My husband and I wanted to hire a birth doula to make us each feel more comfortable and confident…read morewith labor prep and the process of birth and labor itself (this was our first child). We both wanted someone to support and advocate for us in the hospital if need be and I wanted an experienced person to be with me throughout my time at the hospital to help me through an unmedicated labor should I decide to go that route. After lots of research and interviews we hired Tara for her calm, capable demeanor and her level of experience as both a a doula and a midwife. Tara visited our home twice in my later pregnancy to get to know us and to understand our wishes and build my birth plan. She also helped us to prepare for early laboring at home with labor positions and advice on staying hydrated and resting as much as possible before going in to the hospital. I went into the process with an open mind, thinking that I might attempt an unmedicated birth but I wasn't at all against an epidural or other pain management should I feel it necessary. Tara never tried to dissuade me from that plan in any way which I really appreciated. I ended up laboring at home for 18 hours before going into the hospital - throughout the day we were in constant contact with Tara and she listened to my voice and my contractions to help us make the decision as to when to go in. The nurses at the hospital told us we timed it perfectly when I got there. After a couple of hours laboring in triage with very intense contractions, I made the decision to get an epidural. My labor progressed quickly after my epidural and shortly after Tara arrived at the hospital, it was time for me to push. She worked alongside our amazing Beth Israel nurses and doctors in a really cohesive way and was a grounding presence helping to keep me hydrated, calm, and making sure I was as comfortable as possible and that my husband was able to be by my side and supporting me like he wanted to. She kept a log of events that happened during my labor (which I definitely would have forgotten/been unaware of) and even took our first family photos once our son was born. Since I had an epidural and had labored at home for most of the time, our time with Tara was much different than I had envisioned (she was really only physically there with us for my time pushing). Had I gone ahead with an unmedicated birth, we would have made "better use" of her since I would have felt like I needed her in the hospital with us sooner. Nevertheless, my husband and I were so grateful for her calming presence throughout the day and for the time we did have her there with us despite not feeling like we "needed" her as much. It was still so nice to have her with us! We are so grateful to Tara for her guidance and support and highly recommend her to all other parents-to-be!

Tara is an expert and the exact person I needed to make my birth experience something I could look…read moreback on with joy and empowerment instead of trauma. Thank you Tara for all of the support you provided along the way in addition to the day-of and postpartum period.

We worked with Myrna for two successful VBAC births w/o painkillers - one 10'8lb baby and one 9'8…read morelb baby. Her home visits and contact with me before the birth were awesome -- committed, caring, and knowledgeable. She suggested resources to help me prepare, and generally put us at ease. She is such a supportive and caring person, yet also an RN and seasoned doula who knows her stuff! During labor, Myrna put both me and my husband at ease, and was very hands-on with massage and pressure (but also knew when to give us a little space or time together). She build excellent rapport with our nurses and midwife and kept the room calm and supportive yet also fun. She is unflappable, and great at talking through options when you have a medical decision to make. She helped my husband relax and be present, and also feel OK to grab a sandwich for a few minutes. I can't imagine our births without her awesome blend of kindness and professional skill. After my son was born I had various questions about breastfeeding and newborn care and she was very helpful via text, drawing on the whole Birthing Gently group for expertise. I was impressed at how the group worked together in collaboration and trust. I highly recommend Birthing Gently and Myrna!

I took the "birth doula 3 day course " this weekend and at first I admit I was scared because I…read moreassume this class should be taking in person vs virtual however after three days working and receiving information and being taught by Tara and Lorie. I left this class tonight feeling , confident and prepare to take the next step to becoming certified! so thank you both for making this class , fun yet informing us with so much!

Ellie is truly wonderful! My husband and I took her hypnobirthing class, and it helped us both feel…read moreconfident, informed, and prepared for birth. She combines helpful techniques with thoughtful education and creates a supportive environment where you can ask anything and know you'll receive honest, reassuring guidance. I also took her breastfeeding class, which was incredibly helpful. Ellie is compassionate, responsive, and has such a natural approach that makes you feel calm and confident. I truly appreciate how much she cares about both parents and babies. She has a wonderful way of guiding you while helping you trust your instincts as a mother. Highly recommend!

Wow, where do I even begin?! I could write pages about how wonderful Ellie is and the impact she…read morehad on my birth preparation, labor, delivery, and beyond! Ellie is an incredible doula and human being. Thanks to her, I had the positive birth experience I envisioned and went into labor feeling informed, empowered, and supported.Her hypnobirthing class was invaluable! Beyond learning breathing techniques, affirmations, and mindset tools, Ellie helped me believe birth can be a beautiful, positive, and empowering experience. That belief stayed with me throughout labor. My labor was fast and intense. I vividly remember my husband calling Ellie, and the moment she walked through the door, everything shifted. Hearing her voice and feeling her calming presence and hands-on support changed the energy in the room. I felt grounded, empowered, and ready. My husband and team were amazing, but Ellie brought a different level of expertise and intuition. She knew how to change my positions, guide me through contractions, and apply counterpressure. She seemed to know what I needed before I even did! There were so many moments when I felt I couldn't keep going. She had an incredible ability to reframe my thoughts, remind me of my progress, and help me find strength when I felt I had none left. After 3 hours of pushing, her coaching and unwavering belief in me helped me bring my sweet baby into this world. Ellie always reminds me that I did all the work, but I couldn't have imagined doing it without her. I will forever cherish my birth experience, and she was instrumental in making it so positive and empowering. I knew from our first conversation that Ellie was special, and I'm so grateful I trusted that instinct. Ellie, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compassion, knowledge, and gift of making women feel strong and supported. I'm forever grateful you were part of one of the most meaningful moments of my life!

With the birth of our first baby, I had no idea what a post-partum doula could do for me. Nobody I…read moreknew had ever worked with one, and I figured the help of family and friends would be enough. I am so, SO glad we made the decision to get support, and beyond lucky to have found Martha! Martha is the whole package - kind and supportive, super hard working and extremely knowledgeable about babies, childcare, parenting, and any relevant topic in between - from breastfeeding, to mental health to postpartum exercise, In addition to completely taking care of me - preparing delicious food, doing laundry, making sure I was hydrated and giving me precious time to sleep and shower, Martha didn't just help care for my newborn, she taught me invaluable skills of how to take care of my baby as a (pretty clueless) first time mom: How to breastfeed, how to decipher her cries and understand her needs, and how to deal with the multitude of unexpected issues that I wasn't even aware could affect new moms and their babies. Her guidance, encouragement, and wisdom increased my confidence in my ability to take care of a newborn baby and removed much of the anxiety of becoming a first-time parent, which allowed me to focus on enjoying this special time with my daughter. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Martha. She is must more than just a doula - she is a trusted advisor and now, a dear friend. Looking back, I cannot imagine how we would have gotten through the first few days, weeks and months without her. In fact, now at 4+ months postpartum and being back at work for over a month, I still cannot "let go" of Martha and continue to seek her help with our family on a weekly basis.

Martha sets a new bar for postpartum doulas. She is a consummate professional while also being…read morekind, loving, knowledgable, and empathetic. She is exactly who you want to have in your village when you're navigating the first hectic days, weeks, and months at home with a newborn. She is a wealth of information but doesn't give unsolicited advice. She is reliable and an excellent communicator. She goes out of her way to make sure you are comfortable, and you will quickly learn that your baby is in the best hands (besides your own) while Martha is providing overnight care. We were beyond lucky to work with Martha and would recommend her without hesitation.

My husband and I hired Tara and Susanna as doulas ahead of our first child's birth in 2017, and…read morespecifically worked with Tara. We had a phenomenal experience, which resulted in working with them again for the birth of our second child in March 2021. In both cases, Tara and Susanna were tremendously helpful resources leading up to the delivery date. We always appreciated their candor and insights about what to expect and importantly, what our choices were (which was especially good to know during our first pregnancy). Tara and Susanna were always very responsive and detailed in their communication with us, and importantly, right ahead of the birth. For both births, I had a relatively quick active labor and Tara was there exactly when we needed her. She did an excellent job of ensuring my husband was involved in the labor process and provided us very helpful guidance on managing pain/new positions/breathing techniques. During my first birth, she proved to be a trusted advocate for me in a stressful situation (that almost resulted in an episiotomy), and although my second birth was relatively "uneventful", the quick nature of it made it very intense so we were grateful to have Tara's guidance and calm presence to help us through the birth. We feel very fortunate to have worked with Tara for both births, as her presence was extremely helpful in both cases!

My husband and I hired Susanna and Tara first as doulas, and later as midwives, to support us…read morethrough the pregnancy and birth of our first child. I simply cannot overstate how integral their care, compassion, expertise, and knowledge have been to the entire process of having our son. From the first prenatal visits with Susanna and Tara, they were open, non-judgmental, caring, and insightful. They worked with us to create a birth plan, sent us helpful information to assist us in making informed, evidence-based decisions for our son's care, and were always available for follow-up questions and discussions. Not only are Susanna and Tara both unmatched in their professionalism, but they are also kind, funny, brilliant, and the type of people who just make you feel comfortable and safe. When Covid began to surge as our due date approached, we reached out to them to consider a home birth and ended up contracting them to be our midwives instead of only contracting for doula care. It was the best decision we ever made during our birth and pregnancy process and I wish we had done it from the beginning. As midwives, Susanna and Tara provided the same level of care and insight as before, with an added level of expert care that we were impressed by time and time again. At the actual birth of our son, Susanna and Tara guided and comforted me through 10 hours of labor at home. I quite simply could not have done it without them. When I eventually needed to transfer to Mount Auburn for an epidural and what turned out to be a more complicated birth than anticipated, they accompanied me as far as they could to the doors of the labor ward (they were not allowed inside due to Covid), keeping me as calm as possible and helping me through every contraction with compassion and kindness all the way from our home to the hospital. Our son was born healthy and happy, and we came home to face the ups and downs of life as new parents with the knowledge that we were fully supported by Susanna and Tara. Their help became instrumental once again as I struggled with postpartum anxiety and breastfeeding issues--coming to my house at the drop of a dime when I was desperate for help, and only a phone call away to talk us through our challenges as they arose over the first few weeks. I cannot more highly recommend Susanna and Tara as doulas and midwives. In many ways, I feel like they saved me during my most vulnerable time and made me feel stronger and more empowered when I could have so easily felt defeated instead. Hire them. It will be the best decision you make for your entire pregnancy and birth!

Teresa was incredibly knowledgeable. We had her for our first labor and delivery experience and she…read moredid an excellent home visit weeks before I was due which reviewed items we could do at home to prepare. Her presence at the delivery was comforting the entire day. She had me up and walking and arranged for me to have a ball in my room to work from. She also thought out of the box in terms of laboring positions and really made my experience so much better. She got a lot of photos I'll cherish forever that we wouldn't have had otherwise from the delivery experience. We had a wonderful post partum call too which just reinforced the confidence I have in her care (coming from healthcare myself). I'm so grateful I chose to have a doula and I'm so lucky to have chosen Teresa for this first experience. Thank you thank you! Recommend her highly!

Teresa is kind, calm, and very well-informed across a wide range of pre-natal, labor and delivery,…read morelactation, and post-partum issues. Her deep experience gives her the confidence and poise we were looking for to help guide us through this journey with our first child. We interviewed a number of doulas and she was clearly the best. She taught us the basics of childbirth, helped us navigate when to go to the hospital when labor began, worked very well with the L&D staff at the Brigham, and visited post-partum with notes on what happened to help us remember and process the experience. I recommend Teresa without reservation!

We used Hilary as both our birth doula and for post-partum support. Hilary was incredibly easy to…read morework with and made pregnancy, birth and recovery in a pandemic so much easier for us. From the very first email, I felt comfortable with Hilary. She was responsive and informative without any judgment about our birth plan or choices. Hilary provided me with much needed education and confidence and allowed me to advocate for myself throughout my pregnancy. Hilary helped me feel comfortable with the induction process and was in constant communication until she arrived at the hospital. Hilary helped us create the best possible environment for labor and delivery and worked seamlessly with the L&D nurse and my partner to support me. Just as Hilary was incredibly valuable leading up to birth and throughout the labor and delivery process, she was just as critical to helping me have a healthy post-partum recovery. Hilary knew exactly how to support us as we navigated the hazy newborn days. She provided emotional support and helped with all of the mundane tasks like getting the dishes done and sorting baby clothes. Hilary is a wealth of knowledge about newborn care and early breastfeeding challenges. Most importantly, Hilary has incredible intuition into what would be helpful for brand new parents and she made our transition to parenthood as smooth as possible. I cannot imagine navigating this journey without Hilary and I am so grateful to the support she provided.

Hilary and her team were all top notch, and I would recommend them most highly to any newborn…read moreparent. We worked with Molly S for postpartum doula help. Molly was an invaluable support both emotionally and with practical help during a difficult time. It was like having a wiser, older sister help out and counsel a few times a week. She is kind, knowledgeable, and brings a lot of mom wisdom from parenting her own three kids. The back office structure and onboarding and contracting process were all fast and efficient. Highly recommend.

I have been a labor and delivery nurse for the majority of my career. I have had the absolute…read morepleasure of working with Enza during countless births and have had such an amazing working relationship and experience with Enza that I am compelled to write a review. I have learned so much from her regarding positions, her spinning babies knowledge, simply her calm demeanor and her ability to advocate for her laboring families. I recently had the immense pleasure of working with Enza during a multi day induction. In every other similar situation that I have encountered this birth would have ended up in a c-section, not for lack of trying for a vaginal delivery but simply because of arrest of dilation. Enza was there for countless hours with more energy and a seemingly bottomless bag of labor tricks even when our traditional methods of induction proved futile. Enza has developed such a strong and trusting relationship with all of the healthcare providers at my place of work. We worked as a collaborative team and this incredibly family was able to have the birth they had desired and all parties were healthy and happy. It was truly remarkable to witness. I would encourage anyone to utilize Enza's well of compassion and knowledge during their pregnancy, labor and postpartum period. She is not only an amazing doula but an incredible friend.

Hiring Enza was the best the best decision we made for our prenatal, labor/delivery and post-natal…read morecare. She instilled a true sense of peace and knowledge into the entire process. She met with us to discuss any and all questions, nothing was too trivial. She was empowering, a voice of reason, a calm presence, and a cheerleader all at once. After our baby was born, she was invaluable resource on sleep and breastfeeding. Her job didn't just end once our little one arrived. How amazing! Should we ever need another doula, Enza will 100% have our business.

I feel extremely grateful and lucky that my partner and I found our way to Bellwether Doulas. The…read moresupport, education, and advocacy the doulas provided has been exceptional. They helped me have the pregnancy and birth experience that was almost exactly what I hoped it would be, and I really appreciated their evidence-based, nonjudgmental approach to pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and parenthood (an approach that is all too rare unfortunately and that really makes them stand out!). This was our first baby and we didn't know what to expect or how to advocate for what we wanted and needed but they helped me to feel confident and empowered. The prenatal sessions were incredibly informative and we added on the childbirth class as well as postpartum support and have continued to learn a ton from them. We also recently relocated to Rhode Island and have enjoyed meeting other local parents/expecting parents through the virtual meet-ups. I know our experience of becoming parents is shaped forever by having Bellwether on our side, and I really cannot recommend them highly enough!

Choosing to have Bellwether Doulas as part of my birth care team was the best decision I made for…read morethe birth of our first baby. Birth can be daunting, especially when it's your first, but they provided my husband and I with all the education, community, support, empathy, care, and guidance I needed/wanted from the preparation stage all the way through the postpartum period. Having Hailey in the room with me while I gave birth totally put me at ease, gave me confidence, and helped me get through and have the birth I ultimately envisioned. As my husband would say, "it was a no brainer to hire them."