We had originally hired a different doula but another client went into labor just a little before I did. So our original doula asked Christine to fill in. Christine came over to our house on super-short notice and arrived in time to help us through what turned out to be a long and painful labor.
She was great! She was calm and had many different techniques to help me manage through my pain. She encouraged me to stay at home throughout active labor, but when the pain got too much she also respected my wish of going to the hospital to get an epidural. I felt that we were in it together as opposed to her being just a support person on the site doling out advice.
I actually ended up being 7+cm dilated by the time I got to the hospital and was going into transition. All this I did at home without drugs. This was all because of Christine's support and encouragement at home. Were it not for her, I probably would have gotten to the hospital sooner less dilated.