I decided to hire a birth doula because I knew I was going to need the emotional and physical…read moresupport for an unmedicated labor/birth (I can imagine having a doula even medicated is just as important with first baby). I labored for 18 hours and Francesca was a huge support from the moment I started to feel my contractions. She really listened to my needs, was hands on, and so helpful the entire time. Looking back I wish I even hired her for the postpartum care. I love Francesca. Thank you for doing what you do to support us mamas. You are amazing!

My very first prenatal yoga class I was 4 months and I got lucky! I met Francesca and immediately…read morefelt I'd met a genuine spirit. Not only were her prenatal classes amazing but I find out she's a doula I attended a few of Francesca's classes but sadly my schedule changed and there was a conflict of time. So I stoped attending and wouldn't you know Francesca reached out to me. Asked me how I was doing and that she missed seeing me in class. I can't tell you how special that made me feel. So I tried my best to make it to her classes .... But then in walks Covid with all its stay at home quarantine SAS! At this point I'm 7 months. And I now feel my pregnancy plan to stay active is going down the drain. But wait... there's a rainbow at the end of this freak show. Francesca to the rescue ... she starts offering online prenatal classes and I'm so happy I cry. *all those hormones* talk about hot mess. I now attend her classes just about every day AND I ask her to be my Doula She and her classes helped me get through a lot of anxiety. Being pregnant and so close to giving birth during a pandemic..... it got pretty dark there for a min. But Francesca is very informative and has this calmness about her.... She's all the good things you need/ want from a prenatal yoga teacher/ doula While she could not be with me in the delivery room she was with me through phone and text guiding me through. My husband and I couldn't have been more grateful. So in conclusion Francesca is a Unicorn! And I love her... but you'll find that out once you take her classes or have her as your doula

The Mommy Center has been such a wonderful experience for both me and my daughter. Michelle and her…read moreteam have created such a fun, welcoming, and judgment-free space where moms and their little ones can connect, play, and feel supported. I've taken two of their mommy-and-baby class series, and I loved both of them. Each series includes special touches like each week is a different topica mini photoshoot, a swim party, and so much more, which makes it absolutely worth every penny. Carmen, who helped lead the group, is amazing. She is incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and always makes me feel heard. She gives thoughtful advice and truly cares about the moms and babies she works with. You can tell she genuinely loves what she does. I've also attended several music classes with Michelle, and those have been some of my favorites. My daughter absolutely loves music time, and Michelle does such a great job keeping the kids engaged and entertained. We truly love The Mommy Center and are so grateful for everything they offer!!

I had such a great experience with my newborn here for the mommy and me session. It felt a lot more…read morepersonable compared to other centers that offered these kinds of classes. Prior to class, we had a group WhatsApp which made it so easy to communicate and get introduced to each other. I love that the center organized mommy outings for us, planned family picnics, as well as provided professional photography. I was never stressed out when I was at the center, knowing that there's a diaper station with plenty of diapers in many sizes, formula in case mamas forget to bring sustenance for baby, bottle warmers, and everything we need to feel comfortable. It felt above and beyond. I highly recommend trying one of several classes they offer! I'm excited to continue onto their 4-6 month old sessions and try out the baby music class.

So grateful that I found this amazing doula team and mama community!…read more Krista Jawin worked closely with my husband and I to prepare us for the birth of our first child. She has truly been the guiding light through our journey into parenthood. We had the amazing, magical, beautiful, empowering home birth that we visualized during our birth education sessions with Krista. We know we would not have had this experience if it were not for her guidance before, during and after the birth of our baby. Thank you Krista for the amazing selfless work you do for mamas, babies, and families!!!!

I love Maureen and the team at In One Breath Center! I'm so thankful that I was referred to…read moreMaureen: I was halfway through my first pregnancy and my yoga instructor encouraged me to become educated about labor, birth, and postpartum life. I am SO glad I received that encouragement and Maureen's name from her. I had interviewed a couple doulas who I found on Yelp, but my 3rd call was Maureen and I knew by the end of our first phone conversation that she was the one who would be my teammate and would be there to witness the birth of my first baby! We opted to do a hospital birth (although I loved the idea of a midwifery center or a home birth, my husband's desire was to have our son born in a hospital setting) and I knew that I wanted the wisdom and support of a birth doula to assist my husband and I in making the best decisions possible during the labor & delivery process. My goal was to have a natural birth and I knew that might be challenging in the hospital setting. As a side-note, I had previously thought birth doulas were mainly for people who had extra money laying around - but now I don't know why I had that idea because it's not true in the least bit! We made a point to save where we could so that we could spend some on a doula. Before "The Day" arrived, we met with Maureen in person. She asked great questions about our wishes, fears, uncertainties and she helped us to write a very simple birth plan (or 'birth preferences'- since most of the time things DON'T go exactly as you plan for with birth!). She was in contact with us often in the weeks leading up the my due date, especially because at 34 weeks I needed to go to the hospital Triage due to intense/frequent Braxton Hicks and we also found out that baby was breech and would need to turn - and soon! She and Krista gave me excellent advice that I wouldn't have otherwise received - little suggestions and tricks for taking care of myself at home leading up to my due date. We wanted to keep the baby in the womb until he was closer to (or at) 40 weeks and we were hopeful he would flip around, too! So, Maureen advised me to rest, calm my mind, listen to hypnobirthing mp3s, etc. We kept in touch regularly for the 3-4 weeks before my water broke at 37 weeks + 1 day - baby boy waited until he was considered full-term and then wouldn't wait a day longer! He was placed in my arms 37 hours later! For the actual labor & delivery she met us at Hoag while we were still trying to get labor going (unsuccessfully) and then she supported us as the nurses suggested Pitocin to get things going. PItocin wasn't in our "Plan", but with Maureen's support, my husband and I asked that we start the process very slow & steady... LONG story short, I was able to deliver the baby vaginally without any drugs or intervention with exception of the Pitocin. Thank God we had Maureen - she helped with massaging, bathroom trips, various labor positions, pep talks, and she really supported my husband. I think that's the biggest takeaway- my husband had the confidence to tell the hospital staff our desires (when needed) because Maureen was his teammate when I was out of my usual mind during the labor process. Maureen is sincere, hard-working, loving, and just an all-around JOY to be around. God knew what he was doing when he set us up together. It's been nearly 6 months since my son was born (another pregnancy isn't in our imminent future) and when the time is right I know I will be dialing Maureen as soon as we make plans to have Baby #2. I encourage anyone who read this long-winded review to connect with Maureen before making your final decision if a birth doula is right for you! As my husband has told several other of our expecting couple-friends: "Talk to Maureen (or any doula you're considering), it's the best money we chose to spend during this season!"

We were planning a cross country road trip with our toddler and for peace of mind I wanted to make…read moresure our car seat was installed correctly and there were no changes we had to make to it. We hired Amanda to come to our home and help us out. It was so convenient and she was amazing! She recommended some changes to make safety wise and showed us how to install them and let my husband and I each do it in our own cars so we felt comfortable, especially since I will be getting a new car soon and will have to learn to. She gave us some great tips and sent us a follow up email with a ton of resources and information. Overall I would highly recommend this service to make sure everything is correct with your car seats, car seat safety is so important and I feel so much better knowing my son is as safe as he can be.

AMAZING experience with Amanda. She helped us installed two different car seats in two different…read morecars. She is very knowledgeable, I learned a lot from installing the car seats to how to keep our baby safe in them, because it is not only about strapping the harness around your little one, it's about doing it right. Thank you Amanda.

We took Lia's virtual Bradley method class, and would highly recommend it for any expecting…read moreparents. First off, it can be hard to find time to take a birth class, and Lia chooses convenient times, with multiple options to choose from. It's a very comfortable classroom atmosphere where I felt good to ask any question, or add any comment. Lia keeps it fun and interesting, and is a great teacher. Lia is also available outside of class for questions, and she is super responsive. It shouldn't really matter if a doula has been pregnant herself.... But it was really helpful to hear about her first hand experiences and to know that she has gone through it all before. I just wish we in lived in LA so that we could have Lia as our Doula.

I cannot say enough good things about Lia and her natural birth classes. I did the 12 week in…read moreperson classes with my husband. I really wanted to know everything I possibly could and I was also looking for a little community as I was feeling very alone in those first weeks of pregnancy (and overwhelmed with what I didn't know). AND THESE CLASSES DELIVERED! My husband is also a knowledge seeker so when I told him these were the classes I wanted he was all in. We learned so much. We joke that he didn't just learn about the natural birth process he learned how to be my "daddy doula". We still enjoy talking to people about everything we learned and how to support each other and how to speak to your doctors or the hospital nurses. Even if you aren't considering a natural birth these classes should be taken by everyone expecting a baby. You learn about the body, you learn about the different stages of labor, how to prep your body and your mind. There is even a class on breastfeeding which was invaluable those first 3 days postpartum. Lia is also an amazing teacher. If I have another I would definitely also hire her as my doula. She is a person you want in your corner during birth.

I really like how informative the baby 101 class were, a lot of info but they also include…read moreeverything in the email for you to go back and read afterwards. I kinda wish that the price for the class was a bit cheaper.

We love The Mommy Center! From pregnancy to postpartum they have been there to help our family in…read moreeach phase. The instructors have been so kind and as a new mom I have been able to meet and bond with other mommies experiences the same things. Many of the mom's from my Mommy and Me group now meet up outside of those sessions to walk and grab coffee or lunch and just support one another through the varying motherhood ups and downs. So grateful to be apart of this center, it is an integral part of my journey!

I absolutely love Sherry! She has the best down to earth educated advice for any mama! I could not…read morebe happier with my babies Baltic amber teething necklace from her shop! A visit to her shop is a must for any mama! Thank you again sherry! You truly are a genuine person!

I was so blessed to have found Sherry to be my doula! It was definitely a God-send! My son was born…read moreNov 2015 and I couldn't have done it without sherry by my side. Her support and service were outstanding. She was not only there for me but for my husband and baby as well, to guide us all through the process (before, during, and after). She met with us before hand and was very thorough, comforting, and encouraging. We felt so prepared from all the advice and expert insight. She provided us with material and even demonstrated labor techniques during prenatal visits. Her presence during my labor and delivery kept me calm and focused (she was even hands on when the nurse solicited help- thank you soooo much Sherry!!!). And to this day I still apply the advice, tips, and tricks she gave during our postpartum visits (best diaper rash ointment!). If you're looking for a doula, your search stops here. Sherry is simply the best!

You give birth once and unfortunately I had a very bad experience with Lorraine. I would not…read morerecommend it to anyone. She definitely a good marketing person of herself and she did not keep that up during the birth for me. Please think twice before you hire her. I did hire her because she has experience but sometimes it's about the excitement. She is done. She is doing it just for money and she is not even doing it right.

I always thought I would try a natural birth but I really started to do alot of research once I…read morefound out I was pregnant. So many times my friends were going to go "natural" but in the end they would give into the almighty needle. So I did a ton of research and I came to the conclusion that I was going to educate myself as much as I could and that I would hire a doula. My husband was very skeptical... His entire family laughed when I said I was going to try a natural birth. Their exact words "Why would you ever choose that?!!" So I dragged my reluctant husband to our 6 week Hypnobabies course. By the 3rd week he was fully on the natural train! He told me "I really think you can do this!" The class was great and I really loved how we bonded with the other couples!! Lorraine was our doula also and it was a great experience. From our interview to when our sweet baby girl came Lorraine was at our disposal. She kept me calm and focused during my birthing time/labor and at the end I faced some complications... Lorraine gave me the lowdown on what was going on and let me know that it was crunch time! Looking back it really was the perfect pep talk... I pushed the baby out in 3 contractions!! And believe it or not I was up and walking around 30 mins later! My husband looked more jacked up than I did, lol. I had such a positive experience with Lorraine on top of a great birthing experience. I would do everything all over again in a heartbeat!