Felicia is absolutely the best. This class is very informative! I'd say the best part is Felicia is…read morealso my birth doula, which I'm extremely grateful to have her. She helped with me the best birth experience I can ask for. I'd strongly recommend every expecting mama to take this class AND hire Felicia as your birth doula if you are considering a doula!

Felicia is truly great! Super, super helpful class. Tons of information. Also great to have the CPR…read moretraining.

I cannot recommend Marilou at Doulas by the Bay highly enough. She was our postpartum night doula…read morefor the first few weeks after our son was born, and she was incredible. As new parents, the sleep deprivation is real, but knowing she was there allowed us to finally get the much-needed rest we required to function. Beyond just being a set of expert hands, she became a trusted guide for us and taught us invaluable newborn care tips that we still use daily. We trusted her implicitly with our baby from night one which was critical for us as anxious new parents. Marilou's calm, professional, and warm presence made us feel so at ease during a very vulnerable time. We truly loved our time with her and are so grateful for the care she provided. If you are looking for a doula who is knowledgeable, nurturing, and completely trustworthy, Marilou is amazing!

We had an incredible experience with Sally for our son from when he was 1-3 months. She was…read moreconsistently punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. Beyond just helping with night feeds, she took the initiative with bottles and laundry, which was a huge help to our family. We felt completely at ease knowing our little one was in such caring hands. In addition, she helped with sleep training. Additionally, the office staff was a pleasure to work with. They were extremely professional and maintained a quick turnaround time on all our requests and paperwork. We highly recommend this team for anyone looking for top-tier newborn care!

TLDR: Liat is incredible. If there's one thing I would recommend to help you through your labor,…read moreit's having her by your side. She was the best decision we could have made. My husband and I went back and forth for months about whether we wanted to include a doula in our birth experience. After a lot of discussion, we decided to hire one for two reasons: first, we wanted someone who could help us advocate for ourselves in the hospital so we could stay as close to our birth plan as possible. Second, we wanted someone who could physically support me throughout labor. Liat is truly one of the most incredible human beings I've ever met. She became such an essential part of my birth experience that, looking back, I genuinely don't think I could have done it without her. To make a very long story short, I chose to be induced at 41 weeks after a lot of pressure and fear mongering from my doctors due to elevated amniotic fluid levels. I labored at the hospital until my contractions reached a certain intensity, and then Liat joined us. The moment she arrived, she jumped right in--rubbing my back, talking me through each contraction, and bringing such a calming presence into the room. For the next seven hours, she coached both my husband and me through contractions that were every 2-3 minutes apart. She constantly adjusted my laboring positions to help my baby descend and was incredibly attentive to the fetal monitor. Anytime my baby's heart rate dipped during a contraction, she immediately repositioned me to help him tolerate labor better. Those seven hours somehow flew by. I labored on the birth ball, in the bed, in the bathroom, and even did lunges at one point! Liat was always thinking one step ahead, using every tool and technique she had to help labor progress naturally. Eventually, I reached a point where I decided to get an epidural. I was exhausted, in pain, and my baby was having a harder time tolerating the contractions, with his heart rate decelerating during each one. After the epidural, my labor was paused to help baby, and I was able to rest for about an hour. When I woke up, the nurses wanted to talk about interventions (even the possibility of a C-section) because my labor "wasn't progressing"--despite the fact that they had just given me medication to stop my contractions. Liat immediately stepped in and advocated for us. She calmly explained that labor couldn't progress without contractions and suggested restarting the Pitocin, giving it time to work, and then reassessing before making any decisions. Sure enough, labor picked back up beautifully. A few hours later, I was fully dilated and effaced, but my baby's station was still a little high. Liat spent what felt like hours gently rocking my hips and helping my baby naturally move farther down into my pelvis until it was finally time to push. She stayed by my side every step of the way until our son was born later that afternoon. If you're on the fence about hiring a doula, I cannot recommend Liat enough. She advocated for me every step of the way, helped me navigate unexpected twists in my labor, and supported both me and my husband physically and emotionally throughout the entire experience. Her knowledge, calm confidence, and compassion made all the difference. A few weeks after our son was born, Liat came to visit us at home, and it honestly felt like having family over. Liat, we are endlessly grateful for everything you did to help bring our son safely into this world. We love you, and we can't wait to have you by our side again when it's time to welcome our next baby. Love, The Zimmerman Family

I had the most wonderfully redemptive unmedicated VBAC a few weeks ago, and it is difficult to…read moreoverstate how critical of a role Liat played in making that happen. My first birth had gone much differently than I had hoped (preterm labor that led to immediate C-section due to breech positioning). I had come to terms with that experience, but I was surprised to find in my second pregnancy that it would be difficult to escape those "labels" from my first pregnancy, making it harder to be given a fair shot at having a vaginal birth. Thankfully, I found Liat whose passion for VBACs is infectious and whose no-nonsense approach is grounding. In our conversations before the birth, my husband and I both appreciated the balance of her approach - she strongly believes in the benefits of physiologic birth, but she also recognizes there is a time and place for medical intervention. My primary hope for this birth was that I wouldn't undergo any interventions that I wasn't convinced I needed, and she was a trustworthy sounding board throughout the entire pregnancy and delivery to ensure that was the case. This time around, my baby decided to stay inside long past the due date, so I agreed with my provider that it would be a good idea to induce. This was pretty disappointing for me, but Liat was wonderful at helping me stay in a good headspace in those final days, checking in frequently via texts and calls. When it came time for delivery, she was every bit as exceptional as all her other reviews describe. When she arrived at the hospital, she took one look at me and knew exactly how to change my environment to help me relax. Sure enough, labor accelerated rapidly after she arrived. She massaged my back through every single contraction. She knew exactly what to say to keep my mind present and focused. When she was talking me through my contractions, they were noticeably more efficient. At one point, I almost wanted to give up and she knew exactly how to keep me going. And sooner than I could have dared hope, my baby arrived. I'm pretty sure I professed my love for Liat minutes after giving birth :) And just as she had been for the entire pregnancy and labor, she was a constant comfort and encouragement to us in the minutes, days, and weeks after the delivery as well. Liat takes absolutely no BS, but is also the warmest and most compassionate woman you've ever met. She's exactly who you want at your birth. I know I want her at my next one!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Loving Arms Childbirth Services' birthing class! Jessica Cristen was our…read moreinstructor, and she was excellent! She's a certified midwife and lactation support specialist, with years of experience. Taking this class was the best decision I made for preparing for the birth of our baby girl. (even with the countless books I read and classes taken from Kaiser) My birth did NOT go at all as expected, but thanks to these classes I was super well prepared about all the possibilities that could occur during labor & delivery and helped my partner and I be on the same page (and have my partner know how he could best support me). Thus when things started to go different than what we prepared for in our birthing plan, we were really able to navigate the various options skillfully and have educated conversations with our care team. This made me feel way more secure when my health was declining during delivery. Even though I didn't have the birth I pictured for myself, I felt I had a wonderful birth story thanks to the classes from Loving Arms and our care support team. The class is very comfortable, super educational, and a good place to meet other couples about to have babies too. The instructors here really care about helping new families, and have years of experience and maturity. Again, best decision to take this class here @ Loving Arms. So glad I chose them!

We are so grateful we found Loving Arms and were able to take their childbirth prep class. I didn't…read morewant to have a doula and these courses helped me feel so knowledgeable about what to expect during childbirth and allowed my husband to know how best to support me. The lactation support and honest expectations about what to expect in the first few days with a newborn were invaluable. I ended up not having time to get an epidural and without this class, I think I would have panicked giving birth. However, armed with the knowledge from the courses, I was able to get through it and have a positive experience. Another plus is that we were able to bond with the other couples in the class and are still in touch now 9 months after our babies were born. Highly suggest!

As a new parent, the postpartum period is challenging enough without having to deal with the stress…read moreand disappointment of a difficult agency. While Stork and Sprout does have some excellent doulas on its team who provided great support and coaching, my experience with the agency's leadership was overwhelmingly negative. We had a particularly difficult time with Brittany. She demonstrated a pattern of manipulation, gaslighting, and lying, both to us and, from what I understand, to her own employees. Our contract promised consistent coverage, but the scheduling was erratic and communication was poor. We were left to wonder many nights if we would have support, and for several weeks, we only received 1 to 2 days of support instead of the 6 to 7 we paid for. When we requested a refund for the services not provided, Brittany refused and even fought our bank with out-of-context emails and more lies. She claims she "offered a refund" but is even today refusing to honor it as she says in the response. The lack of professionalism extended to some of the staff as well; one sick doula was sent to our home and intentionally caused our newborn physical pain. Brittany treated us like we were the difficult ones and responded with empathy-less chatGPT emails to manage the situation. We were also led to believe we would have one primary doula with a backup, but over the course of our service, we had seven different doulas come to our home. This complete lack of continuity made an already difficult period even more stressful. Based on my experience, I would advise new parents to skip Stork and Sprout and work directly with an independent doula. You will not only save the 30-40% extra fee the agency charges for scheduling, but you will also avoid the toxic and difficult management. This experience is unacceptable for a service that costs tens of thousands of dollars and demands payment upfront months ahead of providing the service. We were not able to switch easily due to the inflexible Carrot reimbursement process through the employer.

I truly couldn't have accomplished my VBAC goals without the incredible support of the Stork and…read moreSprout birth doula team. From the very first moment I needed them through labor and all the way until I was settled into the maternity floor with my new little boy, they were there every step of the way. Their calm presence, deep knowledge, encouragement, and advocacy made all the difference during such an intense and meaningful experience. I felt supported, empowered, and never alone. I am beyond grateful for their care and dedication and would wholeheartedly recommend Stork and Sprout to anyone preparing for birth--especially those pursuing a VBAC.

TLDR; YES if you're a first time mom considering Kinspace, you need to sign up. It might seem…read moredaunting (another thing I need to do NOW?) but trust me it's worth it. My baby and I started at 2 months postpartum, have done a full year of Kinspace, and just "graduated." We've learned so much! Susan is phenomenal. The community is amazing and supportive. You'll meet local moms with babies of the same age, and together tackle a bunch of parenting "firsts" in the first year. I can't imagine going through it all without Susan and our mom group.

Hands down, this was the #1 best thing I did for myself and my baby postpartum…read more Susan has created such a safe and welcoming place for moms to meet other moms and learn about all things motherhood. Motherhood can be incredibly lonely and isolating and meeting up with the other moms weekly was truly a blessing. We learned so many tips and tricks and Susan always answered all of our questions. I not only came out of the group with so much knowledge but now I have a whole group of mom friends and friends for my son! I am so incredibly happy I joined Susan's group and I encourage every new mom I know to do it too.

It's 8pm on a Saturday night and I am relaxing on my couch having a glass of wine. My little man…read morehas been sleeping in his crib since he fell asleep there, ON HIS OWN, SEVEN minutes after we put him down - without a peep. You read that right. Since I have such ample time, this review will be a long one. I gave you fair warning. I'm not so rigid to think or expect that every night will unfold like tonight. There will be teeth! walking! talking! more regressions to come. However, a month after starting this process, it has become a reasonable reality for me to expect that on more days/nights rather than not (meaning NAPS and bedtime), he will go to sleep. It is a work in progress, but Dahlia guided us through it with the confidence and clarify we ourselves needed to provide to our son for the process to work. The backstory: At 11 weeks old, my son morphed from our lovely sleeping newborn waking twice a night to waking EVERY HOUR, needing to be soothed back to sleep...while sleeping in our bed. As the weeks dragged on, it became clear he was not going to outgrow this hiccup in an amount of time that would preserve my sanity (or marriage lol), and things were snowballing from bad to dreadful (more on that below). He eventually settled on a pattern of waking 4-7 times per night; however, he started having negative sleep associations to most every soothing trick in the book. I won't waste time listing such strategies or the gimmicks I bought on Amazon. Well-meaning folks always shared their soothing strategies. Well, if you can envision it, we tried it. Don't start to tell me about white noise and black out shades. Eventually, NOTHING WORKED except the boob. So sleep - meaning all naps and bedtime plus the night wake ups - became an hour long battle with raging, screaming, kicking, tears. All of which did not guarantee an outcome of sleep in the end! This was a vicious cycle on repeat at least 4 times daily which went on for almost two months (give or take some days where baby was so exhausted he slept well for a night or two). On top of this, I had impending abdominal and oral surgeries. Just icing on the cake. We knew we had to sleep train. After pouring through blogs and books about the various sleep training techniques and studies, I still had reservations (and extreme anxiety subjecting my baby to this), and needed someone to lead me through its ups and downs. Alright I'll be honest - sleep training is mostly down. It is painful. Gutwrenchingly PTSD painful if your baby is anything like mine. Enter Dahlia. She is honest, positive, supportive, respectful, and above all, will use her knowledge to SEE YOU THROUGH IT. She makes herself available and genuinely wants to help you. I cannot thank her enough and I definitely promise you will not get that from a blog. So dread. I used to DREAD naps and bedtime. The clock would hit 5:30pm and my heart would sink a little. My soul would wail a sad song. Now, I think about the time I can spend writing long reviews and blogging while he's sleeping. And the biggest plus? The little man wakes up RELAXED and RESTED and happy to see me. THANK YOU DAHLIA!

Dahlia is the BEST! We hired her for 3 months of postpartum work, which is no small task with…read moretwins! She was so caring, nurturing, and gentle with our babies, her experience was only outweighed by her sweetness and profound gift for "twinning". I feel so lucky to have had her work with us, she taught us (first-time parents) so much, from swaddling to bathing to infant massage! Every morning when Dahila arrived it was a ray of sunshine and positive energy, my babies responded so well to her songs, her feeding techniques, and her cuddles. We were so sad to say goodbye to her when it was time, and are almost jealous of the next family that gets to work with her! :) :)

Writing as the dad: hiring Mari made all the difference. She helped me understand my role in the…read moreprocess - what to do, when to step in, when to step back - which turned out to be huge during some critical decision moments. I came out of it more connected to my wife and our daughter than I ever expected. Warm, knowledgeable, never pushes an agenda. Highly recommend.

If you're looking for a doula, stop searching and just hire Mari. As a dad, I wanted to be as…read moresupportive as possible, but the whole hospital/birth world was pretty foreign to me. Mari was a total lifesaver. She's clearly a pro and has been doing this a long time. She explained the entire birthing process and what to expect from the doctors in a way that actually made sense, which took a ton of the stress off my plate. She knows all the best providers in the area and helped us navigate the hospital system like a boss. A few things that make her the best: Super Responsive: Whenever we had a question, she was lightning-fast with a text back. It felt like having an expert in our pocket 24/7. Insane Network: She isn't just a doula; she's connected. Her referral for a lactation consultant was a game-changer for us post-partum with breastfeeding. The "Bonus" Skill: Mari is also a licensed massage therapist. We've been using her for postpartum massages, and my wife says it's been the best thing for her recovery. You can really tell Mari is passionate about her work. She's not just "doing a job"--she genuinely cares about the families she's helping. If I could give her 6 stars, I would!