[My] experience with Joni has transformed me, as a woman, and most importantly as a mother. Each meeting we had was informative, and fun! We connected at a soul level, and talked about birth, life, death, trauma, transcendence, her farm and dreams of my families homestead - everything.

My birth was an experience that changed me at a cellular level. All because of Joni and her attending, her own daughter Kelsey, a doula I would also highly recommend. The comfort, the education, the strength they provided me during my birth gave me the tools I needed to feel confident in my decisions. We hardly had to discuss anything beyond my diabetes because from the very beginning we were on the same page, and that provides such a comfort I feared would never be allowed to me being a diabetic. Now, my baby is here earthside, perfect - and I am one of the lucky women who get to say that my birth was also perfect, my exact birth plan came true. The same hands that brought my beautiful daughter into this world are the same hands that will help bring all of my children earthside.

Joni was my dream come true, a women I am forever grateful for. Her daughter Kelsey, was a gentle touch and the calming voice that gave me strength even in a brief time of doubt during my birth followed by words that will comfort me forever by Joni “this birth is going to heal you” and that it did. A lifetime of therapy couldn’t have done what giving birth with these women did for me.

A walk with women who truly love and understand the importance of birth autonomy, a mothers choices and reinforcing strength in women.

How do I even begin to put into words the impact Joni has had on not just the outcome of my VBAC, but on her impression on our entire lives? From the moment I reached out to her, I felt held before we had even met. Throughout my 36 hour labor, Joni guided me in ways I still can’t fully explain. Yes, she is unbelievably skilled at what she does, but it’s so much more than that. She has a way of seeing you. Seeing your fears and soothing them. Seeing your strength long before you can feel it. Seeing the version of you you’re about to become. She steadied me, held me, pushed me, and believed in me every step of the way.

Because of her, I was able to navigate the hospital system with as much autonomy as possible and birth my baby on my terms. Because of her, I walked away from that birth entirely changed.

To put it simply: Joni is magic. I cannot imagine ever having another baby without her by my side.

From the beginning of pregnancy, Zoe committed to an all-natural birth. For 38 weeks we were following the normal hospital protocol of monthly checkups, that later become weekly checkups. All while being unsure of the process we were being pushed through.

Zoe and I are both young and didn’t know any better, and didn’t want to be taken advantage of. When you’re uneducated on the processes of birth, you are much more likely to surrender to the ainstream practice of hospital births.

It wasn’t until Joni’s Radical Birth Education class that we were assured of our instincts. She taught us how to standup for how Zoe envisioned the birth our first child. We hired Joni as our midwife the very next day.

After proper education, and the strength of having Joni by our side throughout the remainder of pregnancy. Zoe committed to a home birth with plans accomplish the dream birth plan, even with how rare that is the case.

Safe to say that is exactly what happened. If we could go back, we wouldn’t change a thing about June 10th and are very grateful for Joni’s expertise throughout that day.

Though we have only been working with Joni for just 3 months, she has taught us so much about pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

I am so grateful to have met Joni, for the sake of our happy and healthy baby girl and, Zoe, the happy and healthy mother.

From helping me process a ton of anxiety about having a high risk pregnancy to helping me narrowly avoid an unnecessary c-section in the labor suite with her knowledge of positioning and help navigating conversations with the on call OB - I would not hesitate to recommend either Joni or Austin Birth Center.

She's smart, experienced, and passionate about her work-- and let me tell ya, she gives it her all. I felt so incredibly supported, empowered and cared for through the entire birthing experience. Please, do yourself a favor, hire Joni.

This has been beyond an amazing experience. Even before the labor, the help and expertise was a game changer. With our birth going from plan A, to B, to C over the course of 27 hours, I have no idea how we would have managed without Joni. It would have been a drastically different experience and would not have gone this way. Although it was a different plan that we had, it all came through beautifully and I felt calm, warm, and cared for the whole time

Joni is truly a phenomenal doula! Meeting with Joni during our first in-person aligned with my husband and I's vision for our birth. She has knowledge in both the hospital methodology of birthing and the midwifery methodology. For me, having worked at a hospital for much of my career, I needed someone with her wisdom to guide me through this process and she did just that. I had a great birth experience in that I had a natural birth in a hospital setting. And, I will say this forever and always, that this would have never happened had I not had her support along with my husband. She is so intuitive in when to "step-in" and when to just let the process flow. Joni has so much passion and love for what she does and I could not ask for a better person by our side. She brings out the superhero in you during a life changing moment in your life and I will never forget that!

One of the most amazing people I’ve ever met - we loved her from day one, and now 2 months postpartum, we love her even more. To share such an intimate part of your life with someone is a lifelong bonding experience and we feel blessed that Joni will always be a part of our story. She has a heart of gold, a wealth of knowledge from being a labor & delivery nurse for years, and tons of personal experience through her own births.. We honestly can’t imagine doing labor without her. It was our first time and my labor had some challenges - Joni was on call and available whenever, so supportive and educational and we could never say thank you enough to her. On top of that, we have some of the most intimate and beautiful photos of our little man being born ❤️.

I am SOOOOOO beyond happy that I hired a doula for my first birth. For anyone on the fence about doing so, just do it- it makes a world of difference.

I was also beyond happy that I came across ABC and was paired with the incredible, magical human that is Joni Edelman - There are not enough words to describe how amazing my experience was with having her by my side, so what I am about to say truly pales in comparison to the reality of her work - Joni is not only knowledgeable as being someone who was a past labor and delivery nurse, but at her core, she is strength and compassion personified. The woman oozes with confidence in her birth work, and in doing so, made me feel at ease in navigating the storms that came my way through my pregnancy/ labor. I don't think my husband would have survived my 44 hour labor without Joni being at his side and helping explain things as they came up - Despite it being a tumultuous, crazy journey, I can only speak of my pregnancy and birth from a positive place because I had someone by my side helping me advocate for myself and ensuring that I always felt safe and taken care of.

I didn’t think I’d need a doula so I wasn’t even planning to get one, but because I was committed to an unmedicated birth my midwife convinced me to talk to some. She recommended a few places, including Austin Birth Company, and I’m so glad she did because as it turned out, I definitely needed a doula. I landed on Joni at ABC. When I met with Joni for the first time, I could sense how great of a human being she is. I was amazed at how knowledgeable and passionate she was about physiological birth.

Having Joni present during my birth was pivotal in the success of having my baby with no epidural. Since day one she was always just a text or call away. When I got nervous about labor, she was there to reassure me. From the minute I got to the hospital until two hours after my baby was born (a total of more than 12 hours) she was with me, encouraging me and holding my hand. There were times I wanted to give up, but her coaching helped me to keep on going. I’m positive I could not have done it without her.

For anyone who wants an unmedicated birth or birth with no epidural, or even a birth with epidural, you will never regret hiring Joni! I can’t recommend her enough.