I went back and forth on whether to write this review. I am sure Ana intends well, but sadly we did not feel adequately supported by her as a doula. I felt like I should provide an alternative perspective for people who are reading these reviews and want to be fully informed in their decision on a doula. There were some things we really appreciated and that she did well, like the postpartum massage and the meal she cooked for us. But the birth experience itself fell far, far short of what we were expecting in terms of care-- I'd like to remain anonymous so I will not go into detail. The prenatal sessions just didn't vibe with us-- a lot of lecture, worksheets and homework that often felt overwhelming rather than supportive or client-directed. The postpartum sessions were shorter than promised and without many of the things she had told us she would do. It seems like Ana has supported others really well, but unfortunately that was not the case for us. read more

Ana was one of our greatest blessings in assisting with my very first birth. She brought wisdom, peace & support that allowed me to be confident in my birth choices and thereby allowing a beautiful, natural unmedicated birth. Once I became pregnant and knew we would be giving birth in a hospital, I was encouraged to seek out the support of a doula in hopes to have an unmedicated birth. Ana was everything I could have needed & wanted during my birth and even more, she helped me everything from the preparation to the labor to the birth and into postpartum and beyond which allowed me to have such an amazing experience. She came to our home 3 times before the birth, sat with my husband & I, unrushed and talked over ways we could best prepare and gave us resources if we wanted to further our knowledge - which I gladly did! She made herself available by phone and text whenever I called her, including middle of the night questions! It gave me peace of mind to know that she had been through this many times before and always guided me with comfort. During the birth, I honestly looked to her more than my own doctor. While she is not certified to give medical advice, I trusted her experience overseeing many other births and especially that she viewed birth as a *natural process* that women's bodies are designed for. I didn't even realize the transition my body would go through during the birth experience, and I'm so thankful we added a postpartum component to our package. Worth its weight in gold. Ana came to our home 3 more times after giving birth and brought us a nourishing meal each time, talked through any questions, including caring for our little one, yet truly gave me the attention I needed to facilitate my healing and recovery including the BEST massages I have ever had. I don't have enough space to write all the ways Ana made me feel special, cherished and empowered through my entire pregnancy and birth. I am so thankful to have had her wisdom and support and truly don't believe my birth experience would have been half as incredible if it wasn't for her. read more

"I'm so glad you knew I would need this much support in my post partum recovery... because I had NO IDEA." That's what my wife said 2 weeks after having a wonderful birth experience (pretty quick labor, relative ease with pushing and contractions, phenomenal birth team.) She actually says giving birth was one of the funnest days of her life (!!!) and yet she was still WHOOPED by her body's needs for post partum recovery. I can't imagine how intense post partum recovery would have been for her if she hadn't had her ideal birth. I'm often educating my patients that 1) Pregnancy and birth are a special time that can affect a woman's health for the rest of her life and 2)The better care you receive in the immediate months postpartum, the healthier you will be for the next decades. 3) If you get the right care during pregnancy and postpartum, you can end up healthier than ever (more stamina, better immunity, better mental clarity, stronger hair and bones...). Because I have advanced medical degrees in holistic and Traditional medicine, I knew I wanted specific postpartum therapies and care for my wife so that she would have the best recovery possible from pregnancy and child birth. I looked around and no other doula in this area does the advanced therapies Ana performs. And my wife loved every one of them: binding, steaming, warming, resting, eating warm meals designed to help the body build back blood and recover from the major event that birth is (more blood loss than a surgery, more hormone-altering than puberty...). It was clear to me that hiring Ana was the best investment we could make in our family, because obviously I want my wife to be as healthy as possible while we raise our kids and grow old together. Not only is Ana offering crucial therapies that no one else is, she is a dream to work with, and she has some of the beat rates around! One day while I was home to see her magic, Ana managed to set my wife up with one therapy, whisk my kitchen into cleanliness - suddenly the dishes were done and the counters were clean - then she guided my wife through another therapy, and that was just the beginning. My wife was always looking forward to Ana's visits, especially her massages. It is always a joy to have Ana over in our space. We have a *tiny* apartment for the size of our family and it was easy to have Ana over - it's like she has a sense for how to fit in and flow with our family's needs. She bring such nurturing and grace, she's just a goddess to be around. You may not think you'll need much postpartum care, but trust me, hiring Ana is an investment in your future sanity, mental bandwidth, and an easier menopause. I only wish I had asked her to educate me more about what would be the physiological best practices for postpartum care instead of assuming I knew everything... because now that I know more, I would have done even more for my wife and baby. (Like daily warm oil massages to help their nervous systems balance and internal organs regulate - I probably wouldn't have managed to massage them both daily, but I would have done it much more than I did!) If I could give 6 stars, I would. read more

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Short story: Ana is the BEST. Hire her immediately. We hired Ana as our postpartum doula after we welcomed our third at home this past September, 5 days/week for the first two weeks (wish we had done this for three weeks tbh), 3 days/week for the second two weeks, and 1 day/week for the last two weeks. I had totally overdone it after my first and second births, leading to a rockier than necessary postpartum. I wanted to remedy that this time around.  As someone who has a tendency to overdo it, I asked Ana to do two things... 1.) Force me to rest and 2.) Be "me" for a few hours a day so that I could actually do the resting!  She did both expertly. When she saw me starting to do what she thought was too much, she would gently guide me back to my room and tuck me in with a hot beverage on my nightstand. In the meantime she'd bustle about the house, folding laundry, cooking and serving and washing up, reading stories to my older kids, and generally just HANDLING things. (She joked that this was her domestic housework gig--she usually does more physiological postpartum care for the mother--but that was the kind of competent, no-questions-asked help I needed so I could properly rest!)  I learned so much from her and I'm forever grateful for her help in those early days. We transitioned into becoming a family of five with such ease, and I know it was in large part thanks to her care. read more

This review is long overdue. Ana is an amazing doula! She assisted my husband and I to prepare for our second birth with an array of resources and knowledge. She was honest, caring, warm, and a great advocate. We hired her for the full support starting with prenatal visits, to the day of birth, and a few postpartum sessions at home. I truly enjoyed our conversations and hands on sessions that ranged from learning about my options for prenatal care to birth and delivery. It was a holistic approach to prepare for my birth and delivery to make the birthing experience as smooth as possible and feel empowered and confident. Ana shared books from her library, I ended buying one of the books. I found the handouts and resources helpful because it guided me in my own research to prepare mentally, physically, and emotionally. I love to do research, so she was great at sharing more resources when I asked. I liked that Ana assisted us with getting my placenta encapsulated by arranging it with another doula. She has a gentle and warm approach that really helped set the tone along our journey. One example was the immediate support after birth, which was ensuring our birth plan was followed by medical staff. She set up our recovery room to have a calm and peaceful vibe with battery operated candles, diffused essential oils (which we had picked out during a prenatal visit), brought a delicious and healing hot tea, gave me a massage and helped with a body wrap. Ana has a gentle soul, but at the same time a strong presence when needed to be an advocate (I delivered in a hospital setting), stay overall was good, but we had to remind some medical staff of our desires a few times. I would hire and work with Ana again and highly recommend her! read more

I'm not sure what we would've done without Ana. When we hired Ana, we were concerned about the big day; we really wanted to make sure that we had another set of hands to help during labor. We hadn't anticipated all the other stuff... She helped us to make decisions about a birth plan, and explained to us all the questions and choices we would have to make at the hospital (spoiler alert: your birthing classes didn't adequately prepare you). She encouraged us to research and understand each step of the birth process so that we could face our big day prepared. What I didn't expect or understand was that I needed so much help after the birth. You spend a lot of time thinking about one big day, and maybe what your baby needs when you get home, but no one tells you exactly what it's like for YOU to recover from birth. I needed someone to make sure I had the right kinds of food ready when I got home, I needed someone help me bring my milk in, and I'll be really honest, I needed someone to tell me to get back into bed. Ana helped me recover, and showed my partner how to help me recover. We are all better for it. We are truly grateful to have had Ana's help throughout our journey through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I cannot recommend her services strongly enough. read more

Ana was my doula for my son's birth on July 2nd. There are so many reasons I am grateful that she was/is my doula. For starters, she is extremely dedicated and generous with her time. She also has a very peaceful and kind aura. When I first met her, I was really I felt like she was the one. I felt comfortable with her. She was very easy to talk to and seemed to have a genuine passion for her work. When I asked her questions about birth, she proved to be very knowledgable. Her commitment to natural birth aligned with mine. Throughout my pregnancy, Ana supplied me with a ton of great resources. When my plans for a natural birth had to be replaced with induction ones, she was very supportive and quickly looked for resources that would help make my needed induction as natural as possible. She even went to a prenatal visit with me. During my labor, she came prepared with essential oils, the TENS unit and honey sticks, soft lighting, music...things that helped make the hospital more home-like. I really appreciated her emotional support during my labor. She was encouraging with her words and cared for me in ways that neither the nurses of my husband did. Having her there was a blessing. I looked to her for reassurance on the many decisions I had to make during my somewhat complicated labor. Consulting with her was very helpful and reassuring. She was also great at talking to my nurses, making helpful suggestions and guiding me to ask questions. She stuck with me my entire labor which was overnight and well into midnight the next day! Post-partum she has been so kind and supportive. She has taught me about the herbs and foods that will increase my milk production. She has helped me in ways I wouldn't have anticipated like doing belly wraps and teaching me massage techniques for my baby. I am still working with her and I know that I can count of her if I have any post-partum questions or concerns. Ana was a big part of my prenatal, birth, and post-partum experience. Having her as my doula has made a very big difference. I would recommend her to anyone for home births or hospital births. read more

Ana is the perfect calming presence you want by your side during labor and postpartum! Pre Labor Care: We hired Ana as our doula at about 30 weeks. We met with her 3 times before my EDD and each visit was filled with discussing labor preparation and postpartum care in detail. She was the best prenatal class we could have taken. She is a wealth of knowledge about labor and preparing for it. She introduced us to the Spinning Babies video which was very helpful! She modeled and help my husband with some of the stretches at home. I highly recommend the video to all expectant parents. Ana gave us guidance on writing our Birth Plan and what questions to ask my OB/G. She helped us understand aspects of labor that we would not have known as first time parents. I really appreciated these visits and felt more at ease after each one. Labor Support: I wanted to have an unmedicated natural labor and with the support of Ana, we were able to achieve it. She came over when my contractions were about 10 minutes apart. My water broke as she walked through the door. Perfect timing! Since this was our first time, we kind of panicked when my water broke, but she helped me continue to labor at home for a few more hours before heading to the hospital. She put on her tens unit and I took a warm shower. Once at the hospital she turned the labor room into a calm warm space. She hung lights, set up the diffuser and played music to calm the space. I remember her massaging my feet and it felt glorious. She helped guide my husband how to best support me and suggested different positions to take each contraction. I delivered at Kaiser San Jose with a midwives- They were very respectful of my birth plan and worked with Ana. I delivered my daughter five hours later (10:13pm)and Ana took the most amazing video and pictures of the experience. In the moment I didn't care for pictures, but now am so grateful that she captured those moments. She stayed with us till we were transferred to our recovery room (about 1:30am). Postpartum Care: Her postpartum care has been an absolute treat. The first visit she brought a delicious recovery soup and gave me another of her wonderful foot massages. My feet were still swollen from labor and it was just what I needed. She did several warming treatments and prepared a sitz bath for me. We discussed how things were going and it was really nice to have someone hear us and validate our concerns. I have truly appreciated her knowledge of postpartum care. The more I talk to new mamas, the more I realize it's a lost care in our modern day society. A women's body must have the time to recover after labor and there are things that will help the healing. I wish all women had access to this quality of postpartum care. I cannot recommend Ana enough. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions! read more

Hiring Ana as a doula was one of the best decisions I've ever made! I was feeling nervous about giving birth to our first baby, especially after having two back-to-back miscarriages. We hired a doula because I wanted someone experienced to help me labor at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital and then to be my advocate once at the hospital so that our birth plan was honored. I also liked the idea of having someone there for me after the birth in those first weeks of transitioning into motherhood in case I ran into challenges, had questions, or just wanted some extra support. Ana did all of that and MUCH more! She went above and beyond every step of the way, giving us feedback on our birth plan, encouraging us to create a postpartum care plan, providing us with amazing resources before we even realized we needed them, setting up the hospital room with flameless candles and little Christmas lights, and hanging in there with us for over 29 hours of labor! In the weeks following the birth, Ana lead me through wonderful processes (one of my favorites was the "Closing the Bones" ritual) and shared information and ideas that helped relax my system and speed my recovery. I'm really grateful that we invested in the package that included the most postpartum care. Life with a newborn can be intense, and I appreciated the extra support even more than I thought I would. I felt like the value was way higher than what we paid. read more

She feels like your own momma. Her energy is soothing and calm. She listens intently and really cares to make you comfortable. I did post partum care with her and she has so much knowledge of healing techniques. read more

Ana is a gifted doula. She has that warmth and motherly vibe that few people can really embody. She has been around the block so to speak and knows how to advocate for the mother when the time comes to give birth. She let's you completely decide what kind of birth plan you would like with your baby and doesn't give off any judgments for whatever that may look like for your family (hospital birth, home, birth center etc). I like to think of her as an event planner for your birth she makes sure everything is going right and smoothly for you in the background so that you can enjoy your time and process. Most importantly though she helps with post-partum care making sure that you are nourished and rested after having brought life into this world. Anyway can't recommend her enough you and your baby are in the best hands with Ana! read more

Ana was my doula for the birth of my first son. I don't know what I would have done without her there! She really kept me calm and helped me get through the contractions and my long labor. I chose to birth at a birth center in Santa Cruz but ended up having to transfer to the Hospital and she was always there by my side being my advocate and my support. I can't recommend her enough! read more

My partner and I did not use Ana's doula services but she was very helpful in our process of finding the right doula for the right price within our budget. She went out of our way to make sure we knew where to look and questions we should be asking doulas and our doctor. If you have the means, I highly suggest working with Ana! She's great! read more

I found Ana through the Santa Cruz Organic Birth Collective. Ana was exceptionally helpful to my husband and I during our prep, labor and postpartum. I totally felt ready and set an extensive birth plan with her help. I felt very informed and educated about my choices and rights, and felt prepared for different scenarios. We had our big family participate in the whole event and she was accommodating to that. My pre labor was very long and when we were sent home from the hospital for the 3rd time, despite the exhaustion, she stayed and provided support while everyone was sleeping. I appreciated her use of a variety of acupressure points, and massage and relaxation techniques that helped tremendously throughout our 4 days of struggling. In the end, despite all the troubles, we were able to have a natural, minimally invasive labor and birth. We are especially thankful for the Santa Cruz Birth Collective. Though my husband and I have great jobs, we went through some struggles with our pregnancy that diminished our savings and plan for a doula. However, the Collective's program to provide services for ALL women no matter the cost, allowed us to have access to a doula, prenatal classes and other prenatal services that I would not have been able to afford. We felt very lucky to have come upon this blessing and hope that others have the same opportunities. read more

I cannot recommend Ana enough! Ana is kind, patient, and professional. She truly is a living, breathing book of knowledge on prenatal and postpartum topics and her passion for her work is evident in every interaction. I hired Ana as a doula for such an important season of life for several reasons, but two features really differentiated her from other doulas 1) her ability to ask great questions, allowing her to really understand my needs and 2) her emphasis on postpartum care, which is arguably more important that support during labor and delivery because the time it takes to recover. Her initial visits, prenatal information, and series of smart questions ultimately encouraged me to opt for a home birth and work with midwives. Had I opted for a medicated hospital birth, I am confident she would have been just as supportive. As mentioned, we had a planned home birth that resulted in an emergency hospital transfer. Ana worked well - under a great deal of pressure - with my husband, the midwives, and the EMT and Hospital Team at Lucile Packard, helping me have the natural birth I wanted. She returned after an eventful labor and delivery, in the middle of the night, to our home to watch our 2-year old so my husband could stay with our newborn in the NICU while I recovered. She was also my first visitor the next morning, adorned with bags full of nurturing soup, tea, snacks, etc. Lastly, I appreciated the 'menu' of services she offered as a doula. In the prenatal period, she walked me through a birth plan in case of hospital transfer, shared amazing recipes with me for postpartum nutrition including a list of ingredients to have on hand and helped me understand more about homeopathic medicines and environmentally friendly products to have in the home. During labor and delivery, she worked with my husband to make sure I was well taken care of and set up a beautiful environment in our home to make labor more peaceful. She also handled the emergency transfer like a champ! Her postpartum services, which were such a pleasant surprise, included weekly massages, help with cooking, brewing teas, blending herbs for sitz baths, belly binding, hands-on education about baby massages, as well as two beautiful 'ceremonies' which included the closing of the bones and Chinese mugwort warming. I was able to pick and choose how to spend my postpartum time with Ana and wanted to try out a bit of everything she believes a new mom needs in those very important first few weeks after birth. I didn't fully understand what a postpartum doula does until I worked with Ana and now it is the #1 thing I recommend to friends who are expecting. Ana helped me really, truly take care of myself and celebrate the birth of my son in so many ways. Please get to know this wonderful, kind woman - she is brilliant! read more

As for many who are expecting or who have recently delivered, I did not expect to deliver my baby in the midst of a global pandemic! Yet while I was deeply disappointed to learn that Ana would not be able to attend the birth of our son, the support she provided both before the birth and post-partum was invaluable. The birth plan and coaching we'd worked with her on in the sessions prior to the delivery were incredibly useful even if Ana was not able to be with us at the hospital; she provided much needed support at our home when I went into labor, and made herself available by phone and/or virtually once we went to the hospital. Thanks to Ana, we were prepared for the numerous procedures and interventions that would be offered to us at the hospital, and were able to implement our birth plan even without her physically present. Ana also helped arrange acupuncture and placenta encapsulation services -- even during the pandemic. Following the delivery, she brought me Ayuervedic food and tea formulated for post-partum nourishment, she offered advice and techniques for breast-feeding and baby massage, she provided supplies for belly binding, and composed an herbal sitz bath mixture for me to use. While I had envisioned having a different birth -- certainly one with Ana and other family members present -- I am deeply, deeply grateful we invested in having a doula, and am certain this journey would not have gone as well as it did without Ana's support. read more

Thank god Ana Hernandez was in my life when I became pregnant. From the struggles of the first trimester all the way through the tumultuous life as a new mom postpartum, Ana met me every step of the way. Her knowledge of what a woman needs for an empowered, healthy pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period is extensive. I especially appreciate all of her wisdom about techniques used by other cultures and by women throughout history. Working with her, I felt connected to the timeless wisdom of women who have gone through this process before. She recommended all of the most valuable books, tools, and strategies that ended up saving me money and suffering, and adding immeasurably to my birth experience. I can't recommend her doula services highly enough! If you've been wondering whether it's worth it to add the expense of a doula onto all you already have to pay for as part of birth, ask yourself what it's worth to look back on the birth of your child with a feeling of deep satisfaction rather than regret. Ana is the doula who will take you there. read more

Ana is a part of a local birth collective,and has endless resources to aid in your particular pregnancy. This Doula service truly shows that it really takes a village to birth and raise a child! Ana was such a dream...her greatest asset is her wisdom on many birth related topics--and she is always researching and staying up to date with the newest information. I unfortunately didn't have her until the very end of my pregnancy, but I encourage you to get her at the beginning! She has such a wealth of knowledge and gentle touch, she is all you want for your pregnancy! I ended up really seeing the "collective" of this service because one of my twins was breech and they took me to every member of the collective to fix it..and it happened! They have a wonderful chiropractor, massages, acupuncture, the list goes on! Its amazing how all of these women gather together with their specialty to facilitate the perfect birth for you! Ana was all I could have wanted at my labor and birth.... Basically this is the holistic experience you've been waiting for! How she handled my birth inspired me to learn more about women's and womb health, and I am inspired to become a Doula myself! read more