When it came time for a childbirth class, my husband and I didn't want to do the all day option at…read moreour hospital or a 6 week course; we wanted something that focused on an unmedicated hospital birth and was more personal and concise. I found D'Andrea via a google search for natural childbirth classes in Austin and I'm so glad I did. D'Andrea traveled to our home for a private 4 hour class which was incredibly informative and hands on. We covered a lot on the body, what can be expected during labor, positions and support my husband can offer, the birthing process, etc. I'm due with my first baby next week and I know that the information, skills and techniques D'Andrea introduced us to, and practiced with us, will be crucial while I labor at home for as long as possible! Her class really made my husband and I feel more confident and empowered and ready for this experience. D'Andrea was personable, professional and knowledgeable and was always quick to respond to any emails. She also provided us with a few sample birth plans and additional resources after our session which have come in handy. We are not using a doula for the actual birth but if we were, it would be D'Andrea.

De'Andrea was an amazing teacher - compassionate, straight forward, patient and detailed. With…read moreour first child on the way, my partner and I were aiming to have a natural birth. De'Andrea educated us via her weekly birthing classes how to prepare for a natural birth but also to be emotionally prepared for various outcomes, because each labor is unique. My partner and I learned so much together and felt educated and sure about what we wanted because the knowledge De'Andrea provided empowered us to be our best advocates for this very special time in our lives. Because of the coping techniques I learned in De'Andrea's class , I was able to stay at home for 8 hours when labor started, and even let my partner sleep because I was informed and calm about what was happening to me during the early stages of labor. Also, after the classes were complete and right before I went into labor, I had emailed De'Andrea about a personal issue and she was so kind and helpful - she won my heart and our business forever : )

We found Anya through the Central Texas Doula Association and she was the first doula we met with…read more My husband and I felt almost instantly that she was the doula for us! Her passion for her work, for mamas and babies, is contagious and so comforting -- we knew we would be in the best hands through the prenatal journey and birth of our first child. And we were right! Anya was there for us every step of the way. She dedicated herself to getting to know us, getting to know our worries, wants, and wishes. I loved preparing for the arrival of our little one with her -- she shared so much wisdom and made me feel at ease both physically and mentally (the one-on-one yoga session included in our package was such a nice treat!). We were so ready when the day arrived to deliver our baby! By day, I really mean days... Anya was with us through an incredibly LONG natural labor that ended at the hospital. (But we still delivered vaginally and I owe so much of that to her!) Our journey began at the Austin Area Birthing Center on Monday night and ended on Wednesday morning. She spent every minute of that time encouraging me, supporting me and my husband (literally, like physically supporting me), standing up for and reminding me of the things I wanted and needed, and helping us make some really tough decisions. She was basically like family to me for all those days. It was bittersweet to go our own ways at the end -- sad because she had just shared with us the most momentous occasion of our lives and that kind of connection is so real, but sweet because she needed to rest too!!! Could we have done it all without her? Sure. Would we have wanted to? Absolutely not. I cannot recommend Anya enough if you're looking for a little extra support through your own prenatal/birth/postnatal journey. She's a force. You'll get so much more from your relationship than you ever expected!! We sure did.

Anya is an AMAZING force. I interviewed several doulas, but I went with Anya because of her energy…read more-- she was the perfect balance of confident, non-judgmental, calm and wise. I wanted someone who would help prepare and support me through a natural birth, but who wouldn't judge me if I changed my mind in the end. I'll never forget the thing she said to me in one of our prep meetings that really put me at ease, "There IS something -- a position or a technique -- that will help bring you relief during birth. We'll practice some options now and when the time is here, we'll find the exact one that will work for you." And we did just that. I can say for certain that there is no way we would have been able to avoid an epidural without all the prep she did with me and my husband ahead of time and without her calm, supportive presence in the room. We met with her several times ahead of the birth and she was super thorough with us, never rushed the process and made sure that we as first time parents were as confident as we could be going into this. She lent us books we could peruse if we wanted, but honestly her guidance ahead of time was so thorough and we were so ready for the big day even without taking a formal birthing / breathing class. She even did a prenatal yoga class with me in my home a couple of weeks before our baby arrived. We also hired her for the placenta encapsulation -- it was wonderful having someone who already knew us well do that for us and we opted for her to do it at our home, which sounded strange to us at first, but she scoured the kitchen before and after and in the end, it was a really cool learning process!

Alyssa's amazing and should be everyone's lactation consultant…read more I worked with her after the birth of my baby one year ago. During our very first session, when he was only 11 days old, she immediately noticed that my baby had a lip tie-- which had gone unnoticed by our pediatrician, hospital pediatrician, and hospital lactation consultant. She quickly referred us to a pediatric ENT and the lip tie was confirmed. She continued to give us incredibly helpful information and support for the rest of our sessions. Not only did she help us with breastfeeding and pumping, but she also provided support for my baby blues, my physical and emotional wellness, and for handling the long hours of baby crying. She's available by text and responded to me swiftly every time. I had a milk bleb and she went above and beyond to help me through that. I never wanted to put pressure on myself to breastfeed. I was okay with quitting if it wasn't working out, or supplementing with formula if I needed to. So, I was wary of pro-breastfeeding practitioners who try to pressure you into exclusive breastfeeding. However, Alyssa didn't pressure me at all, and helped me figure out my pumping/nursing/supplementing schedule. She also has lovely bedside manner and is just a caring, genuine, kind-hearted person. Honestly, she was the absolute most helpful resource I had postpartum. I'm still nursing 1 year postpartum and I wouldn't be if it wasn't for her help in the beginning. More importantly, she was instrumental in helping us overcome those really challenging first few months. I really have never recommended a practitioner as highly as I do her.

Alyssa is super knowledgeable and thorough. Two other healthcare professionals had evaluated my…read morenewborn's latch and said it looked fine even though I was having severe pain while breastfeeding. Alyssa helped us discover the actual problem (tongue tie) and gave us the steps to fix it. Looking forward to my follow up consultation to get even more empowered to breastfeed my newborn.

Highly recommend Mia! Mia was our birth doula for our first baby and I felt much more prepared…read moregoing into childbirth from talking and meeting with Mia over what to expect. The emotional and physical support she provided while I was in labor made the experience smoother than I imagined. Most of the hospital staff were familiar with Mia and she worked seamlessly with them. Mia is a mom herself and I appreciated the insight she shared from her personal experience. She's overall an awesome person to be around and made me feel comfortable from the beginning. I would recommend Mia to anyone looking for a doula in the Austin area!

Having Mia on my birth team was the best decision! She was instrumental in guiding me during…read morepregnancy/early labor and providing care and support during the actual delivery and also immediate postpartum - especially with latching/breastfeeding. Her prenatal visits and phone-based support were so informative and essential to my decision making process even as a second time mom. Mia's prenatal visits helped my husband and I learn about coping techniques for labor and general best practices for pregnancy, labor and beyond. I only wish I had her on my team during my first birth experience!

Ciarra has been our doula twice and my wife had two very beautiful births. Our kids both came…read morequickly and Ciarra was there both times to support us through the process but also in dealing with the hospital staff who did their jobs but needed to be reminded to allow my wife the space to have the births she wished to have. I didn't know what to expect when my wife first approached me about wanting to practice hypnobirthing and have a doula but I am completely sold on the idea at this point. I'm very grateful for the work that Ciarra did for us and for teaching both me and my wife about the practice of hypnobirthing. Should we have another child, we agreed that we wouldn't change a thing.

Ciarra is an amazing doula that really puts her heart and soul into her work! I had a very…read moretraumatic birthing experience with my first baby, so the second time around I knew I wanted a natural birth with a doula. Ciarra took the time to listen to my first birth story and was very compassionate and supportive of all of my wishes leading up to the birth of my son. My husband and I even took hypnobirthing classes with Ciarra. I ended up with an unmedicated VBAC with my son and Ciarra played a BIG part in that! We had an amazing experience with Empowered Beginnings!

This review for Peggy is long overdue! I reached out to Peggy when I was only 9 weeks pregnant. I…read moreknew I wanted to work towards having a natural birth and was told having a doula was essential. I filled out an inquiry form and she immediately got back to me. We set up a Zoom interview and right off the bat, I knew she was the doula for me. She was so calm, well spoken, and so experienced. I didn't even bother looking further for any other doulas because I knew I wanted to work with only her. Booking Peggy early in my pregnancy was a complete God send. Any time I felt anxious or worried about my pregnancy, I reached out to her and she immediately helped to calm me down. Through the package I booked, my husband and I also did hypnobirthing classes (through Empowered Beginnings with Ciarra). Loved the classes and even met other pregnant mamas who I am still friends with today. My husband and I learned so much about labor and delivery. It made me feel more confident as my pregnancy progressed and as the due date approached. I ended up going spontaneously into labor 2 weeks before my due date. Unexpected and a complete surprise but Peggy was supportive every step of the way. She provided text support while I labored at home. We eventually reached out to her to come to the house and after seeing me in person, she knew it was time for us to head to the hospital. I unfortunately experienced a significant amount of back labor due to my baby's positioning BUT Peggy remained next to me and my husband every moment at the hospital. Although I was in a significant amount of pain and exhausted from laboring for so long, Peggy helped to keep me calm and focused on delivering my baby girl safely. She never left our side as I pushed for 7 hours. She helped me and my husband make informed and important medical decisions. I honestly couldn't have done it without her physical and emotional support. She also took so many photos and videos so that was a nice surprise to have to look back on. Especially when you are in la la labor land and going in and out during active labor. She remained with us after our baby girl entered the world and although it was such a long night, she remained present, patient, and supportive the entire time. She is literally a saint and incredibly patient and kind. If you are lucky enough to be able to get on our calendar, I would say book her immediately. You will have zero regrets! I can honestly say that I couldn't have experienced this natural birth without her and if you are wanting a natural birth, you definitely want someone like her by your side!

I can't say enough positive things about Peggy. When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to…read morehave a VBAC (I had a rough first birthing experience) and I knew I wanted a doula that would really advocate for me. I one hundred percent found that in Peggy. Having her by my side meant I was supported through labor and delivery, advocated for to make sure my birth plan was being honored, and taken care of through it all. She also stayed after the birth to support me, answer questions, and make sure I was doing well. Peggy is attentive, knowledgeable, supportive, and extremely caring. I am so grateful to have had her by my side and can't recommend her enough!

I can't recommend Vanessa enough! We originally sleep trained our son at 3 months because he…read morewouldn't nap for more than 30 min. That worked well but right around 5-5.5 months something changed and he had trouble sleeping again. We started rocking him to sleep again and it was so frustrating. We finally found Vanessa at 6 months and am so happy we did. Our struggles were naps and 530am wake ups. In just one week we saw such a huge improvement and those early morning wake ups started to fade away. We decided to add on another week to make sure we were in good shape for our upcoming vacation, and she was so invested in us it was amazing. She did everything she could to coach us and help us reach our goals with the tight timeline. (we leave this weekend, fingers crossed!) The time she spent with us was above and beyond, and I can say it's such a great value and investment, especially since we worked with someone else prior. I loved the sleep log and the comments she made daily to help encourage us along the way. Thank you Vanessa!!

I'm not a first time mom so I thought I had this whole baby sleep thing figured out and apparently…read more*NEWS FLASH* I didn't! I used Vanessa's "pick my brain" help when my baby decided it was time to wreck havoc on the wonderful nightly pattern I thought we had going. We needed a fresh set of eyes on our situation to give us some clarity on what the root of our discourse was, and that is exactly what she provided. We tweaked what she recommended we tweak and lo and behold it worked! And everyone's sleep became markedly better in a matter of a few days. Thank you Vanessa for helping us get back on the right (and well rested) track!!

Amy was knowledgeable, experienced, personable and made the whole day and a half class fun! She…read morethoroughly explained all the options for the birth plan and process, whether in the hospital or birthing center, without bias. As a chiropractor who also works on pregnant women, I will be recommending her class to all my pregnant patients moving forward! And as a first time mom, not only did she give more confidence in laboring & delivery of this baby, but she also REALLY equips the husbands to support their wives well. My husband, having 2 kids in a previous marriage, said he didn't realize how much he didn't know & how much more he could've done to be more supportive through his other children's births. That spoke volumes! We were recommended to take a different 12 week class, but just didn't have the time to do it. I'm so thankful our midwife referred us to Amy instead! This is the class we were meant to take! 10/10 recommend. Thank you Amy!!

I HIGHLY recommend this class! My husband and I attended Amy's 2-day childbirth class ahead of…read morehaving our first baby, and both agree this class is a MUST for expecting parents. Amy has a wealth of knowledge regarding all things childbirth, post-partum, and breastfeeding. Amy is extremely easy to talk to, which helped me feel comfortable asking her my millions of questions. Above all else, Amy is engaging. She was born to teach. We were never once checked out or bored during this two-day intensive. Amy's class is worth every penny. THANK YOU Amy! p.s. Amy is also one of the funniest people I've ever met, which just adds to the experience of Planet Childbirth!!