Cari Aida Tacoma Doula and Childbirth Education

Cari is truly a gem! There aren't enough good things to say about her! From start to finish she was absolutely wonderful! If you are considering a doula on your birth team, hire Cari. You will thank yourself later. Not only was she an incredible support to me but also to my husband. She kept the environment calm, peaceful and nurturing. When I felt the pain was getting too intense she seemed to know just what to say or do. Having Cari in the room with us felt natural, like having a trusted friend we'd known for years. The physical and emotional support she offered was invaluable. She helped me stay focused and as calm as possible to have the unmedicated, natural delivery I hoped for. My husband and I are so grateful to have had her along with us on our journey. We would highly recommend Cari to anyone expecting a baby! I believe every woman in labor needs Cari or someone just like her on their birth team. To top it all off she captured some special pictures of laboring and when our sweet little one was born, we will cherish those pictures forever. Cari is just the best!

I was lucky to have Cari and her wonderful talents for my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences.

When I first contacted Cari for a consultation, I was six months pregnant and full of anxiety. I shared the fears I had about giving birth with her and was met with nothing but kindness and encouragement. I hoped that having the support of a doula would relieve not only my nerves, but my husband's, as well, and that's exactly what we received. It was important to me that he had an additional support person to lean on during the birth of our first baby, and on that day, we were so glad we made the decision to hire Cari. She met with us several times, both virtually and in person, in the weeks leading up to our daughter's birth to create a birth plan that reflected our specific desires and expectations, then helped us ensure that all members of our care team were aware and had a copy of our plan during delivery. She also provided postpartum support and resources for us as long as we needed after delivery. Our baby girl was born one week late and at the end of a whirlwind 17 hours of labor on June 17, 2022. Cari was there for us as soon as we told her we needed her and stayed with us until the early hours of the next day until we felt comfortable with baby on our own. She helped me, personally, through more moments than I can count during labor when I felt like giving up. She made me feel confident and calm during my lowest and most stressful moments, and for that, I can't thank her enough! In my husband's words: "Cari was able to help me help my wife in ways I didn't know I'd need to, and having her there made it less stressful because I didn't have to think about what to do, which was so helpful."

We would recommend Cari without hesitation to any future mamas in our community looking for support during and after pregnancy.

Cari Aida, of Dedicated Doulas, was truly the best support we could ask for during our son’s delivery. She is experienced, extremely knowledgeable in all things baby, labor and delivery, comforting and encouraging. This was our first baby, so naturally I was quite nervous for the big day! Because we had met with Cari multiple times before our birth, I felt safe, confident and heard knowing that she knew me, my worries, and my preferences. On the day of, I remember feeling so relieved when she got to the hospital! She explained things that came up during labor and delivery and offered lots of ideas and tools for working through labor. Most importantly, she listened to my needs and knew how to support me even when I didn’t have the words (or energy) to know what I needed myself. Cari has an unsurpassed intuition when it comes to supporting mamas during the intensity of labor and delivery. We would, without a second thought, invite Cari to be our doula again, and I will confidently refer her to friends and family. We couldn’t be happier with our first birth experience, and we attribute a lot of that feeling to Cari!

My experience having Cari as our doula was phenomenal to say the least. During our original virtual meet and greet, I knew instantly she was who I wanted to work with. Cari was the perfect combination of knowledgeable, resourceful, personal, and truly cared about my experience before, during, and after delivery. She provided wonderful resources to help me navigate building a birth plan including being mindful of any potential situations that could arise and her support to my husband was incredible. During our two in person prenatal visits, I felt heard and supported about my wishes for a trauma free birth experience and all of the other random things I hoped to happen during labor. Once I went into labor, Cari picked up the phone in the middle of the night and was ready to offer my husband and I support. She came over quickly once I started progressing and felt that I wanted more assistance and she coached us both through laboring at home. Her demeanor was calm which helped me relax and attempt to breathe through my contractions. I originally planned on delivering unmedicated at a birthing center, but my labor prolonged and I made the decision to go to the hospital and get an epidural. Cari was there every step of the way when we were admitted and helped me get into various laboring positions, cheered on my husband, and was a presence I was beyond grateful to have. I am also so thankful she is a fantastic photographer because the pictures she captured are memories I will cherish forever. Seeing the photos from the look on my husband's face as he met our daughter - truly priceless. I also opted to get my placenta encapsulated which Cari explained the process and science behind it and delivered them in person to check on my baby and see how we were both doing and recovering. Overall, I highly encourage anyone seeking a doula to connect with Cari and I know she is who I will want by my side for all my future childbirths.

I highly recommend working with Cari. She was so well informed about all prenatal concerns, hospital interventions, postpartum care, and lactation; I can't say enough how impressed I was with her wealth of knowledge. She was also a lot of fun to work with, we had many great conversations and she skillfully stayed present with us while in labor.  She kept me motivated to keep my body moving and had lots of suggestions for positioning while in labor. I would not have wanted to go through labor without her there and would ask her one hundred times over to be my doula again -except that's a lot of labor! But seriously, pick Cari, we love her!!!