With My Own Two Hands

My husband and I met Julie at a Meet the Doulas Event. She stood out from the others and we knew she was our gal– super strong, confident, experienced and we connected with her. Everything started off great. We had awesome sessions before the birth and we really felt like Julie was going to be there for us come D-​Day. We paid what was a TON of money for us because we really trusted Julie and knew she would be an amazing presence during our labor.
D-​Day rolled around and that is where things started to get weird. Julie had talked about laboring with us at home and that didn’t happen. I kept her in the loop through my whole labor; I let her know my water had broken, I had been having contractions all night and how far apart they were. The hospital had told me to come in at 10am and she encouraged me to stay at home for longer. She said by the way I sounded she could tell I wasn’t in active labor. She said people can’t talk through their contractions when they are in active labor and that I wasn’t moaning and groaning. She also let me know that she had an important appointment she had to go to, but she would come if I really needed her, but she was convinced I didn’t need her. This all was very interesting to me. We both signed a contract saying that she would be there for us on call 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after, 24 – 7. She even had told us at one of our prenatal visits that she didn’t mind coming to our house and then having to go home and come back once I was in active labor because we live so close. I should have been more firm with her, but when the person you just hired to help you through this convinces you of something, you believe them. I felt vulnerable and like I almost couldn’t be more firm with her. I am a first time mom who had no idea what was happening to her body, I can’t check and see how dialated I am, I am not an expert at this obviously, and thats why we hired Julie– to be that person for us.
We finally decided to go to the hospital without Julie, since she was busy with her appointment. The doctor checked me right when we got there and told me I was already at 6 cm and the baby would be here very soon!!! My husband called Julie and let her know this and she finally got to the hospital 45 minutes later. She said she had been at a massage earlier… that was her appointment she had to get to. She was supposed to helping me, yet she was getting a massage instead. Yikes. She apologized for not being there sooner and said ‘normally’ things don’t go that fast. That was also big problem for me thinking about it later because all births are different! She has been to so many births and told us numerous times how every single one is different. I felt like she treated the birth of our child like it was like most of her other births and I was just like every other mother she has worked with. As it turns out, I wasn’t and neither was our birth.
Things progressed rapidly at the hospital and our daughter was born at 4:11pm. So she helped us at in labor for about 3 hours. It felt like such a rip off for what we paid for. I ended up feeling like it was a waste of money and we definitely could have done it all without her. My husband and I were way more prepared than we gave ourselves credit for. We had done our reading, talked to so many moms and dads about their stories and honestly felt confident in the whole process, but we were hoping Julie would make us feel more reassured about ourselves. My husband was the best support I could have asked for and Julie felt like a small presence in the room compared to him. She also kept saying after she was born how she felt like she really didn’t do anything. She just kept bringing up how good I did and how she didn’t do anything. Which I am sure she meant as a compliment, but it made me feel awful. We paid her over $ 1000 and for her to say she didn’t do anything felt terrible.
A few other weird things that are definitely worth mentioning… Right after our baby was born, Julie was standing by my head and one of the nurses said something along the lines of «Oh you guys look like you are related! Are you her mom?» Julie took it super personally and got very offended. She retorted «Are you kidding me??? I am 36 and she is 25! Wow. I can’t believe you would think that!» The nurse obviously felt terrible and apologized, but Julie couldn’t really get over it. Our baby girl had just been placed on my chest and this was all happening right above my head. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time because I was so immersed in our little angel, but wow, that was so unprofessional. To make it worse, when my parents and her were visiting the next day, she brought it up again! And kept talking about how lame it was and how she couldn’t believe the nurse said that. If I was not fully overwhelmed with my beautiful child I would have yelled «GIVE IT A REST ALREADY! SHE DIDN’T MEAN ANYTHING BY IT! Drop it and leave the room please.»
Anyways. Out of space.

Julie was referred to us from a dear friend who said Julie was invaluable as she labored and delivered her second child. We knew she was highly sought after, so we felt so fortunate when she had an opening around our due date. Julie was always available during the pregnancy, and was in constant contact those last couple weeks and as I went a week over. She always wanted to be updated on how my Dr visits went and how I was feeling, and even giving suggestions of what I could do to safely induce labor so I would not need a hospital induction.
At exactly one week past our due date I went into labor around 4am, called Julie around 6am, and though my contractions were close we decided to wait a bit longer before going to the hospital and call her again in a couple hours — it could take a while since this was our first child. Labor actually started to progress rather quickly, so we called Julie back a short while later to let her know that we were heading to the hospital since it at least a 30 minute drive and rush hour.
Once we reached the hospital my husband was able to perform the hip squeeze Julie taught us (I had back labor and could not sit down) and about an hour and a half before I delivered our son Julie made it to the hospital — she had to drive from Santa Cruz to Redwood City during rush hour! She was a welcome relief for my husbands tired arms. She was there for the last 1.5 hrs of labor, which doesn’t sound like much, but felt like an awfully long time. She was still very necessary to give my husband a break, set up her stim machine on my low back, and having the added words of encouragement helped immensely through the pain. I was able to tune everyone out at that point and know that Julie was our advocate with the hospital staff. She took the most beautiful photos with my SLR camera, and stayed right through breastfeeding to make sure all was ok. Since my labor was so quick she also gave me an amazing post natal massage a couple weeks later, and still over a year later, we hear from her periodically to see how we are all doing.
We would absolutely call upon Julie again, and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a birth doula or masseuse, look no further!

Julie was great to have in our corner throughout our life-​changing process these past months. Before, during and after the birth of our baby boy, she had great suggestions and a helpful manner. Her support in the birthing room was immeasurable as doctor and nurse jargon had us trying to understand so much, all the while our baby was moving down the canal.
Julie has visited twice since the birth and is greatly appreciated! Thank you Julie!

Julie Lefmann is a concerned doula; her warm heart and loving spirit helped guide the birth of our first son in the spiritual way we had hoped and dreamed. We are eternally grateful that Julie’s focus, grit, experience, and love helped to set the stage for the most amazing experience of our lives.
While the birth itself was long and intense (38 hours) so much of what makes Julie the consummate doula is her ability to listen; We met three times before the birth to get a sense of each other, and to cultivate an understanding of what we are about to do. It worked.
From my perspective as a first-​time father, I did not understand why someone would want to hire «a complete stranger» to be at their birth. I mean, the baby is gonna come out regardless, right? But as with so much in life, how you do things is just as important as the outcome itself. I know this most of the time, but it’s easy to forget. If I were alone, I could never have marshaled the resources to imbue my son’s birth with the level of support, knowledge, comfort, and universal life-​force energy that Julie’s provided.
Perhaps most important to me was that I was able to be in the moment with my beautiful wife and my baby boy moments after delivery. I know in my heart of hearts that our Doula helped to set the stage for what is truly one of life’s greatest miracles. She transformed one of the scariest, most powerless and challenging experiences into one of spiritual creativity and sublime understanding of who we are as a family and why we are here on this earth.
We would recommend anyone considering having a baby in Santa Cruz to contact Julie Lefmann as an order of paramount spiritual importance.

Julie was Awesome as our doula. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect with birth and with a doula for support and whether I needed a doula or what I needed at all since I just had my first baby. I was beyond pleasantly surprised by my birth because of the support I got from Julie and my husband, whom she coached in how he could support me as well. Birth is such a beautiful and intense process and Julie remained solid throughout the journey — a real pillar. She was calm, gentle, but firm. She stood as an advocate for us with doctor’s, sticking to the plan we had discussed together, and willingly bending when were clear that is how we wanted to proceed. She stood only for us to have the birth we wanted and to feel safe and cared for in the process.
During labor I found that my lower back needed the most attention and that with pressure on it, contractions felt significantly reduced. Julie used many techniques and stayed alert and with me for every contraction helping me move through the sensations I experienced. She is such a grounded, kind, and to the point person, I really appreciate that about her. Julie feels like family and a huge part of our darling daughter’s life because of the labor connection we shared. It’s taken me so long to review her as now my daughter is 6 months old because I have found it hard to articulate how Amazing she was in our birth and how appreciative I was to have her there!

Julie was awesome! She helped my wife and I do our best to create a beautiful birth. The birthing process is intense. I am so grateful we hired her to help us navigate through it. She helped me know what to do. She helped my wife feel supported. She helped the doctor be clear about our «birth plan.» Without fluffing my review up with too many adjectives, I’ll just say she’s knowledgeable, personable, solid, and real. Big thumbs up.

My sweet sweet husband booked me a prenatal massage with Julie while we were vacationing in Santa Cruz– I loved the experience! It was a fantastic,
Soothing massage, Julie was so great to talk to, and very nice and encouraging. The atmosphere at her home for the massage was very relaxing as well. I wished we lived closer to indulge in a couple more before the birth!

Julie is an extremely professional and knowledgable doula. We couldn’t be happier with our experience with her! This was our second birth, and we had a different doula for our first birth. Julie was highly recommended to us by a friend and co-​worker. During our prenatal meetings, she listened carefully to our desires – it was clear that she understood what kind of birth we wanted.
Once i was in labor I began to doubt myself and what I wanted – the health care professionals have a way of doing this to you – but once Julie was there with us I felt like I had the strength to say what I wanted because I knew she would support me with the doctors. Her training in massage therapy certainly paid off for me during labor – what a treat it was to have someone rubbing my back and taking pressure off of my spine! I had some back labor and she used techniques that completely eased the pain.
Another strength of Julie’s was that she advocated for me without me having to ask. She consistently checked in with the health care professionals to ask questions and made sure everything being done to me was explained. After our baby was born there were some minor complications – the baby needed oxygen – and while I was panicking Julie remained calm and got our nurse to explain to me, step by step, what was being done for the baby and why. I can’t emphasize enough how important this was to my husband and I in the moment.
Once the baby was born, Julie didn’t «leave» us – she checked in with us in the following days and weeks, and made me feel like we still mattered to her. I would recommend her to anyone without hesitation, and if we have a third child, we’ll definitely be using her services again!

Julie Lefmann is a wonderful, talented woman with many skills to contribute to you and your partner’s birth experience. She provided enormous support by meeting with us and offering tips and advice well before the due date. But our most valued time with Julie was the birth experience itself. Having been first time parents, my husband and I tried to be as prepared as possible, but Julie’s experience and steady energy made us feel so much more confident.
I had a particularly long labor (as is common in my family) & birthed at Kaiser Santa Clara. Julie stayed by our side through it all, suggesting new positions, offering massage, hip pressure, as well as breathing and visualization practices. My husband and I aimed for a natural birth, but had also agreed that we were not completely opposed to an epidural should it become really necessary. Julie supported us 100% in our birth plan, was fully invested and also helped advocate for us with the hospital staff. Even with the long labor, I am proud to say that I have absolutely no regrets and I attribute this success to both Julie and my husband’s unwielding support. Once I had passed into active labor from early labor, I never had more than a small handful of contractions where either Julie or my husband (or both) weren’t physically assisting me, either by supporting my weight, massaging me, compressing my hips, or pushing on my back.
Looking back on my labor, I am so grateful that we had Julie by our side the whole time, and both my husband and I feel strongly that Julie’s presence allowed us to be successful through her guidance and skillful practice. We felt so connected with Julie by the end that we asked her to do the honor of cutting our son’s umbilical cord. Julie, my husband, and I are good friends today, and we will definitely be hiring her for our next birth in a few years!

I booked a prenatal massage with Julie early in my pregnancy and I have to say it was one of the smartest things I could have done! Julie is AMAZING! She gets rid of knots I wasn’t even aware I had and I am so relaxed when I leave that I can’t believe I haven’t been seeing her for years. As a Doula, Julie is also always willing to answer questions and is truly interested in how you are feeling and dealing with your pregnancy. I have recommended her to a number of people who are not «expecting» and have continued seeing her once my prenatal need was over.

In May of 2013 my wife & I learned that we would be having our first child. We researched our options as far as hospitals, OB-​Gyn, Midwife, etc. We ultimately decided to go with a midwife and would deliver at Los Gatos, El Camino. We learned about doulas – a woman who is trained to assist another woman during childbirth & potentially afterward– during this process my wife decided that she wanted to hire one; and although I thought I could meet her support-​needs, I agreed.
We met Julie Lefmann of With My Own Two Hands at a Meet the Doulas event at Harmony Birth Center in Campbell where we interviewed several other candidates in one sitting. We felt an immediate comfort and connection with Julie.
We had two prenatal appointments with Julie prior to my wife’s delivery. She supported all of our plans for our anticipated delivery method and helped us talk through the questions and doubts we had about the labor and delivery process. When my wife went into labor, we connected with Julie and she came to our home to help my wife through early labor. She then followed us to the hospital and was there during delivery and a couple of hours into recovery. She even took some photos including a video of me passing our newborn to my wife for the first time; capturing these moments was priceless! As first time parents, Julie’s support and wisdom really gave us a sense of security and comfort that I don’t think we would have felt without her expertise.
Although I was honestly initially a bit hesitant to bring someone into this very intimate time of our lives, hiring a doula; particularly Julie; was a great decision. She took time to understand our individual desires and needs. She allowed and assisted me with supporting & comforting my wife during the intense labor process. I never once felt pushed out, but rather felt like I had gained a great teammate for the labor and birthing process.
Not every doula is right for every person, but I cannot recommend using a doula for the delivery (especially for the first baby) enough. And, with that in mind, Julie should definitely be at the top of the interview list – she was the perfect fit for my growing family, and I would use her again for our next baby.
Incidentally, Julie is very skilled masseuse (services are billed separately from the doula fee) which was wonderful for my wife & me – most expectant fathers can agree that the stress and the «honey-​do» chores can leave you quite sore!

I delivered my first child with Julie Lefmann in Jan 2014 at El Camino Hospital Los Gatos and I was extremely satisfied with the experience. Julie has a warm personality, and at your most vulnerable time, she is definitely someone you can lean on (figuratively and literally). You can tell that she is very experienced and knows her way around a delivery. She was very good at keeping me calm and focused and providing essential pain relief for my unmedicated birth. She also provided support to my husband so we could all work together as a team.
I was also really impressed with how she took charge of my labor. She literally ran the show up until I started crowning. She was my advocate during labor which I also really appreciated There were a few times when the nurses asked me questions that I wasn’t prepared for and I had difficultly processing. She took charge and suggested answers knowing my overall preferences. This was a huge help to my husband and me because in the moment we were both overwhelmed.
If I get pregnant again, Julie would be my first call to make sure I get on the books! Then I would tell my husband. :-)