Sheila Donnelly Doula Sacred Passages

Having Sheila as my birth doula and postpartum doula was the most successful decision I made throughout this whole journey. Having Sheila around at birth is like bringing a close family who is also a knowledgeable nurse. She comforted me, supported me, and explained what the next procedure is in the delivery room. My parents were not with me, but I felt save and confident the whole time with Sheila being here. Most importantly, she educated my husband how to help me and give me strength. My partner later told me that he was very thankful because he as a man had no idea how to best support me during labour without Sheila teaching him. She also took lots of photos to capture the beautiful moments.After the birth, Sheila stayed with us until we felt confident in caring newborn baby. She provided envidence based advice, respects our culture, and proactively did chores for me to take off as much burden off my shoulder as possible.I know she enjoyed helping families welcome newborn babies, and I can see that's where her passion is. I am so grateful that I got to met her and had her as my doula for both birth and postpartum!

It was the best decision I’ve ever made hiring Sheila as my birth doula I’m truly grateful and so blessed to have had her support, care and love during and after my pregnancy. I honestly feel that the universe and my late mother guided me to her she is a beautiful soul with amazing energy we instantly had a strong connection. I moved to Canada last year to be with my husband so I was alone here with no family or friends to help with my pregnancy, Sheila gave me all the love and support that I needed and has become a part of my family forever having a place in our hearts, we would have been lost without her. She gave us lots of info and tools to help us prepare for the birth and helped set up a birth plan which really helped us feel more confident giving birth in a hospital and also gave me the knowledge and exercises to naturally induce labor. Sheila went above and beyond to care for me and my husband during my almost 3 days in labor and at the same time I was also battling a very bad tooth ache she was with me all the way helping me through the pain her calming presence helped ease my anxiety around hospitals and she set up the birthing room to feel more like home making my birthing experience feel so much more comfortable. Her support gave me so much strength and courage to bring my baby boy into the world naturally and I don’t think I would’ve been able to without her. Also being first time parents with no clue what to do, Sheila has been incredibly helpful with postpartum support her vast experience and wisdom gave us so much knowledge on newborn care from help with breastfeeding and how to give baby a bath, things that made me and my husband much more confident in looking after our newborn son. She also provided us with delicious home cooked meals making our postpartum so much easier so we had more time to enjoy with our baby. I am forever grateful to have Sheila in our lives we absolutely adore and love her and I highly recommend her!

We hired Sheila to care for our 8 month old son-- she is incredible. Such a kind, genuine human. Sheila was referred to us by someone I trust with very high standards. We were new to Victoria from the US, in the middle of the pandemic, raising a teen girl and an 8 month old. Considering our son was born in the pandemic and hasn’t seen many people, he was apprehensive at first but Sheila remained calm, patient and didn’t take anything personal. I’ve never worried about my son’s safety or well being with Sheila. She’s as kind, gentle and loving as can be. She treated our son like a grandson. Affectionate, patient, and fun. Sheila took him on adventures around Ten Mile Point berry picking, visiting the beach, observing nature, puddle jumping etc.We had a dire family emergency arise and Sheila was our rock. She did everything and anything she could to help our family while remaining calm and positive.We’ve since moved back to the US but miss Sheila dearly. If we could, we’d move her here :-) Sheila is amazing, I’m sure she will be an incredible asset to your family!

Sheila came to us by surprise. I had actually hired another doula for the birth of our son. When I went into labour we called our doula and her other client had gone into labour early and she was already at the hospital in her birth. My doula called Sheila as her back-up and Sheila arrived at the hospital the same time we did at 7:30 in the morning despite getting an unexpected phone call at 6 am! She had such an amazing energy. She played guided nature sounds meditations for me, rubbed my back for hours, advocated for how we wanted the birth to go, asked the hospital staff for props to assist me and supported my partner and allowed him to take breaks throughout the 15 hour process. We immediately felt comfortable with her despite never having met her before. She will forever be in our hearts for being there for us through the birth of our son and for doing such a wonderful job. I resumed with my regular doula for my post partum (who is also amazing!) but Sheila let me know she was there for us if we ever needed her and came for a lovely visit to meet our son. If you are on the fence about whether to hire a doula like I was, it is totally worth it. These ladies made me feel so supported especially since I don't have any family here on the island. Do yourself a favour and hire a doula for your birth, you won't be disappointed.

Sheila was absolutely hands down one of the greatest Birth, Postpartum, and Holistic Doulas! She’s helpful, supportive, compassion, caring, hands on, knowledgeable. She was very encouraging, supportive and helpful with all breast feeding lows and highs. She even came into the dentist office and held my daughter when I felt I couldn’t while she had a revision. She was everything I absolutely needed emotionally, physically and mentally after having my 3rd child.Highly recommended.Definitely will be one of our first calls if we decide to have more children in the future.

On January 17, 2022, our birth story began. With our Doula Janice at another home birth, she sent Shelia to our side. We had met Shelia only once before on zoom, but when she arrive it was like we have known her forever. She was caring, kind, calming and supportive. Even though she has worked all night support another mom, she didn't flinch when she was called to our house. She spent 20+ hours with us as my labour progressed. She offered tips to my husband to support me and ensured I was informed of all my options, and supportive of all decision I made in the end. We continue to communicate with Shelia and ask questions when needed. Would highly recommend her to any family.

Sheila is absolutely amazing. She has incredible wisdom, and so many resources and tools to share. She was very supportive in the planning process for my home birth. I also love how she made sure to include my husband, which was really helpful to prepare him for the birth. She has such a warm and loving presence, I am so grateful to have had her for the birth of my daughter. She came as soon as I called her, and she held space for me the entire day. She was attentive and intuitive to my needs, always one step ahead, and yet I felt like I had the space I needed to follow my own rhythm. She left us with a clean home, and continued loving support in any way needed. Sheila is everything I was looking for in a doula and more. I highly recommend Sheila!