Dearest Jill

We both wish to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to you for all that you have done for us. Your gifts to us have been plenty and great and we are not sure you can ever be thanked enough. But we will attempt to, by letting you know what a wonderful, special person you are and what your support and expertise has meant for us.

If we called on every single one of your skills and talents as a Doula and fabulous human being, you did it so graciously. But we will never forget how you drove all the way from Betty’s Bay to make us stronger for a journey we would never have had the courage to undertake if it hadn’t been for you. We will always be thankful to you for taking the time and possessing the skills to really hear our story and our past, and to allow something truly amazing to come from that. You cared for us in so many ways – from home-made muesli for a hungry husband to lip-ice and a cotton shirt for a me gone inwards. You knew just what, just when.

Your massages melted the contractions. Your hand was strong when I held it. Your words were calming and reviving to both of us. Your endurance and unwavering support and patience blew us away. You turned us into a husband and wife team working together to birth our baby – this has strengthened us. You set us up comfortably within a system that surprisingly wasn’t geared up for success. In fact, you defined an almost ‘secret’ success along the way and it unfolded as if by magic. I was stronger than I knew, my body did know what to do, I could push, he could come out without getting stuck. And he did, our incredible baby, just like you said he could – bigger and more beautiful than expected.

What this has done for me as a woman and a mother is hard to put in words. I could have jumped from a plane or flown to the moon and not been so elated. But you would know.  My husband says it was an exciting and amazing experience for him as a dad.

We so love the work you do. The empowerment of making choices, the power of real labour, the miracle of normal birth, the intimacy of skin to skin, the beauty of gentle first breaths, the boost of a successful brand-new breastfeeding bond, a commemorative bath for a new mother, a cherished newborn cuddle for dad, a first night of peace and calm, the pride, the stun, the love – these are beautiful, beautiful precious and felt experiences we now have the life-long honour of calling ours. We do treasure them. To think that there is a whole sea of science behind all of this is quite astonishing.

You have inspired us with your warmth, positive energy and wonderful generosity. You have comforted us with your hugs. You have raised eyebrows for us to have this gift. And so, when people ask, we love telling them what a Doula is. But we don’t always have words to tell them what a ‘Jill’ is. Amazing only comes close.

But what if you fail (said so many)

But what if you fly! (said Jill)

Lots of Love

Overjoyed new parents