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What people are saying
Working with Colette was a truly life-changing experience for our whole family. The level of care we received from her was deep, comprehensive, holistic, and like nothing I had ever experienced prior. I felt so safe and thoroughly taken care of during my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She manages to strike a perfect balance between being the kind of health practitioner you can say anything to and still remaining the consummate professional. She is knowledgeable and experienced and obviously loves her job. My homebirth with her was a blissful and transformative experience and I recommend her literally every chance I get!
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The experience of birth with Colette, as our midwife was so magical that we'd almost have a second kid just to experience that again! To see a combination of such integrity, boldness, expertise, intimate attention, and self-awareness transformed our life. We chose Colette for her fearless spirit and we were so right! We felt from our first visit that she met us at our level, and then enriched our experience beyond what we could have expected. Her unapologetic love of life expressed as love for kids, for herself, and for our care, gave us the same permission to be fully happy, present, and free from unnecessary suffering. Her celebration of life is infectious. There is no doubt she is doing this because it's who she is. It's her vocation.
All of our visits and the actual birth had the energy of celebration rather than clinical examination. We experienced complete safety, conviction in our choices, and faith in Colette’s competence to handle any emergency, but mostly to avoid risk in the first place. I used to go to medical providers, become small in the presence of their “authority,” and then leave feeling dissatisfied. But the intimacy and the quality of care we felt in our relationship with Colette set a new standard. Now I feel empowered to ask for exactly what I want when I sit in a physician’s office and not to leave until I have the answers I need.
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Before one chooses a midwife for the first time you have no idea what to ask or look for. Now that we know, we would definitely choose Colette again. And as we spoke to others about their midwife experiences, we were pleasantly surprised to discover how impressed they were with our stories of Colette’s approach, skills and methods. Colette was easy to talk to, a good listener and made herself very easily understood. Her easy sense of humor really helped put me at ease. I really felt I could trust her with any opinion/fear/belief and they would be respected. And, very importantly, she did not need to be a know-it-all who felt that her status depended on having all the knowledge. She was totally open to hearing about and looking for other options, if a solution originally recommended was not working for us. It’s strength-in-humility and Colette has it in spades!
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While I did not get to birth my baby in my ideal environment (my living room!) I did get to birth my baby with my ideals- with consciousness, awareness, love and completely naturally.
While pregnant, I experienced some stunning life changes and I wound up in the hospital at 34.5 weeks. My son was born in the hospital, a little more than a month early. But in spite of those wild rides, I always felt completely held and supported by Colette. Because of that, I was able to maintain a peaceful and loving connection with my baby prenatally, during childbirth, and post partum. Colette has the expertise required to guide a woman and her family through the unpredictable process of birth and the heart and wisdom to keep the focus where it belongs: empowering mama and baby in the natural and magical process of birthing.
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We feel so grateful to have found you as our midwife. Your knowledge, experience and professionalism were just added perks to your amazing personality. We appreciated your open, attentive communication style and grounded energy. Whenever we came in for appointments we felt you really tuned into us, and listened. We really enjoyed our trips to see you and share our experiences, concerns, and excitements, because we knew you would support us wherever we were, with encouraging words, reassurance, recommendations, and referrals that fit with our philosophies. We also really appreciated your willingness to seek other professionals for their advice, and to research specific topics concerning our birthing experience. And, of course, we are very thankful for your flexibility in accommodating our living so far away!
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During my pregnancy, Colette was there for me day and night to answer questions and relieve my concerns. I found during my weeks of postpartum, the same commitment and care. The at home postpartum visits reiterated Colette’s sincere dedication to mine and my son’s well-being. I don’t think I could have received better post partum care anywhere from anyone.
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We had an amazing birth experience and having Colette as our doula was a primary reason for that. The pre-labor meetings with her set a wonderful tone for the last trimester of my pregnancy. It was really important to us to have someone in the labor and delivery room whom we knew and trusted (although the nurses, wife, and doctor were all wonderful, we didn't know any of them before we entered the room and I was in active labor). Colette put my husband, sister, and I at ease through soft suggestions during labor, physically providing a lot of relief through massage and pressure, and strong encouragement. We highly recommend her and would be happy to talk with anyone about our experience.
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Holding our beautiful, healthy, baby in our arms and looking back over the many expected and unexpected twist and turns during our pregnancy and birth, we are both profoundly grateful and relieved that we chose Colette for our midwife. From our first interview with Colette we had a strong feeling that she was the right choice for us and although we interviewed several women over the next few weeks (a process Colette facilitated by offering a list of recommend colleagues) she remained first in our minds.
From the onset Colette was graceful and flexible and supportive with the many challenges we faced as we moved from the Bay area to Sonoma county over the course of several months; Colette was always willing to schedule our prenatal appointments wherever and whenever we needed.
Colette always impressed us as the ideal modern midwife, offering a rare synthesis of medical expertise, knowledge of alternative therapies and a deep intuitive sense, as well as the ability and confidence to know which if these to use when appropriate. Although a midwife is considered more than a health care professional, it is important to remember hat the relationship is not purely personal either, and Colette showed great skill and sensitivity in striking the right balance between the two.
As our pregnancy developed complications during the final weeks, Colette carefully monitored the signs and symptoms, calling for the requisite labs work that ultimately necessitated the acceptance of a hospital birth. Throughout these days, Colette remained on constant contact and with her skilled assistance we were able to induce naturally rather than at the hospital, which greatly diminished the likelihood of a surgical birth.
Once at the hospital, Colette seamlessly transitioned into the role of doula and advocated for us with the hospital staff in a manner that was confident and non-confrontational, all while providing us with the support and care that was perfectly suited to the circumstances. It was Colette who reminded the staff that we needed oxygen at a critical juncture in the labor and it was Colette who remembered to break out the camera after the drama of the birth had passed. Although we were somewhat disappointed that we were not able to have a home birth, the joy and gratitude of having a healthy baby immediately eclipsed any disappointment. Colette will remain forever in out hearts as an indispensible partner throughout this journey.
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From the very start of our prenatal visits to the last days of our post natal visit, Colette made the birth of our first baby amazing. With her immediate, attentive, on- call advice and genuine care of all our needs, she made our entire experience smooth and stress free.
We were particularly impressed with her ability to maintain composure and remain reliable as our particular birth experience delivered rare and unexpected twists and turns. We appreciated her knowledge of herbs and tinctures that eased discomforts and pregnancy symptoms. We were impressed with her balanced perspective on emergencies. We felt that our birth plan was respected 100% but could count on her to give us honest advice if a diversion from that plan was safer than our original intentions. This made me feel safe and comfortable with the care of our baby.
In a traditional hospital experience you wait an hour for 15 minutes of an OB’s time. With Colette we have never waited longer than a few minutes and she never spent less than an hour with us. She made us feel like we were her only care in the world, despite having a busy practice. She doesn’t over-schedule herself, and I was never brushed aside or concerned about her availability for our baby’s birth.
Colette genuinely loves what she does. She is tremendous at performing her tasks and is a perfect match for a couple who want the very best natural birthing experience. My husband and I highly recommend Colette and so does our healthy, happy baby girl.
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