Doula from the Heart
Elaine Frankovic provided impeccable doula services to our family through the prenatal, birth, and postpartum periods. She was compassionate, knowledgeable, skillful, and respectful of our religious preferences. We so appreciated her warm caring approach during the birth of our son on May 9, 2010. We made it through the difficulties of prolonged rupture of membranes and needing to be induced with pitocin. With the comfort Elaine provided as my doula I was able to deliver my baby without pain medication. We were very happy with her professional labor support.-Jannah (San Jose)
Elaine played a big part in how this second experience was much better for us. Having a baby is difficult under any circumstances, and only my wife really knows how it was. Nevertheless, it's obvious to both of us that Elaine's presence and experience has been very helpful. With our first baby we weren't given any encouragement or support to push out the baby. This time with the help and support of Elaine she was able to push the baby out without any medical interventions. We were less anxious with the birth of this child due to the fact that we knew that Elaine would be with us from the start to the end of the birth of our beautiful daughter. Our doula Elaine played a crucial support role that cannot be separated from our successful birth. We have much gratitude, appreciation, and admiration for her help. -Noah (Berkeley)
I knew I wanted a doula because of documented lower rates of medication use and surgical birth. What I didn't realize was all the other reasons I would be glad Elaine served as our doula. In addition to providing comfort measures like visualization, massage, and regular old hand-holding, Elaine advocated for me and my preferences, encouraging me to speak up, asking questions of the nursing staff when I was reluctant to, and reassuring me when I felt disappointed about the interventions that did happen during labor with my son.
- Julia (San Jose)
Elaine stayed with us the entire time, walking with Julia, holding her hand and helping to keep her comfortable. It was a relief to me to not be the only support person in an unfamiliar situation. Having Elaine present also allowed me to take better care of myself, getting food, sleep, and bathroom breaks without having to leave my wife by herself. - Ryan (San Jose)
Postpartum Care:
My husband could have handled the baby care by himself, but then he wouldn't have been able to dry my hair, help my feet stop swelling, draw up my sitz bath, and steady me while I stood up, all of which Elaine did, and moreover he seemed completely surprised how much physical assistance I needed once we were home. Having Elaine present allowed me much more sleep the days she was there, and her reassurance that postpartum fatigue is normal, and passes, was greatly appreciated. I am confident that my relatively rapid recovery and current energy level are due in part to the amount of high-quality rest, food, and care Elaine provided in my first 4 weeks of postpartum. -Julia (San Jose)
After a few days in the hospital after the birth of our son, my wife was bouncing off the walls ready to go home. I didn't realize how much of that energy had carried over from the birth, and was pretty concerned when she seemed to hit a wall the day after the hospital discharge. While I could have probably managed to care for my wife and the baby myself, I'm glad I didn't have to. Elaine has a passion for caring for postpartum women and babies, and she helped smooth our transition to life as a family by keeping my picky wife fed and hydrated, the laundry and dishes caught up, and the rest of the house tidied. -Ryan (San Jose)