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.

I had a great experience working with Paula for post-partum doula services. Would highly recommend:…read more- great with my baby, notices everything from reflux to stuffy nose. She made suggestions to make things better but doesn't push (e.g., bottle to use) - excellent communication and reliable. Quick to reply, always on time, she even sends out schedules and reminders so i know when she's coming - care about mom's wellbeing and about giving me enough sleep and proactive with offering suggestions so i can squeeze in more sleep - carrot approved doula which made reimbursements so easy! When carrot required additional non-standard info, she provided it promptly

I had a mixed experience. Overall I felt like my experience with Paula as a birth doula could have…read morebeen better. Pros: -She has years of experience although I do not think she knew the doctor delivering my baby or the nurses on staff -She can encapsulate your placenta so it is one less person to coordinate with. -She is excellent with email and text Summary of my experience: My water broke 2 weeks early so I don't remember getting my second pre-natal session. I was a bit rattled the day my water broke but worked hard to keep my composure began cancelling my appointments (dr appointments, massage, acupuncture, etc). It was 8am and I know Paula is a night owl so I didn't want to wake her just yet. I messaged her at 10am letting her know my water broke and telling her I purposely waited so I didn't wake her up. I'm very sensitive to "bothering" people so I think I wanted her to reply with "no, no, it's not a bother, wake me, I'm here for you" . When I didn't get that, I think my subconscious brain felt like I had to be fully convenient for her. Paula and I went back and forth with scheduling over text to determine when she would meet us at the hospital. After checking in with me in the hospital, she said she would leave and come back when I was in active labor. She left us the TENS unit but did not give us a demonstration or directions on how to use it.In that vulnerable state, a nice gesture like leaving the TENS unit was interpreted by me as "leaving me" because we didn't know how to use the machine. Paula told me to call her when I was in "active labor". Even though I took a birth class, when I was actually going through labor I wasn't paying attention to when I was transitioning into active labor... I was too busy being in labor. Finally, a random nurse who was taking over the break shift for my nurse asked me if I had a doula. When I responded I did, she said, "well, you should call her already". When Paula arrived I was in full blown labor. My eyes were closed and I was concentrating on the contractions. She made three comments right away that threw me off and created uncomfortable feelings in me. The first was asking how my husband was doing in supporting me during my contractions. Going in, I was concerned about how my husband was going to do, however, during actual birth, that's not the time to ask for a critique. This was a time when he and I needed to be completely united. Luckily we were. I felt Paula's comment was divisive even though I'm sure she didn't mean it like that. Next, she told me the TENS unit was on full blast and she lowered it. I didn't respond but in my mind I was upset because I felt like, well, how are we supposed to know how to use it and aren't you supposed to be here? We were doing the best we could. The third comment was her telling me I should have contacted her earlier. A lot happened and happened quickly when she left the hospital. I knew that she had appointments because she told me about her busy day in the morning when we were trying to determine when she'd meet me at the hospital. Again, I'm not one to bother people so I never felt comfortable calling her. I never knew when the "right" time was until a nurse said--CALL. When I was pushing, Paula was holding up my leg. I felt very self-conscious about this, even during the worst part of my pain, because I don't like to burden people. I gained a lot of weight and my legs were swollen and very heavy. Paula mentioned as she was holding my leg that she recently had surgery. My first thought was, "oh no, I don't want to hurt her" and my second thought was "stop thinking about anything other than giving birth". I feel with Paula's years of experience, these kind of comments came as a surprise. Pregnant women are already so hormonal and sensitive why say anything that can be misunderstood? The day after my birth, Paula dropped off the encapsulated placenta. I was grateful she did that so quickly. She asked me how my baby was doing. I started answering her question in detail when she stopped me because she needed to go. She had somewhere to be. On the one hand, I get that she had plans since I delivered early. However, I was also under the impression she did not have a packed life because birth is so unpredictable. I think for future births, it would be helpful for her to have time for them during the days she is in the hospital; especially for first time moms like myself. Paula got very, very busy as soon as I gave birth and it became challenging to schedule a post partum meeting. After Paula rescheduled a bit and delayed reaching out, I finally cancelled just because I was so darn sleepy. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore I was so sleep deprived. So, overall, when hiring a birth doula, you really need to know yourself so you can make sure there is a match.

This review is a bummer to write, but after reading other reviews about communication delays and…read moreissues on the administrative end, it's clear i'm not the only one experiencing this issue and something needs to be seriously addressed. Alicia herself is wonderful, and we used her for placenta encapsulation in 2019. We had an overall good experience, so as we are nearing the birth of our 3rd baby, I reached back out to Alicia as a return client looking for placenta encapsulation again. It took 4 days to get an initial response to my email. Julia (Alicia's assistant) reached out to let me know Alicia is on maternity leave and had a few clarification questions to get the ball rolling with another doula. Unfortunately, I never heard from Julia or anyone else again. I've since left a voicemail and 4 follow-up emails with no response. If Born Doulas is too busy to accept me as a client, I would have appreciated hearing that upfront vs. just ghosting me, especially as a returning client. These types of customer service issues are just unacceptable, and if you are looking for a doula or placenta encapsulation company during the very delicate time of pregnancy and delivery, I recommend looking elsewhere and finding a company that cares about communication.

I can't begin to describe how wonderful, passionate, caring and knowledgeable Alicia is! From the…read morebeginning she guided us during the pregnancy, had many great tips for me, and helped me make my (right) big decisions towards the end. My birth story took longer than we expected, 40+ hours and Alicia was so supportive and strong even till the last seconds, let me correct that, even after the birth! Her stamina throughout the 40+ hours is just amazing! She was always there reassuring me that everything is going well, and making sure I'm hydrated and nourished to go on with the big game. This alone makes me want to tell every women, regardless how supportive your husband is, you still need a doula 100% especially Alicia 10000%! Before and after the birth I had many complications, that caused me to be hospitalized right after my birth, so my newborn was left with my clueless husband and mother. Alicia right away came over and helped them in so many ways, guiding and teaching them how to take care of our baby. She kept checking in on me before and after the birth regarding my condition, and helped me in all kinds of ways, sending over wonderful people to help with my condition, etc. We are eternally grateful to you Alicia! Baby M sending all his love!

Going into my first pregnancy I knew I needed some extra help in addition to having my husband…read morethere. I was going to deliver at Kaiser and knew I wanted an experienced Doula that could be with me from start to finish. Felissa was just that and more! My husband and I felt very comfortable with Felissa from the first time we met her she's very sweet and motherly but also very motivating which is very comforting when you're in a lot of pain! The warming pad, tens unit and massages she did on my back were amazing during the contractions. She was also very helpful in helping us make decisions during labor and letting us know what the Doctors were doing. This definitely helped us feel a whole lot better during some important decisions. I highly recommend Felissa, she's very knowledgeable in what she does and is a great support to have during the most important thing a woman has to do.

Simply Amazing! Felissa is the perfect 10 "doula" for the birth of our child. We delivered our baby…read morein Kaiser Redwood City and she was extremely phenomenal in guiding us through the labor and birthing process. With her amazing support, we count ourselves fortunate to have a healthy delivery with 100% natural child birth. No IV line, no blood test, No Pitocin, No pain medication, No intervention whatsoever. In the two pre-natal visits, she gave us great tips and demonstrated various exercises such as pelvic rocking, squatting, and Kegel exercises to help prepare the mother physically and emotionally. When my water broke and my labor started (around 12:45 AM) , she picked up her phone instantly offering us guidelines on what to expect and guiding us through the process. She helped us during our 10+ hours labor. We used her TENTS unit for helping to alleviate the pain and many hot water showers sessions. We did a lot of walking, squatting, all-four position and many others to help progress the labor. We read the two books "Ina May Gaskin's guide to Natural Childbirth" and "The Bradley Natural Childbirth". She helped complement our knowledge with practical information from her wealth of experience. We are so lucky to have her as our doula and we are forever grateful for her patience, support, and compassion in helping us deliver our baby healthily and naturally.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, Wendy and Kersti have changed my life. There's no other way I…read moreknow how to put it. I went into this pregnancy not knowing anything about pregnancy nor birth. I mean that - I'd never even held a baby before, and I'm in my thirties! I was nervous and knew I needed guidance. A close friend of mine referred them to me after she had her own positive experience delivering her first baby at the hospital (without an epidural). A delivery without an epidural sounded like a good idea, and if my friend can do it with their help, I felt SO COULD I! So I scheduled to meet them in person, and then Googled the definition of a doula because that's how foreign the birth world was to me. Fast forward to today, I am 3 months postpartum, and incredibly grateful to have had Wendy and Kersti there for me, as a first time mom home birth. They prepared me, a total pregnancy/birth newbie, to having a home birth! They are supportive with whatever birth plan you decide and will provide tons of resources and information to help you make an informed decision, on whatever you feel comfortable with. I appreciated that they are well balanced, and will present evidence based research, as well as speak from their own experiences, but never pushing their opinions upon you. After months of research, I made the decision to go forward with a home birth and it was the most magical experience of my life. It was relaxing, calm, stress-free, and I felt SO supported throughout my entire pregnancy journey, after birth, and ESPECIALLY during labor. Wendy was present during my labor. When she arrived it was like my guardian angel had arrived, and I was so happy to see her. She had lavender essential oils and her hands worked magic on me during the most intense contractions. The back massages helped me Soooo much and she did it for hours. She not only supported me, but also my husband, and she knew just what to say to keep me positive and relaxed, and knew how to direct my husband to help. She also took photos throughout the labor. It all happened so fast, so it was so fun to have photos to go back and relive the moments. I will cherish these photos forever. Thank you Wendy and Kersti for helping bring my baby boy to this world. I know without a doubt that I'd like them to be my doulas again for my future baby.

There are so many glowing reviews on here, but I feel like I have to add to the collection because…read moremy experience with Wendy and Kersti was truly life-changing. I am SO GRATEFUL for these two ladies that I just have to share my story!! We didn't hire a doula with our first child, who is now approaching his second birthday. My goal was to have an unmedicated birth and although I succeeded, the entire experience left me absolutely traumatized and panicked at the idea of having to ever go through that again. When we found out we were pregnant with our second child, I was so fearful about the birth I couldn't even speak about it without tearing up and feeling anxious all over. I had a hard time even getting excited about the pregnancy because it meant I had to give birth again, and I was terrified. This led my husband and I to being a search for a doula. My goal was once again to have an unmedicated birth, but I felt incapable of doing that without something being drastically different. Enter Wendy and Kersti. We met with this mother/daughter team over coffee and I quickly fell in love with them. Kersti had the recent experience of having given birth "without fear" herself and Wendy had this amazing mix of strength and confidence in her tone alongside a spirit of gentleness. We had met with a few other doulas in our search, but I constantly felt like they were all too soft-spoken/comforting/gentle and I needed someone a bit more direct alongside those qualities. Wendy was JUST that. :) We counted the cost as if it were a part of the hospital bill, because we knew to have the birth we wanted, it would require an investment. IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY!! Over the course of the next few months, we developed a great relationship with Wendy and Kersti. They answered all of our questions with evidence-based research that consistently put my mind at ease. They also gave me a lot of natural methods to prepare both my mind and my body for birth. It took a few months, but through conversations with th, I started to feel more confident and prepared for birth. THEN THE BIG DAY CAME! :) I started having contractions one morning about 12-15 minutes apart and that went on all day. They were mild and I wasn't sure if it was labor or not (my first child was induced), so I stayed in constant text/phone communication with Wendy throughout the day. Finally, when they started getting closer at around 3:30pm, we headed to the hospital and met Wendy in the parking lot. I can't even express to you the relief that washed over me seeing her face. This amazing woman, who had been coaching me for months, met me with a smile and confidence in that parking lot as we walked into the hospital -- almost like we were ready for the big game. We checked in and she immediately started diffusing essential oils, helping me get comfortable, massaging my feet, turning on music and fielding questions from the nurses as I went through contraction after contraction. My contractions were intensifying quickly and Wendy was RIGHT there every second of the way, offering new positions, ideas, distractions and support to keep me going. She knew exactly when she needed to intercede to help me more and when she needed to take a back seat and support my husband Dan as he came alongside me. Within 2.5 hours, I went from 4.5 centimeters to holding my sweet baby boy in my arms. I can confidently say that my birth was beautiful -- something I felt like I would never be able to say and something I contribute HUGELY to this team of incredible women. I am positive the reason I progressed so quickly and smoothly was because I felt relaxed, supported, confident and READY to deliver my baby. After feeling nothing but panic, dread and fear with my first birth, this was life-changing for me. I felt IN CONTROL and SUPPORTED my entire labor and knew I was capable of delivering my baby boy--who ended up being 9 lbs and 3 oz! We also have incredible photos of some special moments during the birth, thanks to Wendy. Whew! So much to say, and I could say more!! All that to express to you that these women are worth gold. If you are hoping to have a positive birth experience and especially if you want to do it medication-free, I would say with confidence HIRE WENDY & KERSTI! We will definitely be using them again with future kiddos! :)

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.

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.

Patricia was not my doula; but I wanted a consultation with her to possibly become my birthing…read moredoula. Her CV appeared impressive, she holds a DONA certification, which is why I emailed via Yelp and her website to set a consultation up....never received a reply. Ended up going with someone who was prompt and responsive.

Patricia's birth doula services is comparable to an exclusive wedding venue. You need to book her…read morein advance. Her services are invaluable and worth every penny. She'll tell you that and her clients will tell you the same. She backs up her years of experience as a birth doula and in those years she has made valuable connections with other people who strive to help provide services and support for natural unmedicated births. Patricia was referred to us by a midwife in the East bay. We interviewed her along with several other doulas and she was down to earth and straightforward. Don't let her website throw you off, she doesn't need to fancy it up. Her experience speaks for itself. Consider yourself being lucky if she chooses to offer her services to you as she prefers only select hospitals that welcome natural births. While she's all about coaching for a natural unmedicated birth, she does not push in that direction if you don't believe in it. She wants you to believe in what you're asking for and do the research on your own. If you believe what your needs are she will help advocate those needs, especially if you're giving birth in a hospital. While the mom is laboring in pain and the dad is watching aimlessly, she's there whispering in the mom's ears what to say to the nurse and doctors that come in insisting on routine checks or procedures that are really not needed but sounds like they are required through their tone. With her help and some luck my wife had a wonderful birth story. My wife only labored for one hour at the hospital and the baby was out in two pushes all in five minutes. She helped my wife labor at home for three hours and knew when it was time to go in. Patricia helped coach her during the months leading up to the day and then through her whole laboring period at home and at the hospital. If you're seeking a natural unmedicated birth, hiring Patricia would be an invaluable investment.

I had such a fantastic experience with Perizat as my doula for my second birth, I wish I had her at…read moremy first! If we have a third, I'll call on her again. Why? She is so in tune with and respectful of the birth process, you can tell she desires for the mother to have as positive and experience as possible. She was attentive to spoken and unspoken needs, was hands on when I needed it, and made me feel cared for during the entire process. Some ways in which she went above and beyond: At 36weeks she came over to practice pain relief methods and prep me with an arsenal of birth positions. When I went into labor she beat me to the hospital despite living farther away, brought snacks, helped me decide on some medical decisions IRL. She visited with me multiple times before and after the birth, brought my family a delicious homemade postpartum meal, and followed up multiple times after the birth to make sure I had everything I needed. What a gem of a human being. My first birth doula was extremely transactional..conversely, Perizat is warm hearted, generous, kind, and a rockstar in the delivery room. Thank you Perizat for supporting my positive birth experience!

I highly recommend Perizat as your birth doula. On a last minute last ditch effort, my husband and…read moreI sought to put out inquiries for a birth doula just days before our baby was born. Unexpectedly, Perizat was available to meet with me that same day. The following day, she kindly offered to take me out on a stroll around the neighborhood to help progress things into active labor. Amazingly, real labor did start up not even a couple hours later. At the hospital, she was observant about various many details such as providing massage, checking in with me about different laboring positions we had discussed about and helping me transition to each, supporting my husband and providing informed decision making with the healthcare team about my disposition and course of action. I am so grateful we met and her simple acts of support were so very thoughtful throughout the pregnancy and labor during the short time we've known each other. She is very in tune as a doula and has an authentic simple and kind disposition without all the bells and whistles. She even kindly took photographs of the labor and birth of our baby which we would have something to look back on in years to come! You will feel so greatly supported by having Perizat at your side, and I would recommend her to anyone seeking a doula. Do yourself a favor and reach out to Perizat and you will be in good hands with all the expertise from her own professional and personal experiences!