It's rare that I'd describe a retail store as "life changing" but this little shop was. In my raw,…read morepostpartum days after an emergency c section and a ten day stay in a hospital, I was breastfeeding and desperate for clothes I didn't feel terrible in and that I could breastfeed easily in. I stopped here and not only did they provide a cozy, private place for me to breastfeed with a helpful Breast Friend pillow, they also had changing tables and a scale for me to use, which brought me peace of mind. Then the nice young lady working there (after giving me space and privacy to nurse) helped me find nursing bras that I love (bravado, sadly being discontinued) and I even found some great nursing shirts that I wear every day. Please support this wonderful women owned shop!

Healthy Horizons is a great place to get lactation help and they have such cute clothing as well…read more.... have to remember to stop here for the next baby shower! I am writing this review because Sheila Janakos doesn't just help new parents in her store/lactation support center but she is also a generous soul who helps the community. I have been on the board of a nonprofit for 32 years now called Nursing Mothers Counsel which provides free lactation support via phone with volunteers trained in lactation and counseling support. We are a great back up source for parents who may not need the expert support that Sheila and her IBCLC staff provide, or who are in need of support after business hours. We are so grateful to Healthy Horizons for donating 4 Medela Symphony Pumps to NMC for use as grant rentals for low income families we serve. This substantial donation will certainly help many low income families in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz County. Sheila has remained an affiliate member of our small non-profit and supported NMC with donations throughout her many years associated with our organization. Thank you so much Sheila and Healthy Horizons for your generosity and support!

Sheridan is the best! She has helped me with both of my sons and I recommend her without…read morehesitation. She has incredible skills and knowledge of breastfeeding and babies. Sheridan has the heart of a teacher and explains things in a way that makes sense. Additionally, she has a huge heart and loads of empathy. I remember the first time I called her was in the evening after I had been discharged from the hospital from giving birth to my first son. My milk had come in and I was painfully engorged but unable to get my son to latch. She returned my call right away, calmed me down and set up an appointment to see me the next morning on short notice. It was such a relief. I call Sheridan my fairy godmother of breast feeding. Call Sheridan for any of your breastfeeding needs. You won't regret it!

This review is long overdue, but I can't recommend Sheridan highly enough! If you are nervous, have…read morequestions, or need help breastfeeding, see Sheridan. If you are waiting for your milk to come in, are worried about your supply, or are keeping an eye on your baby's weight, see Sheridan! A friend recommended taking a breastfeeding class while I was pregnant, and I took Sheridan's class at Women's Care Medical Group. I hadn't realized that I had no idea how nursing worked and what was involved from latching, to pumping equipment, to balms and butters. Her class was super informative and made me feel confident about nursing. Of course, I didn't think I was going to have any issues (just like I thought everything was going to go according to my birth plan!) After our son was born, he lost quite a bit of weight and my milk was late coming in. We were advised to supplement with formula and see a lactation consultant right away. I called Sheridan, but unfortunately she was out of town that weekend and we ended up making an appointment with someone else. We ended up seeing two other lactation consultants, who were great at showing us how to get a good latch and how to pump 8x a day to increase supply, but were not super helpful beyond that. Two and a half months later, at the end of my rope with pumping and ready to give up on nursing altogether, I called Sheridan. She came over the next morning, on Christmas Eve day no less, and within minutes completely put me at ease. She is so good with babies, and with stressed out mamas! She gave me a plan to actually stop pumping and keep nursing. She even let me borrow her scale for a week so I could weigh my baby and make sure he was gaining at a good rate. The follow up care she gives is worth the consultation fee alone. She followed up with us to check in and see how we were doing pretty often. She was totally there for me when I would get stressed out that he wasn't gaining enough weight, talk me through it, and help me troubleshoot where we could make some tweaks if needed. Sheridan is not only an amazing lactation consultant, but she is also definitely someone you want in your support network. She was really there for us when we needed her. Long story short, my son is almost eight months and we're still going strong! I am so proud of both of us for sticking it out, and we owe so much to Sheridan's expert guidance and care. I really don't think we could have done it without her. If you need to see a lactation consultant, I wouldn't look any further. She's the best!

As a new parent, the postpartum period is challenging enough without having to deal with the stress…read moreand disappointment of a difficult agency. While Stork and Sprout does have some excellent doulas on its team who provided great support and coaching, my experience with the agency's leadership was overwhelmingly negative. We had a particularly difficult time with Brittany. She demonstrated a pattern of manipulation, gaslighting, and lying, both to us and, from what I understand, to her own employees. Our contract promised consistent coverage, but the scheduling was erratic and communication was poor. We were left to wonder many nights if we would have support, and for several weeks, we only received 1 to 2 days of support instead of the 6 to 7 we paid for. When we requested a refund for the services not provided, Brittany refused and even fought our bank with out-of-context emails and more lies. She claims she "offered a refund" but is even today refusing to honor it as she says in the response. The lack of professionalism extended to some of the staff as well; one sick doula was sent to our home and intentionally caused our newborn physical pain. Brittany treated us like we were the difficult ones and responded with empathy-less chatGPT emails to manage the situation. We were also led to believe we would have one primary doula with a backup, but over the course of our service, we had seven different doulas come to our home. This complete lack of continuity made an already difficult period even more stressful. Based on my experience, I would advise new parents to skip Stork and Sprout and work directly with an independent doula. You will not only save the 30-40% extra fee the agency charges for scheduling, but you will also avoid the toxic and difficult management. This experience is unacceptable for a service that costs tens of thousands of dollars and demands payment upfront months ahead of providing the service. We were not able to switch easily due to the inflexible Carrot reimbursement process through the employer.

I truly couldn't have accomplished my VBAC goals without the incredible support of the Stork and…read moreSprout birth doula team. From the very first moment I needed them through labor and all the way until I was settled into the maternity floor with my new little boy, they were there every step of the way. Their calm presence, deep knowledge, encouragement, and advocacy made all the difference during such an intense and meaningful experience. I felt supported, empowered, and never alone. I am beyond grateful for their care and dedication and would wholeheartedly recommend Stork and Sprout to anyone preparing for birth--especially those pursuing a VBAC.

I sought help from Kelly as a last resort after a month of baby struggling to get back to birth…read moreweight. I was prescribed triple feeding which was totally unsustainable. She helped tremendously and gave us so much confidence as parents. She was so patient and knowledgeable, and professional. We got the latch down and were able to drop the triple feeding routine. Here we are almost a year later still nursing and growing right on track!

Kelly is the best lactation consultant any mama could ask for!!! A week into my breast feeding…read morejourney with my first baby I was ready to give up. (We saw a horrible lactation consultant at Kaiser who made me feel like I was starving my baby and tried to move us to formula immediately.) Thankfully we found Kelly on Yelp and she was able to see us the next day. She listened to my concerns/frustrations with breastfeeding, then watched me nurse my baby and gave such compassionate guidance. She gave me so much confidence!!! Fast forward to today, my baby girl is 9 months old and I am still exclusively breastfeeding!!! Breastfeeding is so much harder than anyone ever told me it was going to be. My recommendation for any first time mama would be to make an appointment with Kelly and get all the support you didn't even know you would need, it makes a world of a difference!

Sarah provided me with compassionate and expert support in my journey feeding my kiddo. I greatly…read moreappreciated her warm, non-judgmental approach and her wise advice. She was able to meet with me on short notice, followed up via text to check in on me after our first appointment, and has fielded several questions via email, even while she was traveling. I am very grateful for her support and would highly recommend her!

At 5 days postpartum, I was feeling incredibly stressed and overwhelmed, but Sarah came to our home…read moreimmediately to help. She spent several hours with my husband and me, teaching us everything from the basics of breastfeeding and milk supply to the specifics of breast anatomy. Her calm demeanor was exactly what we needed; she completely eased my anxiety and gave us the confidence we were lacking. This was truly the most helpful support we've received since coming home from the hospital. If you are looking for an expert who is both knowledgeable and deeply compassionate, look no further.

I found Lauren through the Evidence Based Birth website. I was so grateful to have a doula who was…read moreup to date on the research and would help support us in pushing against some unnecessary hospital conventions while still being generally pro-medicine. Lauren was very responsive and helpful throughout our pregnancy. We had great prenatal visits and texted and emailed about some concerns that arose. Lauren always replied promptly with great insight and calm. She was just the same way on the day I gave birth. I texted her early in the day that I was feeling contractions but I thought they might be Braxton Hicks. She suggested I focus on other things and time again in a few hours. Later that night it became clear I was going into labor. I waited a bit too long before asking Lauren to come - I had just started to feel the urge to push when she arrived. But I knew I was in safe hands. She drove me to the hospital while my husband grabbed our bag. Along the way she bent over so I could lean on her through the contractions. I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl 40 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Lauren cooled my face with a cold towel and massaged me through the contractions. She also took lovely photos just after the birth. An hour later, I turned up my husband and said, "I could do that again." It was no doubt thanks in part to Lauren's emotional and physical support. She stayed another 2-3 hours after the birth as well to make sure we were all settled. Lauren has also been helping a new doula Emily train. Emily attended our birth as well and it was helpful to have her extra set of hands!

I sent an inquiry about availability and setting up a consultation for being my birth doula BUT…read moreShe's not accepting clients right now due to being a recent mom. I appreciated her prompt response to inform me.

As a grandfather of five, I consistently choose your store for my daughter's baby needs. There are…read moremany reasons why we love this place. Gladys and Raven, two of your employees, are always incredibly informative and helpful when it comes to anything baby-related. We purchase all of our baby clothes and feeding supplies from your store. Additionally, your store is the only place around to get a hospital-grade breast pump. They even made sure to get me one on the 4th of July, when everyone else was closed and my daughter was in dire need. It's truly a hidden gem here in Menlo Park!

I went there to check my baby's feeding weigh. Got the job done. It's a small store with good…read morepostpartum goods. Would recommend place to check the feeding weight of baby.

I cannot recommend Marilou at Doulas by the Bay highly enough. She was our postpartum night doula…read morefor the first few weeks after our son was born, and she was incredible. As new parents, the sleep deprivation is real, but knowing she was there allowed us to finally get the much-needed rest we required to function. Beyond just being a set of expert hands, she became a trusted guide for us and taught us invaluable newborn care tips that we still use daily. We trusted her implicitly with our baby from night one which was critical for us as anxious new parents. Marilou's calm, professional, and warm presence made us feel so at ease during a very vulnerable time. We truly loved our time with her and are so grateful for the care she provided. If you are looking for a doula who is knowledgeable, nurturing, and completely trustworthy, Marilou is amazing!

We had an incredible experience with Sally for our son from when he was 1-3 months. She was…read moreconsistently punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. Beyond just helping with night feeds, she took the initiative with bottles and laundry, which was a huge help to our family. We felt completely at ease knowing our little one was in such caring hands. In addition, she helped with sleep training. Additionally, the office staff was a pleasure to work with. They were extremely professional and maintained a quick turnaround time on all our requests and paperwork. We highly recommend this team for anyone looking for top-tier newborn care!

Paola was such a help to our family after the birth of our little one. She took care of the baby at…read morenight to make sure we could get as much sleep as possible between the frequent night feedings. When he woke up at night, Paola would change his diaper and bring him to me to feed. She would help keep him awake so he could get a full feed and burp him since it was still hard for me to get out of bed while recovering. She also helped settle him back to sleep in his bassinet. As he grew she also had great suggestions for helping him with gas and to generally be more comfortable at night. We were so happy to have Paola's support during those first few weeks and would definitely recommend her to other families.

Paola has been an immense help to our growing family, we cannot recommend her services enough! We…read moreare first time parents to twins and Paola has made our transition into parenthood much more manageable than I could have imagined. Paola was born to work with babies, and her passion shines through her care. We are so impressed with her ability to attend to both our babies needs. It puts me at ease to know our babies are surrounded by her love and attention through the night. Paola has helped us to understand what our babies are going through at different stages, and educated us on what to expect for the future. She has given us great guidance with her vast knowledge of newborns. She is punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. We are so thankful for Paola's support and encouragement, we have benefited greatly from our time with her.