Groove Nation is such a hidden gem in this town- from the performances that never cease to impress,…read morethe obvious bonded relationships & close community built, the leadership skills, confidence, & worth built into each participant, to the skills acquired from their warm & professional staff. It's clear they truly care; not just about making each participant, team & show or competition *look* good, but also feel good about themselves in the ways that truly matter. If you're looking for family, for fun, & growth, you'll find it here!

Looking for your kiddo to make friends? Socialize? Gain trust with other amazing adults? Learn new…read moreskills, flexibility, and exercise? Look no further!! Groove nation is all of that and more. My daughter has blossomed at groove nation. She's taken skills such as team work, communication home with her. She's gained confidence, made friendships, & we've gained a village here of new friends! We're so beyond grateful to be apart of groove nation.

Our granddaughter loves this place. Very friendly and they work hard to make sure all the dancers…read morefeel comfortable.

We have two 4 year old girls who wanted to start dancing this last summer. Through a friend at the…read moregym she talked about how her daughter had been going to Columbia Dance Center for quite some time and had nothing but glowing things to say regarding the staff as well as the center itself. We got an introduction to the programs here through their "Super Hero" Summer program. The girls had a blast and they had a short show to demonstrate what they learned at the conclusion of the summer program. My wife and I had concerns about our daughters ability to listen to instructions and we thought that the more exposure they had to structured classes of any kind would be helpful. We were so thrilled to hear that they would be happy to have the girls participate in their kids dance classes during the school year. We enrolled both girls in Miss Molly's 9:30am class on Saturdays and to say my wife and I are impressed would be an understatement. She has so much energy with the kids it makes me feel lazy. The girls love her, love the class, and look forward to coming every weekend. As parents we cannot ask for much more than that, and we look forward to getting further exposure to their dance programs as our girls progress.

My husband and I received a referral to Rachael from a friend. We met with her while I was in my…read moresecond trimester and quickly knew that we wanted her to be part of our birth story! Rachael was incredibly helpful and supportive during my pregnancy, available to answer questions when we were faced with baby challenges and decisions surrounding the birth. We met with her multiple times to get to know each other and talk through our plans. Also, she provided great support via phone/text/email in between our visits. Despite our best efforts to encourage our baby to turn around with natural and medical interventions, she remained in the breach position and we ended up scheduling a c-section. We were unsure what a doula's involvement would like in this scenario. Rachael was super flexible and walked us through her experiences as a doula at a c-section and provided so much moral support during this exciting but challenging time. When the time came, Rachael was right by our side at the hospital, joining us in the operating room as our baby was brought into the world. Her positive energy and support were so appreciated, especially when I didn't feel well. After some skin-to-skin time, my husband took our baby as I was feeling quite ill. When his focus turned to her, Rachael was there to comfort me - rubbing my head and helping me breath through it all. It really helped me push through the nausea so I was able to hold my baby again. Following the birth, she helped us get settled and encapsulated my placenta. The pills were ready and waiting for us when we arrived home. We are incredibly grateful to have had Rachael as our doula. We found the experience of working with her to be highly valuable and we appreciated having this lovely, genuine, kind soul with us as we welcomed our daughter into the world.

Working with Rachael was an absolute dream! She is warm, compassionate, smart, and invested. Our…read moreprenatal appointments were long and thorough. She really took the time to get to know me, my partner, and our 2 year old son. In the weeks leading up to my birth, she was wonderful about checking in to see how I was doing and even came over with some essential oils when I hurt my back! I had a very fast birth and Rachael helped me to stay as calm as possible and reassured me when my confidence started to waver. She's extremely knowledgable about counter pressure techniques and positions to better support labor. I don't know how I could have done it without her! I also highly recommend Rachael's postpartum services. They are invaluable! Those first weeks with a newborn can be crazy and it was so nice to have another set of hands as well as a listening ear. She's the best!

This is for Scarlett K. Lynsky from the Portland Doula Collective…read more Scarlett was an integral part of our birth. As first-time parents and having a pregnancy and delivery complicated by several factors, we wanted a doula who would both teach/coach us as well as provide another point of view from what we were hearing from the doctors and specialists. Scarlett took the time to explore with us what we really wanted and were feeling, and always supported our decisions, giving us the confidence to move through the process with peace of mind. During our labor (and ultimately a C-Section) Scarlett provided emotional and physical support without us feeling like there were "too many people in the room." She is very easy and natural to be around and fit in to every situation we encountered in the hospital. Simply put, we don't know what we would have done without Scarlett!

Plz forward "How to protect your family" section as many ppl as possible. Although my child went to…read moreNICU was not her fault, this was preventable by the hospital. With the impact of Labor Land, a nurse during my pushing stage stopped me from trying spinning baby techniques and pointed out that this should have been done much earlier. As soon as Prudence looked down when i looked at her with my Peripheral Vision, I realized that i missed my window of opportunities. Now i am investigating my labor thoroughly w/ my flashbulb memory & research background: I could not forget the moment Prudence "gently" looking into my eyes w/ eye-wide stare & holding her breath refusing my request for pain management when I was under extreme pain. she rejected my request multiple times. One is pain management, second and third spinning baby request. Prudence told me I had a sunnyside up baby and said something that I thought I could do the same, so I was left laying on my back. I missed the window of opportunity during early active labor when my water was still not broke. She claimed that she was taking lots of notes during my delivery, along w/ text msg & prenatal appmts, her job had been fulfilled. I hired her b/c Hospital recommended her but I didn't go with my gut feelings when i sensed something was off prior birth.. My husband and I were so considerate that I asked my husband to give up his couch for her to sleep on so she could help me soon. My husband had to ask for the couch back. She later slept on the chair doing nothing as I was waiting for her to help me with spinning baby technique. Even the lights were flickering RT side of her head (bassinet with monitor). My grandparents just passed away, I think they were trying to help me. She did help me at the end when all the nurses and doctor came into help me push. I complained about Prudence after OP. Despite my refusal, a new nurse forced me to take Tums. During the C-section, I could actually feel the medication in my stomach right before the nausea became overwhelming, the doctor gave me something, and I lost consciousness. My boundaries were ignored by medical staff while my doula coughed, stood by. Hiring her caused more problem than it should for my particular case. I complained to nurses after OP. After a night of "taking notes" & naps? she sighed when I asked for 2nd visualization & I was shaking really bad. she was already standing on my Rt side! (around a nurse visit. This experience has been reported to the hospital formally. She claimed she was happy to provide the notes months before. Recently i gave her 12 hr notice, she never reply my email. The experience left a lasting negative impact on my family. I was so nice to her & gave her extra $200, why she did this to me? It has forced me to question the inherent trustworthiness of 'seniority'. Is this the kind of treatment I got for the next generation? How to Protect Your Family: *Contract: Read your contract! if it is vague and protecting the doula, keep looking. Remember you & your partner can always attend birth classes or online tools, it might be better than hiring an observer or a potential barrier in your private room. Stop yourself when you are in a rush hiring a doula. Also, It is doula's job to mange their career burnout, NOT YOU during labor. Demand Professional Standards: Ensure they are certified and insured. Ask if they accept HSA/Credit Cards--this often indicates a higher level of professional oversight. No SSN to doula. * The "Whiteboard" Strategy: List the doula's duties for each birth stage on the room's whiteboard. Ask nurses to note the doula's activity in the medical record and effectiveness of each stage. * Real-Time Records: Require time-stamped notes to be sent to you before the doula leaves the room. If they use a phone or Google Doc, ask for a screenshot of the "Last Edited" time to ensure the record is contemporaneous. * Escalate Immediately: If the doula/nurses is not performing, do not wait. Ask the nurse supervisor for help or to record the conduct in your medical file.

So coronavirus is real and messing up my breastfeeding support journey. Or so I thought. My little…read moreone has a tongue tie procedure earlier this week and I know I needed help exercising his new little mouth. I admit I was skeptical about a video chat. But it was So Helpful! Bryna was super helpful and knowledgeable. She hooked it up with resources to help with after care. She gave me pointers on positioning that no one else had told me. If you're looking for help, these people are great!

I found Doula My Soul by searching for a lactation consultant that was on this side of the river. I…read morelive in Camas and didn't want to have to make a long trek to an appointment with a new baby. Lo and behold they do house appointments! I'm new to this whole baby thing, and I guess this is a pretty normal service, but I was even more happy to find that out. Jessi came to visit me soon after birth to diagnose tongue tie and helped me get an emergency appointment with Dr Ghaheri for surgery to correct it and got us on the path to breastfeeding. I was nervous about the whole process, but Jessi kept in contact with me throughout the following weeks and helped me through the process. Right how we are 4 days post surgery and already breastfeeding with a nipple shield, and I feel confident that we will be fully breastfeeding soon. I couldn't be happier with Doula My Soul, they are a great support for our family. I plan on trying belly binding as well.

Sherilee was super sweet! The classes were informative, fun, and really connected with our minds…read moreand bodies for both partners and birthing peoples. I loved it! I highly recommended to any mama and partner to take these classes, they are well worth it! Also, her tea blend for the raspberry leaf tea is so yummy! Especially if you aren't an avid tea drinker. The class has an interactive book that makes it easy to remember everything and some good pages that you can post up on your fridge or walls. The classes are built in a great order- As someone who plans to birth at a birth center my anxieties were lowered ALOT after these classes. And if you are planning a hospital birth or home birth, the classes work for all of them! You and your partner will appreciate these classes a lot!

A night nanny is essential | Excellent team…read more Best decision I've ever made postpartum. This is a service I wish existed when I had my first! I had a hard time asking/accepting help with my first kid. I kept telling myself that we could do it, we could do it all because every parent goes through what we're going through. It was kind of like a right of passage to suffer. But, I suffered greatly without the help. I developed postpartum depression that I didn't realize I had until after the fact, and I was overwhelmed with going from no kids to having an infant with colic. On top of that, I was healing and learning to breastfeed/pump and dealing with the expectations of becoming the parent I want to be and the guilt of not giving it my best every day or using formula. Fast forward to 2024 with our 2nd kid and we knew we had to make big changes to survive. My cousin told me she did a night nanny and that blew our minds. We researched and felt that the Baby Nest team resonated with us the most. Their site was easy to navigate. I quickly contacted Sherilee who put me in touch with Sarah D. We then scheduled a meet up and knew we wanted Sarah to be our postpartum doula. She's very professional and has lots of experience with many families including raising her own family of 5. She was very transparent about her schedule with other clients during the time frame we needed her. We booked eight weeks of 4 nights with Sarah. Since she couldn't do all four nights, we had other doulas in their network: Kimmi, Lakiah, and Mel. ALL of them have been wonderful, knowledgeable, empathetic, and professional. We've never felt judged for our decisions in caring for our newborn. They are so good and trustworthy with our baby; we never had to worry. They take detailed notes of their shifts and shared it with Google doc. I recommend all of these people if you're looking for a solid team of doulas. Specifically Sarah:She has excellent communication and very trustworthy. It is so easy to connect with her. I am very thankful she could not only watch our son but also take care of our dishes and make us breakfast that would last about a week! If you're a first time parent or continuing to grow your family and on the fence about a night nanny/postpartum doula, contact Sherilee and check Baby Nest out. When it comes to health and wellness, this service was absolutely worth every penny. THANK YOU, BABY NEST.

If you would like to become a better photographer, more comfortable with your camera, or see some…read moreof the beautiful sights that Portland has to offer, you've come to the right place. Jennifer is extremely knowledgeable and incredibly easy to understand. She will guide you through everything you need to know in order to use your camera effectively to get the shots that you are after. I took Jennifer's tours with no photography experience other than my smart phone, and shooting my mom's camera in Auto mode. Now I feel comfortable and proficient adjusting my exposure, aperture, white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and more. I cannot recommend Jennifer's tours enough. They are excellent for photographers with little to no experience, photographers, who want to improve, and photographers who are just feeling unmotivated to get out there and actually shoot.

I discovered Jennifer's photo safaris through Tippr and absolutely love taking her classes. I had…read morerecently moved to Portland so the tour definitely gave me a new perspective on the city and even introduced me to sites I had yet to explore. Jennifer is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. After the tour my photography has improved greatly. Whether you are a photography beginner or advanced, Portland local or visitor, there is something to be learned by all!