Kat Hwang was our doula and she was amazing! She checked up on me all of the time, and even went to one of my checkups at Fort Worth Birth Center with me when my husband couldn't. She was so great and reminding me to listen to my hypnobabies tracks all throughout my pregnancy and especially when I was in labor. We barely made it to the birth center before our baby girl was born. Kat was so great at helping me stay calm and keeping my breathing under control. My baby girl came super fast and I honestly don't know how I would have done it without Kat's help. She is such an amazing doula and I will definitely hire her again if we decide to have anymore children.

--Amy

I can't rave enough about Kelli! From the moment I met her, I felt we had an unspoken connection. Furthermore, I knew she was the right doula for me when she got (introverted) me to open up and start crying.

She held a Birth Boot Camp refresher for me and my husband and a sibling class for our three-year-old daughter at our home to get our family of three ready for the new baby. She also has an awesome collection of pregnancy and birth books (I borrowed Ina May's Guide to Childbirth).

Kelli was always such a comforting and reassuring voice for me when I needed to vent a frustration or celebrate a milestone in my pregnancy. She encouraged me to write a birth plan, and I'm so glad I did, because it helped me reflect on my first wonderful birth and how to make the next one even better.

When I went into labor, we stayed connected through text until I felt like I needed her to be present. She gave me amazing advice and was cheering me on the entire time. When she got to my home for the birth, she gave one heck of a hip squeeze, because I had a sweet baby (surprise baby girl!) in my arms a few minutes later.

Once I climbed into bed, she made sure I was comfortable and even used essential oils to calm my mind and relax my body. She stayed with me until we were ready to go to bed as a family of four! She also wrote out a timeline of my birth so I would always have those special moments with me.

I'm so happy to have had Kelli as part of my birth team! She will most definitely be one of the first people I tell when I am expecting again. Thank you Kelli!

--Sarah 

I really enjoyed having Kelli as my doula. She took time to get to know me and my preferences. She didn't push me out of my comfort zone yet asked me questions to get me thinking about what I wanted during labor and delivery. During the birth she was completely focused on me. Some of the things I remembered her doing was offering a cool wash cloth for my forehead (which I wasn't expecting but was grateful for), feeding me ice chips (I loved that!), suggesting different laboring positions, and giving my husband ideas of how to support me during contractions (him pressing my hips together was wonderful during early labor).

She worked really well with the hospital staff and requested things like a birthing ball from them. I'm sure I would have more things to say but my delivery went fairly quickly. My husband appreciated her meeting us where we were in our L&D journey. He mentioned a couple things that I honestly don't remember- when I was getting towards the end I was saying, "It hurts" he tells me Kelli had a firm voice with me and was really encouraging. He says that it helped me refocus and he was glad she was there because he didn't think he could have spoken like that to me. He also said she prayed over me which we both appreciated. I will be calling and booking her as soon as i am pregnant with my next little one.

--Dannette M.

Kelli Besancon was our doula and I cannot imagine having gone through the labor and birth without her! I felt so confident and prepared going into it and when complications arose and things didn't go as planned we were so grateful to have her there to make us feel at ease and offer her knowledge and advice. Even several weeks after I know she's there to answer any questions I have. We will definitely be using her as our doula again if we decide to have another!

--Mary

Kelli was a great doula. It was my first pregnancy and so I was pretty nervous. My water broke and I called my doula only to find out she was sick. Kelli was actually a replacement doula for me but turned out to be so good!! She had an extremely calming presence. She encouraged me to try laboring in different positions but she was never pushy about it. I really appreciated that. At one point we decided to do lunges down the stairs to try and speed things up (it worked but was awful). Kelli was super encouraging during this point! I felt like I had hit my limit but she was very patient and kept encouraging me.

The things I liked most was that she was a pro at the tens unit. She could tell when my contractions were coming on and knew when to use it to best help me. I also feel like she was best after the labor. We birthed at a birthing center and then went home a few hours later. I was having a hard time breast feeding and she came out and showed me what to do and gave me some great advice. She knew some tricks to help get that started and now my little man is feeding like a champ! I talked with my midwife after the experience and they all enjoyed working with Kelli too. There wasn't really any negatives to working with her. She did great at rubbing my back and helping my husband get involved and know what to do. She helped me when I was sick to my stomach with oils and that was a huge! I really can't think of anything I would want her to improve on because I know there was a learning curve in my situation since she was a back up doula. I do plan on using her instead of my original doula next time around. She was very organized and my husband felt comfortable with her. He was nervous, obviously, and she did a good job encouraging him as well.

--Nicole A.

With my first born, I thought I didn't need a doula. But I decided to look into it again with my second. Am I ever glad I did! Just looking online at services and costs is not how to evaluate if you would greatly benefit from a doula or not. You really need to talk face to face. Jill and Kat are more than amazing. Birth is a very personal moment. And the experience stays with you forever good or bad. You want to be with people who you know without a doubt support you 100% and really know your personality and preferences. I was so impressed with the compassion, customized care, answers to all my questions, support materials, fantastic skills to relieve discomfort, and really, really hard work provided by both these ladies.

I also want to say that it is rare to find people who know when to be light-hearted and when to be serious. And those are the best people to be there when your husband wants to be helpful but isn't sure how.

Hiring a doula is not an added expense. It's a very worth while investment that lasts forever!

--Kathleen

Kelli was just what we needed to make it through our birth. Her help in preparing for the birth and during the birth created an atmosphere that was comfortable for my husband and I. We are so grateful for the help that she gave us and would definitely use her in the future and recommend her to others.

--Amber

Hiring Kelli Besancon as our doula was the best decision my husband and I made during my entire pregnancy. From the beginning, we knew we wanted a healthy and holistic pregnancy and an all-natural labor and delivery, but since this was our first child, we really didn’t know what to expect or how we needed to prepare. Kelli offered us so much guidance by instructing us in “Birth Bootcamp,” sending us book and article suggestions, and also by having many long conversations with us about things we were concerned about. She always took the time to clearly and thoroughly answer any of our questions.

When I went into labor, Kelli stayed in constant communication with my husband until they agreed it was time for her to join us. From that point on, she was by my side until our daughter was born—about 10 hours later! During my labor, Kelli supported me by doing hip squeezes, feeding me ice, holding a heat pack to my back, and offering position changes to keep me progressing. Her calming and confident presence encouraged me to keep going even when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore! After our little girl was born, Kelli stayed with us for two more hours to help with breastfeeding and make sure I didn’t need anything more. The birth of our daughter was an amazing experience and we are so thankful for Kelli! I would recommend her to anyone having a baby and I will definitely use her for baby #2!

--Hillary