Meta Djojosubroto
Corinna (Inna) was my doula when I gave birth to my 2nd born. Inna is a Swiss, she had lived in the US and just moved back to Switzerland when I met her (April 2011). I liked her instantly. We had similar birth experiences, which really connected us.
My labor began at 3am, but the painful contractions only started around 2:30pm. Inna arrived soon after. The two of us were a wonderful team. Together we tried to manage the pain. She helped with massages and labor positions that I felt most comfortable with. She also reminded me to drink and eat, and suggested labor remedies. She noted down the duration of the contractions. Contrary to the labor of my first baby, instead of checking the clock, I relaxed, listened to my body, and prepared myself for the coming contractions. I felt in control and cared for. I was not afraid of the contractions. I knew they brought me closer to my baby. And I was at home, free from needle or machine, and could even attend my 2yo daughter in between contractions.
The whole labor was done at home. At 7pm we arrived at hospital. I wanted to push immediately. I sank onto the floor as the baby’s head was coming. Again, having Inna was priceless. While my husband was busy paying taxi, Inna was with me. I was lifted onto a wheelchair. Inna pushed me to delivery theater, where they quickly moved me onto the bed. Pushing was easy peasy. It felt so natural that I did no effort. My baby glided out within TWO minutes. No pain. No tear. I had a REALLY wonderful birth experience and Inna had contributed to it enormously.
I had a mild depression 4 months after. I was tired and with the changing of the hormones, all became too much for me. Inna came back as my post-partum doula 2x/week. She helped with anything - chatting with me, taking care of the kids, washing dishes, grocery shopping. She boosted my mood. After 3 weeks, I was a much better person. I was glad to have help before things got much worse.
Sheila Chacko Marsiglia
Inna is one of the most special women I have ever met. Anyone who is lucky enough to know her would say the same thing. While I could name many outstanding qualities about Inna, I will focus on those that relate directly to her work as a doula. She is extremely empathic and aware of the needs of those around her. She is a kind and loving soul, deeply in touch with her feminine nurturing nature while at the same time possessing a deep strength that provides a sense of safety and comfort, especially during the delicate time of pregnancy and labor. Inna is an extremely reliable and competent person, efficient, and able to think on her feet and make quick decisions. Inna has a deep passion for supporting and helping women in general and pregnant women and mothers specifically. Because of this, she is continually making connections between women, organizing conferences or women’s circles and continuing her education, growth and development in this area.
Inna is a people person. She knows how to put anyone at ease and people just like her. This is extremely important as a doula and also has a big impact on her ability to support an expectant mother’s family members as well as interacting with medical professionals who may or may not be supportive of natural birth, doulas, etc.
Inna is also a nurse and this adds to her professional competency and gives her much experience working with patients in an intimate and yet professional manner.
I am blessed to have had Inna as my doula during my pregnancy, birth, and post-partum period. The beauty, grace and ease of the entire experience was directly related to the love, support and strength I felt, which was directly related to having Inna by my side for the whole journey. I cannot recommend her highly enough!
Barbara Boschi
I found a list of doulas in my area and Inna's name got my attention because she speaks fluently Italian, which is my mother-tongue. At our first meeting it was like love at first sight! We really clicked immediately and the more we talked, the more I realized she was on the same wave-length as me. One of the things that I really appreciated about her is that I never felt that she was trying to sell herself to me. I always say that she was born to be a doula, because she has the right "mixture" of practicality and sensitiveness that is precious for her role. A few days after my due date, my water broke but I had no contractions during the whole day so I was starting to worry because in order to have be able to give birth in the planned birth centre, it had to happen within 24 hours of the waters breaking, otherwise I was going to have to go to hospital. To get things going we decided to try acupuncture so that the contractions finally started and Inna showed me all the “tricks” to keep them going. She was truly fantastic and seemed to know what to do and what to say at each step of the way. Thanks to her I felt that I could concentrate on what I was doing instead of worrying about others around me because I had full trust on Inna to manage things and support me in whichever way I needed her to. Kevin was finally born in the pool at 7:31am on Tuesday June 4th. Another way in which Inna was precious, was to also support my husband and my mum through this event, as they later told me that she was explaining them what was going on at each point and answering their questions, so that they felt at ease with the whole process. Inna is a person that is rare to find, because of her knowledge, professionalism, humanity and caring qualities, it’s a person which is trustworthy and just so wonderful in so many ways!! She has greatly contributed to making this time of my life even more special, and I now consider her as part of my Family. Thank You Inna.
Monica Borel
Inna (Corinna) was my doula during my home birth of my third child. Inna took the time to get to know my husband and my two older children, who were present for thier sister's birth. She was an invaluable aid in keeping them busy and happy during my labor. Even more importantly, she kept ME comfortable and peaceful during my birth experience. Inna has a gentle voice, with a beauitful Italian accent, and she radiates a calm and matter-of-fact attidute. She was always ready with new ideas of positions, massage techniques, and mental focus techniques that kept me feeling strong and protected at the same time.
For my husband, he felt having a doula allowed him to relax and yet serve a more active and useful role than in previous births. Inna was able to coach him in helping me and step in when he needed a break.
Our baby was born with clubfeet, which we knew about in advance. It was extremely important to me that the people present at her birth see her beauty and specialness immediately, with no fear or shock. Inna welcomed our little girl with nothing but love and happiness, just as I had wanted. Inna emenates a type of love that runs much deeper than one might expect from someone who is not a member of the family. She simply embraces life, and birth, and babies, and new mothers in a way that few can.
Thank you Inna!
Wenny Solorio
We were looking for a doula to help us with the birth of our first child and we wanted a natural childbirth without drugs. The moment we interviewed Inna for her doula service, we connected with her like she was an old friend. She has such an amazing personality, so warm and so passionate. Childbirth is such an intimate event, who we share it with was very important for us. We were also very impressed with Inna's credentials. Her knowledge of natural childbirth balanced with her nursing background was an added assurance for us. She was also knowledgeable in Hypnobabies, Spinning Babies exercises, acupressure, aromatherapy, homeopathy and placenta encapsulation. Inna was always available to answer questions and provide moral support. Our labor and birth turned out the way we wanted, in some ways even better than we expected. My husband and I didn't really know what we were doing as this was our first, having Inna with us really calmed our nerves and gave us the confidence that we needed. We were really blessed to have Inna as our doula, our birth story couldn't have been better. Much to our surprise, she gave us a very precious gift - birth pictures! There were shots of very sweet sentimental moments, so glad that she captured them. After birth, Inna went above and beyond her doula service and provided us with moral support on breastfeeding. Her concerns for us were so genuine. We found more than a doula in her, we found a good friend. Thank you so much, Inna! Con tanto amore - Wenny, Mike and Mikalea Jane.
Posted 10/19/2014
Ylenia Santoro
I met Corinna through a friend who knew I was pregnant and looking for a doula. I did not need to have someone recommending her but as soon as I met her at our first visit I knew she was a perfect match for us.
She is very friendly and makes you feel incredibly comfortable which is very important if you need to talk about your problems or concerns already during the pregnancy. We met a few times before the delivery and she prepared us showing what she would have done to help my husband help me during labor. I talked to her a few times during pregnancy when I had concerns or pain and she would suggest me what to do in order to ease my discomfort or she would confort me with the best words possible giving me precious advices.
I went overdue and my concerns were increasing exponentially but she was always able to make me feel like everything was going exactly how it was supposed to be and she used once this sentence that I will never forget: "The baby only knows his birthday" and that helped me arrive on the labor day (8 days after the due date). That day Corinna was there ready to come whenever I needed her and when we went to the hospital she was ready with all the necessary things we might have needed. From the fan, to the massage tools, from the hairbands to the rebozo to help me with the pain.
My labor was pretty "fast" but very painful maybe because of the speed and she was there suggesting my husband where to try to massage my back and taking care of me giving me water, keeping me warm if I was cold or freshen me if I was sweating. She helped me with communicating nurses and doctors. I did not want any intervention during my delivery and she was able to help me with that in a hospital where interventions where suggested constantly. I never got distracted from my labor, I could focus on it and give my best while she was helping me and my husband experience the beauty of our wonderful daughter's birth.
Posted 9/17/2014