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

Hiring Ashley, Michelle and Jackie was the best decision we made in planning for the birth of our…read morefirst baby. We had a lot of questions and issues toward the end of my pregnancy and having them available to us was truly invaluable. The team was constantly on hand to talk through whatever came up and to help us navigate challenging situations. Having Jackie at the hospital with us was amazing - she worked seamlessly with all the doctors and nurses at GW and lifted our spirits after several challenges during labor and delivery. We can't imagine going through this process without her. The services provided are well worth the price. The classes and workshops were extremely helpful and informative. They also helped to eliminate some of the fear of the unknown for first-time parents. I can't recommend Jackie, Ashley and Michelle enough - you will not regret working with them.

Words truly cannot do justice regarding how amazing Michele is and how much my husband and I would…read morerecommend her and Ashley's services. Run, don't walk, and hire her! :) Not only is Michele knowledgeable and talented regarding anything and everything prenatal, labor/delivery, and postpartum, but she brings the added layer of being approachable, honest, hilarious, and unbelievably encouraging. She is there to support the type of birth that *you* want - whatever that might be. She made me feel empowered, strong, and prepared. We found the three classes that they taught to be very helpful - giving us the right amount of information, as well as the right type of information. It also connected us to others in the community in similar stages of life. I always looked forward to attending. Additionally, during the labor and delivery, it seemed as if Michele almost served as a family member, doula, nurse, midwife, *and* doctor - she wore so many hats - all while making me feel extremely comfortable and supported. At every step along the way, and every decision point, I looked to her first for her insight and opinions. I also heard firsthand from both a nurse and midwife how much they appreciated having her as support to them as well. Choosing Michele was single-handedly the best decision I made during this journey and I cannot recommend her (and Ashley) enough. I will definitely use them again if/when we have another child.

After reaching out to several doulas and doula agencies in the area, we felt confident hiring Katie…read morebecause of her extensive knowledge, warm demeanor, and focus on education. We learned so much from Katie as first-time parents about the birth process, what to expect in the hospital, and feeding baby. As we got closer to our due date, it was so reassuring to be able to reach out to Katie about symptoms, and once labor began she was able to quickly advise us on going to the hospital and met us there. During labor, Katie was absolutely invaluable in helping support us. We truly would not have been able to do it without her and I would highly recommend her to anyone expecting or looking for a doula!

We are incredibly grateful to have had Katie as our doula. She is professional, deeply experienced,…read morecompassionate, and exceptionally skilled at working with medical providers while always advocating for her clients. As someone of advanced maternal age with a pregnancy complicated by hypertension, I felt supported and informed every step of the way. Katie was a steady, reassuring presence throughout pregnancy, induction, and birth. She helped us navigate complex medical decisions with clarity and confidence, and her calm advocacy made a meaningful difference in our experience. We felt heard, respected, and empowered throughout the entire process. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Our family hired Carrie Scott for nighttime postpartum doula services for the first two weeks after…read moreour son was born and we had such a great experience! We trusted her right away and she put us at ease taking to our newborn immediately! She was reliable and took great care of our son. I was able to get some extra much needed sleep. I highly recommend her!

WHERE TO START... The investment is 1000% worth it. For us as new parents wanting to experience…read morepregnancy, labor & delivery and then postpartum season with zero knowledge but as enjoy the process as peace-filled and confident with objective info as possible... (everyone's aim right?!) ...Celina made this happen!! She was a resource for all questions, providing excellent advice that balanced beautifully with her expertise, medical recommendations, and general common sense, making sure to always leave the decision in our hands yet make us feel confident in doing so! She is a patient and calm presence, always temperate and positive! Her class in our home before delivery to educate on techniques, help us walk-through a birth plan, and know what words even meant and what doctors and nurses would ask for was incredibly helpful. On the actual birthday, she was there to equip us in general to make the best choices and move me around in positioning for a really positive birth, experience and healthy baby (including bringing lavender aromatherapy and cozy lights in the delivery room!!)! She taught my husband a support move for laboring that saved me getting to 6cm dilated while I had intense lower back contraction pain and we said we would pay the whole investment of having a doula for that 1 move alone :) After coming home, Celina did night care 2x nights a week literally coaching us and everything from breast-feeding tactics to bottle sterilizing to best holding positions for gassy baby, how to get her to sleep well ... Swaddling!! And so much more! Also, mom healing questions and practices (or "is this normal" texts) -- she is a vast source of information and support, I just could not imagine going through this without her! We felt equipped with what we needed for each step, but never overwhelmed. A doula such a special, and in my opinion 100% necessary part of the family to have for a positive experience from pregnancy to newborn care!! What a blessing we will always be grateful for!

I had a wonderful experience with my daytime doula Iyonna and evening doula Stephenie. Both were…read morevery helpful and knowledgeable which is so important for expectant mothers who need extra help cause newborns require so much and new moms need the time off to relax or just do... anything else. It feels endless and overwhelming at times. And it was wonderful to have the extra pair of hands so that I could sleep at night and take care of errands, get out of the house, grab food, and visit my older daughter in daycare during the day.

We had a great experience! Very early in my pregnancy, I reached out to Nathalie for a doula and…read moregot a response right away. She was very informative and provided my husband and I with answers to all our questions. We were initially connected with a couple different doulas that would be available during my due date and had interviews with them -- we ended up hiring Hannah Wright. From the get-go, Hannah was amazing. She was exactly what we needed. She provided great advice throughout my pregnancy and she especially gave my husband a lot of confidence in being my support person by having her there during the actual labor and birth. She provided excellent support and kept me grounded during the entire process and immediately stepped in and started providing all the tips and tricks in her wheelhouse to help me cope during my fast and intense epidural-free birth. I would certainly recommend her to anyone else. As for the more administrative end of things, we also have no complaints. Communication was excellent, the contract process with was very clear and straightforward, and we found the doula rates very reasonable.

Our awesome baby showed up 50 days before his scheduled due date. Needless to say, we were totally…read moreunprepared and caught off guard. When we finally got him home, we realized we were overwhelmed. We called Overnight Newborn Care and they set us up with Claudine. She has been nothing short of a miracle. We can sleep through the night now which gives us the energy to finish our cross-country move (which was supposed to have happened BEFORE the baby came, but nooooo - yikes!). They explained everything in detail and were sensitive to our concerns about safety and care for a premie. Claudine is super sweet and has been so reliable, we actually don't want her to ever leave. She has been with us for almost 3 months now - 7 days a week - without incident! So, yeah, happy parents here. Highly recommend.

Kudos to Overnight Newborn Care! When my wife and I left the hospital, we realized we were woefully…read moreunprepared for the first nights w our newborn. We were referred to Angy Dieckmann to help care for our son. She was diligent, kind, and compassionate to both us and our boy. She took great care in both instructing us on best practices as well as waking my wife up to feed three times a night. We are so grateful to have had Angy's invaluable assistance to set us off on the right path. We are so appreciative to have so much help sent on such short notice. Thanks again!

To be honest, when I hired Mari I had my doubts. I did not know anybody who had hired a doula…read morebefore and even after looking through all the package options I started to wonder if this was just another upscale way to turn birth into a business. But I was determined to have a natural birth and studies show that having a doula on hand can increase these chances. After finally going through the process myself I can say with confidence that Mari is absolutely the real deal. She has turned both my skeptical husband and I into believers. When arriving at the hospital, I was surprised how hands off the staff was during the actual labor -- they mostly left me to my own devices while they checked vitals every once in a while. Mari was there to ask questions to prompt responses from our medical team, massage my back, and suggest/show us different labor positions. I think my husband was a bit worried that he would be taking a back seat in the entire delivery process since I hired a doula but hiring Mari was more of a support staff for him. He was able to be the star by holding my hand and reassuring me while she stayed in the background rubbing my back, bringing out snacks when necessary and allowing us to take breaks when needed. No lie, natural labor is painful AF but Mari gave me this handy machine called a TENS unit which delivers an small electric buzz during contractions which pretty much saved me. The whole price of everything was worth it for that one machine. My birth plans took a detour when my physician suggested a C Section. I was really impressed that Mari was able to ask the right questions to see if it can be prevented or not. In fact, I even found her to be more knowledgeable than some of the staff members on board about the entire birth process. She truly was an integral member of our care team and even my doctor made a special exception for her to be in the surgical room with us after seeing how important she was to us. After the birth she came to my house and worked with me to answer any postpartum questions I had. She even helped me with breastfeeding which is something I probably would have given up on if I didn't have that private on on one time (there are lactation consultants in the hospital but everything is so hectic after birth it's really hard to get the hang of things.) Investment wise? It's definitely pricey and she does not accept insurance but I absolutely will (and hope!) to hire again.

She saved my sanity!!! Just a few days prior to giving birth…read moreto my first child I decided I needed a doula. Not just for me but also for the daddy-to-be as I thought he would need assistance just as much. So I "yelped" and reached out to Mari and thankfully she had the capacity and stopped by in the evening so we could get to know each other better. You know that feeling when you meet someone for the first time and it just clicks? That was the case here. She came and we talked and what I thought was minutes turned out to be two hours and I KNEW this was the best decision! We talked about a lot of things, pros and cons, already worked on my birth plan. When she went home my husband came home just a couple of mins after she left so she just turned around to meet him. SO awesome! When it came to my delivery it did not go as planned (as in probably most cases) but she helped me through with a variation of techniques, still I ended up with an epidural (you mums, there is no shame in this. none of us needs to be a warrior). Honestly, she was the most important person (besides my husband) in the delivery room. Though my nurse as super nice, Mari was the one that was my go to person, the one that told me to push in the way I needed it, the one that assured me everything was alright, the one I feel like I yelled at NOOOO when she asked me if I wanted to touch baby's head when he was almost out .. LOL (sorry about that again, Mari). Also her follow-up visit was really helpful, she spent a lot of time, she showed me a lot of things, explained a lot of emotions I would be going through (and sure enough I did). If I will have another child, signing her up as my doula will be one of the first things I will do for sure. If I could for before, during and after birth because it was the best.decision.ever!

Working with Gina was worth every penny. From a professional standpoint, she was outstanding…read more Knowledgeable, resourceful, and patient, Gina provided excellent information, thoughtful advice, and steady emotional support throughout our time working with her. We were fortunate to find her, especially because we came to the doula search later than we should have. Even with the limited time remaining before our due date, Gina quickly equipped us with valuable educational materials to help us prepare for labor, helped us develop a birth plan, and guided us through the final weeks of pregnancy. She shared helpful advice and supported us in our decision-making process, particularly as our baby arrived later than expected, at 41+ weeks. Once labor began, Gina supported us every step of the way. She was there at home, providing both physical and emotional support, and then at the hospital, where she helped us make the best possible decisions in a challenging and evolving situation. When we had to pivot from our original birth plan, Gina helped us navigate that process with remarkable calm and confidence. She offered insightful suggestions, advocated for us with hospital staff, and gave us clear frameworks to guide our decision-making, always with our well-being at the center. On a human level, Gina is a truly wonderful person. She is kind, generous, and unfailingly calm. She made us feel at ease, which in itself is worth its weight in gold when you are going through the birth process for the first time. There were so many things we did not understand, and many others we did not even know to ask about. Gina's gentle presence gave us the comfort and reassurance we needed to feel that everything was going to be okay. We could not recommend her more highly. We will always be deeply grateful to her for supporting us through the arrival of our baby daughter.

Working with Gina Valo of BirthingKind was one of the most important decisions we made for our…read morebirth, and she was worth every penny. We originally hired Gina because my husband gets queasy, and we thought having a doula to support both of us -- so I would not also have to manage him while giving birth -- would be the best bet. What we received was so much more than that. Gina is so incredibly hands-on, thoughtful, and invested that we never questioned the value for a second. As we moved through Gina's birth prep curriculum, I realized I had very complicated feelings about birth, labor, and the transition to motherhood. I also realized how little I knew and how little interest I had taken in preparing before working with her. Gina's four prenatal meetings were deeply personal, intentional, and never judgmental. She created a space where I could be honest, ask questions, learn, and slowly become someone who actually wanted to understand my options. Gina was warm, personable, and incredibly intuitive. She understood my love of dogs, but she also understood some personal trauma unrelated to birth that was deeply affecting how I felt about the whole experience. She met all of that with compassion, humor, and zero judgment. By the time I gave birth, she felt like the sister I never had. By the end of our work together, I could not get enough of learning about birth. I also started forming opinions about my care in a hospital setting. So many people told me not to bother with a birth plan because I would not be able to stick to it, but Gina's system helped me create a plan that was actually useful, and deviations were made by my decisions or, at a minimum, with my informed consent. During my induction, I was able to navigate, adjust, and advocate for myself in real time. I felt empowered in conversations with my providers, and I was able to face medical decisions with both confidence and respect. During the birth itself, Gina was exactly who we needed in the room. I had some minor complications that would have felt very scary if she had not been there. Her energy was calm and steady. She kept us informed without scaring us. Her massage and comfort techniques were top notch and made such a difference throughout labor. She supported my husband in knowing how to care for our baby while I focused on my own health during those first golden hours. And somehow, she did all of this with warmth and a smile. She also connected us with a birth photographer who was looking to capture hospital birth photos for her portfolio, and that introduction became another unexpected gift. We now have beautiful images of our hospital birth that we will treasure forever, something we never would have known to pursue without Gina. This was my first child, and I truly cannot imagine going through birth without Gina by my side, whether it were my first baby or my tenth. Gina is an incredible birth doula, educator, advocate, and calming presence. I would recommend BirthingKind to anyone looking for a doula in the Washington, DC area, especially first-time parents, hospital birth families, induction births, or anyone who wants evidence-based birth prep, birth plan support, and someone who can help them feel informed and empowered rather than overwhelmed.

Having a baby is one of the most rewarding yet terrifying things you can experience in life. If…read moreyou're a parent you already know how the hospital just sends you on your way after a few days in recovery with no instruction manual or help desk number. Luckily my wife did some research and convinced me to hire doulas. We had the pleasure of working with Betsy and her team of doulas who consistently perform magic to soothe and care for our baby. Simultaneously, they teach us parenting techniques, act as our therapist, and most importantly allow us to catch up on sleep. They truly provide care to the whole family. It's also a lot better than having in laws come "help". I definitely recommend Metropolitan Doulas. It has 100% helped me enjoy being a new dad with their help to reduce the fear and anxiety of being a new parent.

Had a wonderful experience with Becca/Rebekah. She provided us with an introduction to parenthood…read moreincluding diapering, sleep habits, and answered our million questions. We felt incredibly supported.

If you're even thinking about hiring a doula, stop debating and call Liz! She is the professional,…read morecompassionate, and knowledgeable presence you didn't know you needed but absolutely do. My husband and I couldn't have asked for a better person to have by our side during our second labor and delivery experience. I was late to the game, deciding to hire Liz toward the end of my second trimester, and she jumped in like we'd been friends for years. She listened to every detail of my first delivery (tears and all) and helped me process my fears about being induced again. Liz didn't just hear me--she held space for my feelings, validated my worries, and helped me shift my mindset in the most empowering way. On the big day, she arrived at the hospital right when my contractions were ramping up. Her calm guidance and confidence in me made the experience transformative. I wanted an unmedicated birth, and thanks to Liz's support, encouragement, and expert coaching through contractions and pushing, that's exactly what I achieved. This delivery was night and day compared to my first--it was redemptive, empowering, and everything I'd hoped for. Even my husband, a man of few words, quickly admitted after our son was born that having Liz there was a game-changer. He felt supported and reassured knowing we had someone on our team who could explain the medical lingo and navigate the process with us. Liz is truly a gem. Her calming demeanor, wealth of knowledge, and radiant smile will carry you through labor and beyond. Whether you're a first-time parent or not, she'll leave you feeling capable, cared for, and encouraged. Do yourself a favor: hire Liz. You'll thank yourself later!

Simply amazing. My wife engaged BBS and we (mostly she ofc) selected Sara P. Sara was amazing. She…read moretalked us through different approaches to birth, listened to my wife, and prioritized what she wanted out of the process. At the hospital and during the birth Sara was with us overnight and made sure my wife was well taken care of, that we both got sleep, and was a wonderful advocate and coached during the actual birth. I could not have been happier for my wife that she had such an amazing and caring doula to help see her (and us!) through the birth of our second child. I would recommend BBS and specifically Sara P. to anyone.