Sanu Postpartum Retreat has some positives, but unfortunately, the cons outweigh them for me…read more **Pros:** - The staff and doulas were very friendly and helpful, which was a highlight of my stay. - They offered a complimentary massage to make up for being short-staffed the first night, which I appreciated. - Baby essentials like diapers and wipes were provided, as well as postpartum necessities for mom, including pads, diapers, and a peri bottle. - They were accommodating with offers to watch the baby in-room for day naps. - The hotel itself was clean and well-maintained. - The infant classes were informative, albeit very short (around 10 minutes each). - The 24/7 open line of communication through WhatsApp with the staff and doulas was very convenient. It made it easy to get help or ask questions at any time. **Cons:** - The facility was occasionally short-staffed, meaning there were times they couldn't respond to baby care requests promptly. - The nursery camera had frequent outages and only provided a limited view of the baby's bassinet. If the baby was being changed or soothed elsewhere, they were out of sight, which was very concerning. After I complained, they made arrangements to hold my baby in a private room where she could be seen on camera at all times. While I appreciated this effort, it didn't seem to be the standard, and I had to request it again the next night. - The food quality was disappointing--overcooked dishes like mac and cheese, steak, and chicken were common. - Meal policies felt restrictive; moms were only allowed one entrée per meal (no appetizers or desserts), which differed from older welcome packets that mentioned more options. - There were also supply issues--one evening, I ordered shrimp, but they were unavailable, forcing me to choose another dish. - The menu lacked variety, staying the same throughout the stay. - The parent lounge snacks were underwhelming--just chips and granola bars. This was disappointing, especially since the hospital where I delivered offered a much better variety of snacks for free. Breastfeeding makes you very hungry, and with meals spread so far apart (7 a.m.-10 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m.), I had to order snacks from the grocery store during my stay. A more thoughtful selection of snacks would have been a great benefit. - Many appealing amenities came at an additional cost: massages, IV treatments, partner meals, parking, and more. These extras add up quickly. Overall, while the idea of a postpartum retreat is fantastic, the execution at $880/night felt far from luxurious. Too many corners are being cut, and the experience didn't feel as relaxing or premium as I had hoped. In hindsight, that money would have been better spend on a postpartum doula to come in home and help. Unfortunately, I will not be recommending this retreat to others.

Sanu is a wonderful concept and the execution delivers! My wife and I stayed here after the birth…read moreof our son so that mom could get some well deserved recovery time. From the moment you walk in you're greeted by friendly team members who walk you through every step of your stay. They're reachable all the time via a WhatsApp group, which we found convenient and helpful. The suites are comfortable and well equipped, just like staying at a luxury hotel, just with all the baby stuff you could need and more. We actually discovered some of our favorite products (baby cream and oil) from Sanu staff picks. The dinners were a great chance for mom and dad to take a breath together while the super professional caretakers watched our son. We felt at ease having them care for him, as we were given access to the Lollipop camera in case we wanted to take a look at how he was doing. The Sanu team really took great care of us and we'll look back on our stay as a fond memory during such an important time in our lives. Highly recommend considering a stay for your postpartum recovery, there's really nothing else like it.

Love this practice. Doctors and NPs have been wonderful. There are a number options given a woman's…read morestage in life. The women who work in the reception/check-in and check-out are really nice as well. The renovations to the office are a definite improvement, except for the checkout station. They enlarged the office so the waiting area is larger and there are more examination rooms but they must not have included an area or design for the checkout station. It's odd and makes it hard to actually checkout.

I usually don't look forward to these types of appointments, but this office makes it a much easier…read moreexperience. The staff is genuinely friendly, and the space is very clean and well-kept, which helped me feel more comfortable.

Wow! From the time I first asked emailed this company to the time I received my pills, the customer…read moreservice was outstanding!! Jade is amazing!! Baby brain was REAL and she answered every question I had no matter if I had already asked. She is so sweet! You are provided with a cell phone number to text when you go into labor and they come to the hospital to pick up your placenta and they take pictures and go through an entire process, that was explained to me, to clean and encapsulate. When the process was done, we set up and time, and she came all the way to my home to drop off my pills, a card, and my other items that I got! I am impressed with the company! I have been taking my pills for a couple of weeks and I feel fantastic. Not only would I recommend this process, but I would recommend this company! If we decide to have more kids, I do do this over and over again with Benefits Beyond Birth!!

I decided to encapsulate my placenta with my second baby since I experienced a lot of post…read morepostpartum with first. I did my research and Benefits Beyond Birth came strongly recommend. I was amazed at how Wonderful Jade was to work with. The pills were dropped off before I left hospital, and no postpartum this time around. I had more energy and over abundance of milk. I will definitely do this with next baby. I urge any new mom that is interested in encapsulation to use Benefits beyond birth.

*Disclosure: I am a fair Yelp grader. 3 stars to me means the company/product met my expectations…read more It is rare for me to give 5 stars. 5 stars is given if absolute excellence was shown (product AND customer service) AND continued to receive amazing service. 4 stars is given to a business for those that showed they went out of their way to provide better than adequate (expected) service. 3 stars is they did what the goal was with little to no fuss or foul. 2 stars there were some issues but not a horrible experience. 1 star is rarely given as I do not want to discredit a business for 1 initial instance. I would only give 1 star if I continually receive bad service and have lots of frustration that is not met with sincerity or resolution. I HIGHLY recommend Brittany as a doula! I had hired another doula for my second son's birth and Brittany was my doula's backup person to allow for breaks/etc. At my birth, it was the first time I had met Brittany. At first, I was uneasy because you want your doula there and although I was okay to have my doula switch with her backup - I was at my most vulnerable state. But the thing is, when you meet Brittany - she is the most caring, supportive, loving, kind, and respectful person. I know why my doula chose her to be her backup and I am thankful she was there at my birth. She's just as amazing as my doula. I instantly felt a connection, felt loved and supported and I couldn't imagine my birth with her or my other doula. I was so thankful to have both doulas present during my births. She made it extra special for being there by my side, even though we just met at the hospital. I LOVE Brittany and all of the support she gave me and my doula. Having her by your side is the best decision you can make for you and your baby. She's incredibly intelligent, knowledgable in all things maternal care and she is the absolute sweetest. you will not be disappointed in choosing her. From the bottom of my heart, I am so thankful my doula introduced me to Brittany because she's part of my and my son's story and I will forever be thankful and remember her for being by my side.

Words cannot describe how truly grateful my husband and I were to have Brittany assist us in the…read moredelivery of our baby girl. This was my first child and Brittany supported all of us before, during labor and months after our delivery. To begin with she took the time to truly get to know my husband and I (and even our shy dog). She never made us feel rushed during our appointments and was constantly available to answer questions and concerns. During labor (30 hours) Brittany made the experience truly enjoyable. She gave my husband the guidance and confidence to assist me through labor as a team. Brittany also helped dramatically with pain relief through massage and relaxation techniques. She helped us to make informed decisions throughout what could have seemed like a somewhat complicated labor. Because of Brittany my husband and I worked through labor together and felt very happy with our decisions. Brittany also took some incredible photos during labor that I will cherish forever. After birth she has continued to be a pillar of support for our new family. She continues to check in on me and makes sure that I have everything that I need to be a happy, healthy mama. Moving forward she will be at all of our births, I cannot imagine delivering a baby without her.

Amy is literally an angel. I am so happy and lucky that Amy was my doula. By working with her to…read moreachieve my vbac, I could tell that she is not your average doula. She is a very experienced and knowledgeable doula. On top of that, she is a very caring individual!! This is a rarity in any field! I can probably talk for an hour straight about how good Amy is. I'm just so grateful that there is someone like her exists in the Northern Virginia area. My doctors told me that I would automatically get another c section because of my pelvic opening and told me I have less than 1% chance that I can give birth vaginally and therefore, they said it would be a mistake to even think about VBAC but guess what! the second baby was bigger than the first, and Amy helped me achieve vaginally birth with very minimal tear! When so many doctors refused to do vbac, she was the only one who believed that I could do it, and with her help, I was able to do it!! She is literally a godsend! I can't thank you enough, Amy, for being there for me. You made a core memory for me when you helped me relieve some of my pains during my intense hours with warm hugs and hip squeezes. Seriously, thank you so so much, Amy! Because of you, I'm living a life without trauma, and actually, with your help, it also healed my scars from my previous birth experience as well. May God bless you and your family. Thanks again!!

Amy is AMAZING. After having to change my want for a natural birth with my first child due to…read morepreeclampsia, I found Amy far too late during my second pregnancy, but she was still able to provide me with the support, wisdom, encouragement, and care to have my second naturally. Amy's honesty with her experiences in the DC/NOVA area were invaluable. Amy is also a certified Hypnodoula which allowed me to fully embrace and apply Hypnobabies for my birthing time, which worked better than I could have imagined! I had the birth of my dreams and will always be grateful for her support when I reflect back on the experience!

The owner was very responsive in the beginning- almost too annoyingly responsive, and charged me…read more$650 to find a nanny and I never heard anything back after I paid it. I reached out 2 weeks later via email and it took Michelle 1 week to respond and she promised a candidate by that weekend. Another 2 weeks went by, never received a candidate or an update, so i emailed her again. Again, she promised another candidate by that weekend. Another month went by (so now this is two months without any candidates), i reached out again and no response. It has now been 4 months since i paid the $650 fee and she has not responded to any of my emails or returned any phone calls/messages. Would not recommend this company as it was clearly a scam. Also- they only take payment via Zelle, which should have been my first red flag.

Needed a one time nanny. I communicated with Michelle via email and telephone over a few days, who…read morewas able to answer all of my questions. The nanny i was placed with was excellent. Overall, pleased with service provided.

NIKKI IS AMAZING!!!…read more We started sleep shaping with our daughter with Nikki's guidance and coaching. Nikki walked us through detailed timelines and things we need to do in order to help our daughter to get better sleep at night. Nikki is VERY detail oriented, and when our daughter turned 6 months, Nikki helped us sleep train her to sleep in her OWN CRIB! And in turn, baby is sleeping better, well rested. And my husband and I are also SLEEPING MORE, since baby has learned to sleep by herself and sleep through the night. I honestly don't know what we would do without Nikki's coaching through our sleep journey with our daughter. One thing i love about Nikki is that she is VERY open to WORKING with the family's schedule, and she was HONEST, and made it clear that sleep coaching and training is not THE SAME for everyone as every baby is different. Nikki educated us, worked with our schedule, listened to what we were open to doing and listened to what we DID NOT want to do (i.e - the cry it out method/extinction method of sleep training.). I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND NIKKI! We love you Nikki! And we will be forever grateful for you!

Nikki is hands-down exceptional! I am so happy that we found her while looking for postpartum…read moresupport. When I had my baby during the summer of 2020 at the height of the pandemic with a toddler at home, I knew we would need extra support. We were focused on lactation support and light household support such as help with the kitchen, laundry and light meal prep.  Nikki and I got along right away, and not only did she provide the hands-on help we needed, but she also played a big role in helping with my postpartum anxiety with her gentle encouragement and lactation expertise. She was very transparent about her activities and safety precautions during the pandemic so I was ensured that she was safe to have over in the house, and she always wore a mask. She gave me all kinds of insight to helpful sleep tips for both the baby and toddler (she's also a professional sleep consultant/specialist!), feeding tips for both baby and toddler, and pumping and nursing tips for me. I trusted her completely with my baby and in the house, and she was excellent at time management. I would give her a list of things to do for the day, and she'd get through them all, while doing additional things around the house too that I didn't even realize needed to get done. Nikki's also a professional organizer, and she tackled piles of messes that have been sitting around for months!! She even single-handedly helped to change the layout of our guest room to make a telework space for me while also watching the baby. She also helped get both the nursery and my toddler's room organized and in shape which was causing me a lot of stress. Any parent knows how much work it is keeping on top of transitioning the kids clothes, shoes and toys as they grow, and she came up with storage solutions and systems that made the transitions easy. When Nikki traveled during the holidays, she connected me with another doula to cover for the couple of weeks she was gone, who I really liked too. Overall, Nikki was fabulous and her company and friendship was amazing during those foggy first couple of months. The postpartum journey is a sacred time and I appreciated Nikki being there for me and her flexibility along the way to what my family needed. I looked forward to Nikki's visits so much. I highly recommend reaching out to Nikki for any support you may need whether you're a new parent or have a couple of kiddos already. I plan on keeping in touch with her for sure!

We cannot say enough wonderful things about DCBD. This was my/our first pregnancy, and we truly…read morefelt supported every step of the way by their team. Especially in those last 1-2 months, we leaned so heavily on the birth doulas and they responded to all of our questions and concerns immediately. We learned the most about how to care for our daughter and what was happening in my body from DCBD. I went into labor and the birth experience feeling ready and excited, and that's because of the experience, information, and kindness that were shared with us ahead of time. The birth - nearly 4 months later, and we are still talking about Camille! We are going to remember her forever - she was such a wonderful presence during my entire labor and after, and we don't know what we would have done without her. She made sure my husband and I knew what was happening, she advocated for us, she ensured I was comfortable (well, as comfortable as you can be in labor), and she really rooted for us the whole time. I felt safe because she was with us. And Ella - we were shocked that someone who didn't *have* to be there, stayed for the entire labor, participated, and stayed after when we were transferred to the postpartum room! She will be (or already is) a phenomenal birth doula. We felt so lucky to have Camille and Ella. Post birth - Lolonyo came to our house the very first night we were back from the hospital, and what a gift she is. She taught us how to soothe a baby, how to change a diaper (I'm sure they showed us in the hospital... but I could not remember haha). We had her for several nights during those first 2 months and we were so, so grateful to wake up the next morning refreshed, rested, and with the knowledge that our daughter had been held in loving arms all night long. She was never judgmental and was always supportive as we navigated breastfeeding, safe cosleeping, and everything else. We also had Joanna for several daytime visits. She always made sure to check in on my mental and physical health, which was so appreciated, and she was so helpful. We always felt like we were able to reset a bit after her visits, because she'd leave behind clean bottles and pump parts and a rested (and sometimes still sleeping) baby, and we would have had time to ourselves to shower and get a little more organized. She made our chaotic lives feel lighter, and we loved her for that. As a DCBD member you'll also have the opportunity to be part of a postpartum circle of other parents going through what you did. Shaleen and Elizabeth gave us space to talk through birth and everything that comes after, while feeling supported and safe. I'm still friends with some of the parents from my circle. In closing - DCBD is worth every single penny. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

Rebecca from DC Birth Doulas was absolutely incredible. From the moment we first connected, I…read moreimmediately felt comfortable with her and the entire team. She has such a warm, genuine presence that made it easy to ask questions and talk through everything honestly. She was always responsive and gave thoughtful, real answers that helped me feel informed and confident throughout the process. I was hoping for a VBAC, and with Rebecca's support we were able to have a successful one. She provided amazing support not only for me, but also for my husband. During labor she was calm, encouraging, and incredibly knowledgeable, helping us both feel grounded and supported every step of the way. Having Rebecca there made such a difference in our birth experience. I'm so grateful for her care and for the support of the entire DC Birth Doulas team. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a compassionate, knowledgeable, and truly supportive doula