Your Birthing Guide
Testimonials
I am proud to serve the birthing needs of anyone who is looking for support and guidance throughout the pregnancy and childbirth process. I make an effort to maintain a connection with my clients, and check up on their progress as new parents. Curious about my past patients’ experiences? Take a look at their positive stories below.
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Michelle P.
Cheryl Walker offers more than a conventional doula service. She offers partnership on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level through your journey to birth. Rather than dictate a prescribed format for your participation, she listens carefully to your needs and priorities and tailors the doula experience to whatever level of assistance you need to feel empowered and prepared - emotionally, physically, spiritually - for the birth. I experienced over a dozen miscarriages and had a breech baby who required a c-section - she provided me emotional support, asked me great questions about my history, used those answers to recommend services I'd never even heard of (trauma therapy for fertility? bereavement nurses? fertility-specific yoga and energy bodywork? amazing!) It's rare to work with someone who is truly this passionate about their occupation, and who networks with birth professionals across the country to make sure that you get the best information possible, and who lovingly holds space for the women she serves. Cheryl is a learner as well, ever expanding her body of knowledge on birth and maternal care - just a few of the many reasons you should trust her to be an amazing partner on your journey to birth!
Mattie & Josh
We first met Cheryl at our hospital tour and Mattie went on to take her Prenatal Yoga class soon after. We immediately loved Cheryl's positive and calming energy and decided she would be amazing to have on our labor team. We are so happy she came into our lives for this incredible adventure and will highly recommend her to our friends who are expecting babies! Cheryl gave us so much personalized attention, education, and advice at our Prenatal Visits and in between. We had taken a Bradley Method class and she went above and beyond to talk through our hopes and expectations for labor to make sure we were all on the same page. We called her when labor intensified and she came to our home around 10pm, she went to the hospital with us at 3am, and she stayed with us until our daughter was born at 2:30pm the next day... keeping her high energy, joyful spirit, and wonderful sense of humor alive the whole time. Even after such a long labor she made time to come visit us in Postpartum later that day to offer more support and advice. She brought so much calming and uplifting energy to our labor and birthing experience. She made Dad feel confident and empowered with his skills as a labor coach and made Mom feel safe and at ease as labor intensified. She had what seemed like endless tricks up her sleeve to make our labor and birthing experience exceptional from how to change positions, do some walking, or get in/out of the Hydrotub to move things along, use of essential oils both to calm and to invigorate when Mom needed it, a wonderful taste in music to distract from contractions, and she has magic hands with her massage skills. She took such good care of us, she knew our birth plan inside and out and, because she knows the hospital staff so well, she gave us amazing advice on exactly what to tell the nursing staff when we arrived at the hospital to make sure we were well received. We ended up with the best room and nurses we could have dreamed of. Even after our baby girl arrived Cheryl has continued to check in on how we are doing, she had helpful breastfeeding advice at our Postpartum Visit, and she has connected us with a Lactation Consultant and Postpartum Doula. Cheryl truly helped us bring our baby girl into the world in the best way we could have imagined, we are so happy that she is part of our birth story and you will be grateful to have her be part of yours.
Amber & Ben
(I had the honor of helping Ben & Amber welcome their second sweet baby in 2019. It was another completely unmedicated birth.) From Amber: As Ben and I approached our due date with our precious little guy, we did what a lot of first time parents do and took a child birth education class, hoping to ease some of the anxiety and the "unknown" of child birth. It was in that class that we were introduced to who we now call our "Fairy God Mother", Cheryl Walker! We instantly felt a connection with her and learned many great things in her class! At the end of class, she gave a tour of the labor and delivery floor, showed us where to come once baby was ready and introduced us to some of the staff. It was then that I made the comment, "what do we have to do to have you in the room for delivery?". She helped us both feel at peace from the moment we met her. We began to develop and even deeper relationship over the next few weeks as I was able to reach out to her with any questions and she checked on us regularly! She helped us invison having an all natural birth and and to believe that we could do it! As a momma of 5 herself and the countless amount of births that she has assisted, her wisdom in child birth is unbelievable! She helped us tremendously when the big day came! She spent 12+ hours with us at the hospital assuring that I was comfortable and coached us both along the way! She has a great bag of tricks when it comes to the labouring process! Things like different positions to try, using oils, meditation music, speaking positively over you and your partner and many more! If you are looking for someone with a genuine heart and a passion for helping others, Cheryl is your gal!
Numerous studies tout the benefits of hiring a doula – statistically fewer C-sections and a more positive experience for mom, just to name a few. As new parents, we first met Cheryl Walker in her capacity as our childbirth educator. Cheryl’s positive vibes, competence and personal experience as a mother of 5 led us to hire her as our doula.
Our son was born in a whirlwind. Less than two hours after contractions began, we arrived at labor and delivery with mom already dilated 5 cm. The nurses were there to do the medical job, but it was clear from the beginning how lucky we were to have Cheryl as our anchor. She helped mom cope with painful contractions, smoothed over our interaction with the nurses, and brought humanity to the room.
With a rapid first time labor, we can’t imagine how difficult things would have been without Cheryl at our side. Any couple would be lucky to have Cheryl. We have recommended Cheryl to our friends, and we recommend her to all others whole-heartedly!
At our first meeting, Cheryl met with us, got to know us, got a feel for our home so she knew what to expect when we went into labor, I felt a peace about her. I loved her energy! I also loved that she was all about everything natural, because I decided to go with no medication for my delivery and Cheryl let me know that there were alternative ways that she could help me get through my contractions.
She used essential oils, alternative positions, we had hydrotherapy at the hospital, massage, music, and the ambiance to help me with my birth. Not only was she there to help me focus on birthing my baby with my birth preference but she was a great support for my husband. She explained and stood by my husband through my 24+ labor. She did not sleep, slack or complain. Instead, she brought her positive energy, rooted us on, and made sure we stuck with our birth plan. She also went with her gut feeling when she felt like something was not right, with her years of experience she came to our rescue when she knew that I was not progressing with my birth and verbalized her concern to my husband who acted immediately in ensuring the doctor was notified. After the decision was made that I needed to have a C-Section, Cheryl could have left, but she stayed to ensure we were okay. It was great to see her smiley face after 24+ hours of labor when we got back to our room. I was so blessed that our son got to meet the individual who helped me birth our precious son and also go with her gut instinct to make sure our baby was in no distress. To her we owe many thanks!
Being a doula is not an easy job, I only realized after this experience.
My contractions were unbearable, but picking Cheryl to be my doula was the best decision ever because once a contraction came on she distracted me with oils, ice, massage, and cheer. I remember one extended contraction she used ice and oil and that felt amazing. I can’t fathom how much we appreciated having Cheryl as our doula because she also became a part of our family and checked in with us even after the labor. I would definitely go with Cheryl again and again if we were to have more children. She is worth every penny!
Lauren, Mom to Anderson
My husband and I were so happy with our experience with Cheryl.
She is the sweetest energy to have around. As first time parents we didn’t know what to expect with labor, hospital care, postpartum, etc so we’re really excited to have a Doula as another support layer during this new adventure!
Cheryl was so attentive, full of information, and encouraging through all our questions and uncertainties that birth would bring. We love essential oils so she incorporated that into the labor experience which brought a home-like, familiar atmosphere to the hospital setting. She has a variety of resources for new parents- councilors, photographers for maternity/newborn pictures, lactation consulting, prenatal and baby yoga, etc.
Highly recommend her, our labor experience was magical because of her help!
Tara Peckman, Mom of 4
"I have had four natural births and only decided to have a doula for the fourth. Each of my previous birth experiences contributed to my decision, but when it came to choosing a doula, Cheryl was my first choice. In fact, learning that Cheryl worked as a doula was the big push for me to decide to use one. I have been lucky enough to call Cheryl a friend for years, but if you just met her, you will probably call her one shortly. She is genuine and open with people and has the biggest heart. All of which makes her an amazing doula.
While my husband understands me, Cheryl understands labor. Which means that together they made the perfect birth team. Instead of getting stuck in one spot, which is what normally happens to me during labor, Cheryl gently persuaded me into trying different things. Moving and changing helped my labor keep progressing and made the process much less painful and difficult.
Even though I go silent during contractions, Cheryl gave me a way to communicate while I was in labor. That was ridiculously important to me and helpful for my husband. And when I did get loud at the end, she was there to reassure me and coach me through the most difficult part. She didn’t just take care of me and my husband during labor, she stayed with us at the hospital after my midwife had gone home and until they moved me to the recovery room.
I think it says something about Cheryl that all the career choices she’s made have revolved around helping and healing people. If ever anyone was designed to be a doula, she is. If you are considering having a natural birth, if you are worried and stressed about your impending labor and delivery, if you just think you’d like some extra support during one of the most vulnerable times of your life, you couldn’t ask for a better advocate than Cheryl. She not only supports every mom during labor, but the whole family. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have someone there caring just about you instead of focusing solely on the baby. It frees up the medical professionals to prepare for and insure the safety of the sweet newborn because there is an extra set of trained eyes keeping track of your comfort."
Monica Sipes, Home Birth
A"s a soon to be first time mom, I think it’s natural (or, hopeful) to dream about a magical birthing experience. I was legitimately convinced that I would have an at home birth with an atmosphere similar to a yoga class, essential oils diffusing, and minimal pain. My child would enter the world while I had a few glistening sweat beads on my forehead and my husband lovingly gazing at me and our new little gift from above.
As ridiculous as that sounds (let’s face it- that’s NOT birth), my daughter’s birth day will forever be a truly magical memory. And, I will forever remember Cheryl by my side, and what an incredible support she was for me that day. Cheryl constantly reminded me of my strength when I was certain I had none left at all. I attribute much of my success to have my birth at home, unmedicated, and in my mind as peaceful as one can possibly be during birth, to Cheryl. Those essential oils? They were diffusing, and ALL over my body thanks to Cheryl’s unrivaled expertise in using oils for pain management and labor therapy.
I simply cannot day enough amazing things about this woman. My husband and I were blessed to be able to call her our childbirth educator, doula, and now forever friend. You will not regret including Cheryl in your birth plan… period!"
Evelyn Vali
There are truly not enough words to describe how much we LOVE Cheryl. My husband, Brandon, and I honestly believe that God must have set her in our path to help us with bringing our first child into this world.
We began working with Cheryl about 5 months into my pregnancy. She was extremely supportive of our wish to have a natural delivery and made several visits to our home to meet the parents and show Brandon and I stretches and exercises which would help with the pregnancy and during labor.
I love how she involved Brandon with everything – she taught him massages he could give me to help with pain and how to emotionally help me throughout the pregnancy. Being a huge fan of essential oils and yoga, she showed me some amazing oil remedies and poses to help with my stress, anxiety, and physical pains – in the last couple months, those were life savers.
One thing to point out about Cheryl is her constant positive energy. Every time we saw her, she always greeted us with a huge smile; her happiness and optimism is contagious, no matter what mood you are in. During labor, she was there every step of the way, and I honestly don’t think Brandon and I could have gotten through my 24 hours of labor without her.
She was extremely attentive, but also was very respectful and kindly excused herself when she thought Brandon and could use some time alone. When baby Levi was born, Cheryl took on the “mama bear” role for us and made sure that each family member had equal time to see baby Levi while still giving us time to rest and recover. After we were discharged from the hospital, Cheryl came to visit us to make sure we were all doing well and also helped us resolve Levi’s cluster feeding problem.
Truth is, I could honestly go on and on endlessly with reasons we love Cheryl and how she is the best doula ever, but having Cheryl as a doula is something that should definitely be experienced first hand. She is by far one of the sweetest people I have ever met, and she genuinely has your best interest and well-being at heart. She is incredibly knowledgeable, has a heart of gold, and is the only doula I have ever heard of that also teaches yoga and is an essential oils expert. She treated us like her own family, and I honestly can’t wait to call her again when it is time for baby number 2! She is the full package!
Chase and Agatha, Dad's POV
Traci Kendrick
My husband Josh and I highly recommend Cheryl! When we were considering the idea of hiring a Doula, our OB recommended Cheryl. The next weekend we went to the childbirth class at the hospital and Cheryl happened to be teaching the class. After listening to Cheryl educate the class on labor/childbirth and getting a feel for her personality, we felt pretty confident in asking Cheryl to be our doula. After the class we had an initial phone conversation where Josh and I asked Cheryl a ton of questions about her services. She made us feel super comfortable, so we hired her. We met with Cheryl in person twice before the birth which was very helpful. During labor, Cheryl came over to our house about an hour or so before we left for the hospital and she really helped with pain management and just us getting through something we'd never experienced before. The rest of my labor Cheryl worked her butt off helping me with pain management. I do not think I could have made it through a natural birth without the help of Cheryl! Overall both Josh and I were very grateful to have someone so knowledgeable, calming, and reassuring with us during a stressful life event!
