I don't have enough good things to say about Shannon and her business. She was absolutely…read moreincredible from start to finish. From the very first phone call I felt so comfortable and genuinely heard. She took the time to answer every question and listen to my previous birth story and never made me feel rushed. She listened with understanding and compassion and for the first time I truly felt like a care provider was really listening to me. For my first birth, I had a typical hospital birth with a typical OB. Although I did not have a traumatic experience, I wanted something different for my second time around. I found Shannon and it truly was a blessing. The level of care and attention to detail was above and beyond anything I had experienced before. When the day came to give birth, having her there made me feel so safe supported and empowered. If I was ever to do this again, I would not hesitate to use Shannon and her team and have another home birth. It truly was a defining experience and something that I believe that all women should be able to experience. If you're looking for a quality Midwife service that treats you like family and truly listens to you look no further. I cannot recommend Shannon enough!

How do you simply "leave a review" for the beautiful people who facilitated an absolutely…read morelife-changing and indescribable experience? It feels so trivial to try to put into words what Shannon and A'maya gave to our family. They will forever have a space in my heart, and I cannot recommend working with them enough. From the very beginning, they gave us such a deep feeling of comfort and security, not only through their incredible knowledge but through their presence alone. During the birth, they created such a calm and steady presence in our home. I always felt supported and reassured, and their quiet confidence helped me stay grounded through the entire experience (and it was long). They knew exactly when to step in and when to simply hold space. Their care extended far beyond the clinical -- it was emotional, human, and deeply compassionate. Choosing a home birth for my first birth was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and having Shannon and A'maya as my midwives made it more beautiful than I could have imagined. And somehow, incredibly, alhamdulillah, I can honestly say I miss my birth. How many people can say that? It was such a powerful, peaceful, and empowering experience, one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. That is a testament to the environment they created and the care they provided. I am forever grateful. May Allah bless them abundantly, reward them for every moment of care they gave us, place barakah in their work, and allow them to continue being a source of comfort, safety, and strength for families like ours. Ameen.

Viji is truly one of a kind. Every mother deserves someone like her by their side during their…read morebirth journey. After a traumatic first pregnancy and postpartum preeclampsia, I was considered high-risk during my second pregnancy as well. Around 32 weeks, I started seeing elevated blood pressure readings along with severe white coat syndrome. I was anxious and searching for support, and that's when I found Viji. Even before our first consultation, I had a strong feeling that she was God-sent -- a true blessing -- and that feeling only grew stronger with time. Viji stepped in with so much calm, confidence, and care. She took everything upon herself and made sure I was prepared in every possible way -- physically, mentally, and emotionally. She guided me through provider decisions, helped me find the right midwifery care, and thoughtfully connected me with an exceptional midwife, Lin Lee, who aligned perfectly with my needs. Because of Viji's discernment and support in building the right team around me, my entire experience was completely different from my first pregnancy. The birth itself felt smooth and empowering -- no tears, no episiotomy, and my blood pressure remained well controlled throughout. What truly sets Viji apart is how deeply she cares and how holistic her approach is. She took the time to understand my full medical history and personal background, worked to get to the root of my previous complications, and helped me navigate provider complexities with clarity and confidence. She also combined her Jyotish knowledge to help identify the most supportive and auspicious timing for my induction, which brought me an incredible sense of peace and trust going into labor. During labor, Viji was there through it all. She supported me with Ayurvedic care, calming massages, constant reassurance, and gentle guidance. She made sure I was comfortable, grounded, and never felt alone. She even stayed with me through the entire night -- watching over me, advocating for me, and helping me make important decisions when I was exhausted and vulnerable. Because of Viji, my second birth experience became healing, empowering, and beautiful. She didn't just help me prepare for birth -- she helped me heal from my past experience and trust my body again. I will always be grateful for her presence, her wisdom, and the love she brought into one of the most important moments of my life. I thank God every day for leading me to her at exactly the right time.

I have been working with Viji since 2023 and can confidently say that the work I've done with her…read morehas been truly transformative... far beyond anything I ever expected. I first came to Viji as a very anxious and overwhelmed mother, desperately trying to stay afloat in the struggles of parenthood. At the time, I had no idea what I was getting into, but I just knew I needed help. From day one, Viji completely blew me away with her depth of knowledge, insight, and intuition. Beyond that, she is incredibly caring and consistently goes above and beyond to support her clients. Through our work together, I've gained a deeper understanding of my inner makeup, which has empowered me to take greater control of my life and has profoundly impacted how I show up as a mother and wife. My mind was truly blown when she began incorporating Ayurveda and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) to help explain what I was experiencing physically, emotionally, and energetically, and to guide how I move through my life. I have also integrated therapeutic bodywork and the Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) into my work with Viji, which has only deepened the healing process. The way she thoughtfully weaves together her diverse offerings is incredible and deeply supportive. She is truly a one-stop shop for healing on every level. I am deeply grateful for the care, insight, and dedication she has brought to my journey. Viji is absolutely amazing, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. My only regret is not starting this work with her sooner.

Thank you, Sunshine, for giving us the most pleasant experience throughout our pregnancy journey…read more I really enjoyed each appointment/meeting we had. She created an atmosphere of warmth, calm, support, and safety. She allowed me to have the birth I hoped for by educating me, guiding me, and giving me the options and agency to choose the birth we wanted. Never once did I feel pushed, judged, undermined, or neglected. Sunshine has such a kind heart and a listening ear, and knew exactly how to make me feel so empowered and secure during my pregnancy and birth experience. She defused all the worries I had, and gave both my husband and I the confidence that I could have the natural birth I was seeking, and in the beauty of our home. I felt so safe having her by my side. I'm truly grateful that you were our midwife, the captain of both the pregnancy and the birth. Thank you for taking care of me, as well as taking care of my husband and our baby during and after the pregnancy. I hope every woman has the opportunity to receive the same care, love, and attention that I received from Sunshine! Thank you Sunshine for giving me this amazing experience. It has planted a seed within me that maybe I'd like to experience another birth... Hahaha..

Yes, you should birth at home if you're low-risk and yes, you should do it with Sunshine (and…read moreChristiane) by your side. I have the good fortune of having experienced both - a hospital birth and a home birth so I can confidently say that if you have a healthy pregnancy with the right support and care, there's absolutely no need for you to be in a hospital environment. All you really need is a strong body and mind. In fact, deciding to go to a hospital at the cusp of my first baby almost ready to come out, only delayed things to a point where I pushed for 7 hours. That story for another day. This is about Sunshine. There is something about her presence that is reassuring from the word go. She was there in the critical moments of a hard labour with my first birth, listening to my baby's heartbeat, holding my hand, and lovingly talking to my baby, asking him if he was ready to meet us. With my second baby, it took some time for us to fight years of conditioning -- "people like me don't give birth at home" - and get to a place where we felt confident with the decision. It would not have been possible without Sunshine answering the million questions we had - she did it patiently and thoroughly. Hearing about her experience in managing any complications during birth, knowing when something needs more attention (her own father was a nurse in the emergency room), and most importantly, the genuine love and concern she showed for me and my husband while listening to all that we had to say about the first hospital birth, convinced us that with Sunshine, we'd get the birth we'd dreamt of with our second baby. A rock. A solid pillar of strength. Sunshine's baby-first approach to birth is her biggest strength. It's all a birthing mother wants. For her perfect baby, to make a perfect entry, and for someone like Sunshine to guide her through it. I miss those prenatal visits where Sunshine would lean over and whisper to my baby in my tummy. I think even my baby kicked back in excitement hearing her sweet and gentle voice! During the actual birth, Sunshine and Christiane went above and beyond to make me comfortable. With them around - it felt like I could power through anything. Christiane knew exactly when to put a bag of ice on my lower back. It helped turn my baby. Sunshine knew what position was working best to help me push better. I still remember going through several moments of "I can't do this, please take me to the hospital" during the final stage of pushing, and looking up to see that peaceful and almost unaffected (comes from experience) expression on Sunshine's face while she reminded me what my goal was and how I was made to do what I was doing. You need just that. She was also instrumental in taking some key steps to ensure I don't tear (I didn't!) I think of Sunshine as an angel who came into our lives for the birth of both our babies, reminding us that birth goes perfectly when it is undisturbed and that for everything else, she's going to be there. Sunshine's years and years of experience watching and bringing babies into this world shine through at every prenatal visit, during birth and after. She's also the best person to do a newborn screening test with - you don't want cold clinical hospital staff poking your few-hours-old tiny human. My second baby didn't even wince when Sunshine did the test for him. She's truly special and you would be lucky if she's your midwife - she will be with you, every step of the way, on your beautiful journey into parenthood.

I cannot recommend Marilou at Doulas by the Bay highly enough. She was our postpartum night doula…read morefor the first few weeks after our son was born, and she was incredible. As new parents, the sleep deprivation is real, but knowing she was there allowed us to finally get the much-needed rest we required to function. Beyond just being a set of expert hands, she became a trusted guide for us and taught us invaluable newborn care tips that we still use daily. We trusted her implicitly with our baby from night one which was critical for us as anxious new parents. Marilou's calm, professional, and warm presence made us feel so at ease during a very vulnerable time. We truly loved our time with her and are so grateful for the care she provided. If you are looking for a doula who is knowledgeable, nurturing, and completely trustworthy, Marilou is amazing!

We had an incredible experience with Sally for our son from when he was 1-3 months. She was…read moreconsistently punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. Beyond just helping with night feeds, she took the initiative with bottles and laundry, which was a huge help to our family. We felt completely at ease knowing our little one was in such caring hands. In addition, she helped with sleep training. Additionally, the office staff was a pleasure to work with. They were extremely professional and maintained a quick turnaround time on all our requests and paperwork. We highly recommend this team for anyone looking for top-tier newborn care!

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.

Nova was recommended to me for a home birth VBAC (already had one successful one). After finding…read moreout I was a woman of plus size, I was denied service with them. Their claim was that their VBACs need to be "pristine" because of liability reasons. My being plus size is not evidence based and is in fact, the same kind of shaming that I would expect from a typical medical doctor and not someone who practices midwifery. This was deeply disappointing. I'm grateful they can offer home birth options for women but if you don't fit their mold, you won't be accepted. Huh.. I went on to have a successful unmedicated 2nd VBAC.

We found nova midwifery through a friend... we were interested in having a home birth but weren't…read moresure, so we reached out to a friend to learn about their experience. They recommended Mason at Nova, so we called for an initial consult. Our son was delivered in 2015 at kaiser without intervention, and we liked the experience... except for all the medical stuff like wearing a heart monitor and sleeping in a hospital and all the worry that seems to come along with being in a hospital. For our second birth, we wanted a natural birth, but maybe a little more comfortable. We ended up hiring Mason and Melissa at Nova for our prenatal care, delivery, and recovery, and had a really nice experience. First, they're both 5 star people. Good bedside manner, good sense of humor, a nice wealth of knowledge. They are very good at quelling your fears and questions that come along with pregnancy and delivery, and appointments are typically really positive (you got this girl!). I would say from the husband side that a homebirth was WAY more enjoyable for me. My own bed, my own home, my own food, and I got to catch my daughter as my wife leaned over the ottoman. What an experience! I'll never look at that ottoman the same. I feel like these women checked all the boxes, professional, fun, empathetic, and knowledgeable. I hear they have new space in Walnut Creek, but one of the nicest things for us is they did some home visits for prenatal care since they had other clients in our area. Towards the end, we saw them in the office, and it was always a tranquil environment, very different from the kaiser waiting room. I think the recovery is the biggest advantage to the homebirth. These ladies support you through the first few weeks, and being home with your newborn is sooooo nice in the first few hours of life. I don't think I would have been comfortable with my first child at home, but now that I know what I'm doing, homebirths and nova are the only way I would go for an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery.

I have had the opportunity to work with Jen several times as a lactation colleague and have…read morewitnessed her in action as a midwife at a friend's birth. She is a grounded and loving presence to all of the people she serves. She is also deeply invested in her community and volunteers her wealth of experience and knowledge to assist lactating parents to reach their breastfeeding goals. She is a knowledgeable and dedicated lactation consultant and midwife; the kind person I wish I had as a resource when I was struggling with parenting and breastfeeding with my first child.

Jennifer is a warm and nurturing midwife. Her knowledge, guidance, attentive ear and calm demeanor…read morewas greatly appreciated. The ease of appointments and birthing in the comfort of one's own home is priceless.

I don't think words can truly describe how amazing this woman is. Charlee is such an amazing person…read morefirst and foremost. I had the pleasure and honor to get to work with her for not one of my babies, but two of them. I had given birth January 2023, she came to our house for every appointment. She listened to all of our concerns. She was so thorough and in depth. Never missing a single thing during any appointment. We Explained to her that we wanted something to where we could be the most hands-on during our birth, and that is exactly what we got. Throughout the entire pregnancy, she educated us. Answering all of my questions. She is so funny, but also extremely professional and truly just a joy to get to work with. When I went into labor, she was there a heartbeat more ready than we were we were taking our time we had two other kids lol. She always asked for permission before doing anything. I felt like I was being treated like a queen. After giving birth, she was so accommodating so attentive. She came to do checks on myself and the baby she always asked before even touching the baby. She respects everybody boundaries. I got the honor to become her friend and kept in contact giving her updates on our baby that she helped bring into this world. Then we got pregnant again and knew that we wanted to have a free birth. But we still knew that we wanted prenatal care and we only knew of one place we wanted to go to get that.. Charlee helped guide us to make sure that we got our blood work done during pregnancy, our anatomy scan, and even made sure that baby was headed down a few weeks before giving birth. Unfortunately, we were moving to Texas to give birth, so there was no way for her to be our midwife. But she helped us by making sure we had a healthy pregnancy the entire way. We made it to full-term and gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. After giving birth, though my placenta was being a little stubborn. I gave Charlee a call on FaceTime and she picked up it was a little late into the evening and she still answered! (That's because she's truly that awesome) she helped by simply telling me to stand up and cough and sure enough that did the trick! Talk about being such an amazing midwife over the phone in a whole other state. The financial aspect of it all she works with you. Some people are concerned that they want to have a homebirth with the midwife, but they can't afford it. She can come up with a payment plan for you and let me tell you 100% worth it with Charlee , if you were to invest your money anywhere for the birth of your baby every single time I would put my money into Charlee. The medical aspect of it all let me tell you when you see the bag that she brings to every appointment. She is ready for the impossible. I swear she's got like a mini hospital in that bag. The all natural aspect if you are somebody who is trying to avoid as much medical stuff as possible, she's also your go to woman. She will give you different stretches and things you can do to avoid medication pain relief etc The overall aspect of Charlee as a midwife is, she's the woman you want to go to . She's the one you want on your team. I'm so lucky that I get to share this intimate photo of my most recent birth just to show how amazing she is and how much she cares about her past, current, and future clients. Thank you so much, Charlee for everything you've done for me and my family . Words truly just don't express how amazing you are not only as a midwife, but as a person.

This is my second birth, but my first being a home birth. I didn't know what to expect but felt…read moresupport since the beginning to the end. Charlee is nothing but incredible in the care she provides and lets natural really take its course, very through, nurturing, trusting, and takes her time with you through the whole journey. I do have to pay out of pocket, but it's worth every penny for the experience. My toddler who was 23 months at the time was able to witness her little sister being born, and i strongly believe to this day, it's the reason why she's so in love with her sister. My husband even got to catch our baby with his hands, that's something you can't always say happen. The whole experience is what made it worth it, Charlee is the experience. My pregnancy, labor, and delivery were all smooth and calm, not once did i feel stressed. I even had a scare with some bleeding, but Charlee made sure i got all i needed for piece of mind, and getting checked out. I keep telling everyone how amazing it all was and i will be doing my next birth with Charlee, she's family. I highly recommend, if you can do a home birth, it is a must do, & Charlee & her team are the ones to do it with. Thank you for the amazing care, journey, and the experience you gave to my family and i, there aren't words to express how grateful we are, all great things to feel and say.

It's 8pm on a Saturday night and I am relaxing on my couch having a glass of wine. My little man…read morehas been sleeping in his crib since he fell asleep there, ON HIS OWN, SEVEN minutes after we put him down - without a peep. You read that right. Since I have such ample time, this review will be a long one. I gave you fair warning. I'm not so rigid to think or expect that every night will unfold like tonight. There will be teeth! walking! talking! more regressions to come. However, a month after starting this process, it has become a reasonable reality for me to expect that on more days/nights rather than not (meaning NAPS and bedtime), he will go to sleep. It is a work in progress, but Dahlia guided us through it with the confidence and clarify we ourselves needed to provide to our son for the process to work. The backstory: At 11 weeks old, my son morphed from our lovely sleeping newborn waking twice a night to waking EVERY HOUR, needing to be soothed back to sleep...while sleeping in our bed. As the weeks dragged on, it became clear he was not going to outgrow this hiccup in an amount of time that would preserve my sanity (or marriage lol), and things were snowballing from bad to dreadful (more on that below). He eventually settled on a pattern of waking 4-7 times per night; however, he started having negative sleep associations to most every soothing trick in the book. I won't waste time listing such strategies or the gimmicks I bought on Amazon. Well-meaning folks always shared their soothing strategies. Well, if you can envision it, we tried it. Don't start to tell me about white noise and black out shades. Eventually, NOTHING WORKED except the boob. So sleep - meaning all naps and bedtime plus the night wake ups - became an hour long battle with raging, screaming, kicking, tears. All of which did not guarantee an outcome of sleep in the end! This was a vicious cycle on repeat at least 4 times daily which went on for almost two months (give or take some days where baby was so exhausted he slept well for a night or two). On top of this, I had impending abdominal and oral surgeries. Just icing on the cake. We knew we had to sleep train. After pouring through blogs and books about the various sleep training techniques and studies, I still had reservations (and extreme anxiety subjecting my baby to this), and needed someone to lead me through its ups and downs. Alright I'll be honest - sleep training is mostly down. It is painful. Gutwrenchingly PTSD painful if your baby is anything like mine. Enter Dahlia. She is honest, positive, supportive, respectful, and above all, will use her knowledge to SEE YOU THROUGH IT. She makes herself available and genuinely wants to help you. I cannot thank her enough and I definitely promise you will not get that from a blog. So dread. I used to DREAD naps and bedtime. The clock would hit 5:30pm and my heart would sink a little. My soul would wail a sad song. Now, I think about the time I can spend writing long reviews and blogging while he's sleeping. And the biggest plus? The little man wakes up RELAXED and RESTED and happy to see me. THANK YOU DAHLIA!

Dahlia is the BEST! We hired her for 3 months of postpartum work, which is no small task with…read moretwins! She was so caring, nurturing, and gentle with our babies, her experience was only outweighed by her sweetness and profound gift for "twinning". I feel so lucky to have had her work with us, she taught us (first-time parents) so much, from swaddling to bathing to infant massage! Every morning when Dahila arrived it was a ray of sunshine and positive energy, my babies responded so well to her songs, her feeding techniques, and her cuddles. We were so sad to say goodbye to her when it was time, and are almost jealous of the next family that gets to work with her! :) :)

I can't say enough good things about Awakenings! I hired Esther for a home birth after a rather…read moretraumatic hospital birth with my previous child. I felt supported and held throughout the entire process. Esther took time to educate me on homeopathics to help alleviate headaches and helped me navigate a scary situation when my genetic testing came back with some red flags. I felt she went above and beyond when it came to helping with stuff like this that I could tell she was passionate about. I always felt that she was in my corner and when it came time for the birth (my third) she was able to give me space to birth the way I wanted to while being all hands on deck to help my husband catch our baby. It was a really healing experience for me. Postpartum she was very involved and paid close attention to details, even flagging some concerning heart rate stuff with my newborn that I was able to take to my pediatrician and have assessed. Truly full of gratitude for Esther and the experience I was able to have while guided by her professionalism, wisdom, and skill.

Esther was such a blessing to our family and to the entry of our youngest son. She is deeply…read moreknowledgeable and will give you a balanced amount of information around all the decisions that need to be made during pregnancy and beyond. We highly recommend Esther to midwife babies into this world. She's such a gift!