like I couldn’t go through something like that again.

By the time I was pregnant with my second, we were living in Vernal and I immediately called Donna. From the beginning, the difference was night and day. Her program changed everything for me.

Donna had her program all laid out for me. I knew exactly which supplements I should be taking and why. I knew which foods to avoid, which were best, and why. My appointments with her were at least an hour long as she found out how I was feeling, went through any of my (and my husband’s) questions or concerns, and visited. I never felt rushed and I never felt silly for having a question. For every problem I had, Donna had several solutions we could try. I knew I was more than just an assembly-line customer to her. As my due date approached, she called just to check in and see how I was doing.

The birth itself was everything I could want. With my first, it took five hours of contractions before I was dilated to a 6. With Donna, she was doing a check and I dilated from a 4 to a 6 within just a couple minutes with no contractions at all. My labor was three hours total and the experience, while still intense and hard, was beautiful. The contractions felt different, the same as my sister-in-law had described her first birth. The contrast between how they felt with my first labor (when I was eating sugar) and my second was stark.

My subsequent births with Donna were all just as good. The program helped me feel good during all my pregnancies. I didn’t have so many of the common complaints women have, such as heartburn, back pain, or stretch marks. And if I ever had a problem, Donna continued to come through for me. The issues could always be solved with something simple like a supplement, movement, or a change in diet.

With my third pregnancy, I didn’t call Donna right away because we were moving from an apartment into a house and living with family. Things were crazy, but my morning sickness kept getting worse. By the time I called her, I was basically bedridden and not sure I was going to function taking care of two other kids while feeling so sick. On the phone, she asked if I was feeling overly tired and cold. Surprised that she would know to ask, I responded that I was. She had me take licorice root to raise my blood pressure and within twenty-four hours, I was up and functional again. I couldn’t believe the difference in how I felt or that Donna had known so quickly what was wrong and how to fix it.

During that pregnancy, my placenta was lower and my baby didn’t like to be as low as she should be because she was crowded. During the labor, things were progressing well, but slowly (my contractions were 7 to 10 minutes apart for almost the entire labor). As I felt myself moving into transition, Donna came to check how I was doing. I was at an 8 and opened up enough that she could tell the baby was slightly turned. She had me change my position to help the baby’s head slide into position.

I was hesitant because I was worried it wouldn’t be as comfortable, but I trusted Donna and during the next contraction, I took the position she had indicated. The next contraction, I felt the urge to push! They were still preparing the bed, so I waited two contractions, breathing to keep myself from pushing. Three pushes later the baby was born. I am sure that if I had a provider who didn’t have the experience to know how to help with the baby’s position, I would have endured many more hard contractions as my body struggled to get her in the right position.

My fourth pregnancy had its own problems--when I was 37 weeks pregnant, we discovered the baby had turned breech! Donna talked me through all the stress I felt at the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to turn the baby, assured me she would support me no matter what happened (even if it meant a c-section), and worked with me to help me turn the baby. We got him turned and were able to do a home birth with her!

While I was pushing, they told me that the baby’s head was out. After the previous three births, I was confused because it sure did not feel like that was true, but I just kept pushing. Once we got him out, we saw why he had gone breech--his cord was wrapped in a way that pulled his knees up to his chest. After pushing out his head, I had to push out his body as well. We later measured--the average baby’s head is a little more than 13 inches. With his knees at his chest, it measured 22 inches. Donna told me that if the baby had been any bigger, she didn’t think I would have been able to push him out that way. I know her program is the reason we were able to get him to turn around and that I was able to have a safe home birth despite the complications. And as a bonus, because of Donna’s patience and her program, I didn’t even tear!

Donna’s program is truly life-changing. It makes being pregnant a beautiful and enjoyable experience (even if I do miss my bread sometimes!). It is empowering to face labor with confidence and come out the other side happy with how it went, instead of wishing it away.

I trust Donna more than any other midwife I know. I trust that she will dig deep and find the problem and she has enough experience to know several solutions to the problem. She is always learning--there are things she has added to her program since I started with her and she has learned about them. She knows additional supplements to avoid bleeding out and how to move low placentas. I know that her program will prepare my body to do what it was made to do, in the best and safest way possible. (Attached are pictures of a good contrast between my first, at the birth center, and my second with Donna and her team. I have been much stronger since following their program, as is evident in my pregnancy pictures!)