Carolina is the BEST EVER!! Extremely grateful to her for giving me support during postpartum. We (…read moreme and my baby ) go to her mommy and baby yoga and we love it. Even though my baby is crawling now, Carolina encourages us to attend her sessions. She is extremely attentive to both mine and my baby's needs. My little one loves her and feels extremely calm in her sessions. Her wisdom and advice has helped me recover from postpartum issues. She's prompt to respond to questions and has high quality resources to offer. Highly recommend. Grateful to her for everything she has been doing for us.

This would have been 5 stars based on the breastfeeding class I attended. I was reluctant to even…read morego to any breastfeeding class because it was important to me to not be attached to the idea of breastfeeding, and I was worried I'd be beaten over the head with how important it is and set myself up for mom guilt if it didn't work out. Quite the contrary, the speaker was really approachable and practical. She talked through just about every scenario and offered a really great mindset - feed as much breastmilk as you can whenever you can, and it's totally OK to make up the difference with formula. Unfortunately, the baby care class dropped this down to 4 stars. It was borderline a waste of time. The instructor was scattered and not very helpful. Lots of tech challenges. Not much help in the way of answering questions or providing practical advice. Very limited hands on practice. I went with a friend because my husband was out of town and I was almost embarrassed that she wasted time in that class with me.

We had the best experience with Maureen, one of the many talented doulas at Brilliant Births. We…read moreopted for a private Laboring together class, and it exceeded every expectation. Maureen guided us with so much knowledge, warmth and patience. She gave us practical tools, hands on techniques, and the confidence we needed as we prepare for our baby. We both walked out feeling way more prepared. If you're looking for someone who empowers, educates and genuinely cares, Maureen is incredible. We're so grateful!

My partner and I recently completed the Hypnobirthing three week course at Brilliant Births. We had…read morean absolutely incredible experience, for many reasons--The information we learned was invaluable, but also the instructors' teaching styles and depth of personal experience they offered was appreciated, comforting, and helpful. They clearly have a deep well of wisdom and experience-based expertise to share. We started our class with Keira and absolutely loved her--originally we were a bit bummed to know we would have a different instructor for our last day of the course. However, it turned out that Heidi was equitably wonderful and all things lovely-- instead of only one great instructor and guide, we ended up with two...which leads me to believe you'll be in skilled hands with anyone you interact with at BB. We will definitely be returning to take advantage of their other offerings!

TLDR: Choosing to work with Liat was the best decision I made for my birth. I cannot recommend her…read moreenough and am already looking forward to working with her again. I worked with Liat for the birth of my first child earlier this year, hoping for an unmedicated delivery in a hospital setting. From our very first call, her deep understanding of the healthcare system -- where it excels and where it falls short for labor and delivery -- immediately put me at ease. I knew I'd be in good hands. In our two prenatal meetings, Liat taught my husband and me so much about approaching labor both mentally and physically. The sessions were eye-opening and genuinely prepared us for every scenario we might face. I took birth classes too, and while they were helpful, my time with Liat was by far the most valuable part of my birth education. When the day came, her support was nothing short of extraordinary. She monitored my contractions, came to both my home and the hospital, massaged me through every contraction, helped me reposition, and guided us in navigating the hospital staff with my birth preferences. For hours on end, she was warm, calm, and completely present. It's hard to put into words how deeply cared for I felt -- she has a rare gift for making people feel safe and at home during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. My birth went beautifully, exactly as I had hoped, and I owe so much of that to Liat. Both my husband -- a physician -- and I are certain we could not have had such a wonderful experience without her.

Long overdue review for Liat - (VBAC: September 2024)…read more I had an unmedicated VBAC and I cannot stress enough how important Liat was during every minute of labor and delivery. During my first pregnancy i didn't have a doula and barely got any help from the hospital staff. During my initial visit, I was impressed with her confidence (she gave the exact same info as my OB) and chose her to be doula during birth. During early labor she gave the right guidance to manage pain and prolong the stay at home. That helped us reach hospital during active labor which was a key difference from my previous C-section. The hospital staff were surprised that I had progressed so much in my labor, managing at home. Liat helped with different positions during active labor at the hospital, massaging my back which helped during contractions. During pushing, Liat had me push with different positions (I got no inputs from the hospital staff) I trusted her inputs and presence which helped me stay calm mentally. Baby boy came out in a perfect way, and it was truly a dream birth. She had a great relationship with my husband and made him feel at ease throughout labor and delivery. After birth, Liat continued to check in with us every single day to make sure my recovery and everything with the baby was going well. I did not plan for unmedicated birth given that pregnancy and birth are not within our control. But with Liat's presence, I had full confidence to give birth without epidural. 100% recommend Liat!!

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!

Rachel Cooley has been a godsend during our preconception months. After trying to conceive for over…read morea year, and having many high and low moments in the process, we knew we needed help. Rachel's expertise and own personal experiences gave us the tools we needed to stay on target and not give up. In fact, we wish we would have met Rachel sooner because the fertility coaching and information she provided helped us realize that we had been acting on some misinformation. Not only did she guide us through the process for our individual needs but she was there for me on an emotional level when I needed to talk to an understanding professional. I highly recommend Rachel for your own fertility coaching and wish you the best in your journey to creating a family

Rachel is a warm, compassionate, loving human being that you want to know in life, in addition to…read moresupport during conception! She has given me tools that I have been able to implement easily and always has support through the rough patches. I second what Julie O wrote about Rachel, she's wonderful.

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.

As a first time mother and a wife of a husband that is resistant to going to classes, I requested…read moreprivate instruction from Beautiful Day. It is an additional fee, but definitely worth it. Alicia, the owner, was our instructor. Not only has she been a fantastic resource for us, as time-starved professionals, but her years of experience, sense of humor, and her non-judgemental nature, put my husband at ease. There is no such thing as stupid questions or uncomfortable topics. I recommend her private instruction to anyone that needs the education and doesn't have time to read all the "go-to" childbirth books. I'm sure the group classes are great, too!

From the owner: Beautiful Day specializes in fun, modern, unique and extremely educational childbirth classes…read more Leave empowered and informed ready to make thoughtful decisions and tackle labor head on. Not your mama's childbirth class!

Loved her content, so helpful during my own pregnancy and a great resource for my own doula clients.read more

We discovered Bridget near the end of our pregnancy just searching on YouTube for breathing…read moretechniques and natural birth / labor ... that's how we found that she was a doula in the Bay Area! We quickly set up time for a FaceTime call and an in person meeting ... she seemed to be a great fit but we weren't sure if we wanted to hire a doula this late in the game but was always something we thought about. After getting to Know Bridget a little bit more we felt that she may be the missing piece that would help us feel at ease going into labor... And she definitely was ! Bridget is an absolute gem of a human, she is professional, punctual, approachable, funny, caring, genuinely interested and very knowledgeable. She worked with us only a few weeks but eased my nerves and anxieties from the days leading up to labor, the days in the hospital and even the days afterwards as she checked in on us. If you are in the Bay Area and you are thinking about getting a doula - there is no one better ! She was flexible, understanding and available when we needed her In the labor room - she was a rock star, helping me breathe through all of the pain and uneasiness ... trying different positions, setting up my room with lights and candles and essential oils --- she brought her whole bag of equipment, tricks and knowledge into that room To ensure an amazing experience for me and my birth team. She helped us navigate through difficult decisions, empowered us to ask the right questions and encouraged us with no judgement Without a doubt one of the best decisions we made for our birth - and truly a main reason I can look back and love my birth experience

I needed a 11x14 copy of taken with film a 4x6 print in 1999,. Initially scanned the 4x6, at…read morehome.Took a lot of post processing to correct color, etc and enlarge to 11x14. Initial print at Mikes had lots of digital noise. Justin,the print guru at the Menlo Park store, asked me to bring in the 4x6 print so he could scan it . Fortunately I was able to find the original negative ( one good thing about being a packrat). Justin was able to make a HD scan of the negative, do some processing and print a beautiful 11x14 image - I couldn't be happier. Great service from a very knowledgeable and talented printer - something you don't always find in a local store I have entered many prints made here in photo contests - win or lose- the judge usually mentions they were high quality prints. Problem often with my composition - not the print. On average need 1-3 prints a month for competition, more if having exhibit. Will continue to get them from Mike's Camera Menlo Park

This is your old fashioned camera store with very good counter service. Prompt, knowledgable, but…read moreunfortunately unable to provide the part needed for an older Sony camera. We do have the part number now, and perhaps can get it directly from Sony. We do not live in Menlo Park but are often in the area for family and medical. Downtown Menlo Park is so delightful. Free parking, walkable, and lovely stores and restaurants. The small, locally owned businesses are just great.