Working with Helen was the best decision I made for the birth of my child. The health system and…read moreyour OBGYN tell you so little to make you feel prepared for labor and delivery. Helen provided the education I needed to feel empowered for my labor, and because of her I was able to have a natural birth without an epidural. Her techniques helped me to see the natural strength of my body and mind as a woman. All of her tips are great- from natural medications, to how to approach the staff at the hospital and hospital system, to breathing techniques, and birthing positions. I would recommend Helen's classes to any woman and family looking to become more informed about their choices during the birth of their child. I would also recommend taking her classes with your partner - it was a great thing for my husband and I to participate in each session together, and in the end we felt we didn't need a doula (he served as "El Doulo" as we like to say ). Helen truly cares about the health and well being of her clients, and you can feel it, and that makes all the difference. Thank you Helen for everything you provided for our family!

Because of all the great reviews, we knew we were gonna have a good experience, but Helen exceeded…read moreour expectations. She didn't just treat us like clients, she made us feel like family. Since the second I went into labor, she was there for me until the end. Hand down, the best experience we had.

We absolutely loved our classes with Lisa! The class was informative, supportive, and incredibly…read moreempowering. The classes are extremely comprehensive without feeling overwhelming. We came into class feeling excited but very nervous about this next chapter and left feeling so much more confident and prepared for both birth and the newborn stage. We loved Lisa's thoughtful approach - blending evidence-based information with compassionate, personalized support in a way that felt holistic, reassuring, and never fear-based. 10/10 - Highly recommend to any expecting parents looking for a childbirth class that feels both realistic and deeply supportive! Thank you, Lisa!

Lisa is a gifted educator on all things childbirth and we're SO happy to have attended her 3 day…read moreintensive in-person classes a few months prior to our due date. I was immediately impressed by Lisa's care and high-touch approach when I saw her thoughtful response to my intake form at the time we registered for the program. And throughout the course, Lisa's wealth of knowledge, passion, and genuine desire to help really carried through. She's also a bright ray of sunshine and we really appreciated her warmth and hospitality in what could feel like a long three day class otherwise. We had snacks and drinks, were able to move around freely, sit on the floor, sit on the yoga ball, there are squatty potties in each bathroom, I mean she literally thought of everything in trying to make this experience as comfortable and smooth for us as possible. With each class, we felt more and more confident and well equipped to welcome our baby and of course the added bonus in this being in-person is that we also loved connecting with other couples that we will continue to stay in touch with. I would highly recommend to any couple who's expecting no matter the kind of birth experience you envision for yourseleves.

We had such a wonderful experience with this service. The HFA team was incredibly responsive and…read moreproactive in connecting us with those who may be on our night nurse team which allowed for me to chat with each one ahead of time. It was our first time working with a night nurse and the whole experience made us feel at ease and in very good hands. Our night nurse, Janette, was wonderful and made us feel so confident that our newborn was in good hands that we could get some sleep back! Definitely recommend!

I am so glad to have worked with postpartum doulas through Happy Family After. We had peace of mind…read moreworking through this agency, knowing the doulas were vetted. We worked with Janice and Sara who were wonderful! On the admin side, Devon, Sondra, and Sara were all so kind and easy to work with. I was able to use my Carrot benefits with ease.

PYC is an absolute treasure!! I went to my first class at 26 weeks, felt it was a little early,…read morewent to another class at 30 weeks, and then started to really go regularly the following week. I am just over 37 weeks now and can tell prenatal yoga is helping me a great deal. Deb is wonderful, so compassionate, knowledgeable, loving, and grounding. I try to go to her classes twice a week and I will continue until I deliver. I have also taken classes with Ellyn, Lital, and Jessica, all of which are wonderful in their own way and bring different approaches to the classes. Every time I flip over in bed, I think about Lital's lesson on knees and how to use them to your advantage... such a gift! I have also taken some prenatal classes at PYC, including the Comforting Touch (Yiska is a dream come true and taught my husband and other partners to aid comfort in the prenatal and birthing process!), Childbirth Education (Ceridwen was a dream come true, as well, and I wish I could hug her right this second!!), Newborn Care and Lactation (this one was helpful, offering good insight and assurance of the choices my husband and I have made, -- natural / homeopathic / minimalist route -- but not as engaging as the other two), and then we are set to take Infant Safety & CPR this weekend! The community we have at PYC is so supportive, loving, exciting, and fun. Since it is an independent yoga studio, the clientele is of a similar mindset and all-around loving and tender with one another. I am looking forward to doing the postnatal and baby and me classes once this little nugget makes its debut!!

The Prenatal Yoga Center is just the most warm, supportive place to be when you're expecting a…read morechild. The teachers are caring, patient and so knowledgeable. You feel great at the end of class, both physically and emotionally. I'm not a particularly crunchy person (I'm all about the epidural, for example) and had been expecting to be put off by the general "woo woo" nature of the whole thing, but it was such a positive and happy experience that I found myself going back week after week and then again with my second child. I'd recommend any mom-to-be give it a shot.

I cannot emphasize what a crucial part of my pregnancy and daughter's birth Stephanie was for us…read more Stephanie provided the exact support we needed; from the moment we hired her to the days leading up to my labor to the birth of our daughter to the days after and everything in between. Any question, request, guidance needed - Stephanie was there. She made us feel no shame in asking the smallest questions. She was clear about when something was evidence-based vs her intuition/experience. She never pushed us to do anything and was always supportive of decisions we made. It was important to me and my husband to have a natural birth, which was my main motivation to hire a doula. Truly could not have delivered this baby without Stephanie (I mean, I would have, of course - but likely after much more pain and decisions I would later regret). She was with us on the phone (my husband, mostly) as soon as my water broke and she was with us in person by the time contractions got heavy to get us through the later stages of labor and the pushing/delivery process. Stephanie worked so in sync with the midwife and nurse on my delivery team - it took a village! In addition to Stephanie supporting me, she was also an amazing guide and support to my husband - equipping him with reading materials before delivery and coaching him on best ways to support me throughout labor and delivery. In the days after our baby was born, we talked to Stephanie every day. She visited us to make sure baby was latching properly, showed me some other tips and tricks for feeding, and has continued to provide us with guidance on feeding and pumping and all feeding things! When I become pregnant with baby #2, Stephanie will be among the first to know - could not imagine doing a totally natural birth again without her!

Hiring Stephanie as our doula was one of the best decisions we made while preparing for the birth…read moreof our first child. When my partner and I started looking into childbirth education, we quickly realized how much we didn't know and how overwhelming it could be to research everything on our own. From our very first meeting with Stephanie, it was clear how knowledgeable she is. She focuses heavily on evidence-based information, which was exactly how we wanted to approach decisions around birth. I became interested in attempting an unmedicated birth, although I was only about 60% confident I could actually do it. Stephanie never doubted me. From that point on, all of our preparation and meetings were geared toward helping me achieve that goal. She was always quick to respond to texts and emails and provided detailed, thoughtful information whenever we had questions. Stephanie also did an incredible job coaching my partner ahead of time so he knew how to support me during labor. In our prep meetings, she walked him through different techniques and ways he could help when things became intense. Because of that preparation, he was able to really play an active role during labor. Even during labor itself, Stephanie continued guiding him on how to support me in ways that were actually helpful in the moment. When things were very intense, she would gently coach him on what to do, whether that was how to help with breathing, positioning, or encouragement. If he wasn't sure whether something he was doing was helping, she gave him feedback and reassurance so he could keep supporting me confidently. That support for both of us made a huge difference. When my labor started, I was able to text Stephanie updates and questions and she was always quick to respond and help ease my worries. At one point she had another client in labor (which we knew was a possibility), but her backup doula came to my house and provided wonderful support until we went to the hospital. Stephanie met us there and immediately helped me focus on breathing and staying calm. The moment I'll always remember most was during the pushing phase. I was exhausted having been awake for nearly 36 hours, but Stephanie's coaching and encouragement made such a difference. Her reminders to breathe for the baby and "blow out the birthday candles for the baby," along with her steady counting and encouragement, helped me push through and ultimately deliver my baby the way I had hoped. One unexpected benefit of working with Stephanie is that she is also a lactation consultant. She helped us prepare for breastfeeding, explained how pumping works, and helped us troubleshoot breastfeeding our baby a few days after coming home. I didn't expect that level of support, but it ended up being incredibly helpful. Stephanie is incredibly knowledgeable and very honest. She gives you the information and may offer a recommendation, but she never pressures you if you decide differently. She's straightforward, fact-driven, and clearly very dedicated to her clients. Working with her truly showed me how valuable doulas can be. Stephanie was wonderful to work with, and I would not want to have another child without her by my side.

How I wish I knew Sarah when I was having my children. She is the most hard-working, dedicated…read moreperson I know. She honestly treats all of her clients as if they are her family. Besides her fantastic work ethic and pure heart of gold. She is the absolute baby guru. I recommend her to all my family and friends. Like Comment Share

Sarah is amazing! She's a great communicator who brings a wealth of knowledge and a calming…read morepresence to labor and those stressful last few weeks of pregnancy. We were so grateful to have her by our side.

I took Maeva's group course leading up to the birth of my first baby and she was an instrumental…read moreresource. Maeva helped me prepare for little things I could do now to help prepare for an easier labor - like certain sitting positions, yoga moves, and meditations - and made me feel strong and ready as the event approached. She was a wealth of knowledge about everything having to do with childbirth and her tips helped insure everything went smoothly when the time arrived. I recommend Maevas course to all my pregnant friends!

Working with Maeva during my pregnancy was the best choice. She taught us hypnobirthing technique,…read moreSpinning Babies, and coping strategies. We were able to go into the birth of our first baby confidently and without fear. Maeva's presence during my labor and delivery was invaluable - I truly feel I couldn't have done it without her physical and emotional support and calming presence. I would hire Maeva over and over again! Highly recommend her!

After my last review, Jada, the founder of Birth Day Presence, reached out to me for an honest and…read moreopen conversation about what she could do to improve not only my experience but classes there in general. Being a yoga teacher with pre/post natal experience I went into their classes already very knowledgeable so they weren't as informative as I would have liked but I think they are probably life saving for people who don't care to/don't have the time to do their own learning and research. Birth day presence and boober provide not only child birth and newborn care classes, but match clients with (and train) doulas, lactation consultants etc Most importantly though, and I got this sense from the beginning but really felt it after talking to Jada, they genuinely care about providing quality information and services to new families. They also understand that the birthing industry (because it is an industry) is far from perfect and they want to empower families and help them navigate it. I feel very grateful to Jada and Birth Day Presence and although I originally walked away feeling there was more to be desired I now feel like I couldn't recommend them more to anyone seeking childbirth/childcare education or training. Oh, and all their classes are conveniently online now due to covid.

My husband and I purchased weekend intensive childbirth education classes and we attended when I…read morewas 27 weeks pregnant with our first child at Birth Day Presence. We came here with an open mind and hoping to learn the important basics of childbirth. Needless to say, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We didn't feel prepared and we were hoping this class would make us feel more comfortable of what's to come. The classes we chose were on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 3:30 pm. Jen Buice was our instructor and she was very informative and knew her stuff. We also got to mingle with other couples who were due at around the same time as us. We got to share our experiences with each other, which I think my husband and I wouldn't have gotten a chance to do otherwise if it wasn't for this class. We watched some childbirth videos, learned about different stages of labor, pain management, labor exercises with and without the ball, a little about lactation, etc. We also went around the room and did some activities so it could be more interactive and social. Bring some snacks because the classes might seem a little long at times! We did get a short lunch break. One slight complaint I have is that I got a little antsy and didn't feel that comfortable with their seating arrangements. I felt a little claustrophobic. Overall, I think we feel better and a little bit more prepared about being parents. I would recommend this class if you have a chance to take it. It's located in a beautiful part of Park Slope in a beautiful brownstone. Price is a little steep at $395 but I think it's worth it. You can't put a price on your future bundle of joy.