I cannot express how grateful we are to have had Aubrey as our doula during my wife's pregnancy and…read morebirth experience! As a first-time moms, we were filled with excitement but also a fair amount of anxiety about what to expect. Being a person of color and in a same sex marriage the healthcare system hasn't always been kind to me unfortunately. We wanted someone there as an advocate for us. We interviewed 3 doulas, Aubrey being one of them and it truly was a no brainer. From our very first meeting, Aubrey made us feel completely at ease. Her warmth, kindness, and incredible knowledge truly set her apart. Not to mention she has a great personality, that's important because you can potentially spend a really long time with this person during the birth . Aubrey was always available to answer our questions, no matter how small they seemed. She provided us with invaluable resources and information that empowered us to make informed decisions about our birth plan, we actually felt prepared. My wife's birth was a 4 day failed induction and Aubrey guided us the whole way through. Explaining all the procedures before it happened. On the 4th day we had to make a decision about a C-section and I think we would have been even more of a nervous wreck without her knowledge. She was always there to give us unbiased information so we can choose what we felt was best for us. We felt like we had a trusted friend our side. All this to say Looma is amazing, we also did the encapsulated placenta through them and since opening up their studio I am currently taking my daughter who is 1.5 years old now to their Spanish lullabies class with Xóchitl who is amazing! I'm looking forward to attending their Mama meetups and other classes they host.

The space is beautiful and welcoming! I am so excited to have this in our Long Beach community!read more

I think what surprised me the most about doing a coaching session with Mary is how quickly she gets…read moredown to business. I'm used to counseling sessions where you have to go for a few sessions before some help starts, and so it just feels exhausting to even get started with someone new. But Mary is Very intuitive. She got right to the heart of the matter, very quickly, and gave me some really practical advice. And that advice Actually Worked. I'm still in awe as she has no context on my life or my "spirited" kid. If you're having any challenges with your kids, I totally recommend setting up an initial session with Mary to see if you like her style. I'm really thankful for her advice

I started coaching with Mary at my wits end. Not knowing how to handle myself towards my children…read more I wasn't myself anymore and my children were very much aware of that. Fast forward to today and I am a calm mother. I have 3 children. My daughter going into her tween phase and there's a parenting style for that stage which I had no clue about. I also have two rowdy preschool boys. They love to climb, jump, build, destroy, wrestle. That is something I had to learn to be comfortable with as long as it wasn't dangerous and learn there are safe ways for boys to have their time in their way. Mary is amazing! She has guided and open up so much to me to be the parent I want to be.

This is a great place if you're interested in becoming a resource/foster parent. I took my PS-MAPP…read moreclasses here and also classes to renew my license. The people I've met during the classes were real friendly and helpful. They offer classes during the day, evenings, and weekends. The classes are usually very small. Please call ahead and let them know what class you'll be attending so that the class won't be cancelled for lack of enrollment.

I've attended Cassie's Baby Care 101 class, her CPR class, and I used her as my post partum doula…read morefor the first month of my twins' lives. First, her classes are awesome - straightforward and so informational. Cassie has a ton of experience and she shares her wealth of knowledge in such a clear and concise way. But more importantly, she was a voice of calm as she was our night doula 3x a week for the first month of my twins' lives. The first week, she came during the day just to help me get settled. I think a core memory for me will be waking up (4 days PP) after the longest nap of my life to Cassie serving me my lactation tea and reminding me to pump. For weeks 2-4, she came 3 nights a week and took care of all of the night feedings. Not only did she take AMAZING care of the babies, she was always there to support me and my husband. She had wonderful advice for everything from which probiotic to use, to which bottles work best for our babies. I truly cannot recommend Cassie enough. She helped us start our parenthood journey off strong. By the time she had to move on to her next client, my husband and I felt well equipped to take on every night on our own.

I can't say enough good things about Cassie!! My daughter arrived 6 weeks early and Cassie was…read moregreat at recommending swaddles and preemie diapers and all the things I needed for her to come home early. Although she couldn't be there our first night home, she made sure we had support from her Mom who also is a postpartum doula. She was able to help us until Cassie could start with us at our scheduled time. My daughter also had some tummy issues that we weren't sure about and Cassie recommended we bring in a diaper to get it tested with our pediatrician and she ended up being diagnosed with a dairy allergy. We would have never known to do that if it weren't for her. She is so sweet and makes you feel so comfortable as you navigate this next stage of life!

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!

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.

Shared Science is a nonprofit that supports Momentum Robotics Team. Momentum is a FRC robotics…read morecompetition team based at Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science.

This is our second year participating in a Shared Science afterschool program. The engineering with…read morelegos and robotics is challenging and fun for my children (ages 7 and 9). The program is well staffed with knowledgeable volunteers- the curriculum is creative and challenging.