I cannot say enough good things about Cheryl. She is incredible and I hope she'll be my doula for…read moreall my future births. BACKGROUND on me/us. We decided when the pandemic hit that we wouldn't let it stop us from starting a family. I got pregnant in April of 2020, and in September, we moved from San Francisco to Seattle. Since this was my first, I wasn't sure what I was looking for. I visited Swedish First Hill thinking I might want a hospital birth, and interviewed three midwives and several (six, to be exact) doulas. When I met Cheryl, I knew I had found "the one." She was also the only person I spoke w/ that made me genuinely feel EXCITED about giving birth. PRE. Not only did Cheryl offer to meet me throughout my third trimester to do the stairs or go for walks, but she also hosts weekly prenatal yoga classes (over Zoom), which I'll be honest, were the *only* times I did yoga during my pregnancy. BIRTH. On the birth day, Cheryl was phenomenal. She comforted me not only w/ her words, but also her hands when I was laboring. She rubbed my back or my leg, which I later found out is not the standard for birth doulas, and suggested different positions for me as things progressed. She was so good about feeding me and making sure I was staying hydrated, too. (As an endurance athlete, I know for a fact I would have bonked had she not force fed me a banana, honey, and electrolytes.) She made me feel strong and safe throughout my entire labor. POST. After baby was born, Cheryl took such good care of my partner and me. She fed us, taught us how to swaddle baby, helped me through mastitis, and became someone we consider to be family. She encapsulated my placenta after making placenta art, too. Her intuition about what we needed was so spot on, it truly is a gift. I birthed a 9lb1oz baby w/o drugs or stitches at home, and I thank Cheryl (and my midwives) for that. We adore Cheryl and anyone would be lucky to have her.

As a first time mom, I was clueless about the labor and delivery process. As I was exposed to…read morevarious kinds of births, I came across the idea of having a birth doula to help both my husband and I through the process. Cheryl was everything we had hoped for and more. We connected with her immediately. I would reach out to her regularly during my pregnancy with questions and concerns, and she was very quick to respond and ease my nerves. We took a few prenatal classes with her which helped us understand labor and delivery better. I wanted to make sure my husband and I were also well versed with the possible interventions that could take place at a hospital birth. Cheryl did a great job of teaching us what the alternative options were in case things didn't go as planned. On the day of, Cheryl helped me labor at home and the hospital, which is exactly what I had hoped for. I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital, and I felt very secure knowing that Cheryl would know when is the best time. The majority of my labor was pretty intense back labor and Cheryl knew exactly what to do to help me get through the contractions. Our experience with the labor and delivery would never have been the same without Cheryl. I had an amazing experience thanks to her faith and support. After the birth, Cheryl came to our home a few times to check on us and help me breastfeed as well. Being with Cheryl on this journey felt like being with our family! It's been almost a year and a half since our daughters birth and we still keep in touch with her and enjoy speaking to her about parenthood! Cheryl was a Godsend, and we could not have imagined our daughters birth without her!

I cannot recommend Barbara enough!!! She was an essential part of my birth team and I'm confident…read morethat I wouldn't have had a successful unmedicated birth without her. From the moment we started working with Barbara, she took the time to truly get to know us, my goals, and concerns regarding labor. She provided thoughtful reassurance and guidance that was clearly backed by years of experience as both a midwife and doula. She never pushed a particular approach but instead empowered me with information and support so I could make the best decisions for myself. During labor, Barbara's presence made a huge difference. Her coaching helped me manage pain and stay focused. Her experience allowed me to try various labor positions that I believe aided to a more efficient birth. She also advocated for me when I was faced with tough decisions, which is already hard enough to navigate when you're in labor! Not only did she support me, but she was also an incredible resource for my husband. She provided him with the confidence and guidance to be a present and helpful partner. We both felt she added so much value to the experience. Another major plus is that Barbara has a strong relationship with the providers at NW Women's Healthcare. They clearly enjoy working with her and respect her. During the labor, I felt that she worked well with Dr Jiao and the nursing staff; it truly felt like a cohesive team that was focused on me having a successful birth. On top of all that, Barbara is just genuinely an awesome person! She is easy to talk to, kind, and calming, yet also fun and engaging. We had many good laughs together. If you're looking for an all around amazing doula who is knowledgeable, supportive, and truly makes a difference, Barbara is the one!

Barbara is absolutely amazing, I cannot speak more highly of her. Her vast experience as a doula…read moreand previous medical training really come through. She removed all stress from the early labor stages by providing guidance and options, and then helped me through an unmedicated birth with firm but empathetic and useful guidance. She knew exactly what I needed at different times and her cool and collected demeanor helped keep me calm and in the moment. I don't know if I could have done it without her help. I highly recommend Barbara if you're looking for a doula in Seattle.

My allergy shots were moved to this location when UW decided to consolidate locations. The Eastside…read morelocation had staff that focused on providing customer service and worked to make sure appointments were flexible enough to work with customer's work schedules and other issues. So far, this location couldn't care less about the patient's needs or working with them. They threaten to charge you if you're late (a very likely possibility considering city traffic), but leave you sitting in the waiting room if you're early, racking up additional parking fees.

This place is like pregnant lady haven. Ashley and Katie are amazing! They remembered my name after…read morethe first appointment. I thought I was just another face to them. Ashley even remembered off the top of her head how far along I was. I did my research when it came time to choose OB vs midwife and I'm SOOOOOOO glad I signed up to see the midwives. Midwives concentrate on the special topic of pregnancy, birth, and post partum recovery. OB is a trained surgeon for generally anything going on "down there." Most childbirths don't need surgery. They're definitely related and a lot of their jobs overlap, but midwives are specialized nurses that spend overall more time with their patients as supports and guides. Midwives are the ones that deliver and catch the babies at NW hospital. OBGYNs are surgeons. They don't catch the babies; they perform surgery. They are there to perform surgery when something goes wrong. They did not train as in-depth as midwives when it comes to helping you survive those 9 months beforehand. As the hospital nurse very politely whispered to me when I sat in my hospital bed after 15 hours of labor..."Let's hope you will never need to see the OBGYN. If you do, it means something during labor went wrong." TL;DR - If you want preggo sage lady experts COME HERE! When I was there, there were 6 midwives on staff rotation. They're all extremely knowledgeable. I saw Deborah, Yaseem, Cindy, and Victoria the most often and she was never judgemental even though I asked (looking back now) the stupidest "questions." Everyone was so patient and open-minded. They respect women's bodies and do everything with faith that our bodies are stronger than what we believe to be (it's very true.) My appointments sometimes ran long because I'm long-winded but they always let me stick around. I would have slapped myself if I had to listen to me for a hour! When I needed to be induced (baby was 11+ days overdue) Victoria Swarthout saw how terrified and concerned I was so she squeezed me into a morning appointment on the date of my induction so I could ask her ALL the questions and address all of my concerns... which @ 42 weeks pregnant as a first time Mom during a pandemic just sounded like this "WHY why whyyyy me!!! Why won't this baby come!!!" Oh forgot, it was the start of the pandemic. Yeah I gave birth in March, the very same week things went into lockdown. New hospital policies were being put in place and my anxiety level skyrocketed. I'm first generation Chinese American of course, and a little bit of a hypochondriac so the pandemic got me off on a very rough start. I was afraid of discrimination (none at all found here) and I was afraid of changing hospital policies. On top of the unexpected induction and having to find a doula last minute. I was literally being induced with a hand UP my cervix while trying to hire a new doula on the phone...ugh! Lol. The induction and labor was 35+ hours. Very very very long. And we were all ready to give up...get that C-section no one wanted...when Victoria calmly said "You know what? Let's give it another hour." I wanted to cry. I hadn't eaten in over 24 hours and I was going to end up on the surgeons table after all that waiting and exhaustion. Victoria gave me as much time as she could. 1 hour or 2 later, I suddenly felt a crazy need to push. So she came back to check my dilation and suddenly I went from 7 to full 10! How did she know I just needed some time? Time to PUSH!! YASSSSS! Pushing was the best part. That took no time at all. And suddenly I had a perfect baby on my chest. No c-section. Pure miracle. All thanks to the patience and faith the midwives have. No medical intervention, no pressure, no rush, no panic. A woman's body is truly, truly a miracle blessed by nature. We were designed to give birth and on our own body's timeline. Post partum support with midwives was awesome too. They vetted for post partum depression, checked on my perninal tear, talked and administered birth control. I am basically going to use the midwives as my general doctor. Did you know they do that? Yup! You can do your annual check ups with them :) Anyways this is probably the most personal Yelp review ever hahaha. Look at the handiwork that Victoria caught on that first day of spring at 3 am. Eden is 1 year old already. What a blessing and what a miracle these 6 women at NW midwives are. I'll be forever in debt to them my entire life.

We were matched with Jen based on our request for a size friendly doula with a sense of humor, and…read moreboy did she deliver! We received prepartum, postpartum, and birth/delivery support from Jen. She met with us before my due date and educated us on what to expect from her, as well as different techniques she uses to provide support and pain management during labor. After being admitted to the hospital I called Jen and asked that she come and be with us for the labor. She came with her "bag of tricks" and knowledge of how to support both my husband and I during the ten hours of labor. She lead us through silly walks down the hall, held my hand while I threw up in the hallway, and urged me to moan it out during contractions. She spoke with my excited (and anxious) mother-in-law and ensured that my husband got breaks and ate. Towards the end of labor the baby's heart rate monitor stopped picking up her heartbeat, which resulted in lots of stress and anxiety from hospital staff, and an increase in the number of people in the room. Jen kept my husband and I calm and focused on the task at hand -- birthing our beautiful daughter. Instead of getting caught up in the frantic energy of the room I was able to ignore much of what was happening around me because of Jen's calming words and affirmations. I know we could have birthed our daughter without Jen there, but it would have been a much different experience, one that would have been more stressful, bewildering, as well as emotionally and physically draining. Postpartum care has been instrumental in gaining confidence as a new parent. She visited days after our daughter's birth, encouraging us as she checked on breastfeeding and our emotional well-being. She has been super at responding to my random questions via text (Is this amount of spit-up normal? What is this discharge coming out of her? Am I diapering her correctly?) No question has been too small or weird for her to answer. Jen has been a wonderful support as we navigate the transition from a family of two to a family of three.

Jen was everything and more I could have asked for with my doula experience. She was extremely…read morethorough in the meetings before baby. She always made us feel so comfortable and informed. Having Jen there during the birth was invaluable. Jen was there for us postpartum too and helped so much with lactation. I can't say enough good things about her. Love you Jen! Thank you for being awesome. I am proud to say you were our doula.

Troop saved my life!!! I could not have survived the newborn phase without the help of my doulas…read more They were all so caring, helpful and knowledgeable. Even though it can be tough to be separated from one's newborn baby, I felt so comfortable sleeping while my doula took care of him. Having overnight support allowed me to get the rest I needed to heal and gave me energy to spend time with my toddler during the day. Troop is like family to me! I would recommend them to anyone in need of support.

Pregnant and postpartum moms - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY…read more We signed up for doulas for 12 weeks while I was pregnant and put down the deposit (roughly $10k). Our needs changed postpartum and when we went to update our timeline we were told that the deposit we put down would not be applied to the updated timeline - basically we were asking for $8k in services and even though we had already paid $10k we were told that we still needed to pay more. They quoted the handbook which was not noted in the contract we signed and we were never told of this "policy" while interviewing or signing the contract. We received the handbook after we had signed the contract. We worked out an agreement after pointing out how ridiculous this was and we felt it was still worth it to move forward as we were hopeful that they would provide the services they promised. Over the course of four visits we had two different doulas. Both were very polite and nice but had totally different levels of care. The first doula set timers on her phone to wake up and check on our daughter as well as wake and bring her to feed so that she didn't go too long without eating. As a mom that is EBF this was immensely helpful and she was great to work with. The second doula was polite but did not take care of our daughter. She slept so deeply that did not wake during my daughter's feeding cues/crying. I awoke to engorged breasts and when I checked the monitor I could see my daughter fussing in her bassinet while the doula slept on. I also saw that she had set the temperature of the room to 74 degrees. For a 6 week old that can't regulate heat this was VERY concerning. I went to wake my husband to figure out how we could change it to a safe temperature and then went downstairs and woke the doula while getting my daughter from the bassinet. My daughter was so overheated that she could barely finish one side even though she regularly finishes both. While I was feeding her, this doula fell asleep again and when I brought my daughter back she did not wake to me entering the room- I changed my daughter's diaper and only after returning with a light on did she wake up. We were scheduled to have her for the next month and my husband and I did not feel comfortable leaving our child in her care again. When I emailed the company to cancel (on a Thursday with our next visit being a Monday), I received an OOO message from Lynette Wilson the Director of Operations. The following day (Friday) I forwarded the message to the scheduling team and did not receive a response. When Lynette returned that following Monday she did not ask why we were suddenly cancelling but did try to tell us that she was going to charge us for not cancelling 24 hours before the shift even though the message was sent several days before. Only after I was able to get Lynette on the phone (you cannot contact anyone in the office directly) did she relent. I also brought up the concerns with the doula - again she did not once ask why. She did not seem to care or bother to offer solutions but rather wanted to end the conversation. We've spent $10k+ for 4 nights. Pregnant and postpartum moms - this company does not care about you or your child. Their team of overnight doulas is sporadic in their level of care and created an unsafe environment for my child. This company only cares about squeezing you for money during one of the most stressful and vulnerable times of your life.

I couldn't have have hoped for a better team of women to be present for the birth of our first…read morechild. My partner and I changed midwives late on in her pregnancy due to a feeling of uncertainty with our previous care giver. Instantly we felt secure and validated in our choice. Cindi and Tiffany gave us the support and resources we needed immediately, and we knew we had made the right decision. Olivia was born in the comfort of our home with the peace of mind and care we had always hoped for. I could not recommend these ladies any higher. For those of us out there looking to bring life into the world in the security of our own home Seattle Midwives are a go to.

Please note: This is for the Birth Tub rental service (formerly Puget Sound Water Birth) connected…read moreto Seattle Midwives. First things first: I am usually very understanding and give folks lots of room for error. We're all human, after all. That said, my experience with Puget Sound Water Birth was not great. My contract was as follows: $300 for setup, fill, cleanup and removal of a birthing tub for my home birth. I went into labor early am Thanksgiving and called Tiffany to warn her it might be the day. When we texted a few hours later, she hinted at not wanting to come out because of the holiday. Luckily for her, my labor went another 24 hours before we needed the tub. When we texted the next night for the tub, she texted what seemed to be several reasons not to come (kids, drive, tub full time)... so if I'd rather a refund, she'd do that. My midwife had to step in to get t, since I was (duh) in active labor with double peaking contractions. Upon arrival, Tiffany did a great job setting up quickly and quietly, allowing me to continue labeling without being disturbed. But... After she left, she sent a very long text with instructions on how to empty the tub (which was supposed to be part of what I paid for her to do). I ended up in the hospital due to complications, and during that, I also had to manage Tiffany picking up the tub. Saturday, I sent clear messages that someone would be at our house so she could remove it but when I didn't confirm a second time (bc still in labor on Saturday!), she didn't show and my roommate sat waiting for hours. She finally came Sunday, bc I was able to confirm bc I had finally given birth. Very long story short (yup, it could be longer), I had to manage the service WAY more than appropriate, it added stress to my already difficult labor, and I would not recommend Puget Sound Water Birth to anyone unless the service is greatly improved.

I found my doula, Shelia Kandeler, via a friend's referral rather than the Swedish Hospital Doula…read moreServices, but the Swedish Hospital Doula program made things incredibly easy administratively. I keep telling people that doulas aren't just for people who want a natural childbirth! It's a huge benefit for any laboring mother-to-be to have an experienced person on hand whose only role is to provide emotional support and comfort. In childbirth classes, Dad is sometimes coached to play that role, but the reality is that a first-time father isn't going to have any better idea what to expect than the mother. Birth plans can easily go awry, and an experienced doula can be a great help in getting the mother back into a a calm emotional state regardless of whether the mother wishes for as little intervention as possible or all the painkillers in the book. The presence of a doula has been shown in studies to reduce the odds of C-Section or instrumental delivery. Both the doulas I've had also provide lactation support after the baby is born. The fact that Swedish respects the role of the doula says volumes about the level of care they provide for expectant parents.

Laurie Levy is the best! We interviewed a couple of doulas who were very good, but we clicked with…read moreLaurie right away and were very excited to partner with her for the birth of our first child. Laurie met with us twice before the birth to go over questions and our thoughts on how we wanted everything to go. When I found our I was going to be induced, I thought I might not need her assistance as much - I was completely wrong! She was the greatest support, especially during the last 4 hours of hard labor. I ended up having complications during the actual birth and I am so glad that Laurie was by my side. The room was chaotic with lots of nurses and doctors and having someone I knew and trusted next to me was a life saver. She kept me calm and focused, and made a scary situation much less so. I'm so thankful we found Laurie through Swedish and hired her as our doula - I highly recommend her!

Having Rachel as our doula was not only fundamental to the well-being of our pregnancy but also an…read moreincredible gift we will always cherish. From the start, Rachel's demeanor aligned perfectly with ours. She was very knowledgeable, informative, and easy to talk to. As the carrying parent, I had many questions that Rachel was able to explain in detail thanks to her years of experience in the field and her ability to navigate the different settings in which a person can labor, including the birth center of our choice. Knowing she would be there to help us make important decisions and advocate on our behalf was priceless. From our first meeting, still over Zoom, I greatly appreciated her approach and how caring she was without being overbearing. When I was searching for someone to support us, it was important to me that the person had experience, understood my needs and concerns, and wasn't solely focused on taking pictures. Rachel checked all of those marks. Although she wasn't focused on photography only, her passion for the entire journey of life--from pregnancy to postpartum and beyond--can be seen through her amazing pictures as well. Her ability to capture special moments is truly incredible and artistic. Lastly, knowing that she is a professional who values and advocates for the rights of all people is the cherry on top. When I share our experience with friends, they all say: "I wish I had a doula like yours." We definitely recommend her for anyone hopping on this wild journey called parenthood.

After becoming pregnant I knew I wanted to hire a birth doula, as a death doula myself I understand…read morethe importance of having someone guide you through a transformative experience that I knew would hold many emotions. Once we met Rachel it was immediately clear we were a match, it felt like she had been in our lives forever. Rachel's extensive knowledge and thorough guidance ensured that we were well-informed about our choices at each phase of the birthing process, which brought us immense comfort and confidence. We had planned for an out-of-hospital birth but at the end of the pregnancy had to urgently schedule a C-section and Rachel was by our side the entire time, helping us navigate every decision with clarity and care. She prepared us for exactly what we could expect, slowed us down when fear was starting to take over, advocated for me in the hospital (immediate skin-to-skin with baby, supporting my husband as the nurses cared for baby, latching as quickly as possible, etc.), and ensured that either she or my husband held my hand the entire time. Beyond just her knowledge, she provided a safe space where we could express our fears openly and encouraged acknowledging all the emotions that come with becoming new parents. She did a beautiful job honoring my grief, grief in becoming a mom and the change of identity, grief in having to change our birth plan late in the pregnancy, and grief that I wouldn't have my mom with me. Rachel's soft energy and loving presence was a true anchor for us during this transformative time and when I think about the birthing experience I know it was a positive one because of Rachel. We will forever cherish the photos she took, as they capture so much of the emotion and love.