Nyxara Linwei-Marabin

I came into this with a long list of fears I was almost embarrassed to say out loud. Nyxara never made me feel like any of them were silly. She just sat with me — sometimes with a clipboard, sometimes with tea — and made room for whatever I needed to say that day. When labor started, she got to us within the hour. She knew when to talk me through a contraction and when to just put her hand on my back and stay quiet. My partner said afterward that she made him feel useful in a moment he was sure he'd be useless. If you're looking for someone steady — someone who reads the room without making a show of it — call her.

As a Black woman, I went into my pregnancy knowing the statistics. I'd read the studies. I knew that my pain was more likely to be dismissed, my concerns more likely to be minimized, my birth more likely to end in intervention. That knowledge is heavy to carry. Nyxara carried it with me. She didn't minimize the reality or tell me not to worry. She helped me prepare for it — how to document, how to ask questions, how to insist on being heard without being dismissed as "difficult." My OB was actually wonderful, but I didn't know that going in. Having Nyxara there meant I could trust the process while still advocating for myself. I deserved to have someone in my corner. So do you.

Cuando llegué a Estados Unidos, no esperaba encontrar una doula que hablara español de verdad — no solo algunas frases, sino de verdad. Nyxara habla mi idioma, y eso cambió todo. Pude decirle exactamente cómo me sentía, exactamente lo que quería, exactamente lo que tenía miedo. Y ella pudo explicarme exactamente qué estaba pasando durante el parto — sin que yo tuviera que adivinar o depender de mi esposo para traducir. Mi bebé nació sano y hermoso. Me sentí escuchada en todo momento. Eso no tiene precio. When I came to the United States, I didn't expect to find a doula who actually spoke Spanish — not just a few phrases, but really spoke it. Nyxara speaks my language, and that changed everything. I was able to tell her exactly how I felt, exactly what I wanted, exactly what I was afraid of. And she could explain to me exactly what was happening during labor — without me having to guess or rely on my husband to translate. My baby was born healthy and beautiful. I felt heard the entire time. You can't put a price on that.