I am so grateful for the support my family and I received from Jessica Christen of "Grow with Bliss." I highly recommend her services to any new mother. I wasn't anticipating needing additional lactation support other than what was offered through my insurance plan but I am so glad my home birth midwife Alana Diamos referred me to Jessica. My son Camden had a complicated birth and subsequently had a 3 week NICU stay and had a delayed suckling reflex and difficulties swallowing. The hospital did not give us much hope in regards to nursing and bottle feeding and my husband and I advocated to have him discharged early with a feeding tube so we can have better conditions for bonding and working with him more closely at home. Jessica came to our home for all our sessions which made us feel so much more comfortable and relaxed (with so much stress already, this really meant a lot to us). She gave a very thorough examination of Camden and gave us hope that it wouldn't be long until he'd be nursing. She diagnosed Camden's tongue tie (which no one in the hospital had even mentioned) and recommended we see Dr Yazdi for a frenectomy and referred us to Andrea Byers for Craniosacral therapy and Dr Kenda Burke for Chiropractic adjustments to support his neurological healing and development. Jessica also gave us exercises at home to help improve his latch and encourage his suckling reflex. I honestly don't know what we would have done without Jessica's advice and instruction as well as her help orchestrating our holistic team that made it possible for Camden and I to breastfeed and develop the strong bond that we have today. After the frenectomy and several treatments from Andrea and Kenda, he latched, transferred milk and pulled out his own feeding tube! It wasn't long until we weaned him off the tube and he was an avid breastfeeder! He gained weight and has been a very healthy and happy boy since! He's one year old now and continues to nurse frequently when I am available :) whilst enjoying new foods and drinking water from a sippy cup. It's honestly a miracle. He's had a couple of very minor colds over the winter but he recovered much faster than my husband and I did! He's built good health and resilience and wakes up every morning with a big smile on his face. I truly believe breastfeeding has really helped not only his health but also his happiness. I have a very precious bond with my son that I treasure. It was absolutely worth the weeks pumping milk when he was in the NICU and all the effort and specialist sessions with Jessica, Andrea and Kenda to be where we are today. Jessica is a passionate, highly knowledgeable and experienced lactation consultant. More importantly she worked with our family in a very real, loving, understanding and patient way that I truly appreciated. I cannot recommend her enough! read more

I highly recommend Jessica for her lactation support services! I can't say enough how helpful it was to gain good support when our baby girl was born. With so many new things to learn, it was wonderful to set up a good feeding foundation... and get answers to our unique circumstances... and soothe my own anxiety! With Jessica I learned that my milk production was over-abundant and that I was trying to get my baby to eat more than her fill. I never thought this could be happening and I learned helpful techniques to cope. Thanks to Jessica's support, she is a great eater! Jessica is extremely knowledgable and very caring. Her approach is very soft and personable. She'll come to your house and watch you in your own environment. Hiring her was worth every penny! read more

Grow With Bliss - Jessica meeting our baby - Midwives Near Me

In short, Jessica is amazing!! She is an incredibly knowledgeable, caring and resourceful lactation consultant. Although I had abundant supply, I was experiencing so much pain during nursing that I wasn't sure I could continue. I also didn't know how to regulate my supply. Not only did she help correct our latch and ensure that I could continue breastfeeding, but she helped ease my anxiety and centered my breast health in the process. My baby and I are thriving and I can't thank Jessica enough. She is so loving and makes sure to tailor her recommendations to the specific needs of each family. We felt really loved by her. She took time to answer ALL of our questions and continued to offer holistic care, with careful explanations. Her experience as a midwife added to her incredible wealth of knowledge. Working with her was truly life-changing. read more

We employed Jessica for postpartum and lactation support after the birth of our second child and it was one of the best decisions that we made. We had a difficult delivery (emergency c-section) followed by a NICU hospitalization and a very small growth restricted baby. While in the hospital we had to completely stop breastfeeding due to health reasons and when we left I was so unsure about how to get our baby back on the breast.  Jessica stepped in at that point and did home visits to support us in making sure that our growth restricted little one was gaining weight, as well as helping us eventually get her completely off the bottle and back on the breast! Jessica is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, gentle, respectful, and a truly wonderful presence to have postpartum. Her approach is evidence based and supportive, and she drew up attainable and specific plans to help us reach our goals. She spent so much time doing detailed assessments of our babies latch, any possible ties, troubleshooting pumping and bottles, my oversupply, etc. Her recommendations were effective and based on the latest research. We are SO thankful that we were able to have her support! Additionally, we're a queer family and felt incredibly supported and affirmed by the healthcare we received from her! read more

It's hard to put into words what working with Jessica means to our family. After a terrifying delivery and NICU stay, I had completely lost all hope of ever being able to breastfeed. Our doula recommended Jessica for lactation support and just a few days after we arrived home, she came to our rescue. She walked in to a cyclone of a crying baby and anxious mom and had us latched in less than 5 minutes. It was like something out of a movie- this magical milk fairy floated in and instantly gave us our second ever successful latch. Within two visits, we are now breastfeeding almost entirely and my supply is going up daily. She is extremely knowledgeable on all things birth, lactation, recovery and more. She was able to put our minds at ease about my own c-section recovery challenges. She's exceptionally cool and is someone you'd love to just hang out with. It felt like we'd known her for years! I couldn't recommend her more highly. read more

Jessica is a gem. She listens to you, takes care of you (both baby and mom), addresses all of your questions, and is a kind, generous, and all-around awesome human being. She is also very organized and thorough, and shares very detailed notes and resources after each visit. I feel fortunate that we got to meet her for our postpartum visits. read more

We got Jessica's lactation support services and highly recommend it. We had our first in-home visit within the first week of the baby's birth and it was incredibly helpful to have lactation support right from the start. She helped us create a lactation plan that accommodated the baby's needs through different phases: initial more than 10% weight drop, feeding impeded by oral ties (which she flagged), bottle preference, weaning off nipple shield, using SNS, "late" kick-in of milk supply, etc. We probably hit most of the nursing issues and Jessica helped us through it all. It's also really valuable that Jessica offers in-home visits, which makes logistics so much more convenient with a newborn. She writes up detailed care plan with evidence-based recommendations and resources to follow up on, if desired. We also appreciate that she keeps herself up-to-date on research and seeks additional education in oral ties and infant craniosacral therapy. She's clearly passionate about what she does. Jessica is patient, gentle, calm, and ready to support whichever feeding plan we choose. We both felt really comfortable with her presence and support. Without her support, we probably would have quit breastfeeding since day 5, and we are now 9 weeks into it! We would recommend her to anybody (regardless of feeding decision -- bottle or nursing) without any reservation! read more

If you're thinking about calling Jessica at Bliss Midwifery, DO IT. NOW! It will be one of the best things you do for yourself... maybe ever! Hiring Jessica Christen as our lactation consultant was one of the very best things we did for our family postpartum. Jessica is impressively knowledgable and incredibly compassionate. Before she came to our home, I was struggling, to say the least, and I was about to give up even though every bone in my body wanted to keep breastfeeding. I had done all my homework... I had spent many hours online watching educational videos, I had exhausted lactation resources through my insurance healthcare system (Kaiser), and I had discussed breastfeeding with a variety of healthcare professionals. Still, I was in a tremendous amount of pain, probably headed toward infection, and very worried my baby wasn't getting the nutrition from me that she needed. At wits end, my spouse actually found Jessica and made an appointment with her to come to our home, and I'm so incredibly grateful. Jessica is clearly an expert at what she does, and she does it with a tremendously loving and approachable spirit. She was able to identify what latching issues were at play and help me with my own tactics/postures/etc. to help support my little one in latching despite some hurdles we were facing related to mouth anatomy. After her visit, she sent personalized plans for continued breastfeeding improvement, and she routinely checked in on how we were doing via text messages. At one point when I continued to struggle, she made time for me via phone to chat about what was happening and offer support that way. I ended up needing Jessica to come out to our home a second time for additional support, and I'm so glad I did - Jessica is absolutely worth her weight in gold. read more

Jessica is warm, knowledgeable, and prioritizes the wellbeing of mom. We worked with Jessica as our LC when we got home. She was accessible via text to answer questions before and after our visits. Breastfeeding is not easy but with Jessica on your side, it's a lot more manageable. read more

Working with Jessica was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Jessica positively radiates kindness and warmth, and is tremendously knowledgeable. I am forever grateful to her for helping transform feeding my new baby from a painful and nerve wracking experience to something comfortable and joyful where I could really focus on growing our connection. I was lucky enough to have Jessica do three house calls. I could not recommend her any more highly! read more

Jessica was amazingly helpful and so supportive via in person visits, telehealth visits, and support via text. I am so thankful that I was connected with her through TLN and for all the tips and tricks I received from her to make breastfeeding successful. read more

Jessica is a wonderfully supportive LC. It was so convenient to have her come to our house especially when the baby was tiny. She was knowledgeable about different things to try, and even though my breastfeeding journey didn't end the way I wanted it to, Jessica is still available by text for my random questions which I really appreciate! read more

Jessica is amazing. We saw a few lactation nurses before her and no one has been as thorough as her. She spends a lot of time with us and goes into detail about everything we can do to help our baby. She has given us better advice, tips and recommendations than any LC or pediatrician we've seen. She really takes her time with the appointments and seems to genuinely care about our baby's well-being. After the appointments we get written information on everything we went over and it is SO HELPFUL. she's the best! read more

Jessica was our instructor through the Loving Arms birth class as well as our postpartum midwife. I cannot recommend Jessica strongly enough for both services. As an instructor, Jessica presents complex, emotionally sensitive content clearly and sensitively. She holds a safe space for parents with a variety of birthing intentions from a loving and non-judgmental perspective. The content of Jessica's birthing class mirrored to a great extent what I was reading in my birthing books and learning from my (online) hospital birthing classes; however, having the ability to meet in person together with a community of new mothers to ask questions, discuss issues, and feel genuinely cared for by my instructor was incredibly valuable. I felt well supported going into the birth of my first child thanks in large part to Jessica. Jessica's instruction was a valuable supplement to my hospital-based birthing plan. Following my complicated pre-eclampsia diagnosis and eventual cesarian section birth, my partner and I were very lucky to have Jessica's postpartum midwife service. Jessica supported our new family in our home with visits that were unavailable through the hospital. She guided us through birth recovery, breastfeeding logistics, infant weight gain, sleep help, and nutritional awareness, among many other topics. Jessica was so generous with her time, being available to us in person as well as via text and phone to troubleshoot developments in real-time. I can confidently say that I would not be nursing my daughter or recovering so swiftly if it weren't for Jessica's care. Emotionally and mentally, I also benefited greatly from Jessica's warmth, regular check-ins, and positive encouragement. In the US, postpartum midwives are unfortunately not considered a standard service; I am incredibly grateful for the work Jessica provides and hope that all new parents can benefit from the wealth of knowledge postpartum midwives bring. Thanks to her, this new mom is feeling confident and powerful. read more

I met Jessica through a Loving Arms birth class for second/third time parents (she was the instructor, and I highly recommend this class! My first baby was born June 2020, so early Covid, and my goal this time around was to feel more prepared for all aspects via in person support). I immediately felt comfortable with Jessica and couldn't wait to potentially use her for lactation support once babe was here! Fast forward a few weeks and baby #2 had arrived. Breastfeeding seemed to be going well, but I had so many issues with my first baby and didn't feel like I got the support I needed to solve our feeding issues then, so I reached out to Jessica when this baby was just a few days old. I really wanted to get off on the right foot this time around and make sure I was doing things to set us up for success. I gave birth the Friday before Thanksgiving, and even with the holiday Jessica was super responsive and was able to carve out time to come to my house over the holiday weekend. Having her come to be was a dream - we got to use my props, in my house where all feeding was taking place at the time. If you are able to do so, I highly recommend having lactation support come to you! In those early healing days it made the world of difference having her come spend time with us here. And one less thing I had to juggle having a toddler and newborn. The care felt incredibly personal and tailored to me. Jessica went above and beyond creating a care plan after each meeting, responded to questions related to both breastfeeding and caring for my postpartum body via text message, checked in post-appointments via text, and even stopped by to do a weighted feed in-between appointments. She's even been just a great listening ear when I've needed to vent about the challenges I was experiencing with the transition to two with my toddler. I know that breastfeeding can be different with each baby, and this experience has been the complete opposite to what I experienced the first time around. I truly attribute part of that to the level of care and support received in those very early days with Jessica. Having such a positive start to my breastfeeding journey has been almost a healing of feelings felt last time around. Thank you thank you friend, I couldn't be happier with the help and support received! read more

My wife and I met Jessica through the Loving Arms birth class and were always amazed by her warmth and generosity. She would stay late after class to talk, offer support and advice, and even helped people install their car seats! When our daughter was born, we struggled with feeding. She had a tongue tie and just wasn't able to extract enough milk. We ended up with a starving agitated baby. Her oral issues coupled with supply issues put us into an endless cycle of triple feeding and trips to Kaiser. Friends from our birth class who had also had feeding issues raved about Jessica. We knew what we had to do and hired her! Jessica came over the very next day. She showed up on our baby's schedule and stayed for hours, helping us better assess what was going on and problem solve how to move forward. She was gentle and kind and helped us feel less alone in this very difficult time. Jessica was a saving grace during our triple feeding journey, providing us support through texts/calls/visits (always on baby's schedule, which is SO important, especialyl when talking about eating!). She was endlessly generous with her time and provided so much love for both of us moms and our baby. If you are struggling with anything related to breast feeding or probably anything post partum at all, call Jessica! She will make everyone feel better and slowly but surely things will come together! read more

Jessica was our instructor for a 8 week birthing class. We were so impressed by her level of knowledge and calm demeanor. Jessica has a unique ability to discuss complicated and at times heavy topics in a way that is easy to understand without causing alarm. As an internal medicine physician I appreciated her evidence based approach in teaching the class. I was worried that I would feel pressure to forego medial interventions in lieu of a more "natural birth", but it wasn't that way at all. Jessica has a very balanced perspective of both western and holistic medicine and was able to support a variety of different birthing plans in a non-judgmental way. She doesn't just give a personal option or one point of view; it is clear that she has a deep and up to date knowledge of current research about childbirth, and also extensive professional experience. Subsequently my partner and I signed up for her postpartum care package. It was one of the best decisions that I ever made. After a complicated birth followed by difficulties with breastfeeding, Jessica was instrumental in helping with my physical recovery and providing emotional support. She was also able to give advice on care of a newborn, which as new parents was a great relief. Moreover, she helped to troubleshoot a variety of issues with breastfeeding. She diagnosed my son's tongue tie when other medical providers and lactation consultants missed it; she found the correct flange size which allowed me to pump effectively; she even came to my home late one night to help me with hand expressions and troubleshooting my pump when I was severely engorged and in pain. I could do on and on. Jessica is incredibly passionate about her work as a midwife. She is skilled, experienced and talented. I really don't know what I would have done without her. The postpartum period can be fraught with so many different sources of grief and anxiety. I think that every woman and family owes it to themselves to have someone as skilled as Jessica guide them through that time, so that they can enjoy the magical time with their newborn. I can't recommend Jessica's services enough! read more

Jessica was our doula and LC and we cannot recommend her enough. She is incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, caring, and patient. Jessica truly cares about each of her clients and as a LC, she spends a lot of time getting to know each family and each baby's individual needs to create detailed and incredibly helpful plans. Her in-home follow ups are wonderful for babies struggling to latch or otherwise feed efficiently and Jessica really works with you to schedule times that work best for your newborn's schedule. As a doula, Jessica provided critical knowledge and accurately assessed when it was time for us to go to the hospital and deliver. She was with us every step of the way and advocated for us to have the delivery we hoped for. As first time parents, it was so reassuring to have a second expert explanation of many of the questions and options the labor and delivery team were offering. Jessica created a safe space and never pushed any of her personal beliefs on us and always offered detailed pros and cons of each option to enable us to choose what felt comfortable for us. read more

I cannot say enough on how delightful working with Jessica was. She has a very calm and soothing way about her that brings ease into the room which as an anxious new mother was worth it's weight in gold. Beyond that Jessica gave us tons of advice and guidance on everything from "am I getting him latched right" to "how do I know my baby's eating enough" to "should I be worried about this skin thing" to "any advice on going on a road trip with an infant". She even came over for an emergency nipple session and made a special lotion to help me heal from damage done from a bad latch. I honestly don't know if those first few weeks would have gone as smoothly without her help and just being out sounding board for questions we had along the way. Thank you Jessica for helping guide my transition to motherhood! read more

Only good things to say! Jessica has tremendously helped myself and my wife in the early postpartum days, when my wife was ill-advised by RNs in the hospital and was in a total despair. Jessica is a knowledgeable professional but above all - she is a wonderful human who is a real pleasure to work with. read more

My husband and I attended the Bliss Midwifery birth prep class. While many people in the class were planning home births, we were planning a hospital one and she covered planning for both so well. It was nice to have a small group of other couples who had similar due date time frames in the class to hear different experiences during the pregnancy. Jessica's class was very informative for expectations, but also had a great conversational aspect. The class covered what to expect and what you might not expect, but could happen. This part of the class, while scary to think about while you are hoping for a great birthing experience was so imperative to us in the end as we had a rather rough birth where nothing wend according to our birth plan. My husband was so thankful when decisions had to be made by him that he had that prep and background knowledge. Jessica also helped via email with my random and lingering questions and was super supportive the whole time we were in class as well as after the baby came. We were so so so happy we took this class. read more

Jessica Christen is a life altering powerhouse of expertise, true compassion, and dedication. I work in healthcare and have met many passionate caregivers and providers over the years - but I can honestly say Jessica is one of the most impressive health professionals I've had the pleasure of knowing, period. She provided such caring and dedicated postpartum care for me and my family - always accessible, supremely helpful, going above and beyond at every turn. She saved my life when she carefully monitored my blood pressure at home and caught severe post partum pre eclampsia that other providers missed or dismissed. As if that isn't enough, she is also the only reason I am still happily breastfeeding my baby - always there with support, helping me troubleshoot, providing hands on home help with positioning and latch. The gifts that she has given my family are priceless and SO cherished. Don't delay - you need this wonderful woman in your journey as a family!! read more

I first met Jessica at a coffee shop in Pasadena. Diane Dawson, LM and I were there to meet with Jessica to discuss how to become a Doula. After speaking with her for 15 min, I was certain she was midwife material. Diane and I urged her to scrap the Doula stuff and sign up for midwifery school. Jessica did just that, and began apprenticing with Diane and I the next week. She was a natural. At times we didn't even have to speak to her, Jessica just new what we wanted her to hand us or do. After a year, Jessica moved to the bay area and we were so sad to see her go. She finished school and her apprenticeship there. I've seen wonderful reviews from many happy moms. I am very proud of Jessica and her accomplishment in the midwifery field. read more

Jessica was an amazing support at our son's birth, and I cannot recommend her enough! Her hands are confident and her advice is spot-on. Her prenatal care was personalized and non-judgmental, and our postnatal appointment was supportive and encouraging. Although our (VERY LONG) birth ended up being in a hospital and not at a birth center as we had hoped, Jessica was present with her trusted advice and her calming personality. I only wish we lived closer to her now so that she can help us with our next little one! read more

I'm skeptical by nature, and view many claims made in the name of "alternative" medical traditions with dubious hesitancy. Jessica was very patient with me. She taught the class in a matter of fact way, explaining contemporary home and institutional birth practices. Jessica discussed the real and perceived issues that surround both institutions and many of the decisions that we would encounter in the birth process. This left me feeling better educated and able to make an informed decision; most importantly, it didn't leave me feeling preached at by a dogmatic partisan in a centuries old medical blood feud. Top marks for presenting reasoned and rational information in a clear-headed way. Also, she is an amazing baker! read more

My husband and I enrolled in the 6-week Holistic Childbirth Preparation Series a few months before my due date with our first child, in late 2012/early 2013. We cannot emphasize enough just how happy we are with this birth prep class! We learned EVERYTHING we needed to know to prepare us for the monumental, life-changing process of having a baby. Jessica created a warm, nurturing environment for our small group. We felt comfortable asking sometimes embarassing questions and were given valuable information, allowing us to make informed choices that made sense for our family. My husband and I were impressed with the wide range of topics covered - from what to expect toward the end of my pregnancy, what signs to look for as labor begins and progresses, coping strategies for pain during a natural birth (great exercises that we still talk about!), as well as breastfeeding challenges and techniques and how to support mama and baby after birth. My husband was a phenomenal support during labor, delivery, post-partum and beyond, due in large part to what he learned during Jessica's class. We also learned what to expect if worse-case-scenario circumstances occur and how to prepare for interventions. My husband and I both looked forward to our fun weekend classes and have stayed in touch with the other families we met through Bliss. We have strongly recommended this birth prep series to all of our pregnant friends and try our best to emphasize how essential it was for us to prepare ourselves with this class in particular. We left feeling educated, encouraged & most importantly, EMPOWERED! We knew we had all the information to make the best choices for our home birth, for our baby and for facing the inevitable challenges that come with first-time parenthood. Highly recommend! read more

My partner and I took Jessica's home birth prep class in December of 2012 and it was the best thing we could do to prepare ourselves as new parents. Not only did Jessica guide us through what to expect during labor and delivery, we learned extremely valuable tips on what to do when the baby actually arrived! Her class goes above and beyond "childbirth" and includes breast-feeding, immediate post-birth, new-mom care, as well as what to do with the brand-new baby. We ALWAYS put a clean diaper down before taking off the old one- it has saved us from numerous accidents. We referred to the information we learned from Jessica's class a lot in those first few weeks and we wouldn't have known what to do without her resources. We absolutely, highly recommend Jessica. If you are pregnant and want to take a birth class in an intimate setting, where you can ask all the questions you have always wanted to know about pregnancy and birth, Jessica's class and midwifery skills are for you! read more