Happy Clients (and Providers)
“Samanda is a truly passionate and gifted educator and doula. My husband and I were fortunate to find her during our doula search for our first baby. Right away we knew we wanted her to be on this journey with us because we felt she genuinely cared about both of us, not just the mom. Her classes left us prepared to face unmedicated childbirth with knowledge and power and took some of the fear away.
When it came time for the birth of our sons, Samanda was by our side for the duration as our partner and advocate, helping us move the births along with techniques and giving encouragement. Samanda’s care doesn’t stop at birth either. I so appreciated her postpartum visits and insight during such a tender time of total upheaval. In short, to be cared for as client of Samanda’s is to be loved!”
— Ashley
“Samanda's childbirth class, in my experience as a birth center midwife, provides excellent comprehensive childbirth education. It is an in-depth intensive experience that prepares you not only for your ideal birth, but also prepares families and couples for deviations from their ideal birth and how to stay present in those situations. Her clients are the most well prepared laboring clients I have worked with. Samanda's client's either arrive in labor nearly ready to push because they labored at home so effectively for so long, or if there is work to be done, they are prepared to do the hard work of labor. Samanda is the best!”
-Nicole, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife)
“I had a lot of fear about giving birth, and felt confident that I would do best in a hospital with access to an epidural. But my fear about labor was still overwhelming, so when a friend recommended I consider using a doula and referred me to Samanda, I was open to any help I could get. She had us take her class, and it was crazy how each week we both felt way less afraid. By the end of the course, we felt almost over-prepared and were totally at peace. When labor started, I felt confident and was equipped with tons of coping techniques, my husband was also prepared for how best to support me, and having Samanda's practical support, knowledge, and encouragement throughout labor was such a game changer, even with an epidural! I don't even want to imagine what pregnancy and labor would have been like without her!!”
-Kelsey
“After previously having a child at a hospital and going to Lamaze classes, I assumed I knew everything about birth I needed to know. I went to Samanda’s class be supportive of my wife, and assumed I was going to sit there and be bored. To my disbelief, I learned a tremendous amount of information. I used the information we learned to advocate for my wife which helped us reach the best case scenario for our unplanned hospital birth. The “birth bible”, (the binder Samanda gives you), is a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend this class to any new parent, or a refresh for a parent again (even if you assume you know everything about birth).”
– Matt
“My husband and I took Samanda’s class for both our first and the refresher for our second. We learned so much about what to expect, how to handle natural birth, and how to prepare ourselves to welcome our precious little ones. As an added bonus, my husband and I bonded through the exercises and he became the best support I could have asked for. I always recommend her classes to expecting families!”
- Nicole
“Samanda does a great job of integrating the informational/educational piece with the experiential/practicing piece. And throughout the class she keeps a dialogue going to encourage us to ask questions and explore feelings and concerns that come up. The biggest positive in the class is that Samanda becomes your personal resource. She truly cares for her students and will help them in any way she can. Her homework exercises and her lessons on pain coping mechanisms and birthing positions helped me endure a long labor. Her class also devotes time to hospital transfer. She helped us realize that we shouldn’t fear a hospital transfer and that we can have positive birth experiences after a transfer. This was true for us!”
- Janelle and Colin
“As a home birth midwife in St. Louis, I always encouraged my clients to attend Samanda’s birth class. The clients who completed her series were completely prepared for both a straightforward birth and for births with detours or complications. No other class or teacher seemed to prepare my clients for both the hard work of labor and birth and the specific issues around out of hospital birth. Samanda’s experience with out of hospital birth is unparalleled in the childbirth education community and her perspective and wisdom is invaluable. I’ve also had the privilege of seeing her work as a birth doula several times, and she is strong, calm and wise in that role as well. Since moving to a new city I have really missed having Samanda and her classes in my community!”
— Linsey Kornya, CPM (Certified Professional Midwife)
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“My husband and I took the Birth and Beyond class knowing already that we would have a hospital birth. The way that the class surprised me the most was the way that my husband became absolutely enthralled with the birthing process. He was the most amazing labor partner, responding to questions while I was in labor such as, “Why do you want to delay cord clamping” with confidence in his educated answers. I have no doubt in my mind that it is because of Naturally Prepared that we had an absolutely perfect natural hospital birth. Samanda’s truly passionate about her work and will make you even more passionate about your birth.”
— Joanna and Maic
“All of the tools, techniques, and encouragement we received from taking Samanda's class were invaluable during my labor and delivery! We were working toward and preparing for an unmedicated birth, but ended up having a C-section. Thanks to the class, my husband and I were able to say we tried all our options before and during labor before making an informed decision to have the C-section. Samanda's class prepares you for a wide variety of outcomes, and that truly gave my husband and I peace of mind.”
— Erin
“In early 2018 my family found ourselves pregnant for the second time. Our oldest was born relatively easily at the Birth Center so we decided to do a home birth and needed a birth education refresher course that would cover basic refresher materials but also include education relating to the birth site change. We liked the idea of a refresher from a birth educator who was well known, and came with glowing recommendations by our midwives. Samanda's classes were in the evenings with availability that suited all three of the couple's in the class. Beyond how great Samanda herself was, and is, her class helped me quiet my fears about birth and family. I appreciated her hands on doula work experience because she had a calmly delivered technique for any situation we could hypothesize. In short, I'm grateful for Samanda and the services that she tailor makes for her clients.”
- Caitlin
“As a midwife in today's healthcare setting, it can be a challenge when it comes to finding the time to make sure that clients are truly prepared for the birth experience. While we wish that time constraints were not an issue in healthcare, the reality even with midwifery care is that sometimes we are faced with a choice of what we need to focus on during the prenatal visit, especially when an expecting parent may have a medical complication or other underlying need that requires attention. This is why I always recommend Samanda's preparation classes to all of my expecting parents. She does an amazing job not only with preparing her clients for birth, but also all of the other aspects of pregnancy and labor. Our mutual clients come to prenatal visits incredibly well informed with an amazing sense of self, asking all the right questions to make them well-informed for their birth. Samanda has a true gift for empowering parents to feel confident while birthing and parenting. I highly recommend her classes to all of my colleagues and patients!”
-Carolyn, CNM, (Certified Nurse Midwife)
“I took Samanda's class with my mom in 2011 in preparation for my twin homebirth while my husband was overseas. Not only did her class prepare me for the water birth of twin A and land birth of twin B but it also prepared me for the transfer of twin A after delivery due to respiratory issues and for the weeks of postpartum adjustment as a new mom of multiples with my spouse hundreds of miles away. Now 9 years later we are in another state and have added two more kiddos to our family and with each birth I have reviewed notes from that original class despite having attended another childbirth class with #3. The Naturally Prepared Facebook community is still my first stop for any questions or concerns as I journey through natural parenting from pregnancy to raising 9yr olds and everything in between.”
- Stacey
“My wife and I had our first baby in a hospital on the east coast, which was not a terrible experience, but it was not ideal. When we moved to Missouri, and then got pregnant, I was very skeptical when my wife started talking about home birth. I decided to support her since she was going to be doing almost all the work. We found a midwife, and then started talking about classes, which I was not thrilled about doing at all. To be honest, I pushed her to choose Naturally Prepared mainly because it had the least amount of sessions. Classes started and I decided I would go into it at least appearing to be supportive and optimistic. I quickly started to look forward to the classes and even still miss them today. Naturally Prepared covered all of the right information, Samanda was very accommodating for all kinds of questions and situations, and it was great to hear stories of other parents in all kinds of scenarios. I can’t imagine how we could have been better prepared for a home birth or for giving birth in general. The information we learned allowed our experiences with our second to be some of the best memories of our lives.”
– Andrew Bolin
“Taking the Birth and Beyond class really got us prepared for our home birth. Because this was our first baby and birth class, we really didn’t know what to expect. After we attended our first class, we knew without a doubt that this was the class for us. Samanda was very welcoming and warm. She is very educated on the whole birth process, both in the home and in the hospital. She taught us everything from birth positions to freezer meals. She prepared us as a couple, reminding us that we still need to make time for each other when baby arrives. We even learned tips on how to set up the birthing pool (they came in very handy ;). We looked forward to class every Wednesday. I wish we could have had class every week until our baby was born! The best part about Naturally Prepared is that you are surrounded with like-minded people, in my opinion, that is the most important part. Samanda is the best!”
– Erin and Jordan
“The class was an invaluable resource for us in pregnancy, labor and the initial postpartum period. But more than anything, we are so grateful for Samanda’s support. Knowing she is there, that she sincerely cares and that we are connected with the incredible community of Naturally Prepared families.”
– Sarah and Sean
“Samanda has been with us for Birth & Beyond Class for our first, and for Refresher Course and as our doula for our last baby. Her Birth and Beyond class is an in depth, down to earth, open, realistic look at natural childbirth. Our class was 5 couples, a mix of homebirth, hospital and birthing center. She won't be telling you breathe instead of yell; she'll be telling you how to follow your instincts and channel your energy. She gives you lots of resources and expects you'll do some homework. She was helpful with postpartum issues and giving opportunities to connect to new parents; everyone says it's a whole new world and you won't know it until you live it and it takes a village - that's all true and it is helpful to not start that village from scratch. The refresher course was great when we were expecting our last baby. A way to refresh on coping strategies for labor; reflect on previous births hopes, fears and realities; discuss expectations for this new baby and the transformation on your existing family.
-Maddy
Maddy (continued):
“As a doula, Samanda was amazing. My biggest regret was not having her as a doula with my first. She was a support to me and my husband in making difficult decisions before labor, but her real magic is in labor. I felt so empowered and proud of myself and my daughter with her by my side. Whenever I felt like I maybe couldn't keep going, I just had to look to her and she knew the right way to help me, no words needed to be spoken. I just felt like she could read me. My second daughter's birth was everything I could have dreamed of. Our postpartum experience was really magical and I feel I owe Samanda a debt of gratitude for the key role she played in our journey. Her doula services were worth every penny and more ❤”
“My husband and I took Samanda's childbirth class and could not have been happier with our experience. As a midwife, labor and birth are my life, but I knew I'd need some extra help as we prepared for the birth of our own first child. Samanda's classes helped me become more knowledgeable of my own preferences and my husband to feel confident in his role. He was essential in keeping me calm during labor, and I really think our classes gave him the extra tools he needed to support me. I would recommend Samanda 100 times! I especially loved the private session because it was a time that we really started to feel ready for the birth of our baby.”
- Erin, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife)
“The Naturally Prepared class was awesome! Each session was packed with helpful info, great discussions/Q&A time, and really beneficial exercises and ‘homework’. The small class size, comprehensive handouts, and Samanda’s great personality made it a pleasure to learn about natural birth options and practices. Then, when I went into preterm labor and ended up delivering at a local hospital, Samanda was gracious enough to fulfill our last-minute request to be our doula. She offered amazing support, and between that and the “what happens if I transfer?” session of the class, we were able to cope with the sudden departure from our planned-for birth experience. Then Samanda offered lots of invaluable postpartum support as we navigated the foreign waters of the NICU. With so much compassion and expertise, I’m so, so glad that we were able to work with her during our birth preparation and experience!”
– Kate and Jeff
“I had many anxieties after my first birth experience and Samanda’s class helped me work through my feelings and prepare for my VBAC. I am so grateful for the knowledge I learned and valuable practice that helped me to feel comfortable doing what felt natural for me during labor. Because of this class and the skills my husband and I learned- my second labor and birth was such a positive experience. I learned that there are so many variations of “normal” and that my body IS capable of birthing this baby. We did it! Although we had our baby out of the hospital, we did end up admitted to the hospital for jaundice a few days later. Because of the skills I learned in Samanda’s class I was able to steadfastly, but politely make my wishes known and honored. It made a world of difference in our collaboration and in the care my daughter and I received. The overall tone of our hospital experience was a positive one this time. My family and I will be forever grateful that we crossed paths with the “Naturally Prepared 4 Birth” team and the knowledge they have helped us find. I would highly recommend these classes to all families preparing for a baby.”
– Stephanie
I am so thankful my midwife recommended Naturally Prepared as a birth prep class. It prepared me for much more than birth... it changed the trajectory of my family's life by teaching me to ask more questions, advocate for my own and my child's needs, connecting deeply with my partner on decisions, and trusting myself and my body. Samanda cares deeply about her clients as evidenced by her sacrifice of time and care. The classes are holistic in that they prepare both you AND your partner mentally, physically, emotionally... as a whole person ... for the big journey you are about to be a part of! I took refresher classes for my second and third birth, and they were just as valuable as the first. I have recommended her countless times over the years and each friend came back raving about how essential her class was to their birth. I am very thankful for the amazing gift that Samanda and Naturally Prepared are!
- Allison
Before we even learned we were pregnant, we knew we desired to have a natural birth. Fast forward to when we were 18 weeks pregnant and received our daughter's prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome and a Congenital Heart Defect, our team of doctors shared that our desire to have a natural childbirth could still be possible. We learned about Samanda's classes after searching for a natural childbirth class in the area and were immediately intrigued simply based on the number of times her Birth and Beyond class met. After leaving our first class, we turned to each other and said, "This class will be worth every penny!" The level of detail, care, and attention Samanda provides to couples is incredible. I (Matt) am an upper cervical chiropractor and while I felt knowledgable about anatomy and had a general understanding of the birthing process, I gained greater confidence in the process and how to support my wife, as we partnered together to bring our daughter into the world. The techniques Samanda taught throughout her classes were especially helpful during labor.
Our birthing experience was so incredibly special and beautiful in every way. We'll never forget how full our delivery room was with our medical team and how our hearts were even fuller when we welcomed our beautiful, baby girl, Selah Grace into the world. There wasn't a dry eye in the room when she arrived.
We entered into the birthing process feeling as confident and empowered as we could be as first-time parents and we owe that all to Samanda. We highly, highly recommend Samanda and her classes to anyone who is considering having a natural birth.
-The Strazewski Family