As the father, I don't think I can fully put into words how relieved and grateful I am for Teresa's…read morehelp. When breastfeeding wasn't going smoothly, she came into our home, quickly figured out exactly what was going wrong, and walked us through fixing it step by step. She was patient, professional, and never once made either of us feel silly for asking questions, even the basic ones. Watching my wife go from stressed and unsure to confident, and seeing our baby finally feeding well, meant everything to our family. Teresa gave us more than a fix, she gave us peace of mind during a hard stretch. We're so thankful to have had her in our corner!

Teresa has now supported me through three newborns, and she's the first call I make every single…read moretime. This round brought its own set of hurdles in those early weeks, and she worked through each one with patience, specific solutions, and real expertise. What I appreciate most is how much she teaches along the way--I always come away understanding the 'why,' not just following steps. She's responsive, deeply knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in you and your baby. I can't recommend her enough.

Words can't express how grateful I am to have seen Debra! My son lost a significant amount of…read moreweight after birth due to latching difficulties and had to have bottles with formula to supplement. Thanks to Debra providing me with techniques and resources I was able to stop formula. My milk supply is better than I could imagine and my son is healthy and gaining so much weight on breast milk only

My wife and I recently had our first child and we wanted to try to exclusively breastfeed / use…read morebreast milk if possible. However, we found out during our first few pediatrician visits that our baby was actually losing weight instead of gaining the expected 1oz/day. Baby was latching, but constantly kept falling asleep at the breast and thus wasn't eating as much as she needed to. Our pediatrician recommended Debra as a local lactation consultant and we couldn't be happier! Debra was very easy to connect with and she has honestly been a life saver. From the first moment we exchanged messages she was so helpful, thorough and enthusiastic and supportive. Before even meeting Debra in person we had a FaceTime session with her and she immediately saw a few issues with the way we were breastfeeding and gave us real time instructions/tips on how to improve latching/feeding and they worked! After our first in-person meeting with Debra, she drafted up a game plan for us for a baby feeding "boot camp" where we needed to temporarily supplement breast milk with formula both via bottle feeding in order to get the baby's weight up so she'd stay awake during breastfeeding. She walked us through every step and was so responsive to texts and the portal at all hours of the day. Debra kept following up to see how things were going and she does not give up! She was so optimistic, persistent, and determined for my wife to start producing more milk and to breastfeed more easily and low and behold after two VERY HELPFUL sessions we pretty much are there! Debra is like an encyclopedia of knowledge and has the best positive attitude. She answered all our questions and concerns very honestly and was very straight forward, but always remaining positive and realistic. We wouldn't know where we would be without her! If you are having issues with breastfeeding look no further! Reach out to Debra and we guarantee you'll be beyond satisfied like we were!

I don't have a lot of good words to say about Tali's services. To start of, there was a pretty…read morelengthy intake form and when she arrived, we went over the same questionnaire. Her advices were pretty generic and I didn't find it any useful. I had set clear expectations of what I was looking for from the session and that was not addressed. Later, when I followed up with questions on her portal, she declined to help sayinf those could be addressed if a follow up session is scheduled. Overall, it was a waste of time and money.

Tali has been caring, thorough, and knowledgeable every time. She listened to all of my confused,…read morefrustrated information and put the pieces together to figure out how to help. Tali genuinely cares about the parent and baby and offers solutions without pressure or judgment. And her coming to our house is such a bonus. We can't recommend her enough!

If you are a new mom looking for legitimate support, Janet is your go to. She was my 5th consultant…read morewho did not A) immediately recommend snipping my son's tongue tie and B) teach me unsustainable techniques. Trust me, instead of wasting your time and money going to others, go to Janet first. My consultation with her was an investment that will shape my son for the rest of his life. May God bless this business. Thank you, Janet!! You are a talented professional, and I look forward to recommending you to all embarking on this difficult but rewarding journey of motherhood- Jazmin, Maurice, and Mo V

They say breastfeeding shouldn't be painful, but most moms I know have struggled initially. When I…read morewas dealing with pain early on, Janet made the difference between giving up and continuing. Janet brings tremendous knowledge and experience to her work and is an excellent and nonjudgmental teacher. She came to my house and brought several helpful props and tools, including a scale to weigh my baby before and after I fed her. She advised me on how to hold my baby and get her to latch and helped me heal wounds I'd gotten early on. I recommend Janet enthusiastically.

Truly life savers ! Thank you to all the amazing momma's…read moreout here sharing their liquid gold for our precious babies . The relief of having donor milk for my newborn baby girl has been such a blessing . I am grateful that I am able to breastfeed her but my own milk supply wasn't enough for my already 9lb newborn baby . I was stressed about not having enough milk for her to feed but luckily we found out about this awesome organization through Kaiser permanente. Kp super recently like as of last month started to have supplemental milk as well as formula . We got really lucky to be able to find this hidden gem ! We can sleep comfortably knowing baby girl is well fed and thriving .

I just donated to this wonderful non-profit and had an excellent experience! I will definitely be…read moredonating again. L O G I S T I C S: -you will be phone screened, then you will need to have your doctor sign off on your health history and then get bloodwork done. If you have Kaiser, the bank can reach out to the medical records department on your behalf. The bloodwork was very, very quick. I was able to choose from several lab locations that were within a 15 minute drive, the closest being in San Jose and 8 minutes from my house. I made an appointment, was seen very quickly, and my results were delivered to the milk bank about 3 business days later. The appointment itself took about 4 minutes. -you will be sent a cooler once you reach 100 ounces. -you will reach out to the shipping company they provide the morning of or day of you want to have your milk picked up. They give you a two hour time slot. I was pleased that I was able to email the company on a Sunday night and then have my email answered Monday morning (since the company is based on the east coast, I woke up to a reply). -you pack up your milk and-IF you're in Santa Clara County-you can literally hand it off to a FedEx driver who rings your doorbell G O O D T O K N O W: -I was able to fit about 211 ounces of milk into the styrofoam cooler that the bank provided. So, if you pump more than that, you may have to send some of the milk as a second donation batch. -The milk bank will take milk that was expressed up to 9 months ago. While I realize that 9 months is still a long time to express milk, it is encouraging to know that you don't need to pump the minimum requirement (100 ounces) instantly. -The bank's website has some very valuable breastfeeding info I wish I had learned sooner! -Staff was very friendly and usually quick to reply. O T H E R: -If you are on the fence about donating, I strongly encourage you to do so! Breastmilk is such an incredible way to give back and improve the health of others. I feel so blessed to have donated in such an impactful way! -My only critique is that it would be nice to have gotten a tracking number for my milk; I would have loved to known when it arrived at the bank so that I could rest assured my precious donation arrived on time. However, the bank did email me the next day, so I did get a confirmation in the end. -If you want to do recurring donations, the bank can provide extra milk bags.

Sarah provided me with compassionate and expert support in my journey feeding my kiddo. I greatly…read moreappreciated her warm, non-judgmental approach and her wise advice. She was able to meet with me on short notice, followed up via text to check in on me after our first appointment, and has fielded several questions via email, even while she was traveling. I am very grateful for her support and would highly recommend her!

At 5 days postpartum, I was feeling incredibly stressed and overwhelmed, but Sarah came to our home…read moreimmediately to help. She spent several hours with my husband and me, teaching us everything from the basics of breastfeeding and milk supply to the specifics of breast anatomy. Her calm demeanor was exactly what we needed; she completely eased my anxiety and gave us the confidence we were lacking. This was truly the most helpful support we've received since coming home from the hospital. If you are looking for an expert who is both knowledgeable and deeply compassionate, look no further.

I couldn't recommend Melissa more. She is knowledgeable and really makes you feel seen. She's…read morerealistic about the pressures and stress of breastfeeding and postpartum and really works with you to come up with an attainable plan. Her kind, warm and calm demeanor put you at ease. I had low supply with my first and struggled through triple feeding and ultimately wasn't able to boost my supply enough and felt like I wasn't getting a personalized plan working with lactation consultants through my insurance and would always leave feeling a little confused and like I wasn't making progress due to something I wasn't doing right. With my second baby, I found Melissa, who was recommended by a friend, and the difference was night and day. Rather than feeling like I wasn't doing enough, she made me validated and we worked together to come up with a realistic plan to try to meet my goals. She answered any and all questions I had and provided a lot of support. Again, I couldn't recommend her more.

Melissa is honestly the best and I wouldn't have survived my breastfeeding journey without her. My…read morefirst had a tongue/lip tie and I was having a really hard time nursing. I also had mastitis but my OB and urgent care had misdiagnosed me with the flu. My doula referred me to Melissa and she immediately helped me navigate the healthcare system and gave me tips on how to improve breastfeeding. It all worked and I was able to nurse for 19 months. I would have honestly given up if it wasn't for her. Five years later, I am having my second and knew to have her come by immediately for help. Highly recommend her!!

TL;DR: Last-minute cancellations, fell asleep on duty watching our newborn, refused hands-on baby…read morecare, offered useless virtual support, prepaid for 13 nights, and refused refund. We're disputing the charges with our credit card company. Do not recommend. We hired Czarina for evening doula services shortly after welcoming our newborn, hoping for support and rest. Unfortunately, the experience caused us significantly more stress than doing it alone. The most alarming issue was that she repeatedly fell asleep snoring loudly while on duty watching our newborn. This happened on multiple visits. We could see and hear her sleeping, which meant that instead of resting, we stayed awake monitoring her to ensure our baby was safe. When we addressed this directly, her response was shocking: she claimed she was doing it to "train us to be better parents" and get us used to sleeping while the baby sleeps. As exhausted first-time parents, this felt unreassuring and completely unsafe. We hired a night doula to reduce anxiety, not to monitor the caregiver. Beyond the safety issues, basic doula duties were neglected: * Refusal of Care: She was unwilling to help wash the baby and unable to provide clear, hands-on guidance for newborn care. * Household Help: She provided little to no assistance with basic household tasks. * Ineffective Virtual Support: She attempted to substitute some support with "virtual" sessions, which offered zero value to us as parents who needed physical, hands-on help with a newborn during overnight hours. Her reliability was poor, with multiple last-minute cancellations and rescheduling. Most importantly, we prepaid for 13 nights of service. When we terminated the arrangement due to the safety concerns and poor service, she refused to provide a refund for the unused nights. We were forced to escalate this to our credit card company to try and recoup our funds. Czarina was pleasant to speak with initially, but her actions put our peace of mind at risk and violated our trust. If you are looking for reliable, hands-on postpartum care that allows you to rest, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Ask specific questions about staying awake during night shifts, hands-on newborn care (including bathing), refund policies, and what "virtual support" entails before hiring.

As others have reported we had a horrific experience with Czarina, and most unfortunately, we felt…read moretaken advantage of at a time when we were quite vulnerable right after we had our first child, and were struggling. If you don't take anything from this review, I ask you to please schedule a trial run as others have reported, Czarina will ask you to prepay for multiple days before having a chance to experience with her. Context: We hired Czarina as a night doula for 6 nights. Czarina showed up 5 minutes late (and also left 5 minutes early). When she arrived at our home, she made it pretty clear she was unhappy with our setup (we had our baby sleeping in our room, and our milk/fridge on our main level, requiring going up and down stairs for a bottle). She made it pretty obvious she was unhappy with the stairs which is like the one thing I needed her to do -- fetch stuff from downstairs. Second we had asked Czarina to wake my wife at very specific times to enable specific feedings. We were struggling with breast feeding, struggling to get feeding right at all and wanted to stick to a specific schedule (as recommended by our dr). Czarina failed to wake us up, claiming that she missed our alarm (turns out Czarina feel asleep as a night doula). Finally when my wife woke up and Czarina did bring the infant in, we had asked that she change her as our infant didn't like being wet during a feeding at all. Despite asking multiple times, the baby was brought in wet which prolonged each feeding. Overall Czarina was just not a fit for us, and despite having multiple attempts to receive a refund, Czarina has refused to provide any refunds. I beg you to read this review but also the others and reach out if you have questions. Being a new parent is incredibly stressful and I'd hate for you to have even more stress.

We had an afternoon appointment for an in person chat. My husband and I took time out of work but…read moreMeg didn't show up 20 min past the appt time. No phone calls or messages. Not a really a great sign for birth Doula.

My first birth I had hoped for an unmedicated experience, but an induction led to things getting…read moreout of my control. The only thing I knew I wanted to do different the next time was hire a doula. My second pregnancy, we hired Megan. I had a lot of caveats, and she was willing to step up to the plate. Our free visits and phone conversations prior to the birth allowed her to understand the family dynamic, and offer reassurance that she would be there to help me advocate for myself during the birth, and that she understood all my desires. The second birth started unexpectedly, 6 days before her due date. My partner was working quite far away when my water broke, so I called Megan who came over right away to drive me to the hospital. I was nonchalantly eating a bowl of soup and not even packed for the hospital, but she was monitoring my contractions and calmly pushing me to head to the hospital and for my partner to meet us there. Once there, the contractions were so intense I couldn't talk. Every time the nurses came in to do something to me that I didn't want - but I couldn't communicate it through the intensity of the contractions... She calmly stated that she knew I didn't want that, and asked if that was accurate - to which I could nod my head to confirm. Without overstepping, she was able to be my voice when things were too intense to talk. After only 3.5 hours of labor my baby girl was born naturally as I had hoped. Megan stayed awhile to make sure we were well taken care of, and got settled into our recovery room. In the weeks afterwards she followed up with us, and even came over one day to wear my baby as I got a massage. She has become a dear friend through this experience, and I know that things wouldn't have been the same if she hadn't have been there to her my voice when I had no words. With such a short labor, we had not much time for pain relief measures, yoga balls, massage, or what have you. But the experience of having someone there to be my voice when I had none, to communicate my preferences when I couldn't, to be calm when my partner and I weren't... That is a piece of mind that money can't buy. I'm so happy we chose to have Megan on board.

I sought help from Kelly as a last resort after a month of baby struggling to get back to birth…read moreweight. I was prescribed triple feeding which was totally unsustainable. She helped tremendously and gave us so much confidence as parents. She was so patient and knowledgeable, and professional. We got the latch down and were able to drop the triple feeding routine. Here we are almost a year later still nursing and growing right on track!

Kelly is the best lactation consultant any mama could ask for!!! A week into my breast feeding…read morejourney with my first baby I was ready to give up. (We saw a horrible lactation consultant at Kaiser who made me feel like I was starving my baby and tried to move us to formula immediately.) Thankfully we found Kelly on Yelp and she was able to see us the next day. She listened to my concerns/frustrations with breastfeeding, then watched me nurse my baby and gave such compassionate guidance. She gave me so much confidence!!! Fast forward to today, my baby girl is 9 months old and I am still exclusively breastfeeding!!! Breastfeeding is so much harder than anyone ever told me it was going to be. My recommendation for any first time mama would be to make an appointment with Kelly and get all the support you didn't even know you would need, it makes a world of a difference!