Casey is something special. I've called on her when I needed help, processing and general guidance…read moreon what this big world is. She's not fluffy, she's not too ethereal, she's a modern woman's support system. She's kind and helpful and open. Each time I connect with Casey, I know it won't be the last. If you're on the fence, reach out and schedule time with her but I deeply suggest doing a natal chart reading to get your bearings. Thank you Casey!

So much care put into my session with Casey. She was so attentive and compassionate. I had a failed…read moreembryo transfer last year and am preparing for another in the coming months and reached out to Casey per recommendation from a friend and I am so glad that I did! She walked me through benefits of different herbs specific to my situation. She listened and took the time to hear me out. So much was included within the session I had which was a Guided Healing Chakra Alignment. She had me lay under a warm red light on my belly for a few minutes, did a reading based on my birth info then prepped the herb to steam. The yoni steam with the sound bath was absolutely beautiful. An experience that requires openness and encouraged me to connect with my own self. She then did an oracle reading. I felt cared for and supported. Afterwards she provided a detailed summary of all that we discussed and things she'd recommend to support me on my journey outside of the reading. Loved that I had something to reference afterwards to recall some great nuggets we discussed in person. 10 out of 10 highly recommend!

Abbie was everything I was looking for in a doula: knowledgeable, responsive, and calm. My birth…read moredidn't go quite as planned and Abbie was there to help at every turn. As a first time mom, I was very happy to have a doula and I would recommend Abbie as your doula 100%.

Best Doula ever!! Sorry for such a late review... We were due with our second one in November. I…read morecontacted Abbie somewhere around July 2021. And she immediately replied back when I told her I really really really want to go for a VBAC after a very traumatic c-section with my first born. Abbie gave me the dates when she can come over to our house and discuss everything about our past birth experiences and future plans for this new birth and baby. VBAC was something I have been dreaming all these years as my c-section recovery was too much for my body and it didn't let me bond with my baby. I told abbie everything and she supported me and my decisions from the first day we met till the day we bid goodbyes to each other. She taught so many ways, exercises and labor positions to cope with everything related to birth especially a VBAC birth. She gave us so many resources about what to expect for our labor, birth, baby and even breastfeeding. The best part was that she was so accommodating and friendly that her presence never felt like a stranger or a new person, but rather it felt like I knew her for so long. We had to change the location of our birth in the last moment after my water broke, because the hospital we chose was over-booked, she never even flinched about that change and went ahead with whatever was needed in that moment because I felt that for her my needs and my mental health and support was most important in that moment. So if you want an experienced, patient, extremely supportive and gentle doula who will listen to you, suggest you what and how you can do things right and who is very resourceful, hire Abbie right away!!

I have received multiple massages from Gracie during pregnancy and postpartum and they have all…read morebeen fabulous. Especially when I was 9 months pregnant, she did a fantastic job making sure I felt comfortable and helping relieving the physical pain of the third trimester. During postpartum, I have received a couple of massages for back pain related to breastfeeding and I always leave feeling rejuvenated and more aligned. Highly recommend

I reached out to Brilliant Births to find a birth doula. They offer a matching service and…read moreconnected me to 3 doulas who work independently (not employees of BB). We were really fortunate to find our birth doula (who we love!), but the other 2 candidates were not very impressive. The first doula missed our appointment with no follow-up communication. We were initially confused and thought she was the coordinator for BB, because she only communicated by text. The actual meeting was just by telephone so there was no face-to-face interaction, which felt strange. We could've easily FaceTimed or Zoomed. So communication and reliability were not great. The second doula abruptly canceled our half-hour appointment when we were 10 minutes late for a 30-minute appointment due to my husband wrapping up a Zoom meeting. During our appointment time, she was responding to my emails (in which I apologized for being late), but insisted she could no longer meet with us. I thought this was a really bad sign about what she would be like to work with - labor and delivery is rarely precisely timed and some flexibility is needed. In addition, her email said that she lives in Portola Valley, but we live Berkeley (also where Brilliant Births is located). This also struck me as strange, because it would take 1.5 hours for her to arrive to meet us at the hospital, which is not ideal.

We had a wonderful experience with Brenda. She came to meet us before the baby was born, which was…read morereally helpful and gave us a chance to get comfortable with each other beforehand. Once the baby arrived, she was incredibly helpful, especially with tips and guidance on how to soothe him and help him get to sleep. She was so kind, gentle, and caring with our baby, and it was such a pleasure to have her with us during these first days. We're very grateful for all her help and would absolutely recommend her!

We had an outstanding experience with DOULAS by the BAY. They matched us with Mary Ann Cherie…read moreWolowski, who was with our family for the first eight weeks after our baby was born. She started right on the day after delivery while we were still at the hospital. This was incredibly helpful because it allowed my partner to focus on caring for our toddler while I recovered from my C-section and bonded with our newborn. Mary Ann was exceptional in every aspect of newborn and postpartum care. With her background as RN and an experienced nanny, she confidently took charge from day one. She handled everything--from swaddling and keeping the baby on a feeding schedule to making sure I stayed on track with pumping. She always had my pump parts cleaned, sterilized, and ready to use, which made those early weeks so much easier. She also gave me invaluable breastfeeding support. Thanks to her guidance, I established a full milk supply within just three days of my C-section, and I'm still successfully breastfeeding. She also referred us to an amazing lactation consultant who was an absolute game changer. Mary Ann was meticulous about everything baby-related and followed best practices in every detail. Her logging and tracking were incredibly thorough, giving us complete peace of mind. She was professional, respectful, organized, and kept everything spotless. The greatest gift she gave our family was rest. There were moments when it almost felt unreal how much recovery time my partner and I were able to get because we trusted her completely. She would even bring me a glass of iced water wherever I was--a small act of kindness that made a huge difference in my recovery. Because she took care of so much, I was able to focus on postpartum healing and even carve out time for simple self-care, like getting a haircut. Although her primary responsibility was caring for our newborn, she also formed a wonderful bond with our toddler and always made him feel included. She consistently went above and beyond by helping keep our home clean, making countless trips up and down the stairs without ever complaining, and never leaving before everything was tidied up--even if it meant staying a little past the end of her shift. We're incredibly grateful to Doulas by the Bay for matching us with someone who fit our family so perfectly. The agency made the process smooth, and Mary Ann exceeded every expectation we had. We wholeheartedly recommend Doulas by the Bay to any family looking for expert postpartum support. They gave us the gift of rest, confidence, and a much smoother transition into life as a family of four.

Tamra was nothing short of incredible and to be honest felt life saving. Having her during the…read morefirst nights of bringing my first child home helped our family get into a healthy feeding/sleeping routine for the baby and ourselves. She is knowledgeable, kind, fun and really helped to ease a lot of the stress I had with being a ftm. She helped my BF journey and was there to provide incredible support and guidance. Having her was truly a gift for my son but also for my mental health. I throughly enjoyed having her with us during the night feedings and she deeply understands how to connect to you during this very interesting chapter of life. , Tamra made everything feel as if I was on a team rather being alone in the night trying to look up suggestions on anything and everything related to a newborn. Tamra is/was a game changer for my whole family. We cannot thank you enough and will forever be grateful!

Tamra is literally the BEST with our baby. There is no one else I would reccomend higher and would…read morework with her 100000x again. She truly was a blessing to our family and I happily woudl be a referral for anyone interested in working with her. Our daughter absolutely loved her!

I highly recommend Khatherine of Duyan Care! She was the first night doula we've ever worked with,…read moreand immediately put us at ease with her friendly, professional and knowledgeable demeanor. Khatherine took incredible care of our son for three weeks and also helped with breastfeeding tips as we'd been having a lot of trouble with our baby's latch; despite working with multiple lactation consultants, it wasn't until Khatherine observed and provided some helpful feedback that my latch drastically improved and pain subsided almost immediately. Khatherine was gentle and calm with our son, and treated our entire household with care and respect. She would wash our bottles, fold any laundry, leave our space tidy and provide in-depth notes on her night shift which provided invaluable information. It was evident she is passionate about her job and truly cares about the babies and families that she works with.

We cannot recommend Rita M. highly enough! She was our night nurse for first born and was with us…read moreon our very first night home from the hospital. As first time parents, we were learning as we went, but Rita immediately brought a sense of calm into our home. From night one, Rita was warm, attentive, and genuinely listened to every one of our needs and concerns. She quickly felt like a member of our family. She actually held our baby for the majority of the night, which, to us, was truly above and beyond. This allowed us to get much needed rest and gave us complete peace of mind, knowing he was in the best hands. Those first six weeks with Rita were invaluable. As a first time mom, I was truly able to rest because I completely trusted her. She was also incredibly knowledgeable and supportive with breastfeeding, pumping, and storing and freezing breast milk, answering all of my questions with patience and encouragement. What really set Rita apart was how much she cared beyond her basic responsibilities. Without us even asking, she took the time to read the instruction manuals for the bottles we were using and our baby carrier to make sure we were using everything correctly. As new parents, those extra "gut checks" gave us so much confidence and reassurance. Rita didn't just care for our baby, she cared for our entire family. She educated us, supported us, and helped us build confidence as new parents. Even now, we still keep in touch with Rita and send her updates on our little guy. We truly feel like we've made a lifelong friend. Rita M is compassionate, knowledgeable, dependable, and an absolute gift to any family lucky enough to work with her.

Lisa has helped me tremendously. She provides relevant info to the specific problem. She helped…read moreme write a birthplan, which Kaiser sort of followed. Breastfeeding was a disaster, from my low milk supply, baby being tongue tied, mastitis, the wrong size flanges for the breast pump that Kaiser gave me. Lisa helped me with homeopathic remedies, support, and information about medications that others have found useful (she does not prescribe or give specific medication dosing advice for prescribed medications). I don't know that I will be able to breastfeed, but it isn't for lack of trying, and Lisa made me feel better, that I have done everything humanly possible and if I can't it's not because I didn't give it my all. I highly recommend using her service. She is responsive, kind, reassuring, and just a lovely person who wants you and your baby to be healthy and strong. She loves babies and respects mamas. What could be better?

If you are wanting to hire a doula or have extra support, definitely hire Lisa. When my husband…read moreand I found out we were pregnant, I knew I wanted to have a doula assist with the birth. I also knew that I wanted to have a natural birth and that doulas could be a great assistance in reaching this goal. I spent a lot of time emailing doulas, a lot of them. Lisa was only one of a couple I heard back from. She responded promptly and was willing to work around our busy/late night schedule to set up an interview. Once we interviewed, I knew that I wanted to hire her. My husband was more apprehensive and had difficulty spending the money when he felt he would be helpful and not need a doula. However, he knew how much it meant to me and went with it. Throughout the pregnancy, we received so much useful information from Lisa. Any questions I had, she was always available to answer them. Towards the end of my pregnancy I had high blood pressure and my doctor wanted to induce me because of concerns regarding my blood pressure. I knew that it would be very difficult to have a natural birth with being induced but felt confident that given the support, I would be able to do it. I ended up having three different types of inducement measures, cervidil, a balloon, and pitocin. My labor was incredibly difficult, with a recommendation of an epidural discussed twice and a c-section discussed once. Lisa saved me from having to have any of this done. She suggested two specific positions to utilize while having contractions that are never done in hospitals. My doctor worked with Lisa and was willing to have Lisa try them with me. These positions saved me from having a c-section and made my goal of having a natural birth possible. She was not only available and there for me during my pregnancy and labor & delivery but afterwards as well. I have asked so many questions regarding breastfeeding and other things and she has always been available for me. She responds promptly to me and is constantly checking in on me (my baby was born 8 days ago). I cannot say enough positive things about Lisa. Hire her as your doula, it will be the best decision you can make. Following the delivery, my somewhat skeptical husband prior to labor and delivery said that it was worth all of the money we spent. He said hiring Lisa was one of the best decisions we made during this process. That, to me, says it all. Hire Lisa.

I chose to hire midwives for a homebirth out of a desire to have a different experience. Being my…read more5th baby, I wanted to experience complete peace and say in how I would labor. Having midwives who cared, who saw me & had my best interest in the process and outcome. My experience with both Angela & Kathryn was truly a pleasant one. I am happy to have found them. Very down to earth mamas themselves. Passionate about what they do to serve women through their whole pregnancy journey. During labor I was able to experience how important it is to have midwifery care. At one point just having Kathryn's presence during those intense contractions was such a relief. To know they were walking this with me. Their knowledge and experience were a tremendous help in my journey. It's definitely at a different level than I've experienced before. Just having any concern be truly heard, the conversations were up-lifting. Never felt rushed or dismissed. I felt safe physically as well. I just loved being taken care of by Angela & Kathryn. My mind set coming in was I wanted to experience a more wholesome if I can say that... a wholesome labor experience. One where my wishes and needs were heard and followed through. Angela & Kathryn were great at giving me my options, letting me know the risks, the pros, the cons, etc. and being knowledgeable and understanding. Oh I want every pregnant mama friend to know they can go through pregnancy & delivery without fear. Whether that's at home or hospital with the right midwives/ doulas with you. That this special time is worth making the choice to hire them. I wish I would have hired them sooner to be able to have them since the beginning of my pregnancy! I love that they continue to invest and keep learning to better serve. They both have something to offer and together they make the perfect duo. ----

I had a terrible experience with my first birth in the hospital with standard care. I wanted to be…read morein the care of someone that aligned with what I wanted and believed in. Angela, was wonderful, warm, welcoming and caring. She encouraged me and gave advice that was so helpful! I wouldn't be where I'm at in my mom journey without her! Every time I met Angela was important to me, it was like meeting with an old friend or sister. I was especially thankful for the advice for the breastfeeding book she recommended-that was life-changing. My time in the hospital visits were stressful and traumatic, so, the hands-on care that was provided was a breath of fresh air. I felt heard and seen. Even when I had to go to the hospital, Angela was an advocate by my side. Her advice and visits during the postpartum phase were wonderful as well. I felt like Angela took the time to care for me AND my baby. With midwifery care, the baby is a patient as well. There is less unnecessary poking and prodding and much more love and attention. With the standard care given by doctors, they are often cold and even demeaning. They look at things backwards and always act as if you or your baby is sick and dying until proven otherwise. I wasn't able to have a home birth, but still had a vbac in the hospital, I didn't give up and I found strength and resilience that I didn't have previously. I was able to really listen to my body and do what I and baby needed.

I cannot say enough good things about Kathy and the wonderful service she provides to all of her…read moreclients and babies. She is incredibly loving, supportive, and empathetic to new mamas and will take incredible care of you and your baby. Kathy was with us with our first child and does everything she possibly can to support families. She also goes above and beyond by doing extras during the night - washing dishes, doing laundry, and generally cleaning up. It's like you wake up in the morning and a magical elf has been to your house. She is also a certified lactation consultant and can support breastfeeding mamas.

Wow, where do I begin? Hiring Kathy was the best decision I could have made as a new mom. She…read morestarted working for us the very first night we brought our son home from the hospital and stayed for about 12 weeks. She clearly LOVES babies, and we felt so comfortable leaving our son with her. Kathy also has a very empathetic nature. It's easy to talk to her, she listens carefully, and has a warm and loving energy about her. Besides just taking care of the baby at night, we also had great little chats each evening. When I was waking up to breastfeed those first few weeks, she focused on also taking care of me by bringing me water and snacks. Being a new mom can be overwhelming and exhausting...it was so nice to feel like I was being taken care of those nights. She also likes to keep busy when baby sleeps and helps with cleaning dishes, bottles, laundry and doing research for you on any topics you are interested in. My husband also loved her...so much that we extended our nights per week with her soon after she started. I so very much looked forward to every evening she came over and was basically in tears on her last night with us. She was such a help in those first few months, I can't imagine what the experience would have been like without her. I know for certain that if we do have another child Kathy will be our first phone call!

We feel extremely fortunate that we got to have Keelia help us settle into being a family of four…read more She was a consistently warm and caring presence, not just for our new baby but for all four of us. And she has a special knack for just finding ways to be helpful even if we're frazzled and don't know what to ask. She's also very thoughtful about providing advice--in addition to answering whatever random questions we have, she gently offers advice without it ever feeling like she's forcing it on us or it feeling overly didactic. We could go on about how great she is, but the long and short of it is that she's amazing at what she does.

I am certain that my experience with Keelia made THE difference in achieving the birth of my…read moredaughter the ways that I wanted it- delaying at home for as long as possible, no pain meds and a positive, empowered experience. My biggest fears were my low pain tolerance and lack of control over knowing exactly how it would go. Shortly before our due date, Keelia came over to review our birth plan and a timeline of what to expect for pre-labor, active labor, travel to the birth center, transition, and delivery. She made sure we practiced comfort measures, breathing and how I wanted to be supported verbally. It wasn't until the last moments with Keelia where she looked me in the eye and said I was ready, that I actually felt prepared to go into labor and meet my daughter. 2 days later, my water broke in the middle of the night. For the next 44 hours of contractions, naps, two car rides up to the birth center, a traumatic cervical check on day one to then be sent back home, many walks around the neighborhood, yoga ball bouncing, 1 game of Monopoly, snacks, massages, and support - Keelia was at our beck and call. By the time we got to the birth center (again) on day 2 after 36 hours, I was only at 1cm and 50% effaced. Keelia helped me calm down from exhausition and frustration at this news, and we made a plan to get misoprostol to thin my cervix but hopefully proceed with no other interventions. Miraculously, Ava was born 7 hours later. Keelia coached me through contractions which came back to back for hours, waved lavendar oil in front of my face for nausea, massaged my back, covered the clock when she noticed it stressing me out, got me into the shower with Joe when I hit the wall of transition, and helped me breathe through pushing - 3 contractions! She reassured me every step of the way - calmly & knowing I could do it at all moments. In this amazing doula's hands, I felt loved, safe, and supported. Thank you, Keelia.