I loved Lin she was amazing !…read more She helped me accomplish my goals of having a natural un medicated birth. She was always cheerful and honest. I'm thankful for her. I never thought I could give birthday without medication but she gave me the confidence I needed.

Lyn is just amazing! I cannot recommend her enough. I July, I gave birth to my son under her…read moresupervision and I couldn't be happier with her support. During pregnancy, I always felt extremely respected and heard. She was fully supportive of my idea to have natural birth and never made me feel uncomfortable asking any question etc. She carefully reacted to my concerns (ordered additional labs / checks etc.), so I always felt in peace. She is extremely knowlegable and experienced, I always felt I could trust her 100%. During birth she was also extremely supportive. The whole experience was wonderful because of Lyn! She would always give me wide range of info based on which I could make informed decisions, while also respecting my "plan". I had a 2-week and 6-week postnatal visit, and just scheduled another 6-month one. I tell every pregnant woman to choose her care! Birth can be a transforming experience and also one that you will forever love to remember -- if done and supervised by Lyn! PS. The whole BAM (Bay Area Maternity) experience was wonderful, but mentioning just Lyn here -- I'm also giving credits to Kavitha and Melina. Thank you!

This review is a bummer to write, but after reading other reviews about communication delays and…read moreissues on the administrative end, it's clear i'm not the only one experiencing this issue and something needs to be seriously addressed. Alicia herself is wonderful, and we used her for placenta encapsulation in 2019. We had an overall good experience, so as we are nearing the birth of our 3rd baby, I reached back out to Alicia as a return client looking for placenta encapsulation again. It took 4 days to get an initial response to my email. Julia (Alicia's assistant) reached out to let me know Alicia is on maternity leave and had a few clarification questions to get the ball rolling with another doula. Unfortunately, I never heard from Julia or anyone else again. I've since left a voicemail and 4 follow-up emails with no response. If Born Doulas is too busy to accept me as a client, I would have appreciated hearing that upfront vs. just ghosting me, especially as a returning client. These types of customer service issues are just unacceptable, and if you are looking for a doula or placenta encapsulation company during the very delicate time of pregnancy and delivery, I recommend looking elsewhere and finding a company that cares about communication.

I can't begin to describe how wonderful, passionate, caring and knowledgeable Alicia is! From the…read morebeginning she guided us during the pregnancy, had many great tips for me, and helped me make my (right) big decisions towards the end. My birth story took longer than we expected, 40+ hours and Alicia was so supportive and strong even till the last seconds, let me correct that, even after the birth! Her stamina throughout the 40+ hours is just amazing! She was always there reassuring me that everything is going well, and making sure I'm hydrated and nourished to go on with the big game. This alone makes me want to tell every women, regardless how supportive your husband is, you still need a doula 100% especially Alicia 10000%! Before and after the birth I had many complications, that caused me to be hospitalized right after my birth, so my newborn was left with my clueless husband and mother. Alicia right away came over and helped them in so many ways, guiding and teaching them how to take care of our baby. She kept checking in on me before and after the birth regarding my condition, and helped me in all kinds of ways, sending over wonderful people to help with my condition, etc. We are eternally grateful to you Alicia! Baby M sending all his love!

BAM was the best decision I could have made for my prenatal care and delivery. Danielle delivered…read moremy baby and I will forever be grateful to her for the way she made me feel bringing my baby into the world! I did not feel comfortable with the get in get out method that a lot of traditional OBs or hospital offices have and really felt holistically cared for in this office. The midwives are connected to and well regarded by other Perinatal professionals in the community (chiropractors, Doulas, PTs). I knew I wanted a low intervention birth, and was looking for midwifery style care, but also wanted to deliver in a hospital and this was the perfect scenario. In the delivery room, I really would have trusted all four midwives and knew that they always had my well-being in mind.

My experience with BAM was overwhelmingly positive. I say with true conviction that I don't believe…read moreI would have received better care, inclusive of my birthing experience anywhere else in the Bay Area. I am a first time mom, healthy overall physically/mentally, and was seeking a low intervention and unmedicated birth. I started my pregnancy with a well regarded OB in Palo Alto. During my time there I hadn't even met my doctor and was not given more than 5 minutes per appointment. It was impersonal and not a fit, so I decided to change practices and make the long drive (I live in Redwood City) to BAM. My first appointment with BAM was night and day and continued that way through my entire pregnancy. Every midwife is professional, knowledgable, and kind. They all care deeply for their patients and take as much time as needed to discuss questions or concerns. After each appointment I'd receive notes with follow ups, and if I ever had any additional questions I could easily message them and they'd reply so quickly. I felt secure and supported leading up to my delivery. If there was ever a decision to be made, (ex. vaccines, GBS treatment, due date) the options were discussed in an evidence-based conversation without judgment and completely empowering me to make the decision - I was NEVER pushed into any medical intervention. In fact, when I had concerns over something, Lin called me on her day off to help. This is what I mean by exceptional support and care. During my delivery in Feb 2023, I was supported by Lin, Danielle, and my doula Tara Gomez. I had a long and challenging labor but ultimately was able to deliver my baby girl safely, without an epidural. I owe this completely to the care and support I was given. I am convinced, had I given birth with a traditional OB, I would have experienced many more interventions and would not have been able to deliver naturally. The entire experience was incredibly empowering! Lin is the best of the best in this field, being a midwife for over 40 years and delivering over 7,000 babies. I am just one of those numbers, but I will never forget the level of expertise she brought to my baby's birth. Regardless of where I live in the Bay Area, I plan to come back to BAM for any future pregnancy. I cannot recommend this practice more and I am SO grateful for these midwives and this practice. I trust them wholeheartedly and wish more women could have this type of prenatal/delivery experience!

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.

After reading Shannon's beautiful and transformative book Born Far From Home, I felt so drawn to…read morehaving a homebirth. I loved reading about Shannon's journey to Islam and birth work, and how her faith and spirituality intertwined with her midwifery care. I also enjoyed reading the compelling birth stories and the beautiful way in which she writes about birth. I especially felt connected to her book as a Muslim woman who was curious about homebirth, but wasn't sure if it was for me. Once I finished the book and had my first appointment with Shannon I felt confident, reassured, and excited about having a homebirth for my first baby. Since the start of my prenatal care with Shannon, I felt so comforted by the amount of time and personalized care she dedicated to us by listening to our concerns, answering our many questions, and providing the guidance we needed during this special time in our life. Her level of knowledge and expertise combined with her warm and comforting presence brought us ease during such a delicate time. I also have the same great things to say about Tara who was the second midwife to be present at the birth and meet with us for the postpartum appointments. Tara also has such a warm, beautiful, and comforting spirit and has been such a pleasure to meet with. When expressing the troubles I have with breast feeding, she has been so sweet and reassuring and I really appreciate the level of care she not only provides for our baby, but to me. I feel so fortunate and blessed to have had a successful and empowering homebirth with the utmost care and support from Shannon and Tara and I highly recommend them. I am so grateful to have been in their care.

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!

TL;DR: Last-minute cancellations, fell asleep on duty watching our newborn, refused hands-on baby…read morecare, offered useless virtual support, prepaid for 13 nights, and refused refund. We're disputing the charges with our credit card company. Do not recommend. We hired Czarina for evening doula services shortly after welcoming our newborn, hoping for support and rest. Unfortunately, the experience caused us significantly more stress than doing it alone. The most alarming issue was that she repeatedly fell asleep snoring loudly while on duty watching our newborn. This happened on multiple visits. We could see and hear her sleeping, which meant that instead of resting, we stayed awake monitoring her to ensure our baby was safe. When we addressed this directly, her response was shocking: she claimed she was doing it to "train us to be better parents" and get us used to sleeping while the baby sleeps. As exhausted first-time parents, this felt unreassuring and completely unsafe. We hired a night doula to reduce anxiety, not to monitor the caregiver. Beyond the safety issues, basic doula duties were neglected: * Refusal of Care: She was unwilling to help wash the baby and unable to provide clear, hands-on guidance for newborn care. * Household Help: She provided little to no assistance with basic household tasks. * Ineffective Virtual Support: She attempted to substitute some support with "virtual" sessions, which offered zero value to us as parents who needed physical, hands-on help with a newborn during overnight hours. Her reliability was poor, with multiple last-minute cancellations and rescheduling. Most importantly, we prepaid for 13 nights of service. When we terminated the arrangement due to the safety concerns and poor service, she refused to provide a refund for the unused nights. We were forced to escalate this to our credit card company to try and recoup our funds. Czarina was pleasant to speak with initially, but her actions put our peace of mind at risk and violated our trust. If you are looking for reliable, hands-on postpartum care that allows you to rest, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Ask specific questions about staying awake during night shifts, hands-on newborn care (including bathing), refund policies, and what "virtual support" entails before hiring.

As others have reported we had a horrific experience with Czarina, and most unfortunately, we felt…read moretaken advantage of at a time when we were quite vulnerable right after we had our first child, and were struggling. If you don't take anything from this review, I ask you to please schedule a trial run as others have reported, Czarina will ask you to prepay for multiple days before having a chance to experience with her. Context: We hired Czarina as a night doula for 6 nights. Czarina showed up 5 minutes late (and also left 5 minutes early). When she arrived at our home, she made it pretty clear she was unhappy with our setup (we had our baby sleeping in our room, and our milk/fridge on our main level, requiring going up and down stairs for a bottle). She made it pretty obvious she was unhappy with the stairs which is like the one thing I needed her to do -- fetch stuff from downstairs. Second we had asked Czarina to wake my wife at very specific times to enable specific feedings. We were struggling with breast feeding, struggling to get feeding right at all and wanted to stick to a specific schedule (as recommended by our dr). Czarina failed to wake us up, claiming that she missed our alarm (turns out Czarina feel asleep as a night doula). Finally when my wife woke up and Czarina did bring the infant in, we had asked that she change her as our infant didn't like being wet during a feeding at all. Despite asking multiple times, the baby was brought in wet which prolonged each feeding. Overall Czarina was just not a fit for us, and despite having multiple attempts to receive a refund, Czarina has refused to provide any refunds. I beg you to read this review but also the others and reach out if you have questions. Being a new parent is incredibly stressful and I'd hate for you to have even more stress.

We had an outstanding experience with DOULAS by the BAY. They matched us with Mary Ann Cherie…read moreWolowski, who was with our family for the first eight weeks after our baby was born. She started right on the day after delivery while we were still at the hospital. This was incredibly helpful because it allowed my partner to focus on caring for our toddler while I recovered from my C-section and bonded with our newborn. Mary Ann was exceptional in every aspect of newborn and postpartum care. With her background as RN and an experienced nanny, she confidently took charge from day one. She handled everything--from swaddling and keeping the baby on a feeding schedule to making sure I stayed on track with pumping. She always had my pump parts cleaned, sterilized, and ready to use, which made those early weeks so much easier. She also gave me invaluable breastfeeding support. Thanks to her guidance, I established a full milk supply within just three days of my C-section, and I'm still successfully breastfeeding. She also referred us to an amazing lactation consultant who was an absolute game changer. Mary Ann was meticulous about everything baby-related and followed best practices in every detail. Her logging and tracking were incredibly thorough, giving us complete peace of mind. She was professional, respectful, organized, and kept everything spotless. The greatest gift she gave our family was rest. There were moments when it almost felt unreal how much recovery time my partner and I were able to get because we trusted her completely. She would even bring me a glass of iced water wherever I was--a small act of kindness that made a huge difference in my recovery. Because she took care of so much, I was able to focus on postpartum healing and even carve out time for simple self-care, like getting a haircut. Although her primary responsibility was caring for our newborn, she also formed a wonderful bond with our toddler and always made him feel included. She consistently went above and beyond by helping keep our home clean, making countless trips up and down the stairs without ever complaining, and never leaving before everything was tidied up--even if it meant staying a little past the end of her shift. We're incredibly grateful to Doulas by the Bay for matching us with someone who fit our family so perfectly. The agency made the process smooth, and Mary Ann exceeded every expectation we had. We wholeheartedly recommend Doulas by the Bay to any family looking for expert postpartum support. They gave us the gift of rest, confidence, and a much smoother transition into life as a family of four.

I reached out to find a birth doula and the initial meeting giving an overview of how they work was…read moreclear and straightforward. Doulas through this company are employees (not independent providers) and they stress that this is really good for always having a backup. We were then matched with 2 doula candidates and the scheduling process was easy and professional. However, we ultimately felt that these candidates were not properly trained or vetted. We never received any materials such as CVs for the doulas. The first doula said right away that she had never been a birth doula before and we would be her first birth. Her only experience was that she had been a night doula before. I was shocked that she had never even shadowed another birth doula as part of her training as a company employee. Bless her heart for being honest, but I did not want to pay to be her guinea pig. After this, I requested an additional candidate, but I was told the other one should be great. The second doula was also not a good fit. She kept emphasizing that at previous births hospital staff did not believe she was a birth doula (and thought she was just a family friend). It became clear why. I asked about her qualifications and she said she's working on her bachelor's degree even though she already has a master's degree. I thought this was strange and asked some follow up questions and ultimately could not determine what degree she had (maybe an associate's degree) or didn't have (definitely did not already have a master's). I also asked some basic medical questions about pain control and epidurals and she was not able to answer them. Ultimately we were able to find a wonderful birth doula through another matching company - experienced and with a real master's degree (in public health).

If you are pregnant and trying to decide where to give birth, I HIGHLY recommend Casa Natal! All of…read morethe midwifes are caring and will sit with you for hour long visits to answer your questions. The center is BEAUTIFUL and also has huge tubs you are actually allowed to birth in, unlike other (all to my knowledge) local hospitals that do not allow water births. The perfect in between if you do not really want to do a home birth but want a home birth-like experience in a very gorgeous and peaceful setting! It is also super close to a hospital should you need it (most people do not) and while not needed was great for my peace of mind. They also have a call line where you can ask questions postpartum that is very helpful. Overall, I had a beautiful birth thanks to them and am very grateful. Birth is something you only do a once or a few times in your life, will remember forever, and I am very glad I got to experience this with the team at Casa Natal.

I had my baby girl in June 2021 and I'm so glad I chose Casa Natal (los gatos) for her birth…read more I was with an OB for the first half of my pregnancy and I was able to see the difference in the care provided at Casa Natal versus my OB's office. My OB appointments lasted for only 15 minutes and I didn't feel supported or heard. At Casa Natal, every appointment lasted for an hour, the midwives checked not only for my physical but also my mental health and answered all of my questions. I was able to get acquainted to Melissa, Julia and all the student midwives during my visits. I also took the breastfeeding class that Emily hosted and it was informative and helpful. Coming to the actual birth, it was truly a beautiful experience. I got the exact birth that I had hoped for as a first time parent. I felt supported throughout my labor. Melissa, Tara, and Charlie attended my birth and were the best team I could have asked for apart from my husband. Tara and Charlie guided me with different positions and techniques to help progress with the labor. After about 6 hours of laboring at the birth center, I delivered my baby vaginally, without any interventions and I was back home 4 hours after my baby was born. They also provided me with excellent postpartum care and lactation support. If you're looking for a holistic natural birth experience, look no further. This team is it!

Kelly is awesome. She really is. I don't think you can say badass on Yelp but it is an apt word to…read moredescribe her. My wife and I both felt strongly about having a midwife that was compassionate but also assertive. We met with maybe 6 total midwives and Kelly was the only one who seemed extremely confident, not too lackadaisical, but also felt there was a right time to have humility and ask for help from elsewhere. This was the perfect balance for us. I believe my wife was one of Kelly's most difficult cases (sick both of her entire pregnancies 24/7), but Kelly went so far out of her way to help us and make us feel like we had support, I can't say enough about how much that means to us. And much as we had expected when hiring her, she was very helpful in seeking treatment for my wife's sickness and helping us navigate what could have been an otherwise very difficult path of doctors and specialists. Kelly is super energetic and fun, being that she has 3 kids of her own. She really has a great personality for her chosen profession. The only knock is that she did not laugh when I told her I was going to check the surf mid-labor. That was actually a very good joke.

Kelly Olmstead is not only a sweet and generous person but also an amazing resource for anything…read morerelated to birth. From the beginning she answered all of our questions without any pressure about homebirth vs hospital. After sitting with her for an hour, our minds were already made up, she clearly had to be the one to deliver our child. For months we looked forward to each visit and would always leave with delightful smiles, excited for the new adventure that was to come. When it was time for labor she was at our house ready to check me even in the early stages. She checked back often and monitored my progress until it was finally time to call the second midwife to come in and assist (Laura was a gem). During labor Kelly encouraged me and put my mind at ease for any aches and pains that I was feeling. When it seems like I couldn't take anymore she was there to tell me that this was the stage where it should feel like I cannot take anymore but she assured me that I could, and I would, and I did. Having our baby at home was the most magical experience and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone other than Kelly Olmstead. Since the birth she's been by several times to check our little babe and I must say that we are going to miss her and can't wait to get pregnant again! (but not too soon) ;)