Get Babied Doula Collective

«A ‘do what’?» several people we knew asked when we began searching for a doula. Knowing that my husband and I wanted to have as natural birth as possible, we recognized that we were going to need all the assistance as possible and a doula was the route to go. When I put the call out on social media for doula recommendations, several folks mentioned Get Babied! so I began to look into their services. Right away, my husband and I went to the Get Comfortable! class which was phenomenal. We soon attended a couple of informative Meet the Doulas! sessions and had a chance to get to know the doulas there as well as find out information from guest speakers and other expectant parents. We were quite impressed and also found the cooperative model to work quite well for us. As someone who hates to be an inconvenience (seriously, I apologized several times during labor since it took so long), I found comfort in the cooperative model as there was always someone passionate on call who was available if needed and that there was a back-​up to cover things like family sickness, vacations, etc. Hiring Get Babied! was the best decision we could’ve made towards achieving our goal of a natural, med-​free childbirth. Before going into labor, I had several false starts and some other things going on that I was able to consult with the doulas there. The response was always immediate, positive, and supportive. When my labor started, I talked to Cary Burtt when I called Get Babied, and given that I had an appointment with my OB later that morning, she met us at the hospital. Cary was nothing short of an angel, and had it not been for her, I’m convinced that I would not have achieved my goal as my body was slow to progress. She helped me try several tactics to help move things along and made me as comfortable as possible given the circumstances whether it was through breathing techniques, massage, heating pads, getting in different positions, using essential oils to overcome nausea, words of encouragement, etc. Cary worked with my amazing husband brilliantly to provide the support I needed to survive an intense 23 hour labor. My husband found having a doula incredibly supportive for him, too. My mom was present as well, and during my labor, she got the phone call that my nephew had to have an emergency appendectomy. Cary’s presence was very calming for all of us. She respected our birth wishes and also reminded those at the hospital of them, too. Despite the length of my labor, she was energetic and encouraging and stayed with us long after to help establish breastfeeding as well as help us get settled into our postpartum room. My mom, while always supportive of our decision to hire a doula, got to experience exactly why having a labor coach was so important to us. In fact, my mom said that if we were ever to have another child, she would pay for Cary’s services herself. We were honored that our daughter was Cary’s 70^th birth and feel blessed beyond measure that all went so well!

A million stars! I can’t imagine having a baby without a doula. Tif was a superhero and helped me and my husband not totally freak out through a super fast labor and crazy midnight car ride to the hospital at 9.5cm. Tanya was super helpful with breastfeeding. Jenny’s BF class was great. D’Andrea’s birthing class was great. Amy gave me baby boy clothes from her son. Cary came to my house and helped us make our birth plan. Everyone was super nice and chill. This was the best $ 500 I ever spent in my life.

Best money ever spent! First, I’m not a hippie. I work a corporate job and live in a suburb. I wasn’t interested in an all-​natural med free birth. My situation was that I had no family living in Austin, my husband hates hospitals & blood, and I knew I was going to need help in order to have the birth I wanted.
I signed up for the apprentice doula plan, and got D’Andrea Jones (who is no longer an apprentice). She was AWESOME! I had never met her before, but she stayed with me for about 12 hours at the hospital, and helped me get to 5 cm naturally before I asked for the epidural, which I know helped keep me from having a CS. The best part was that she talked to me the whole time. I’m a chatty person, and she kept me in good spirits while my husband sat in the corner. She also helped me remember my birth plan to breastfeed right away before baby clean up, as well as refusing some of the other standard hospital procedures I wasn’t comfortable with. After being awake for about 48 hours of pro-​dromal labor my mind was toast.
So even if you aren’t looking for the all natural experience, a Doula can still add a lot of value to your birth and be an advocate for you in a hospital.
Oh, and they even hooked me up with a free pre-​natal massage at a local massage school :)

I purchased the Get Doula’d package and I highly recommend it. I had not worked with a doula before, but am overly impressed by their services. My husband was skeptical at first as we had been taking Bradley method classes. However, after delivery he said, «We will always have a doula with every baby. They’re fantastic!»
I had the privilege of working with Jenni, De’Andrea and her shadow Deva.
I was able to labor at home and Jenni came over until De’Andrea could make it to my home. Jenni had suggestions to help with contractions, she was able to take over rubbing my back when my husband got tired, she was a constant reassurance when I had questions. She was wonderful! I just felt like I had total control while she was with me. De’Andrea and Deva (shadow) arrived at my home and somewhere during this time I finally noticed my husband had slipped out of the room. It turns out he had been out of the room for about an hour! He was finishing last minute things around the house and was BAKING A BIRTHDAY CAKE for our soon to be son. As we headed to the hospital my labor became much more intense. De’Andrea, will always have my sincere gratitude! I ended up being in labor for 17 hours and she pushed on my lower back for every single contraction at the hospital. She was a great resource when we were making decisions about our plan of care. Deva was right beside her holding my hand, offering hydration, seeing if my husband needed drinks, bathroom break etc. They both took pictures! It was a long labor, but they never left my side! I could tell they were tired when they left the next morning, but they were all so positive and encouraging in their care! I am a true believer now that every person needs a doula! YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT!

Amy Nevland taught our Get Prepared birth class and we loved her from the beginning. The class was informative, fun and relaxing. Amy’s comfort with the topic and sense of humor set us at ease, allowing us to talk openly about the birth process. We did not understand the role of the Doula at the time, but we knew we would not regret having her in our corner for the birth so we bought the Get Doula’d package and happily paid the extra to have Amy Nevland specifically. When we found out I had to be induced at the last minute, we were even more grateful to have Amy’s assistance. She showed up ready to rock, and for 22 hours of pitocin induced, water broken labor, Amy did everything possible to add comfort to this intense marathon birth. Her calming presence also influenced the family members present, keeping a peaceful and calm atmosphere where everyone could help and no one had to be unnecessarily stressed. She worked with the nurses and the doctors beautifully — walking the fine line between looking out for mom and hospital policy. Her creativity in working through various birthing positions, and around high blood pressure and low platelet count issues threatening the natural birth, undoubtedly helped me move through labor faster. I have no doubt that without Amy we would not have been able to avoid a c-​section. With her achieved the natural birth that we had so dearly hoped for and a healthy, happy, baby girl. What more could we ask for?
Amy helped after the birth to make sure mom was comfortable, baby latched, and any remaining birth plan requirements were achieved. She continues to follow up with us, always happy to provide support. She is not only our Doula of choice now, but our dear friend.
If you are contemplating whether or not it would be worth it to hire a doula, rest assured it is worth every penny and then twice as much more. I do not know how women make it through this process without them — it should be illegal to go through birth without this kind of support. Whether you are doing a home birth with a mid wife, a birthing center, or traditional hospital, the doula serves a very important role in getting a woman through this process, smoothing speed bumps, and creating a positive frame of mind in the extremely mentally exhausting process of child birth. I owe a large part of my natural birth badge of price to Amy.
We will refer every expecting mom we meet to Get Babied for their excellent classes and wonderful Doulas. Of course, we highly recommend hiring Amy Nevland specifically as we cannot imagine a better person for the job. But considering the professionalism we experienced with everyone at Get Babied, we are sure you will have a great doula with them no matter who you get. :)

When people ask me about my birthing experience, I give them one piece of advice: Get A Doula.
I would give Get Babied 75 stars if I could… my highest rating. I don’t even know where to start in singing their praises.
I bought the Get Babied package, and it was worth every cent. In fact, they could’ve charged double and I still would have said it was worth more than that.
Ame Shillington was my doula. She was absolutely amazing. I called the doula on call phone in the early hours on New Years Day. Ame answered and I told her I was headed to the hospital. She gave me the option of meeting me at the hospital right away or meeting me once I got settled into the room. I told her I would call her once I got settled. Without going into too much detail about my labor and delivery, I know that my experience would have been much different had Ame not been there. She knew how to turn my baby when she realized that she was facing the wrong way and causing me a great deal more pain, and she knew how to relax me during the respites between contractions. She was absolutely amazing, and I now have a gorgeous baby girl.
About a week after delivery Ame came to house to check in and see how things were going. She helped me with breastfeeding, showed me how to «wear my baby» in the Moby wrap so I don’t feel so confined, and just offer general support and encouragement.
Get Babied offers an impressive amount of services from the first weeks of pregnancy to many weeks/​month postpartum. If you are pregnant, do yourself a favor and educate yourself on doulas and then take advantage of all Get Babied has to offer.

We did the «on-​call» apprentice doula option and ended up with Erin Mahoney. She was fantastic! So kind, gentle and helpful! We had a natural hospital birth and was a huge help to myself and my husband. Highly recommend!

Ame Shillington was my doula for my VBAC birth. My husband happily says that she’s the reason that I had a successful VBAC without pain meds. His story is that she was able to help me when he didn’t know how, and that enabled him to let go of his worry and stress and be present for me. Ame was amazing in her birth support. She responded to my needs immediately and with an amazing intuition — often doing things to make me feel better that filled needs I wasn’t even able to articulate. She offered a range of birth support from getting my husband coffee when we first arrived (early morning!) at the hospital, to massaging my hands, to rubbing my back, to helping with nausea with mint aromatherapy and ice-​cold washcloths. When I was nervous she helped me to understand what was going on and removed any fear that I had which enabled me to relax and have a successful birth! I cannot sing her praises enough. As part of the experience your doula will write up a birth story for you which is such an amazing way to capture the birth.
As for the collective, they offer a variety of packages to fit your financial and pregnancy needs. Amy Nevland led a wonderful birth preparation class called the Get Prepared! class. It walked the group through comfort measures to use during labor, what to expect during labor and after, and information about drugs and post-​partum issues. While in the moment it felt very silly to spend time actively practicing birthing positions with my husband, it also drilled it into my head (and muscle memory) so that I had a better idea of what I liked and what was comfortable before the labor began. Amy was also really awesome at giving us a very real idea of what to expect during labor. One of my husband’s biggest worries was that he wouldn’t know when labor started. I had been having very strong and sometimes uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions and he wasn’t sure that he could differentiate them. Well, Amy put that concern at bay. She acted out (very «When Harry Met Sally» style) what labor sounded like at different stages. Early in labor my husband started saying to me, «You’re sounding like Amy. Maybe we should call the doulas…» :)
All of the services we received from Get Babied! were top notch. When you use their collective you have an amazing experience supporting you. I frequently emailed the group with questions and concerns and would very quickly get responses from multiple doulas attending to my needs.
And, they have massage therapists and lactation consultants on staff! I very much enjoyed my prenatal massage included in my package and since my 1 month old is suddenly having latching problems I will be using their lactation consultant later this week. Ame also checked in post-​partum to make sure I didn’t have any questions and concerns and to make sure that I was getting support in a variety of areas.
These women provide amazing support from prenatal to post-​partum. I cannot recommend them enough.

What a great group of Doulas– This group delivered on every possible area of the birthing process– from «what to expect», to «the delivery», and all the way to «nursing» — this team was on the ball– I do not think the birthing process could of gone any better and it was highly attributed to this Doula Team. We met with a few different groups and this group was by far the most organized, informative, patient, and polished group–

I’ve birthed 2 children — the first in the hospital w/​o a doula, the second in a birthing center with a midwife AND a doula. My first experience was good, but my second was GREAT and Ame made ALL the difference! My husband was present to offer emotional support, but some of the skills that Ame brought to the table included aromatherapy (to immediately ease my nausea), massage and counterpressure (to ease the pain of contractions), coaching and support for my husband. I am now a firm believer that women in any birth setting — hospital, birthing center, home, wherever — can benefit tremendously from the support of a professional birth doula to assist them and their partners throughout the labor process. The Get Babied! doula collective is affordable for anyone and their al a cart menu makes it easy to select only those services that you will use. They have monthly information sessions and classes that every prospective parent can benefit from. Every doula that I’ve met through them has been extremely knowledgeable and sensitive to the needs of their clients. They’re awesome!