Cat's birthing class was amazing prep for my husband and I. We love information and having full…read moreunderstanding of what is going on, so feeling very ready to take on any birthing scenario in the hospital was important to us, as we live in a large metropolitan area. This class was informative and Cat is super enthusiastic, engaging, and down to earth, so it was very relatable and easy to take in the very detailed info. Information is all evidence based and designed to be able to participate fully in your own birthing care, advocate for yourself, and have full understanding of the birthing process. My hospital birth ended up needing many medically necessary interventions, and this class empowered us to make confident and fearless decisions for ourselves. Because of what we already knew from this class, we felt very comfortable with our care team and the information exchanges surrounding the events. Without this class, this experience may have been scary and traumatic, but the education we received in preparation made it feel very empowering and seamless. I 100% recommend this class to everyone interested in becoming well educated before their birthing experience.

My wife and I took Cat's EBB class and it was amazing! We learned a ton and now feel so empowered…read moreheading into our baby's birth. Cat was energizing, engaging, and very informative. We had many friends who took other birth classes with other instructors and none seem to have walked away feeling as calm and prepared as we did after our course with Cat.

I was referred to Nicole from a highly trusted doula, who noted Nicole's expertise in movement and…read moreVBAC. On paper Nicole seemed like a perfect match for my birth goals. After our first intro conversation, I felt confident that Nicole was the right fit to help me prepare for my second birth. Despite the pandemic creating distance, it was easy to communicate with Nicole and regularly connect about any questions, concerns and preparations. My husband and I had zoom sessions with her leading up to the final weeks of pregnancy. She introduced me to Hypnobabies and was an incredibly positive and informative resource as I focused on HB preparation. She answered all questions with evidence based responses and really emphasized the importance of me listening to my own body. I appreciated the birthing rehearsal that we did in my home where she provided us with various strategies which all fit into the HB model. She also generously loaned several materials to practice and use in those final weeks. My husband and I both felt confident about ways to focus on birthing timing. Of note, Nicole has an incredibly soft, mellow yet supportive and informative approach which really promotes relaxation and calm. When the time came, Nicole was just as calming over the phone in the middle of the night and helped guide us in making decisions based on my ability to listen to my body. Due to COVID precautions, she wasn't allowed into our room until my COVID test returned negative and throughout the (more than 2 hour!) wait - she provided perfect support to my husband via text so that he could help me advocate for my preferences to all medical staff. When she was finally allowed in, she quickly adjusted lighting and noise in the room and effectively worked with the medical staff so that she, my husband and I could focus on my birthing time. Her suggestions of movement and positioning were invaluable. She held space for concerns while redirecting my attention to my strength and abilities. She celebrated the birth of my daughter with us and reinforced the truly amazing experience pregnancy, birthing time and birth was! I know that working with Nicole helped me achieve my pregnancy and birthing goals and I highly recommend working with her. It's amazing how she can have such an incredibly powerful impact without taking up much space in the room. I am forever grateful to Nicole!!

Nicole was my postpartum doula for 5 nights after the birth of my first child. She was a tremendous…read moresupport to me, especially in the middle of the night a few nights when I was extremely frustrated with breastfeeding and working through latch issues.  Even though she's not a lactation consultant, Nicole is very knowledgeable in this area and she was was very reassuring, comforting me with technique suggestions and emotional support. My son was also congested one night and was too fussy to sleep laying down, so she held him to sleep so that I could also sleep at the same time - what a gift, especially in those first few nights home from the hospital! Working with Northern Star Doula was well worth every penny. I highly recommend Nicole for postpartum support.

I would give Lee the highest recommendation as a post-partum Doula as she was extremely knowledge…read more My husband and I hired her after the birth of our first child to provide support and guidance on building routines. With her guidance, our daughter was sleeping independently in her crib from 7pm until 4 or 5am about 4-6 weeks after birth and from 7am-7pm by 12 weeks. We accomplished this without any sleep training with Lee's help. The best part about Lee is that she adapts her guidance to the needs of each family and doesn't have a one size fits all approach. She was easily accessible for any follow up questions and is amazing with babies! Lee was a phenomenal resource for our family during our transition into parenthood. I can't recommend her enough. The money spent hiring her was far more valuable than anything else we purchased for our daughter!

We worked with Doulas of Philadelphia for both post-partum and sleep training. Lee and everyone we…read moreinteracted with were amazing and we would highly recommend them for both. A few details: Post-partum: We worked with Lee to craft a personalized post-partum support schedule that helped us transition to being new parents. Our primary doulas were Kate and Beth, both of whom were amazing. They were generally with us 4 nights per week from 9pm-7am. In addition to caring for our baby overnight so we could get some much needed rest, they were a source of knowledge and comfort. We felt our baby was very safe and secure with them and trusted them 100%. We also had a few day time visit where we could ask questions, try out new things like baby wearing, and get out of the house. Sleep training: We decided to sleep train our baby at about 4.5 months. Lee came to our house and stayed for 3 days straight. During that time she coached us (most important part of sleep training is training the parents that everything will be OK!), monitored the baby at night so we could rest, took extensive notes, and left us with a detailed plan of action. We were amazed at house much progress our baby made in those 3 days. He was literally sleeping through the night and falling asleep/putting himself back to sleep with minimal crying. Lee provided a month of ongoing phone, email and text support, where we could ask questions and plan for things like sleeping elsewhere, car rides, disruptions to our schedule, etc. We give Doulas of Philadelphia our strongest endorsement. If you are looking for highly experienced, professional, loving, and kind people to help you transition into parenthood or when you are expanding your family, definitely consider their services.

I wish I could rate Erin Kershaw 10 stars! I have been a client of Erin's for 4 births now and I…read morecan say that her quality of care, professionalism and knowledge is excellent! Erin has always been encouraging and supportive as we have had 4 home births with her as well as a few miscarriages. She has always taken the time to answer questions, reassure me throughout the pregnancies (this most recent birth I was 46 years old and nervous about my age). I would highly recommend Erin to anyone desiring a highly educated, skilled and caring midwife to deliver their baby. Erin is the best! -Chrissie Lockman

I had a traumatic time working with Erin in 2021. It was my first pregnancy and things were going…read morewell at first. In the second trimester, she started mentioning that my blood pressure was elevated. I looked up standards online and it was not yet elevated, so this seemed more precautionary at this point. She kept mentioning that every single appointment. I started to feel extremely anxious going into her office. I was terrified of being risked out and I felt very helpless because I had already paid the majority of the agreed upon payment, so I couldn't transfer to someone else. Around 30 weeks is when things took a turn for the worse. I was panicking about appointments at this point, which of course would give an elevated reading. However, it was when she checked my fundal height and implied that I have gestational diabetes, without doing any testing, that really drew the line. At that point, the only testing I've had was A1C at the beginning and it was borderline pre-diabetes, so based off of that and her checking fundal height, she was asking for a growth scan with no other testing. I was not offered to check my sugars with a glucose monitor, no fasting sugar test, no 1 or 3 hour test, nothing, but her hunch. This also happened at the appointment after I made my final payment to her. At this point I stopped going to her because the anxiety I had was causing me too much stress. Feeling like you will be risked every single appointment based off of hunches made me feel so helpless. She never offered for me to check my blood pressure at home. She never offered anything except what I suspect is discrimination towards my weight. She assumed my higher weight meant health issues, and I guess it was too much liability for her. But, she had no problem keeping everything I paid her. I've worked with other midwives since and they know about this situation and to this day I am measuring BP at home because doing it in office brings up a lot of this for me anxious. That's why I called this experience traumatic, it truly was for me. To make things even worse, when I was giving birth at the hospital, she transferred records and in her records had but that I have hypertension and gestational diabetes, which led to extra testing to my baby. The hospital was shocked by both of those records because my BP was perfect during birth and my and my babies sugars were perfect as well. They wondered after the fact why it even said that. So not only did she risk me out for refusing a growth scan, she then sent false records based off of her hunches to a medical facility. The hypertension part I can understand bc of the readings in office (they never actually reached 140, which is the diagnosis for hypertension), but to say I have GD with zero testing to a hospital, as a "natural" midwife, is just beyond anything imaginable. I've gone on to have a successful home birth with wonderful midwives who actually cared about me and my wellbeing. They never assumed anything about my weight, they gave me tons of options for testing to make sure we have a full picture of my health. They never made me feel like I would get risked out. If anything was every wrong, we talked about it extensively, including what to do to help the situation (iron). If you look at Erin's website, you will find zero photos of anyone who is at a higher weight. She did not have to agree to work with me. I chose her because she claimed to be inclusive. This was a lie that cost me emotionally, financially and ruined my first birth being a home birth. I'm happy to provide proof of working together through email correspondence and receipts.

During my pregnancy, Sha-Tee is helping me through the hardest parts of my birth. Sha-Tee is…read moreprofessional, knowledgeable, dedicated, compassionate, always available incredibly calm, and gentle and so very caring. she is providing resource. she is emotionally support.

From the owner: Supportive Essence is a Doula Care Service for birthing pregnant mothers and post partum care. A…read moreDoula provides emotional support, resources and education to the pregnant mother and her family. Linking the family to resources not known to the family that are accessible to them in their community; in order to create an unmedicated and an empowered birthing outcome for mother and child. I connect with the expectant mother and her partner/family in person or via phone. I accompany her to prenatal visits, create what she would like to be her planned birth and establish postpartum care thereafter.

I have used Om Mamas for both of my births. With my first we did everything we could to have a…read morenatural delivery but my son was large, 42 weeks, and determined to stay put despite a two day induction. While I was initially devastated at the thought of a C-section Chelsea was there the whole time, helping me ask the right questions of my providers and allowing me to feel heard and part of the decision. When my baby's heartrate started dropping and he was born with severe torticollis it was clear that he was in a very bad position and the surgery prevented what could have been a very serious outcome. With my second I was determined to have a VBAC, but any C-section mama will tell you, this can be an uphill fight when it comes to your provider. Chelsea and Lauren were available to talk after every appointment. I could vent, and ask questions, and figure out exactly how to put myself in the best possible position to have a vaginal delivery. I'm so pleased that I was able to have a VBAC this past April with my second son and I know that a huge part of it came down to the support of my doulas! These women are so dedicated, staying with you for hours and hours, sitting with you on the floor, holding your hand, wiping your sweat, and squeezing your hips. This is the type of support all birth moms deserve!

Great experience working with Elizabeth for her natural birthing class. Everything was explained…read morewell and gave great insight into the process and expectations of having a natural unmedicated birth.

Finding suitable midwifery isn't an easy task and we quickly learned this while searching for…read moresomeone locally that met our needs. While we won't bore you with those details, we'll just say Asasiya more than exceeded our expectations! In our case (nearly 40yrs old; considered a "geriatric high-risk pregnancy") we had the luxury of truly comparing the care of traditional practices (follow-ups with an OBGYN) with Asasiya at Inner Circle Midwifery. Asasiya's clearly surpassed them by leaps and bounds! The contrast between the two were completely "night and day". Meetings with Asasiya were personable, relatable and educational. You can tell she cared. She listened and acknowledged our wants and needs. She is very attentive and calculated in her approach but not at all stuffy. She is extremely relaxed and down to earth but overall, a complete professional! Office visits, for us, lasted nearly an hour minimum and we appreciated every minute of it. Office visits at the OBGYN were rushed and we felt like just another number. On the other hand, Asasiya was interested in getting to know us! She studied our vibe! In fact, our first consult was a meeting to not only learn if she was right for us but for her to deduct if we were the kind of clients she wanted to take on. It was tactfully done. We appreciated her honesty; letting us know that she had to ensure we were right for her. At that point we knew it wasn't about the money! Midwifery more than an job for Asasiya. She takes it very seriously. During our 6-month journey she was in constant seminars to learn more about midwifery as things are constantly being updated in that field. We also learned she doesn't overbook herself! She's able to provide and almost guarantee the proper individualized care you'd need on your due date. With that said, she was always on time and adhered to the plans and schedules we agreed upon. The one time she was "late"; she wasn't lol. She was attending to the needs of a mother who called her frantically. At the time we were walking in as she was running out. In passing she said, "I have to help a mother who needs me! Have a seat, I'll be right back!" Seeing her do this was comforting because if we were in that same position we trusted she would come running for us too. In the interim, she called to ensure we were okay and had someone from her team stop by to keep us company (who arrived in 10 mins) which just so happened to later become our Doula. It's safe to say Asasiya has a huge network of resources. Doulas, Photographers and even support groups who also house birthing classes and support groups if needed. She suggests a lot for you but none of it is forced upon you. She asks nothing of you that isn't beneficial to the baby and parents. She believes the well-being of the baby has everything to do with the ones caring for the baby. She suggested some amazing tips that really helped us along on our journey. On our day of birth, we called her at 3:30AM and she answered on the second ring. Before we knew it she was at our front door with an oxygen tank, blood pressure cuff and all the birthing necessities on hand. Prior to that, for months, we'd meet weekly and by this time, she and her team had become "family". They already knew our home and immediately sprang into action. Everything was perfect! Having a college student and comparing this 2019 birth to the one in 2000, we only wished we were open to midwifery as an option (only problem is we would've needed Asasiya lol). We truly believe it was her who made ALL the difference. During birthing class, we learned it's unnatural to lie on you back to give birth. That position contributes to a lot of the pain and hospitals demand you lay down and not eat/drink. Their methods are contradictory to natural child birth. They have more restrictions than being at home would ever have. Imagine being home in the vibe you create; eating what you want, walking if you need to, enjoy YOUR OWN BED (watching a little "Martin" lol) and comforted knowing your baby isn't taken out of your sight. Women's bodies naturally tell you how to position yourself. It knows what's most comfortable, and it will literally contract to allow your baby to birth itself. We followed everything we learned, and it made birthing a breeze. Labor was 2hrs for us! It began with being mentally right, proper eating, managing blood pressures and then practicing the proper techniques to get the child in place for their big arrival. All the suggested birthing necessities were gathered and ready to go and so were we! If God allows, we would do this all over again, the same exact way! Asasiya is now our family, our friend and midwife - FOR LIFE! Like we said, Asasiya and her team MORE THAN EXCEEDED our expectations! We 100% recommend her services.

From the owner: Inner Circle is proud to be the first and only community-based midwifery practice in Greater…read morePhiladelphia to have its own in-house network of trusted doulas! As labor coaches, doulas help to ensure that you have the comfort and support that you need to deal with the intensity of the birthing process. There are many wonderful doulas in our area but we have helped narrow down your options by choosing a few that we find to be among the most qualified. We deeply value the role and skills that doulas bring to the birth team, therefore we have integrated this service into our practice as a measure of quality care and convenience.

Jennifer Hendrickson Doula Services was the one low point in my daughter's pregnancy. If it were…read morepossible to give no stars in order to give a review, that is what I would give her. The arrangements was that the doula would come to the house while my daughter was in labor. When she was far enough along, the midwife would be called, and we would all meet up together at the hospital. Jennifer came to my daughter's house while she was in labor, but she spent most of the time that she was there looking at Facebook. She did not provide any of the services that she had promised such as massages or heat treatments. Despite the fact that my daughter was in great distress, she never offered to get anything or do anything to help my daughter in any way, although she was very happy to have cups of tea and banana bread herself. Worst of all, she misdiagnosed the stage of labor that my daughter was in. She tried to get things going well before she should have, and had the midwife come to the house when it was way too soon. The midwife was so displeased that she indicated she would prefer NOT to have Jennifer accompany us to the hospital (and having a doula had been the midwife's idea!). By the time we finally arrived at the hospital, my daughter was exhausted and completely worn out. As a result, the delivery was adversely impacted by the involvement of Jennifer. After we informed Jennifer about her incorrect diagnosis of my daughter's state of labor, she became quite hostile and refused to provide any post partum services at all once my daughter was home. We had such wonderful care by all the other providers my daughter had chosen, but Jennifer was a very dark mark on the whole experience. I would not want any other pregnant woman to have this special moment marred by someone who does not seem to know what she is doing or give what she promises.

From the owner: Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding Support, and Placenta…read moreEncapsulation