We had the best experience with Maureen, one of the many talented doulas at Brilliant Births. We…read moreopted for a private Laboring together class, and it exceeded every expectation. Maureen guided us with so much knowledge, warmth and patience. She gave us practical tools, hands on techniques, and the confidence we needed as we prepare for our baby. We both walked out feeling way more prepared. If you're looking for someone who empowers, educates and genuinely cares, Maureen is incredible. We're so grateful!

My partner and I recently completed the Hypnobirthing three week course at Brilliant Births. We had…read morean absolutely incredible experience, for many reasons--The information we learned was invaluable, but also the instructors' teaching styles and depth of personal experience they offered was appreciated, comforting, and helpful. They clearly have a deep well of wisdom and experience-based expertise to share. We started our class with Keira and absolutely loved her--originally we were a bit bummed to know we would have a different instructor for our last day of the course. However, it turned out that Heidi was equitably wonderful and all things lovely-- instead of only one great instructor and guide, we ended up with two...which leads me to believe you'll be in skilled hands with anyone you interact with at BB. We will definitely be returning to take advantage of their other offerings!

I highly recommend booking Shawna to encapsulate your placenta. I used her services for my first…read moredelivery and it was a pleasant and easy experience. Her website is very thorough in explaining the process and booking was really easy. I went with having her pick up the goods at our hospital. My delivery happened at 10pm and we contacted Shawna at 6am the next day, and she was able to get to us by 11am the same day for pickup. Communication was friendly and quick which we really appreciated. After the pills were delivered, Shawna sent a helpful email with suggestions and tips on taking them. Also, I went with the coffee flavor for the pills and it really did mask the taste. 10/10, highly recommend!

Shawna out did her self with my placenta encapsulation. Shawna drove to my house to pick up my…read moreplacenta, and home delivered my pills within 24hours of picking up my placenta. Her quick response to my questions and needs gave me a sigh of relief so I can focus on my baby. My baby and I are thriving during our postpartum. I highly recommend Bay Area Placenta.

This review is long overdue. I intended to write something soon after giving birth, and that was…read moreover 9 years ago! I was searching for an unrelated email this morning and came across our message. I remember Katherine being so great with us. From our first meeting I knew she was calm, personable, and genuinely kind. My partner and I were under a lot of stress at the time, and her energy was perfect. Not overbearing or intrusive. I went into labor on our daughter's due date and Katherine came right away. I had a natural birth, and I remember her checking in and making sure I was OK before she offered comforting touch during labor. It turned out I didn't want to be touched much, and she respected that, offering her support in other ways. She helped me push through the most painful parts of labor with breathing. I hope she knows how much I appreciated her presence.

Kathryn is awesome!!! She took me on last minute and was an amazing doula. I was past due and in…read morepain so she came over to show me techniques to help the pain. Shortly after she left my water broke and she came right back to help me. She kept me calm as possible and helped me focus. She also helped keep my husband calm I highly recommend her

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I wasn't sure if I was going to hire a doula, but after having…read moreTeri I can't imagine having a birth without her! Throughout my pregnancy, her classes and resources equipped us with well-researched information and pro tips, which alleviated a lot of my fears and anxiety about L&D. During my labor and delivery, Teri guided me through stressful moments and helped tremendously with pain management. I ultimately delivered unmedicated, and thanks to Teri's suggestions, I delivered safely with manageable pain. She's extremely knowledgeable and soothing, she helped us stay calm throughout the entire experience. I can say with 100% confidence that if it wasn't for Teri, it would've had been a lot longer and a lot more pain. I'm immensely grateful for Teri's help in bringing my baby into this world and creating a magical birth experience for our family!

Teri is amazing and I can't say enough about how supportive she is. She was our rock while I was in…read morelabor and provided a wealth of knowledge before hand. She is easy going and just a badass! She helped us feel at ease with everything before and after baby.

Omg where do I start. I barely met Cristina but she already felt super warm and easy to talk to!…read moreShes so accommodating. I got my placenta encapsulated and I'm so happy I did with HER! She was able to pick it up and drop it off and was there and communicated the whole way, especially since the hospital was telling us they couldn't provide a bucket and ice! Since I am not working and financially it's been hard for me to pay in full (took me some time) Christina was super understanding and supportive about it and gave me all the time I needed. She's awesome. Like I said, I'm glad I got to encounter this experience through her.

I don't normally post like this to review but I have to gush for a moment. We went with Doula Bula…read moreto have my placenta encapsulated in order to supplement for breastfeeding for optimum health. Unfortunately, I couldn't breast feed which was devastating for me. Cristina went above and beyond with her patience with us and gave us out of this world service and keepsakes. I've never seen this much detail and care. She makes it so personal and never like "a product" and we are thrilled. She was extremely accommodating and super responsive. It really made a tough situation feel amazing. For everything she does and what you get it's an amazing deal that any family will appreciate. I LOVE my keepsakes and I definitely recommend her to anyone looking for this service. Even the packaging was adorable and super personal. We will be coming to her again one day I hope!! I can't wait to take my capsules and feel all the nutrients.

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.

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.

Angela was such a dream to have at our birth. She is knowledgeable in all areas and made us feel…read morefully confident and comfortable throughout the entire pregnancy and birth. She is thorough, patient and kind. We we're blessed to have her as our midwife. We couldn't recommend her more to anyone considering a homebirth. Best decision ever. Angela, thank you for everything!!!!

We went with Redwood Doulas for a night nurse. Our baby came 3 weeks early so our original doula…read morewas initially unavailable. Redwood doulas was responsive to help us get another interim doula right away. Doula Thais stepped in to help us super last minute. She was extremely professional and helpful. We were triple feeding when we first got back from the hospital, so doula Thais would every three hours bring me the baby, then bottle feed her while I pumped, then clean all the bottle and part pumps. When she left in the morning all of the bottle and pump parts were cleaned and organized and ready for the next day. She listened and helped us figure out our game plan for the nights. She was very communicative about her availability and it was great she was able to help on such short notice. We only had her for a few nights but would definitely recommend her to anyone considering her, she even followed up asking about our baby and how she was doing weeks later! Doula Suely was the other doula we worked with. We worked with Sue for about 7 weeks and she was so critical for helping us get peace and sleep. She was great and easy to work with and schedule shifts for the week. She went along with whatever schedule and plan we wanted for the night. But when we were uncertain about something, or wanted advice for reflux and spit up she was extremely helpful with her advice. You could tell the love and care she had for our baby! It's nerve wracking handing your baby over to someone for the entire night but it was so easy to trust Sue. She helped us get some extremely critical sleep and always ensured my pump parts and the bottles were clean in the morning. We ended up extending our contract by three weeks because Sue's help was so critical to our family. I can't recommend Sue enough!!

We loved working with Redwood Doulas and would highly recommend them!…read more Kymberlie is SO incredibly warm, understanding, empathetic, and compassionate. She was a great help in setting up the initial meetings with doulas who she thought would be a good match for us and figuring out schedules and such. During a postpartum call, she was so kind and empathetic. I just can't say thank you enough to her for her kindness. Doula Thais was our birth doula and was amazing in every way. She was incredibly supportive to both my husband and I, helping us navigate the unknowns pre-birth, during labor, and afterward. I had some medical issues crop up that required an extended postpartum stay and she was so so kind and continued to reach out and check in on me, which meant SO much to me. We also did a baby wearing session with her and that helped both of us feel more comfortable that we were wearing our baby correctly (those darn things have so many darn straps and snaps and doodads, lol). Regarding postpartum night support, we had initially gone with a doula (who ran her own business) that we hired outside of Redwood Doulas. Within two weeks, we were desperately looking for other help as this private-doula-for-hire was just not jamming well with us. We reached out to Kymberlie and she was able to help us do some trials until we found a doula we matched well with. We were able to snag a couple weeks with Doula Ivette and we loved working with her just as much as we did with Doula Thais! Doula Ivette came in the first night and was able to identify that our baby was gassy and helped show us different techniques on how to de-gas her! We continued using those techniques for the next few months while our baby's digestive system was sorting itself out. We weren't able to continue with Redwood Doulas after a few weeks as we had contacted them too late and we weren't able to find continuity of care with just one doula. For this reason, we decided to hire another private-doula-for-hire outside of Redwood Doulas and similar to our first experience doing this, this private-doula-for-hire just was not as professional as the doulas from Redwood Doulas. I bring this up to highlight that our experience with Redwood Doulas was truly exceptional. I contacted and spoke with A LOT of doulas and different agencies around the bay area and the team at Redwood Doulas was my favorite to work with. They were always ON TIME! Which is like SO FREAKING KEY when you're a first time parent holding a baby who has been screaming their head off for hours hours and nothing you do is working and you need a break from that damn yoga ball bouncing you've been doing! Lol. When my private-for-hire-doula would come late, the intense baby screams tears at you every additional minute you're waiting. But Redwood Doulas never did this to us. They were always on time- thank. goodness. Lol. So all in all, work with them!! They're awesome. (Open to DM's if anyone has questions, etc!)

tomi is amazing!!! she has great customer service and the ability to make sure she is delivering…read morequality care....i delivered my bundle of joy and she went to work on my placenta and the results are priceless......i received my capsules in a cute little jar along with a beautiful art piece that she had mad for me and a bunch of other goodies...tomi has once again did her thanggg!!!!! and for that i want to say thank you..ill do it again

I was recommended to Tomi by my families acupuncturist and I am so glad I found her! Tomi was so…read moreeasy to communicate with throughout the whole process. All of the emails she sent were so informative and made the process smooth and so easy to understand. Although I wasn't able to meet Tomi because I am in the North Bay, my mother was able to drop off and pick up for me and said that Tomi was amazing and so nice! I was so nervous going into my second pregnancy because I had such horrible postpartum with my first, but was made aware that encapsulating my placenta could provide multiple benefits. I am absolutely shocked at how well I felt and continue to feel taking the capsules. No baby blues, my mood has boosted, more energy, and have even noticed an increase in breast milk. My package included my capsules and a complimentary picture of my placenta, my babies cord keepsake, and a blood print of my placenta and I couldn't be happier. Tomi, thank you so much!

I can't say enough positive things about our experience with the Modesto Doula Group and the…read morewonderful doulas who prepared me for childbirth, supported my husband and me during labor and childbirth and in the weeks postpartum. After attending a childbirth preparation class at my hospital less than two months before my due date, I began to worry about how unprepared I was and became anxious when thinking about childbirth and the pain associated with it. After meeting with Teri and Susan, we immediately knew that having a doula with us was something we needed. My due date was approaching rapidly, but we were able to do a total of three childbirth education classes, one group class in Modesto and two in home classes. I felt more and more assured after each class. By the end of the third class my anxiety had been replaced by confidence. Teri came to our house the morning that I went into labor and assisted me through each contraction as I labored at home. Still by my side in the delivery room, she used acupressure and aromatherapy which helped tremendously even during the most intense contractions. Back at home with a brand new baby, the postpartum doula services with Jennifer and Susan were exceedingly helpful for us. I had also opted for placenta encapsulation and the postpartum care basket, both of which made my postpartum recovery and healing easier. Looking back, as we often do, we couldn't imagine our birth experience without the caring and experienced support of the doulas at Modesto Doula Group!

My personal experience was 3-star - fine/better than neutral, but for me there were a few cons that…read moretook away from the pros... Other people might receive the same exact service but rate it 4 or 5 stars. I felt that the postpartum doula, Susan, could have been more open and supportive of my personal parenting style and desires, but it seemed like she thought there was one good way of parenting an 8-week old baby - the rigid schedule your baby for your convenience as soon as possible way, which isn't my philosophy but I know tons of people do want that. I also thought she needed to take more care and consideration regarding her baby wearing advice because although babies bodies are very flexible, there are safety concerns especially regarding their hips, neck, and nose that she did not properly address when telling me not to over think placing my baby in my ring sling.