Writing as the dad: hiring Mari made all the difference. She helped me understand my role in the…read moreprocess - what to do, when to step in, when to step back - which turned out to be huge during some critical decision moments. I came out of it more connected to my wife and our daughter than I ever expected. Warm, knowledgeable, never pushes an agenda. Highly recommend.

Had a great experience with Hope and Isabel! Made our life a lot easier and brought so much care…read moreand love to our little boy and family! Would certainly recommend them to anyone needing doula support!

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.

Paola was such a help to our family after the birth of our little one. She took care of the baby at…read morenight to make sure we could get as much sleep as possible between the frequent night feedings. When he woke up at night, Paola would change his diaper and bring him to me to feed. She would help keep him awake so he could get a full feed and burp him since it was still hard for me to get out of bed while recovering. She also helped settle him back to sleep in his bassinet. As he grew she also had great suggestions for helping him with gas and to generally be more comfortable at night. We were so happy to have Paola's support during those first few weeks and would definitely recommend her to other families.

Paola has been an immense help to our growing family, we cannot recommend her services enough! We…read moreare first time parents to twins and Paola has made our transition into parenthood much more manageable than I could have imagined. Paola was born to work with babies, and her passion shines through her care. We are so impressed with her ability to attend to both our babies needs. It puts me at ease to know our babies are surrounded by her love and attention through the night. Paola has helped us to understand what our babies are going through at different stages, and educated us on what to expect for the future. She has given us great guidance with her vast knowledge of newborns. She is punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. We are so thankful for Paola's support and encouragement, we have benefited greatly from our time with her.

We were incredibly lucky to have Thais as our postpartum doula for the first 6 weeks with our first…read morebaby. From the start, she was thoughtful and well prepared. She even came to our home beforehand to review what we had for the baby and helped us identify what we were missing. Thais truly loves babies and her work, and it shows in how gentle, attentive, and calm she is. She also organize our baby items very well, which made daily life much easier. Before her last week, she checked in to make sure I felt confident caring for the baby on my own and taught me essential skills like bathing the baby and using a baby carrier. As a first-time mom, her support made a huge difference. I highly recommend Thais to any new family.

I feel so lucky to have Thais helping me take care of my first newborn baby!…read more She has been so patient, passionate, knowledgeable and really into the details of everything. She also turned my husband and me into parents who are capable of handling different situations! She gave me good guidance on breastfeeding and pumping. And our cat loves her!

Absolutely hire Fernanda if you can! We worked with her for 3 months after our daughter was born…read more Our daughter was born 2 months early and spent a few weeks in the NICU, so we were anxious when we brought her home. Fernanda was a life saver: We immediately felt at ease with her, and it was a huge relief to have someone we could trust caring for our baby overnight. We were actually able to get some sleep early on, which kept us sane. Our baby comfortably sleeps for a long stretch at night in her bassinet thanks to Fernanda. Fernanda also helped us get set up for longer term success with sleep. This included: - Advice on setting up the nursery before the baby was born so things were easy to grab. - Sleep conditioning. This included things like advice for our baby's day routine and advice on creating the right environment (room temperature, whether the room was dark enough, etc.). - Guidance on how to handle the baby on nights when we were on our own. - How to swaddle our baby. Our baby was a swaddle escape artist, and Fernanda showed us how to swaddle in a way that actually kept her arms in. She generally made our lives easier by with: - Washing pump parts and storing milk. - Reports in the morning on how our daughter did overnight. - Gear suggestions. The essentials list she provided before the baby arrived and when we asked for ideas were all on point. - General advice: recognizing when our baby was ready to go up a diaper size, identifying when she was ready for a faster flow nipple on her bottles, how to burp the baby and help the baby pass gas, and other things that take time to get a feel for as first time parents.

We feel incredibly lucky to have found Fernanda during those first few months with our daughter. As…read morefirst-time parents, we had endless questions, and Fernanda was such a reassuring source of knowledge and support. She guided us through everything--from how much to feed our baby, to understanding fussy phases, to answering all the little questions that every new parent worries about. One of the biggest gifts she gave us was sleep. Thanks to her guidance and support, our daughter was sleeping through the night by 12 weeks, which made such a positive difference for our whole family. Because Fernanda cared for our baby overnight, we were able to get proper rest ourselves and truly enjoy our time with our daughter during the day instead of constantly feeling exhausted. She also remained calm and dependable in unexpected situations. During a small earthquake one night, she stayed with our baby, keeping her safe and comforting her in the crib while I made my way to the room. That moment really showed us how trustworthy and composed she is. Fernanda is warm, knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely cares about the families she works with. She helped make what can be an overwhelming transition into parenthood feel so much smoother and more enjoyable. We are incredibly grateful for her support and would wholeheartedly recommend her to any family looking for an exceptional postpartum night nurse.

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!

I am deeply grateful for Katie. She made all the difference in my postpartum recovery and in…read moregetting my daughter on a healthy, predictable schedule. Katie is incredibly supportive, kind, and knowledgeable. As a first‑time mom, I felt such relief knowing that both my daughter and I were in truly good hands. She answered every question with patience and clarity, and she explained things in a way that made both me and my husband feel confident and comfortable. On top of all that, she's simply a joy to be around -- we often found ourselves staying up late just talking with her. I would recommend Katie without hesitation! Already planning to use her for my second in the future. Truly the best money spent!!

Katie was a godsend. She came highly recommend, and for good reason. Her guidance and support was…read moreone of the best decisions we made early on, and we were so lucky to have her. We have family relatively close by, but it's difficult to overstate how helpful and reassuring it was to have Katie arrive each night full of smiles, warmth, and calm, confident advice. She helped us build sleep habits, helped my wife recover faster, and was an all-around warm, helpful, knowledgeable coach/fairy godmother during one of the most significant transitions of our lives. Katie's extensive experience helped us navigate sleep, feeding, diaper changes, bathing, and every other aspect of caring for our tiny new human. Like many others here, I mean it when I say Katie will be one of the first to know when we're ready to have our second. Thank you Katie!!!

11/10 highly recommend BAND and our night doula Margaret M!…read more BAND: We had a very positive experience using BAND. This was our first time looking for doulas and using BAND saved us time, energy, and anxiety. We provided our details and quickly got matched with vetted doulas. All in all, took us about 2 weeks from initial inquiry with BAND to signed contract. Our night doula: Margaret M helped us for 8 weeks, starting at just under 1 week old. After the first night, we knew we made the right decision for our family (second time parents with a 3yo). Margaret has a warm and calm presence and knows babies. We had forgotten things about the newborn stage but Margaret provided reassurance and shared her knowledge and encouragement. She was always on time, communicated well, recommended items and processes to improve baby's care and safety, helped mom with nursing sessions and later bottle feeding to extend mom's sleep, washed bottles and pump parts and even random dishes. She was flexible and worked with us, whatever came up. After 8 weeks, our baby is sleeping well at night. Mom and dad are well rested, allowing us to actually enjoy this precious time. Even our toddler would ask about Margaret on the nights she wasn't with us. We'll miss having her around! Thank you, Margaret!

We're so grateful for our amazing night doula, Aishling M. She was kind, calming, knowledgeable,…read moreand such a huge support during those exhausting newborn weeks. Knowing our baby was in such loving hands helped us actually rest. She cared for our baby with so much love and professionalism, we are endlessly grateful for her time with our family. We'd recommend her wholeheartedly to any family!

As a first time Dad I was not the one doing the hard work, but for all the dad's out there, the…read morewhole process is not, I'll just say, the most straight forward for anyone involved. Going into the process there is so much unknown and so much that makes you unsure. The most important person to be comfortable in my situation was my wife. In order for her to be comfortable it was very important for me to be comfortable. I understand that having a doula is not necessary, but it sure did help me and my family. The preparation conversations we had made the experience digestible. The advocate we had in Michelle during the process was incredible. The support we had post-partum was so helpful. Michelle has done this so many times and is so familiar with everything going on. To have her on your team allows for everyone to be present and just helps so much. Technically: She knows her stuff. For instance, Michelle is trained in baby spinning and to the doctor's surprise we avoided a c-section at the final hour. It was nothing short of a miracle. Personally: Michelle is solid, levelheaded, caring, fun, patient, prepared and will advocate for you when you need it. She has a short questionnaire to get on the same page earlier on in the process and she stands by what you discuss. I can't recommend Michelle enough, and if you would like to discuss further please ask Michelle to put us in touch.

Michelle was our birth doula for both our first and second child. I cannot imagine having the birth…read moreI dreamed of without Michelle's guidance and expertise. Her knowledge and experience shined through during our labor experience. During both labors, she knew exactly what positions to put me into to progress my labor along. I had planned for an unmedicated natural birth, which was what we ended up having for both births all thanks to Michelle. Michelle was always focused on getting baby in an optimal position by making me stay active during each contraction. I felt her full presence and support through each contraction, which put me at ease and made me feel like I was fully capable of getting through it. Michelle goes the extra mile to support her clients in every way possible. When I had a question, she was quick to respond and made herself available for a phone call to lend an ear and provide information to help me make a decision without any judgment. When our second baby was borderline jaundice, she went out of her way and drove to our house on a rainy evening to assist with breastfeeding issues we had, which helped to get my milk supply up and allowed our 3-day old newborn to sleep 3-4 hour stretches during the night - a miracle! Because of Michelle's guidance, our baby was back to her birth weight within a week and no longer had jaundice. Michelle is not just our birth doula, but a lifelong resource and support for new parents going through the trenches of parenthood. Her wisdom and encouragement provided me with the confidence to make my dream birth a reality and become the mama I envisioned myself to be. If you have an opportunity to work with Michelle in any capacity, I would not hesitate to jump on it!

I found Lauren through the Evidence Based Birth website. I was so grateful to have a doula who was…read moreup to date on the research and would help support us in pushing against some unnecessary hospital conventions while still being generally pro-medicine. Lauren was very responsive and helpful throughout our pregnancy. We had great prenatal visits and texted and emailed about some concerns that arose. Lauren always replied promptly with great insight and calm. She was just the same way on the day I gave birth. I texted her early in the day that I was feeling contractions but I thought they might be Braxton Hicks. She suggested I focus on other things and time again in a few hours. Later that night it became clear I was going into labor. I waited a bit too long before asking Lauren to come - I had just started to feel the urge to push when she arrived. But I knew I was in safe hands. She drove me to the hospital while my husband grabbed our bag. Along the way she bent over so I could lean on her through the contractions. I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl 40 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Lauren cooled my face with a cold towel and massaged me through the contractions. She also took lovely photos just after the birth. An hour later, I turned up my husband and said, "I could do that again." It was no doubt thanks in part to Lauren's emotional and physical support. She stayed another 2-3 hours after the birth as well to make sure we were all settled. Lauren has also been helping a new doula Emily train. Emily attended our birth as well and it was helpful to have her extra set of hands!

I sent an inquiry about availability and setting up a consultation for being my birth doula BUT…read moreShe's not accepting clients right now due to being a recent mom. I appreciated her prompt response to inform me.