We absolutely loved having Amy's help during my postpartum period. She was so reliable, helpful,…read moreknowledgeable, and a pro. We trusted her wholeheartedly to care for our little newborn. She also was a calming presence that put us at ease from night 1. We appreciated everything she taught us and for the extra sleep she allowed us to get that first month!

We are so lucky to have found Amy to help us with newborn care. From the moment she walked into…read moreour home, she brought with her a calm, grounding presence that made us feel instantly at ease and felt she was trustworthy. Her deep knowledge, gentle guidance, and intuitive understanding of both baby and parent needs were truly invaluable. She was also a wonderful listener, never imposing but always offering thoughtful suggestions and advice that helped us build confidence as new parents. Her ability to soothe and care for our baby was nothing short of magical...our baby loved Amy! Whether it was helping us navigate feeding routines, gassy issues, sleep, or simply reassuring us when we needed it most, she was consistently supportive, respectful, and nurturing. Thanks to her expertise, I was able to find a baby carrier that my baby loved & test out all the different pacifiers she brought with her. We still have her baby-shusher that we use today. Thanks to her, we felt empowered, rested, and much more prepared to care for our little one. We truly can't imagine those early weeks without her, and we recommend her wholeheartedly to any new family seeking compassionate and skilled postpartum care.

Michelle was my birth and evening postpartum doula for the birth of my daughter. Her nurturing wise…read morepresence eased both the UCSF L&D staff, my husband and myself during a most fantastic birthing experience. She knew when I may have pushed pain threshold too far and gently reminded me of alternative pain relief. Not to mention she used a technique called Spinning Babies to bring my daughter out of an awkward position. Once home, she kindly showed me changes in breastfeeding positions to diminish pain, cleaned dishes and watched the baby so I could take time alone. She held space for this incredible time and we love her like family.

As a first time Dad I was not the one doing the hard work, but for all the dad's out there, the…read morewhole process is not, I'll just say, the most straight forward for anyone involved. Going into the process there is so much unknown and so much that makes you unsure. The most important person to be comfortable in my situation was my wife. In order for her to be comfortable it was very important for me to be comfortable. I understand that having a doula is not necessary, but it sure did help me and my family. The preparation conversations we had made the experience digestible. The advocate we had in Michelle during the process was incredible. The support we had post-partum was so helpful. Michelle has done this so many times and is so familiar with everything going on. To have her on your team allows for everyone to be present and just helps so much. Technically: She knows her stuff. For instance, Michelle is trained in baby spinning and to the doctor's surprise we avoided a c-section at the final hour. It was nothing short of a miracle. Personally: Michelle is solid, levelheaded, caring, fun, patient, prepared and will advocate for you when you need it. She has a short questionnaire to get on the same page earlier on in the process and she stands by what you discuss. I can't recommend Michelle enough, and if you would like to discuss further please ask Michelle to put us in touch.

We are so grateful for the day doula support and care that we received from Ludgy during the…read morenewborn stage. She was great with our son and was also very supportive to us as parents with encouragement, guidance, and help throughout the day. Ludgy was also very flexible when needed and definitely brought peace of mind during a time where I felt overwhelmed and in need of rest. We highly recommend Ludgy to any family needing postpartum support.

Ludgy cared for my daughter as a daytime doula from the time she was two months until she started…read moredaycare at four months old. Initially we had only planned on 8 weeks but we extended for another month when we realized the huge value, insight and care she brought to our family. From our initial phone call, she listened to our concerns and challenges and proactively offered tips and advice. She also had alot of great product recommendations to make our lives easier, and even went out of her way to get a secondhand bottle sterilizer from a former client since I was reluctant to spend money on more baby supplies. Ludgy was confident in care and very attentive to my daughter. She played and sang with her, supporting her as she did her first roll at three months old! It was a relief to know that my daughter was in good hands while I rested or did errands. This is my last baby, but if we had another I would definitely want Ludgy to come back! We miss her!!

As first-time parents, we were looking for a postpartum night doula who qualified for Carrot…read morereimbursement and would be a good fit for our family; including our dog. After meeting Arrieanna virtually, we immediately felt comfortable with her. We worked with Arrieanna for the first 12 weeks after our son was born, and her support was invaluable. She provided overnight newborn care, helped with feedings, and offered breastfeeding support, including guidance on latching and reassurance about what was normal. She also taught us practical newborn care skills, such as swaddling and how to use various nursery items we had received as gifts. What stood out most was her kindness, positivity, and communication. Each morning, she provided detailed updates about feedings, diaper changes, and our son's overall disposition, giving us peace of mind. After a C-section and delivery complications, the overnight support allowed my husband and me to get much needed rest and be more present during the day. I highly recommend Arrieanna to any family looking for overnight postpartum support. If you want to prioritize rest and recovery during those early newborn months, Arrieanna is an incredible resource.

I worked with San Mateo Doula for about 6 weeks postpartum. Ari and Jessica were both wonderful…read morewith my son Luca. He was a fussy little guy who was keeping me up all night long. From his first night with Ari and Jessica, he was calm and barely made a peep all night! This put me at such ease. They were understanding and flexible when I was going through numerous bottles and nipples trying to find the right one. Sleep is so important for your postpartum recovery and mental health. I highly recommend anyone who is having a baby to hire a doula even if it's for one night a week. It truly does wonders for your recovery and mental health. Thank you Ari and Jess

Larissa was an amazing postpartum doula for our family. She helped us through 10 weeks of overnight…read morecare after welcoming our second child, our daughter, who came with some medical challenges around feeding. She was knowledgeable, calm, and always kept us informed about how our daughter was doing each night, which meant so much during such a stressful time. She also handled the little things, like washing bottles and pump parts, that made a huge difference while I was recovering. On top of all that, she was reliable, easy to communicate with, and just a genuinely warm presence in our home. We felt completely comfortable with Larissa caring for our newborn and would absolutely use her again. If you're looking for a compassionate, knowledgeable postpartum doula, we can't recommend her enough.

Larissa is a phenomenal doula that I highly recommend. She is very knowledgeable, caring, and…read morefosters a safe and supportive environment. In the short 6 weeks we had together, Larissa successfully started sleep training our baby. By the end of our time together, our baby was sleeping 4-6 hours through the night. We really appreciate how hard she worked for us. She brought us so many baby carriers to try, taught us how to baby wear, gave advice on breast pumps, and even taught us how to give baths and file nails. She is a hard and diligent worker and we appreciate her efforts! She is a wealth of knowledge and I'm always amazed at how much she knows. Larissa was so instrumental in our baby journey that I'm already hoping that she'll be available for my future pregnancies. I only wish that my baby could remember the love, care, and attention she was given by Larissa!

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.

Doula Hanen is a life saver. She provided such good care for our child as well as a lot of training…read morefor us so we are more prepared as first time parents. Just from an educational perspective she provided (not an exhaustive list): CPR training (in home), newborn hygiene care instructions (bathing, changing, nail care, nose care, and baby massage), lactation consulting, burping and gas relief tips and tricks, and bottle-feeding instructions. She also provided lots and advice and encouragement over WhatsApp outside of her working hours. We could tell she really cared about us and our new baby. We would have been lost without her!

Bottom line up front: Book Hanen to look after your newborn overnight for the first month. Right…read morenow. Don't question it, just do it. I had always imagined myself being the kind of mom who'd wear her newborn around while also getting stuff done. I didn't expect having a complicated delivery, losing 2L of blood and having a 3A tear. I came home still pretty weak, and overwhelmed about having a newborn. My husband is a huge help with chores, but he was even more overwhelmed about the baby than me! I'm not used to having people take care of me so wholly, but Hanen is also an L&D nurse at UCSF. She was so warm and reassuring that I didn't have to stress. That I should slow down, eat, sleep, and focus on my recovery. Thanks to her advice and support, I healed from my 3A tear very quickly. And I had more sleep overnight than I'd had for the past 5 years! We had Hanen regularly over 4 weeks, and she really set us up for less stressful nights. At 4.5 weeks, baby started sleeping independently in the crib for 3-4 hour stretches overnight, even with just us. I'm not sure how we could have done that without Hanen's help. After week 5, it didn't feel like we actually needed Hanen's help overnight anymore, which is really a testament to her work! Our daughter also started sleeping through the night with no feeds at 13.5 weeks (and never stopped - she's 4 years old now), and I believe that Hanen set us up to do that effortlessly! Hanen also had lots of great advice about scheduling, diapering, baby health, and things to try when baby was fussy. All of it really helped us for the first 3 weeks when we felt really overwhelmed. That included when my nipples started to crack and bleed from breastfeeding. Hanen quickly set up our breast pump and showed me how to use it, so I could pump while my nipples recovered. It was great to know we had options, and Hanen guided us through that journey. She even helped optimize our nursery setup with the crib and changing table. I've recommended Hanen to multiple local friends and relatives who have had babies recently, and all of them rave about her! She is magic!

Had a great experience with Hope and Isabel! Made our life a lot easier and brought so much care…read moreand love to our little boy and family! Would certainly recommend them to anyone needing doula support!

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.