I would like to wholeheartedly recommend Rotem Perleson, whom I contacted about a week ago for…read morebreastfeeding advice and had an amazing experience with. Who accompanied me for several consecutive days and helped me and my daughter in an amazing way! In addition to the long support with messages and her incredible care that was felt at every moment, she came to visit us and gave me tools that I feel have changed the entire course of our day for the better. So if you are looking for someone who is tolerant, professional and supportive to help you strengthen your connection to breastfeeding and your baby From my personal experience, Rotem is the address!

* The best decision we made for our little one! *…read more As first-time parents, we were recommended Rotem by someone we trust--and working with her was truly an incredible experience. Simply put, she is phenomenal: deeply knowledgeable and experienced, compassionate, friendly, proactive, and endlessly supportive. I could go on and on. Rotem first visited us at the hospital, where her guidance was far more helpful and reassuring than what we received from the staff. She then continued supporting us once we were home, visiting multiple times a week during our baby's first month. She helped us learn what to do, supported us emotionally, and set clear expectations for what to expect--every step of the way. We are forever grateful to Rotem for the care and confidence she gave us during such an important time, and she has our highest possible recommendation.

Ilanit was great with helping latch my newborn and she was covered by insurance. I would recommend…read moreher to any new mother.

After meeting with 3 different lactation consultants at the hospital and numerous nurses that also…read moregave advice and tips, both my husband and I found Ilanit to be the most helpful. She looked at what I had been doing and quickly offered advice on small tweaks that made a world of difference and helped evolve nursing into something I sometimes dreaded to something that is no longer painful. She also shared lots of information about breast care as well as how to know baby is nursing well, etc. she's even still continued to answer many of my questions via email and text and has been a lifesaver! I highly recommend Ilanit and it's awesome that she'll come to you so you can learn how to best breastfeed in your own environment.

I did one prenatal and one postnatal session with Rafaela. She traveled to my home in Sunnyvale for…read moreboth sessions. - Rafaela helped me so much during my prenatal session. I was so scared regarding breast feeding but she was so kind and patient with me and my husband that my fears have greatly subsided. She taught me about feeding cues and feeding positions. - Rafaela was so helpful during the postnatal session as well. We had lot of questions regarding latch quality, milk supply, indigestion and gas within the newborn, feeding duration, pumping and when to introduce bottle as well as helped me find the right size for my breast pump. She patiently explained every aspect of it. I would highly recommend working with Rafaela. I have done many breastfeeding classes as well as met a lactation consultant at the hospital but Rafaela is miles and leagues better than all of them. I'm exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) and it's a very difficult journey but Rafaela made that journey much more easier for me and also helped me continue with my EBF journey. It is great to have someone whose an active listener who calmly addresses your concerns and really supports you on your breast feeding journey.

Rafaela is very kind and considerate person. She is very knowledgeable. Her calming presence can…read morehelp immensely with any difficult lactation situation. I wish her all the best.

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!!

My last review was removed because I didn't provide enough "details" about my experience employing…read moreMelissa Dean as my midwife. So Yelp reviews have set standards in terms of the number of details you must leave now? Let me give you more details. These are my OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. DO NOT REMOVE THIS REVIEW. 1. Melissa was busy with other births all scheduled around the same time as mine. There ain't no way of scheduling your birth to be when someone else's birth isn't. FYI - it's her and Ricki. That's it. So when you in the middle of a 48hr labor and Melissa's been gone for 12hrs since you crawled on your hands and knees into SCVMC. Just realize that things could have gone differently. 2. If your baby has any number of problems that could be detected with modern tech, she cannot help you with that. She'll put you in touch with other facilities for ultrasounds etc. (all extra costs) but that should be a red flag. She really ain't scientifically or medically equipped to make decisions for you or your baby. All of your visits will be soothing and cozy. But your just paying for nothing more than contact with someone who has delivered babies away from hospitals. That's great. But sometimes problems can be prevented. 3. You will be charged the full amount no matter whether or not she does anything at all when you deliver apart from direct you to SCVMC hospital. 4. If you end up needing to go to the hospital she will ask you to drive yourself to SCVMC. And by the way, there are some really smart and talented medical staff there. In the end I owe them my life. But, are there also some not so great staff there? Most definitely, in my opinion. Will you have any idea who will be there? No. The doctors will also tell you point blank that you were naive (that's the nicest way I can think of describing what I was told by multiple nurses and doctors) to put your trust in a midwife like Melissa Dean. Hopefully you don't pay for that decision with your baby's or your own life. You won't need to be told that, you'll get that exact vibe from everyone there the minute she walks in. 5. If you end up at SCVMC, and there's a bed available for you after a few hours, and you get a doctor who isn't completely disgusted with you that you endangered your own life and the baby and now you're there begging for your life to saved.... *If* that happens, and if it does happen, and you're lucky to get away with your health and the baby's health. That's awesome. But if like me, you could be separated from your baby for a week because you almost died (doctor's words not mine) and your baby is on a ventilator in the NICU as a direct result of the trauma caused from not seeing a doctor earlier. 6. Finally, you'll have paid Melissa Dean and you will have to pay her 100% of her costs. But you should budget and figure out whether your insurance is accepted at SCVMC and what your costs will be for delivering there. It might be best if you don't have insurance because it is a teaching hospital and as far one of the doctors told me they won't turn away patients in need regardless of if they have insurance or not. How the bills work out afterward for everyone, I have no idea. But the bills I got from an emergency C section and a week in the NICU were, as you can imagine, astronomical. Why two stars and not one? Because she doesn't mean any harm and she's a nice person who believes what she's doing is a great service to people who want to deliver at home or with a midwife at a birthing center. But that's not always the case. My point in leaving a "review" that gives a different side to the one that Melissa Dean tells you is so that you can be informed and ask questions. Don't go into this process without having some sort of check on the facts of what you're getting yourself into. With hindsight, if I was to give advice and you really want to deliver at home, don't be afraid of it. But also have a plan B organized. And that means having a doctor that supports your decision and also can provide you with immediate care and deliver your baby for you at a moments notice. Check in with that doctor regularly. Ultimately I blame myself for not preparing in this way for my delivery. A doctor that can tell you it's okay for Melissa Dean to leave now and he/she can take over. And does that have enough detail? Or Will Melissa Dean complain again and have the review taken down again?

I had been hoping to have a home birth for a really long time, so when I got pregnant, I knew I…read morewanted to find a midwife who would help facilitate that. After our initial interview with Melissa and her assistant Ricki, my husband and I really liked them and felt like they would be a great fit for my pregnancy. My husband is fairly skeptical of any kind of hippy, holistic medicine, but Melissa was great at balancing the holistic and scientific sides of midwifery, and I really appreciated that she never pushed me to try any of the more woo-woo aspects that can come up with a home birth (such as anything to do with the placenta that didn't involve disposing of it as medical waste or telling me that I need to eat any kind of specific diet or buy expensive products). All throughout my pregnancy, Melissa and Ricki were super supportive and answered all my questions really clearly and provided so much reassurance when I started feeling anxious. They were great about responding to texts and emails, and provided me with great care. I really liked having one hour appointments, so I had time to chat with them and get all my questions answered. I was able to get all the standard testing done through their office; Ricki drew my blood to get genetic testing done at 13 weeks at my regular appointment, and when it came time to do the gestational diabetes test, they sent me out to eat pancakes before they drew blood at my appointment - no nasty orange sugar drink for me! When we were nearing the end of my pregnancy, they visited my house to help us figure out the best place to set up their inflatable birthing pool, and answered all our questions about what it would look like when I went into labor. When my baby was overdue and then my water broke but labor didn't start, they gave me suggestions for how to try to naturally induce labor, and checked in with me every day to see how things were going and listen to the baby to make sure we were both staying healthy while we waited for labor. Unfortunately, none of that worked, I ended up having to be induced at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, but I was so thankful to have them on my side. They were there with me when we checked in at the hospital and prepared us for what the medical team was going to do to get labor going. Ricki was there to support us when my contractions were getting really strong, and Melissa made sure I only had the best doctors checking in on me. When my labor didn't progress as quickly as we were hoping, Melissa was there to answer all our questions about when they would start talking about c-sections and what that experience would be like. She was so supportive and caring as I watched all my birthing hopes and plans went right out the window. Perhaps the most important thing Melissa did, though, was to make sure my baby was able to start nursing as soon as possible. She checked on him in the nursery and told the nurses that they needed to give him to me right away to nurse. She then came and helped him latch on and showed me how to hold him and get him situated so I could do it on my own later. We have had so many friends who did not have that advocacy after their births who really struggled to breastfeed their babies, and I am so so thankful that Melissa was there to make sure we didn't miss the window to feed in the first hour. My baby has been a champion breastfeeder ever since, and we had so many fewer struggles in that regard. I also really appreciated that we had Melissa and Ricki to check in on us in the days and weeks post-partum. They texted, called, and visited us at the hospital and at home to see how we were doing and to answer any questions. I really feel like they helped get us off on the right foot, and I would absolutely use them again to try for an at home VBAC.

Hiring Karina was the best decision I made for my postpartum experience. After the birth of my…read morefirst child, she was by my side for 11 weeks -- and I truly could not have navigated that season without her. As a doula, nurse, and lactation consultant, Karina brings a rare depth of knowledge that immediately put me at ease as a first-time parent. But beyond her credentials, she is one of the warmest, most trustworthy people I've ever met -- someone who blended into our home like a member of the family from day one. I looked forward to seeing her every single day. She guided me through so many firsts: bathing, vaccine reactions, pumping, introducing a bottle, sleep shaping, and more. She cleaned bottles and pump parts, did the baby's laundry, and even made nourishing oatmeal for me -- the kind of thoughtful care that made an enormous difference in those early weeks. With my spouse frequently working long hours and overnight shifts, I leaned on Karina heavily -- not just for the baby, but for my own wellbeing as I found my footing in this new chapter. I quickly felt confident leaving her alone with my newborn, which meant I could finally rest and recover the way I needed to. I am immensely grateful for her and recommend her without hesitation.

We hired Karina as postpartum night doula. Her responsibility included taking care of the baby…read moreindependently in the night, coaching parents, offering breastfeeding advice and sleep shaping the baby. We had a wonderful experience with Karina. She connected with our baby instantly and knew exactly how to care for her. Thanks to her guidance, our baby was stretching up to 10 hours at night by the end of 10 weeks! She also went above and beyond, helping with things I didn't even ask for, like cleaning the sterilizer and prepping new baby gear. Her care, expertise, and thoughtfulness made a world of difference. Highly recommend!

When searching for a doula, we really wanted to find someone that would make us feel comfortable…read moreand confident going into birth. We are so lucky to have found Hannah! We cannot recommend her enough. She has the perfect balance of being very knowledgable while also being very open minded and accommodating for people's individual preferences. Being procrastinators, we only contacted her close to our due date. Hannah was very accommodating and helped us get up to speed very quickly during our prenatal sessions and provided lots of resources. Also with her background in physical therapy, she is great at walking you through exercises in preparation for birth. This was our first child and we wanted an unmedicated birth. The birth itself came much earlier than expected so we felt very overwhelmed in the moment! Once Hannah arrived, she was extremely helpful in providing both emotional and physical support. She was very reassuring and helped my wife achieve the unmedicated birth she wanted. We really don't know how we could have gotten through the process without her. After the birth, Hannah continued to check on us daily and offer lots of helpful advice for all of our newborn questions. She still continues to be helpful even though I am sure she has lots of families to support! If you are looking for a doula, stop your search! Hannah is all you need!

If you're looking for a proactive, knowledgeable doula who is well-informed and grounded in facts…read moreand scientific evidence, while also being compassionate, supportive, and deeply respectful of your decisions and comfort, you can stop looking. Hanna is the one! The birth of our first child was a beautiful and incredibly positive experience, and Hanna played such an important role in making it one of the best experiences of our lives. From the very beginning, she made us feel heard, supported, informed, and confident in our choices. We always felt that she was there to guide us without ever making us feel pressured or judged. Having Hanna by our side gave us so much reassurance throughout the whole experience, and we are incredibly grateful for all the care, knowledge, and support she gave us. We will always be grateful to you, Hanna, for being such an important part of the birth of our first baby. Thank you for everything!

100% recommend to anyone that is looking for breastfeeding help or wants more education around…read morebreastfeeding. As a first time mom, I am so grateful for her! I found Lazara through a Google search & what sold me was the fact she was highly recognized by the mama flow owner (the prenatal/postnatal yoga/sculpt studio) & that entire community. Lazara & her team were extremely responsive through emails & text messages. I opted for an in-person visit & Lazara drove to my place. She respected our requests of taking her shoes off & wearing a mask in our home which we appreciated since our baby was 4 weeks at the time. She quickly resolved the breastfeeding challenges I experienced & the pumping questions I had & provided so much feedback & tips that I never read online (& still haven't stumbled upon online). We learned so much from her during her visit & she provided so many useful PDF resources & also invited me to be part of her baby tribe community where moms ask questions about breastfeeding. The knowledge Lazara shared was not limited to breastfeeding; she educated us about baby massages, postnatal supplements & mom & baby craniosacral facial therapy. Lazara is passionate, intelligent, helpful, kind, personable & funny. All that plus the fact she is a neonatal nurse at Stanford truly makes her one of the best lactation consultants to hire! (PS - i have united healthcare & her services were covered through there).

I was searching for an in-home lactation consultant (LC) to help with weighted feedings, but I…read morestruggled to find one who accepted Aetna or wasn't too far away. I'm so grateful to have found Lazara through the Aetna site. I had a very challenging breastfeeding journey with my first baby and even consulted with multiple lactation consultants. This time, I wanted to avoid the same struggles and was determined to improve my experience. I wish I had found Lazara back then--it would have made my breastfeeding and pumping journey much smoother and more enjoyable early on. Lazara is not only a highly experienced and knowledgeable LC, but her 30+ years as a NICU nurse mean she has a deep understanding of everything related to babies. She evaluated far more aspects of my situation than the LCs I worked with a couple of years ago. She quickly provided numerous evidence-based suggestions, including methods, supplements, and more, to address my new challenges with my second baby. I saw improvements almost immediately with just one visit. She also offers sleep training and baby massage, which is such a wonderful bonus! Can't wait to have follow up appointment with her to have a successful breastfeeding journey this time.