Hiring Meleah was one of the best decisions we made as first-time parents…read more She was an incredible resource throughout pregnancy, helping us prepare for labor, birth, and life with a newborn. When labor finally arrived, her support was invaluable. She brought a calm, reassuring presence, helped us navigate decisions, and was a tremendous advocate and source of encouragement during a long and emotional experience. Having her with us at the hospital made a world of difference. After our daughter was born, Meleah continued to be an amazing source of knowledge and support. Whether we were struggling with feeding challenges, babywearing (she wrote a book on it!), sleep deprivation, or just trying to figure out what was normal, she always helped us find a path forward and gave us confidence as new parents. Meleah combines deep expertise with genuine compassion, and it's obvious how much she cares about the families she works with. We are incredibly grateful for her guidance and would recommend her without hesitation to any expecting parents.

As a first time mom, I can honestly say that I don't know what I would have done without Meleah! In…read morethe months leading up to my due date, Meleah helped me build my birth plan; she provided reading material that discussed the pros and cons of each decision I needed to make and then went through them with me, answering any questions I had, so I could make informed decisions. She even covered contingencies that I hadn't even considered. She also worked with us on techniques for coping with labor pains and guided us through what to expect once I was in labor. When my induction did not go as planned and I completely lost trust in my doctor (who made some very questionable recommendations), I was SO grateful that I had Meleah by my side every step of the way to make sure I understood my options and help me advocate for myself. She was then with me during my c-section, narrating what was happening and snapping pictures when my son was delivered. Then, when he was taken to the NICU for a brief period after delivery, she stayed with me, keeping me calm and relaying any news from my husband who went with our baby. It was definitely not the birth we had planned, but I feel so fortunate that Meleah was there guiding us through it. She also went above and beyond after the birth and was an immense support to us during our first days home with a newborn. She gave us helpful tips on breastfeeding, swaddling, and baby wearing, and helped us locate additional postpartum support when we found we needed it. She really cares about her clients and is amazing with babies! You can tell that she has found her calling and really enjoys what she does.

I reached out to a few doulas and felt an immediate connection with Alexis. From the first moment…read morewe spoke, she was so generous with her time and wisdom, as well as personal anecdotes to help me get a better sense of the types of scenarios we should be thinking through. She also helped me navigate the world of prenatal care - sharing the names of a wonderful birth class, prenatal masseuse and chiropractor that kept me in decent shape up until my birth. During labor, Alexis was a perfect partner to my husband and me. My labor was long, and having Alexis there with us meant that I always had a rested partner to help me through labor. She also helped us navigate the many decisions that inevitably arise during birth, and I can honestly say that while it didn't go according to "plan," it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life and I give Alexis so much credit for that. She's incredibly passionate about what she does and even after birth, was an incredible resource and partner to us in those early, uncertain weeks. We're lucky to have her in the Bay Area!

This is a long over due review. Alexis was my doula for the birth of my second son (7/24/14). My…read morehusband and I couldn't have done it without her. I contacted Alexis late into my pregnancy because I really wanted my second birth to be without an epidural. I didn't have the best experience with my first birth and I really wanted this time to be different. Alexis reassured me that this was a different birth and that my body was meant for this. From the moment I spoke to her I knew she was meant to be a doula. She is super calm and sweet and you can tell she loves what she does. We met shortly there after and I didn't have to interview anyone else (although I spoke to many over the phone). I wasn't too happy with my doctor at the time and Alexis not only knew who he was but helped me research other doctors and suggested many others to me.. She always responded to all of my silly questions and concerns and helped me come up with a birth plan. The day I went into labor I called Alexis and she gave me the option to come over or let me keep laboring on my own at home and meet me later. I felt calm and confident so I stayed in the tub and labored from home and stayed in touch with her. She could tell just by talking to me if I was close or not. When the time came I called Alexis and we met at the hospital. I can honestly say that thanks to Alexis I was able to have an un-medicated birth, my husband said it was the best money we have ever spent (and he was hesitant about getting a doula). Alexis helped me through the contractions and helped me remain calm. She even stayed long after to help in any way that she could. The only regret I have is that I didn't take any pictures with her that day.

I've been seeing Christina for over a year. Initially I wanted to experience craniosacral therapy…read more Christina starts each session with your intention. Mine was a desire to feel a sense of safety in my body. That was and has been amazing, to be able to feel safe from within. With her support I was able to start to reconnect with my body, which I didn't even realize was numb/disconnected! Due to her additional pre and perinatal training I've also been able to discover and heal early wounds that my body had memory of, but that my mind and talk therapy had not been able to access. Christina has been vital in my healing from childhood developmental trauma in a safe way without retraumatizing. She's role modeled and helped me learn to have compassion and love for myself, and to grow my emotional capacity and tolerance. When I bump into difficult memories or emotions, Christina is there to walk me through it to welcome them in compassionate way. Christina's calming presence helps me to feel safe and supported, which is critical for healing. She is a special soul and a true healer.

We are so grateful to have worked with Christina. When we got pregnant with our first child, we…read moreknew we wanted a natural, peaceful birth and Christina helped support ​our vision​ every step of the way. In the prenatal visits, she helped​ us discover our ideal birth​ scenario and​​ ​provided us with resources (visualization​s​, books, audio recordings) to help support our preferences. She helped ​prepare us for ​the many decisions​ of pregnancy, labor & delivery and newborn care, so we could make the best choices for our family. When our son's birth arrived, Christina was amazing. She was right there from my initial contractions to post-birth. She knew just how and when to jump in, but also when to give both me and my husband our space. Christina reminded my husband and I focus on one another and the incredible event happening to us. She is very familiar with Marin General ​which​ helped us navigate our admission and get comfortable in the hospital space. ​She gave good suggestions on different positions to minimize my pain while also ensuring my labor progressed. With her help, we had a beautiful, all natural birth. ​Afterward, Christina followed up with us and came to visit our new baby multiple times. She even gave our baby a cranial sacral treatment and came back to give me a much needed postpartum massage. I can't say enough good things about Christina. She is incredibly conscientious and caring. She is a wonderful, calming doula and a talented masseuse. I highly recommend her.

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!

I reached out to find a birth doula and the initial meeting giving an overview of how they work was…read moreclear and straightforward. Doulas through this company are employees (not independent providers) and they stress that this is really good for always having a backup. We were then matched with 2 doula candidates and the scheduling process was easy and professional. However, we ultimately felt that these candidates were not properly trained or vetted. We never received any materials such as CVs for the doulas. The first doula said right away that she had never been a birth doula before and we would be her first birth. Her only experience was that she had been a night doula before. I was shocked that she had never even shadowed another birth doula as part of her training as a company employee. Bless her heart for being honest, but I did not want to pay to be her guinea pig. After this, I requested an additional candidate, but I was told the other one should be great. The second doula was also not a good fit. She kept emphasizing that at previous births hospital staff did not believe she was a birth doula (and thought she was just a family friend). It became clear why. I asked about her qualifications and she said she's working on her bachelor's degree even though she already has a master's degree. I thought this was strange and asked some follow up questions and ultimately could not determine what degree she had (maybe an associate's degree) or didn't have (definitely did not already have a master's). I also asked some basic medical questions about pain control and epidurals and she was not able to answer them. Ultimately we were able to find a wonderful birth doula through another matching company - experienced and with a real master's degree (in public health).

My partner and I recently completed the Hypnobirthing three week course at Brilliant Births. We had…read morean absolutely incredible experience, for many reasons--The information we learned was invaluable, but also the instructors' teaching styles and depth of personal experience they offered was appreciated, comforting, and helpful. They clearly have a deep well of wisdom and experience-based expertise to share. We started our class with Keira and absolutely loved her--originally we were a bit bummed to know we would have a different instructor for our last day of the course. However, it turned out that Heidi was equitably wonderful and all things lovely-- instead of only one great instructor and guide, we ended up with two...which leads me to believe you'll be in skilled hands with anyone you interact with at BB. We will definitely be returning to take advantage of their other offerings!

I reached out to Brilliant Births to find a birth doula. They offer a matching service and…read moreconnected me to 3 doulas who work independently (not employees of BB). We were really fortunate to find our birth doula (who we love!), but the other 2 candidates were not very impressive. The first doula missed our appointment with no follow-up communication. We were initially confused and thought she was the coordinator for BB, because she only communicated by text. The actual meeting was just by telephone so there was no face-to-face interaction, which felt strange. We could've easily FaceTimed or Zoomed. So communication and reliability were not great. The second doula abruptly canceled our half-hour appointment when we were 10 minutes late for a 30-minute appointment due to my husband wrapping up a Zoom meeting. During our appointment time, she was responding to my emails (in which I apologized for being late), but insisted she could no longer meet with us. I thought this was a really bad sign about what she would be like to work with - labor and delivery is rarely precisely timed and some flexibility is needed. In addition, her email said that she lives in Portola Valley, but we live Berkeley (also where Brilliant Births is located). This also struck me as strange, because it would take 1.5 hours for her to arrive to meet us at the hospital, which is not ideal.

Patti was our Doula in 2011 when my son was born. I can't imagine the process without her. We…read moredidn't have our regular doctor on call to deliver our baby and the doctor on call was awful. She was pushing us to have a c-section even though their was no medically necessary reason to have one. Without Patti's help I may have been forced into a position that I was not willing to take. Patti massaged my ankles, spoke calmly and was nothing but supportive. She was just so present and kind at such an incredibly stressful situation. Our son was born healthy and without any medical interventions and I truly believe it was because of Patti's presence. She is warm, kind and loving. No one could ask for a better Doula than Patti. She is down to earth and not going to act in place of a mid-wife or doctor but she will be your champion and help you advocate for yourself as is necessary in a safe and compassionate way. All these years later we still get happy mother's day and happy father's day texts from Patti which remind us how special it is to be a parent and how special Patti was to us!

Our experience with Patti was overwhelmingly positive…read more I believe Patti was a large part of the reason we had a very successful birth after what was a complicated pregnancy (placental abruption, hospitalization and labor 3 weeks early among a few other things). Though we'd had a mostly positive experience with Kaiser in Santa Rosa, our birthing process was almost reduced to an absolutely dreadful experience (specifically because of the terrible fashion in which we were doctored and nursed by Dr. Regina Sullivan and Nurse Kim Stork). The entire staff tried to bully us into using Pitocin to speed us through the birthing process (entirely unnecessary, and fortunately not only do we come from a family of medical doctors but we had Patti there with us.) Patti was like a beacon through the darkness. She helped me gain perspective on how quickly we might expect to progress, she acted as an advocate for us and she treated me with utmost respect and absolute kindess while she utilized her many methods to progress us into active labor. She saved our birthing experience. Patti utilized acupressure, massage and aromatherapy for pain relief. I wouldn't consider having another baby without her present. Please feel free to contact me for a personal reference or with questions! I recommend Patti without reservation.

11/10 highly recommend BAND and our night doula Margaret M!…read more BAND: We had a very positive experience using BAND. This was our first time looking for doulas and using BAND saved us time, energy, and anxiety. We provided our details and quickly got matched with vetted doulas. All in all, took us about 2 weeks from initial inquiry with BAND to signed contract. Our night doula: Margaret M helped us for 8 weeks, starting at just under 1 week old. After the first night, we knew we made the right decision for our family (second time parents with a 3yo). Margaret has a warm and calm presence and knows babies. We had forgotten things about the newborn stage but Margaret provided reassurance and shared her knowledge and encouragement. She was always on time, communicated well, recommended items and processes to improve baby's care and safety, helped mom with nursing sessions and later bottle feeding to extend mom's sleep, washed bottles and pump parts and even random dishes. She was flexible and worked with us, whatever came up. After 8 weeks, our baby is sleeping well at night. Mom and dad are well rested, allowing us to actually enjoy this precious time. Even our toddler would ask about Margaret on the nights she wasn't with us. We'll miss having her around! Thank you, Margaret!

I highly recommend Khatherine of Duyan Care! She was the first night doula we've ever worked with,…read moreand immediately put us at ease with her friendly, professional and knowledgeable demeanor. Khatherine took incredible care of our son for three weeks and also helped with breastfeeding tips as we'd been having a lot of trouble with our baby's latch; despite working with multiple lactation consultants, it wasn't until Khatherine observed and provided some helpful feedback that my latch drastically improved and pain subsided almost immediately. Khatherine was gentle and calm with our son, and treated our entire household with care and respect. She would wash our bottles, fold any laundry, leave our space tidy and provide in-depth notes on her night shift which provided invaluable information. It was evident she is passionate about her job and truly cares about the babies and families that she works with.

When faced with the heaps of information out there about giving birth, it can feel pretty…read moreoverwhelming. I read lots of websites, books, and even attended two births myself. I knew I needed more to be fully prepared and ready to partake in this life changing and sacred event. Susan's class filled that void and thensome! Books (& hospital courses) can only get you so far. The Birth Journey course gave me plenty of opportunities to look deeper into my fears, expectations, hopes, and appreciation of the birth process. The course helped me get in touch with the psychological, emotional, and spiritual sides of birth --that are sadly so often ignored. It also gave me practical tools to use while birthing...dealing with pain and the awareness of what my body and baby were going through. I highly recommend this experience. It was also very valuable to interact with and hear from the other participants. Susan managed to jam-pack those 9 sessions with lots of useful information. She is a gifted, highly experienced, teacher. We had a wonderful home birth and I know this course and Susan's guidance helped us do so.

I took this course in the summer of 2010. It was an ideal natural birth course. All 8 students in…read morethe course left happy. The course goes far beyond the basic physiology of birth, and works on a psycho-emotional level to connect the parents with the birth process and their unborn child. While alternative, at no point did the instructor disparage traditional medicine. As for the negative reviewer below: Admittedly, the course is not designed for someone who is seeking to only learn how to undergo "modern techniques" such as pain killers and C-section. As that reviewer recommends: those are taught in his ascribed "hospital based" courses. I also encourage readers discouraged by that negative review to read his other reviews...which are mostly 1 stars of local business. I sense a troll looking for make-it-right handouts and refunds...

We recently completed the six week Hypnobabies course by Hattie in Novato. Having also taken the…read morechildbirth series at the local hospital, I can say that Hypnobabies was superior. It was incredibly thorough, Hattie answered all the silly little questions I had as a nervous expectant mom, and the environment was casual, soothing, and conducive to learning. If you are interested in a drug or intervention free birth experience, I recommend giving Hypnobabies a try and learning the techniques for self-hypnosis and relaxation. The curriculum really involves partners as well, which makes for a true family birthing.

From the owner: Hypnobabies is a complete 6 week, child birth prep class appropriate for birthing in a hospital,…read morebirth center or home environment. Additionally it teaches hypnotic anesthesia techniques used by people who undergo surgery with hypnosis as their only anesthetic ...in one class! All elements have been carefully designed to work together and the results are amazing even to ME. Not all of our Hypno-moms will have a completely pain-free birthing, yet for most it will be very close to it, and this makes all the difference in the world to so many women. Very gratifying! Hypnobabies provides excellent and Complete Childbirth Education. Providing this *Complete Childbirth Education* ensures that our students will not have to take other natural childbirth classes whose philosophy is so different that it negates what they have learned in our birth hypnosis class. "Pain management and coping skills" are actually opposite of what is learned in Hypnobabies; we teach Pain Elimination.

I am so incredibly happy that Becca was our doula for our hospital birth. This was my first baby,…read moreand I knew that all I wanted was for the baby to be healthy and to avoid an emergency C-section if I could. We met with Becca and knew right away that she was the perfect person to help us in preparing for and giving birth. She immediately set us at ease by assuring us that the hospital we chose had an excellent Labor and Delivery team. She was 100% right about that, and everything else. She helped me trust myself and my body. I never thought I would have such an amazing and thoroughly happy birth experience. Becca really cares. It meant a lot to us that she also visited us after the birth to check in and provide some very welcome support. If we have another baby, we will definitely work with Becca, again!

I could not imagine my first birth without Becca! From the very first phone call, I felt an instant…read moreconnection with her--she's such a kind, caring soul and a true expert in her field. One of the things that impressed me most was how seamlessly she read the dynamic between me and my husband. She always knew when to step in with support and when to step back and give us space. That balance was invaluable during such an emotional, vulnerable time. When my birth plan didn't go the way I had envisioned, Becca's expert advice and calm presence gave me so much security in the decisions I had to make. She helped me feel grounded, informed, and confident every step of the way and encouraged me to listen to my instinct and body. Another aspect of her support that you simply can't put a price on is how connected she is at Kaiser. She knew nearly every midwife and nurse, and because of her strong relationships there, I felt reassured that the care I was receiving was exactly what I needed. Her presence gave me an extra layer of trust in the whole process. Becca communicated beautifully, supported us with such compassion, and helped make my first birth experience one that I will cherish forever. I can't recommend her enough--if you're considering a doula, Becca is truly one of a kind! Thank you so much Becca!