We had Martha for seven weeks after our son arrived and I can’t imagine how it would have been without her help. Starting the evening we got home from the hospital, she made us feel safe and secure with her warmth, professionalism and expertise. She offers a perfect balance informed views on early parenting with total flexibility to taper her services to the goals of your family. Among other things, she helped us with sleep cadence, soothing technique, and even helped us diagnose a milk protein allergy that was causing extreme fussiness early on. We would have extended our time with Martha if she’d had availability. She came highly recommended from trusted friends of ours, and we have recommended her to several of our own friends who she has since helped as well. We continue to keep in touch with her on our son's development and would be lucky to have her help again.
You will be lucky if you get the opportunity to work with Martha Widing! If you are considering hiring Martha, my main piece of advice is to hire her for as long as you can, and for as often as you can afford. Martha supported my husband and I with our first child. We originally planned to work with her for 3 nights a week for 4 weeks and immediately extended our contract to include 2 additional days per week and additional weeks. Martha's support was invaluable as we navigated our journey as parents. Martha met us when we arrived home from the hospital and brought immediate calm and warmth. She supported us emotionally (there are so many feelings in parenthood!), coached my breastfeeding, helped us get sleep, patiently taught us to care for our daughter, and built our confidence as parents. Martha brings a wealth of knowledge and resources, and has the flexibility to support your family in the ways that you want and need to be supported. We also did a pre-birth class with Martha that was incredibly helpful. It prepared us to be advocates for our baby in the hospital and navigate decisions related to her care with more certainty. Similar to my "hire her for as much as you can afford advice," I would strongly encourage you to schedule at least 2-3 pre-birth sessions. My husband and I didn't fully appreciate how helpful our class with Martha was until we were IN the hospital and found ourselves saying "oh, this is what Martha was talking about." We also did a birthing class through our hospital, however, looking back, I wish we had taken advantage of additional sessions with Martha to better prepare. We will forever be grateful to Martha and hope we get the opportunity to work with her again in the future.
Martha Widing was a huge asset and I am so thankful to have worked with her. We used Martha for pre-birth classes and as a post-partum doula (primarily at night). She was an invaluable resource. Martha was a wealth of knowledge and either knew the answer to every question we had, or was able to refer us to a top notch expert. Martha was also so so sweet with our daughter and we felt 100% secure with trusting her with our daughters care. She's honesty such a treasure.
With the birth of our first baby, I had no idea what a post-partum doula could do for me. Nobody I knew had ever worked with one, and I figured the help of family and friends would be enough. I am so, SO glad we made the decision to get support, and beyond lucky to have found Martha!
Martha is the whole package - kind and supportive, super hard working and extremely knowledgeable about babies, childcare, parenting, and any relevant topic in between - from breastfeeding, to mental health to postpartum exercise,
In addition to completely taking care of me - preparing delicious food, doing laundry, making sure I was hydrated and giving me precious time to sleep and shower, Martha didn't just help care for my newborn, she taught me invaluable skills of how to take care of my baby as a (pretty clueless) first time mom: How to breastfeed, how to decipher her cries and understand her needs, and how to deal with the multitude of unexpected issues that I wasn't even aware could affect new moms and their babies.
Her guidance, encouragement, and wisdom increased my confidence in my ability to take care of a newborn baby and removed much of the anxiety of becoming a first-time parent, which allowed me to focus on enjoying this special time with my daughter.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Martha. She is must more than just a doula - she is a trusted advisor and now, a dear friend.
Looking back, I cannot imagine how we would have gotten through the first few days, weeks and months without her. In fact, now at 4+ months postpartum and being back at work for over a month, I still cannot "let go" of Martha and continue to seek her help with our family on a weekly basis.
Best service ever! Thank you so much for helping me and Holden out on nursing and child care education. Martha is super helpful and makes me less stressed out or anxious as a new mom. We will definitely use her help in the near future again and highly recommend to anyone who is looking for help with babies.
We found Martha when I was about six weeks postpartum with our first baby and in a very tough place. Martha just jumped right in as soon as she walked through the door and was a fabulous support for us, just what we needed. She was very comforting and supportive of me as well as wonderful with our baby. I felt comfortable with my daughter in her arms so I could take a much needed nap or shower. She helped us around the house, with meals, caring for our baby and encouraging me through a very tough time. If you need nurturing support for you, your baby and your family, I highly recommend Martha!
Martha worked with us in the capacity of a night nurse/post-partum doula for 8 weeks after the birth of our son. I can't write enough kind things about her. She was always punctual, friendly, hard-working, compassionate, and attentive to detail. She gave me tips on breastfeeding, and helped me greatly with positioning and latch. She made sure my water bottle was full, she made sure our bed was made, that the laundry was done and folded, and I could go on and on. I felt comfortable being honest with her, which is so important when having someone in the house overnight. She had such a lovely way with our boy, and took such wonderful care of him, allowing me to rest, which was so crucial. We will miss Martha, but we will stay in touch.
Martha is part parenting coach, part fairy godmother, and part baby whisperer. I had no idea what a postpartum doula could do for me or our family. I felt fully prepared to welcome baby, and had a great support network lined up for our first weeks home from the hospital. Honestly, it was more stressful than I realized it would be. Figuring out newborn care, breastfeeding, and our "new normal" was a lot to take on. My friends provided advice, but from their own individual experience, and my family members were helpful, but hadn't had babies recently to know the "latest"! Martha brings a professional approach and a depth of experience, as well as a focus on the mother and the baby that you simply can't get from a friend or relative. A piece of advice that many people gave me before baby was to accept help. I'm SO grateful that I accepted Martha's help, and believe that every new mom should.
Martha came into our home, and without any judgement, helped to troubleshoot a challenge my daughter and I had with breastfeeding, helping me understand how I could make breastfeeding a more meaningful experience. I had set a breastfeeding goal for myself, but was quite honestly close to quitting the breastfeeding all together before Martha stepped in! She has such a lovely approach to newborn care, offering suggestions and helping build my confidence in caring for our daughter. During our ongoing visits, Martha consulted on our breastfeeding, my recovery, and my daughter's development, changed our sheets (!!) (an incredible gift for a new mom spending tons of time in bed), did some light housework, and helped me think about what was ahead in my baby's development. Each time she left our home, I felt confident in my own parenting and also felt a sense of relief, with my home being a calm place to care for baby and not a to-do list. THANK YOU, MARTHA!!!
I echo the previous five star reviews of Martha. She is a wonderful, caring person. I relaxed from the moment I saw her because I knew that my baby and I were in experienced, gentle and calm hands. Martha has so much experience with mothers and babies, and she is very much dedicated to her clients success -- not just to get babies sleeping well but also to care for mom and dad, other siblings, the home, etc. She is an extremely hardworking and trustworthy person. I would be happy to speak directly with any families considering working with Martha.
Martha was a complete blessing for our family. She helped me so much as I became a new mom. She always brings joy and calm wisdom into our home. This was particularly helpful since this was a very stressful time for me. She is so knowledgeable - which was amazing since I seemed to have daily questions that I did not want to bother my pediatrician with. I would recommend her to anyone transitioning into parenthood.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Martha. She happily and without asking does anything and everything you would need as a new mom- holding the baby while you take a nap, preparing a delicious lunch, getting the baby to stop crying, laundry, dishes, toy pick-up; not to mention, general advice about mother's wellness, getting the baby to sleep, breastfeeding, swaddling, bath time, even dealing with issues such as helping you find a nanny and what to do with your older child's art projects. She gives fantastic advice on baby products that have proven helpful, and she will accompany you to the doctor's office/grocery store/drugstore so that you don't have to worry about the baby during an appointment or errand. She has also been helpful in allowing my husband and I to spend time together without the baby. She is always cheerful and happy and eager to help you, and she will offer judgment-free advice and gentle suggestions that will allow you to be be your best self. She is a true newborn expert and remarkable at getting baby to calm down and to go to sleep! My life as a mom of "2 under 2" would have been vastly more difficult without her-- I don't even want to imagine it! If you are remotely considering getting a postpartum doula, I would advise calling Martha and not looking back- I promise you will be thankful!
Martha was there for my family since the day I met her on "meet the doula" event at my yoga place. On the day we came back from the hospital she was waiting on the front steps of our house. We were lucky she helped us with taking out the car seat with the baby from the car (we couldn't figure out how to do it ourselves :)
She helped me navigate through first two months of motherhood. Always supportive, calm, realistic and encouraging she made me feel safe and very optimistic. I was able to focus on my baby and on my healing.
There are not enough words to describe how wonderful Martha is. She is truly the epitome of what a postpartum doula should be. After the early birth of our daughter, Martha supported us a few times a week for several months. She organized, did newborn laundry, prepared light lunches and encouraged naps for mom and dad. When asked, she offered advice on topics unfamiliar to us, which was especially helpful since our daughter came early. She helped coach me through difficulty nursing, always respectful of my wishes and goals. She is always available through text for encouragement or questions. It's really the intangible qualities that set her apart. She just "gets it". She understands what it's like to be a new parent with strong preferences for how things should be done (in my case bottles and diapering) and always asked what I wanted. She is an excellent sounding board, politely and lovingly sitting with me to listen as those postpartum emotions would suddenly turn a wave of joy into grief or vice versa. Having her to simply talk with was sometimes more important than getting chores done. I was entirely comfortable with Martha and trusted her completely-- in our home, with our daughter, to give great advice, and to recognize our needs and meet them. It was a sad day to have to say good bye to Martha as our doula, but she helped us get to a place where we were able to handle this new way of living and is still only a text away. Should you decide to hire Martha, I have no doubt you will truly be blessed.