Unfortunately, my experience with Sandra was quite the opposite of others here. There were several issues I had with her services and (lack of) professionalism. First, she last minute canceled our initial in person meeting with no apology or reason. She was also very late to our first FaceTime meeting. This really should've been a red flag to me of what was to come, but I ignored my instincts as she was pleasant and made lots of promises that were not fulfilled. She was supposed to start on a Sunday night and texted me the morning of to let me know she had a fever and wouldn't be showing up that night. She didn't offer a replacement despite her contract specifically saying she would. We were completely SOL on our newborn's first night home and I was recovering from a c-section with a toddler and my husband had to work early the next morning. It was a total nightmare. Based on my future experiences with her, I highly doubt she was even sick. She then went completely radio silent for the next day, leaving me frantic as I had already given her over 2k for the week she was supposed to start. I called and texted her numerous times and she finally replied many hours later saying she had an ear infection. She missed waking me up to pump a few times and I walked into the baby's room to see she was just scrolling on her phone. She also let us know last minute (the day before) that she would need to miss two nights the second week and wanted to make them up on nights we didn't need her. When we spoke up about this, she offered her friend to cover for her on the nights she would miss. We did not have the opportunity to meet this person beforehand and when we FaceTimed with her she looked like she had just rolled out of bed and we found out that she wasn't even a certified doula but we were expected to pay her the same amount we were paying Sandra. The other doula also was going to come an hour earlier and leave an hour earlier than we had agreed with Sandra. It was absolutely ridiculous. We were completely taken advantage of due to our circumstances. We did not feel comfortable with this person watching our newborn, so again, more nights with no coverage that we desperately needed and no apology from Sandra. In fact, she was incredulous that we we expressed disappointment in the situation and did not accept some random person to take care of our baby. She also refused to refund our money that we had prepaid her so we could find another doula that we could rely on. After the first week was done, she texted me several times on a Saturday immediately demanding full payment for the next week in advance, despite nothing being stated in the contract that the payment was due on a certain day. It was really off putting. She also wore a really strong lotion/perfume that caused a reaction on our newborn. We would smell it on the baby and in her nursery long after Sandra was gone. It's common sense that you shouldn't be wearing strong scents around newborns, especially as an experienced doula. She continued to wear the scent even after I told her my baby's pediatrician told us the baby is sensitive to scents and asked her to stop wearing it. One night she let my newborn baby sleep almost 6 hours straight without waking her up to feed even though my baby had not regained her birth weight and I specifically told her that the doctor said she still needed to be woken up every three hours to feed. Sandra did not do anything other than take care of the basic needs of the baby and wash bottle and pump parts. No extra touches and I definitely did not feel at all pampered by her, especially considering how much I was paying her hourly and all the promises she made to us before we signed the contract. It was actually the opposite. She acted like she was doing us a favor by just showing up. She didn't help me with my lactation issues or c-section recovery at all. Didn't even get me water in the middle of the night, let alone a snack or cook anything like she claimed she would in our interviews with her. All my friends who had postpartum doulas had wonderful experiences with the doulas who went above and beyond for them and this was not my experience with Sandra. She did the very bare minimum and didn't even do that efficiently. It was very obvious to me that she only cared about the money and I feel so guilty for trusting someone like her with my newborn. Overall, I was extremely dissatisfied with Sandra's services and would not recommend her as a postpartum doula. It really is a shame as I currently have several friends and family members who are pregnant and are in search of a good postpartum doula. If Sandra would have treated us fairly, she would have gotten tens of thousands of additional income from referrals from us. Update: Since Sandra decided to draft an AI response to my review, accusing me of lying, I have no choice but to post the receipts and let potential clients decide for themselves. read more

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Sandra is literally AMAZING. I cannot say enough good things about her. From the first night we got home from the hospital, Sandra was such a lifesaver. She immediately got to work: letting us know what we needed (or didn't need), helping us get him on a routine, and giving us the comfort of having someone we could trust taking care of our baby so we could let our minds relax and actually get some sleep! She was so knowledgeable and comforting, which was invaluable when we first got home from the hospital and felt totally lost, knowing nothing about how to care for a baby. Not only did she care for the baby, but she also checked in on me and made sure that I was feeling okay after the birth. I remember specifically on one of the first nights she spent with us, I was racing to clean the kitchen because there were bottles everywhere and I was embarrassed. Sandra came in and said "Melissa, go to sleep, I've got this" and she grabbed the bottles from me and when we came out in the morning, the entire kitchen was cleaned - it was just so sweet, it made me want to cry. She taught us so much and gave us the confidence we needed to feel like we could do this on our own. Her services were absolutely beyond worth it and I will definitely bring her back for our next child (eventually!). We would literally count down the days to when Sandra would be back again, it was just such a relief. She feels like part of our little family now and we are so sad to say goodbye to her, but I know that we need to let her go so that she can help many more families out there just like us. read more

Sandra provided excellent care for our baby for his first 8 weeks of life starting from the night we brought him home from the hospital. She is a wealth of knowledge with so much experience caring for newborns that it was easy to trust her as our night doula. Sandra also offered her care and concern to me as I healed from my C-section - she even showed me how to breathe out before standing up to help me manage my pain. She went above and beyond to make sure I was feeling OK and always asked me how I was doing. I had so much anxiety and so many questions about breastfeeding, milk storage, burping, and schedules. She was able to answer it all and truly set us up for success as new parents. She was so loving and sweet towards our baby - her passion and joy in her job really shows. We will always be grateful to Sandra for helping us survive the newborn phase and letting us all get some sleep. Thank you Doting Doulas! read more

Our family cannot say enough wonderful things about Sandra. She is an amazing doula and provided outstanding care for our newborn and for my wife. She helped get our daughter onto a schedule and was so reliable each and caring. Even though this wasn't our first child, Sandra still provided so much knowledge and reminders to us throughout her time with our family. We cannot recommend Sandra enough for postpartum care. read more

I've reviewed a lot of businesses on this site, but I can't think of a single service that has been more worth the money than the newborn care provided by Doting Doulas. Sandra was our night nurse for the first helpless months of our son Wade B.'s life, and she was an invaluable, calming presence in those intense months of parenting both a baby and a toddler. We had actually tried to hire Sandra when we had our first son in April 2020, but then March 2020 happened, and we went thirteen months without childcare outside our family bubble. We managed, but I'm glad we didn't know what we were missing. I'm also glad we only had the one kid then, because wow are two under three a whole lot of work. Sandra came to our house the day we got back from the hospital and worked twelve-hour shifts every night for the first two weeks. After that, we went to five nights a week and watched our own baby on the weekends, which was lovely, of course, but difficult and intense, and reinforced our gratitude for Sandra. There were nights when we were counting down to her arrival, and when she showed up a little bit early (which she usually did), we would really feel those extra minutes of relief. She was so great with Wade. She's worked with dozens of babies and just has the easy competence of someone who knows her way around a newborn and his needs. She soothed him and put him to sleep when he was fussy for any reason that wasn't hunger, and when he needed to eat, she brought him right to my bed. She also washed and sanitized every bottle, pumping part, etc. My husband got to sleep full nights as a dad of a newborn, and I only had to wake up to feed and pump, which was a lot, of course, but totally manageable. Wade's sleep also improved pretty rapidly as he grew bigger, and I do think Sandra was helpful there, too. I felt so much calmer and more assured when Sandra was around, both because of her assistance and because she gave me more confidence about my own parenting. She also helped immeasurably when I was figuring out how to feed the baby. My firstborn was formula-fed, and I don't buy into the whole Leche League dogma, but I wanted to see if breastfeeding would work this time around, mostly because it seemed kind of nice. Sandra helped guide us on the if, how, and when of supplementing, pumping, and all that other shit, and she gave me the support I needed to breastfeed successfully. Our baby is over six months old now and sleeps almost entirely through the night, with one middle-of-the-night/early morning feeding that's as much for our sanity as it is for him. I honestly still miss Sandra, but we're fine without nighttime help now, thanks in part to her support during those early months. I refer her to every pregnant friend now and have already gotten her one more client. Look, I know it's expensive to hire a night nurse, but you know what else is expensive? Marriage counseling and divorce. If you're having a baby and want to save yourself some serious grief, I strongly recommend reaching out to Sandra and Doting Doulas. read more

Sandra was wonderful with our little boy when he first came home. She is knowledgeable and trustworthy. We absolutely recommend her.

I'm so glad that i used Doting Doulas's placenta encapsulation service! I have heard about placenta consumption from a lot of ppl but the idea of eating something from my own body just felt gross...then i learned about the method of processing placenta in capsule form and all the benefits of consuming placenta postpartum. i did a lot of research and finally found a company i trusted. The owners from Doting Doulas took the time to explain the process and planned out the pick up ~ everything was super professional and smooth. My baby was born on 4/20~ i started consumping the capsules as per their instruction ~ now the baby is 5 weeks and im fully recovered. Good as new, and better. Feeling and looking like a million dollars. And plenty of milk supplies for my babe. read more

I can't say enough about Sandra Rivas -- the most amazing baby nurse. Sandra came the day we brought our baby home and stayed for 5 months! She helped me with Breast feeding and our older daughter loved her!! She has the best heart and touch and is truly a baby whisperer. She's simply the best! read more