Cat's birthing class was amazing prep for my husband and I. We love information and having full…read moreunderstanding of what is going on, so feeling very ready to take on any birthing scenario in the hospital was important to us, as we live in a large metropolitan area. This class was informative and Cat is super enthusiastic, engaging, and down to earth, so it was very relatable and easy to take in the very detailed info. Information is all evidence based and designed to be able to participate fully in your own birthing care, advocate for yourself, and have full understanding of the birthing process. My hospital birth ended up needing many medically necessary interventions, and this class empowered us to make confident and fearless decisions for ourselves. Because of what we already knew from this class, we felt very comfortable with our care team and the information exchanges surrounding the events. Without this class, this experience may have been scary and traumatic, but the education we received in preparation made it feel very empowering and seamless. I 100% recommend this class to everyone interested in becoming well educated before their birthing experience.

My wife and I took Cat's EBB class and it was amazing! We learned a ton and now feel so empowered…read moreheading into our baby's birth. Cat was energizing, engaging, and very informative. We had many friends who took other birth classes with other instructors and none seem to have walked away feeling as calm and prepared as we did after our course with Cat.

Emma Yoder is an incredible doula. She is by nature one of the most kind, caring, and compassionate…read morepeople I have met, making you feel as comfortable as possible during all stages of the birth process. During such a vulnerable period, Emma is a continually comforting presence who guides and supports you through any questions and challenges. I could not think of a better person to be my doula, and I would highly recommend her to anyone in need of doula services. She is also very reliable and accommodating to changing schedules, and often available with short notice. Above all, her positive attitude and warm presence have made every interaction with her pleasant and I couldn't recommend her highly enough!

Emma is an excellent doula. She is young, passionate, caring, devoted, impressively experienced and…read moreresourceful. I took prenatal courses from the hospital, but I still found consultation session with Emma gave me more personalized tips a formal course didn't provide. Emma gave me advise on natural induction, preparing hospital bag, eating, exercises, many of which I never heard from other places. I had questions about my own detailed yoga and walking exercises design from 37 weeks on; news of dilation from 38 weeks check-up; news of 39 weeks ultrasounds , etc, it felt great to know there is a person to talk to anytime whenever I have something comes up. This makes my journey much less lonely! In the postpartum period, I had perineal pain and breastfeeding issues, Emma gave me consultation with tips of increasing milk supply I never knew. Overall I am very glad I had Emma by my side in this lonely journey of childbirth, she gave me so much valuable supports! I definitely recommend Emma.

Jennifer Hendrickson Doula Services was the one low point in my daughter's pregnancy. If it were…read morepossible to give no stars in order to give a review, that is what I would give her. The arrangements was that the doula would come to the house while my daughter was in labor. When she was far enough along, the midwife would be called, and we would all meet up together at the hospital. Jennifer came to my daughter's house while she was in labor, but she spent most of the time that she was there looking at Facebook. She did not provide any of the services that she had promised such as massages or heat treatments. Despite the fact that my daughter was in great distress, she never offered to get anything or do anything to help my daughter in any way, although she was very happy to have cups of tea and banana bread herself. Worst of all, she misdiagnosed the stage of labor that my daughter was in. She tried to get things going well before she should have, and had the midwife come to the house when it was way too soon. The midwife was so displeased that she indicated she would prefer NOT to have Jennifer accompany us to the hospital (and having a doula had been the midwife's idea!). By the time we finally arrived at the hospital, my daughter was exhausted and completely worn out. As a result, the delivery was adversely impacted by the involvement of Jennifer. After we informed Jennifer about her incorrect diagnosis of my daughter's state of labor, she became quite hostile and refused to provide any post partum services at all once my daughter was home. We had such wonderful care by all the other providers my daughter had chosen, but Jennifer was a very dark mark on the whole experience. I would not want any other pregnant woman to have this special moment marred by someone who does not seem to know what she is doing or give what she promises.

From the owner: Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding Support, and Placenta…read moreEncapsulation

I would give Lee the highest recommendation as a post-partum Doula as she was extremely knowledge…read more My husband and I hired her after the birth of our first child to provide support and guidance on building routines. With her guidance, our daughter was sleeping independently in her crib from 7pm until 4 or 5am about 4-6 weeks after birth and from 7am-7pm by 12 weeks. We accomplished this without any sleep training with Lee's help. The best part about Lee is that she adapts her guidance to the needs of each family and doesn't have a one size fits all approach. She was easily accessible for any follow up questions and is amazing with babies! Lee was a phenomenal resource for our family during our transition into parenthood. I can't recommend her enough. The money spent hiring her was far more valuable than anything else we purchased for our daughter!

We worked with Doulas of Philadelphia for both post-partum and sleep training. Lee and everyone we…read moreinteracted with were amazing and we would highly recommend them for both. A few details: Post-partum: We worked with Lee to craft a personalized post-partum support schedule that helped us transition to being new parents. Our primary doulas were Kate and Beth, both of whom were amazing. They were generally with us 4 nights per week from 9pm-7am. In addition to caring for our baby overnight so we could get some much needed rest, they were a source of knowledge and comfort. We felt our baby was very safe and secure with them and trusted them 100%. We also had a few day time visit where we could ask questions, try out new things like baby wearing, and get out of the house. Sleep training: We decided to sleep train our baby at about 4.5 months. Lee came to our house and stayed for 3 days straight. During that time she coached us (most important part of sleep training is training the parents that everything will be OK!), monitored the baby at night so we could rest, took extensive notes, and left us with a detailed plan of action. We were amazed at house much progress our baby made in those 3 days. He was literally sleeping through the night and falling asleep/putting himself back to sleep with minimal crying. Lee provided a month of ongoing phone, email and text support, where we could ask questions and plan for things like sleeping elsewhere, car rides, disruptions to our schedule, etc. We give Doulas of Philadelphia our strongest endorsement. If you are looking for highly experienced, professional, loving, and kind people to help you transition into parenthood or when you are expanding your family, definitely consider their services.

Shakera nannied for my son for about 3 months while he was just under 1-year-old. Since my job was…read morealways a bit all over the place, I worried that finding a care taker would be very difficult. Shakera welcomed my crazy schedule and was always happy to be flexible with whatever last minute changes I had. Not only is she caring and kind, she made me feel at ease leaving my child for the first time in her care. She was also always able to put my fussy child down for a nap in much less time than I ever could! Though our family had to change childcare providers after only working with Shakera for a short amount of time, we hope to maintain a relationship with her and seek her out again in the future for date nights. Please feel free to contact me for more information!

I had never tried distance reiki (or reiki at all) before, and I didn't know what to expect. From…read morethe moment we started the video call, I could tell that this was going to be something special. Shakera's warmth and good energy made me feel comfortable enough to relax and try this new form of healing, and she did a great job at explaining the how the session was going to work. Throughout the process, she was welcoming, kind, and helpful, not to mention extremely intuitive! Her intuition was spot-on, and she created a space for a transformative dialogue that really helped me get in touch with myself and my own spirituality. I felt like I really had a sense of calmness and direction after working with her. I would 100% recommend Shakera's work to anyone who is interested in reiki! I feel honored to have started my spiritual journey with her. 10/10 experience!!

Finding suitable midwifery isn't an easy task and we quickly learned this while searching for…read moresomeone locally that met our needs. While we won't bore you with those details, we'll just say Asasiya more than exceeded our expectations! In our case (nearly 40yrs old; considered a "geriatric high-risk pregnancy") we had the luxury of truly comparing the care of traditional practices (follow-ups with an OBGYN) with Asasiya at Inner Circle Midwifery. Asasiya's clearly surpassed them by leaps and bounds! The contrast between the two were completely "night and day". Meetings with Asasiya were personable, relatable and educational. You can tell she cared. She listened and acknowledged our wants and needs. She is very attentive and calculated in her approach but not at all stuffy. She is extremely relaxed and down to earth but overall, a complete professional! Office visits, for us, lasted nearly an hour minimum and we appreciated every minute of it. Office visits at the OBGYN were rushed and we felt like just another number. On the other hand, Asasiya was interested in getting to know us! She studied our vibe! In fact, our first consult was a meeting to not only learn if she was right for us but for her to deduct if we were the kind of clients she wanted to take on. It was tactfully done. We appreciated her honesty; letting us know that she had to ensure we were right for her. At that point we knew it wasn't about the money! Midwifery more than an job for Asasiya. She takes it very seriously. During our 6-month journey she was in constant seminars to learn more about midwifery as things are constantly being updated in that field. We also learned she doesn't overbook herself! She's able to provide and almost guarantee the proper individualized care you'd need on your due date. With that said, she was always on time and adhered to the plans and schedules we agreed upon. The one time she was "late"; she wasn't lol. She was attending to the needs of a mother who called her frantically. At the time we were walking in as she was running out. In passing she said, "I have to help a mother who needs me! Have a seat, I'll be right back!" Seeing her do this was comforting because if we were in that same position we trusted she would come running for us too. In the interim, she called to ensure we were okay and had someone from her team stop by to keep us company (who arrived in 10 mins) which just so happened to later become our Doula. It's safe to say Asasiya has a huge network of resources. Doulas, Photographers and even support groups who also house birthing classes and support groups if needed. She suggests a lot for you but none of it is forced upon you. She asks nothing of you that isn't beneficial to the baby and parents. She believes the well-being of the baby has everything to do with the ones caring for the baby. She suggested some amazing tips that really helped us along on our journey. On our day of birth, we called her at 3:30AM and she answered on the second ring. Before we knew it she was at our front door with an oxygen tank, blood pressure cuff and all the birthing necessities on hand. Prior to that, for months, we'd meet weekly and by this time, she and her team had become "family". They already knew our home and immediately sprang into action. Everything was perfect! Having a college student and comparing this 2019 birth to the one in 2000, we only wished we were open to midwifery as an option (only problem is we would've needed Asasiya lol). We truly believe it was her who made ALL the difference. During birthing class, we learned it's unnatural to lie on you back to give birth. That position contributes to a lot of the pain and hospitals demand you lay down and not eat/drink. Their methods are contradictory to natural child birth. They have more restrictions than being at home would ever have. Imagine being home in the vibe you create; eating what you want, walking if you need to, enjoy YOUR OWN BED (watching a little "Martin" lol) and comforted knowing your baby isn't taken out of your sight. Women's bodies naturally tell you how to position yourself. It knows what's most comfortable, and it will literally contract to allow your baby to birth itself. We followed everything we learned, and it made birthing a breeze. Labor was 2hrs for us! It began with being mentally right, proper eating, managing blood pressures and then practicing the proper techniques to get the child in place for their big arrival. All the suggested birthing necessities were gathered and ready to go and so were we! If God allows, we would do this all over again, the same exact way! Asasiya is now our family, our friend and midwife - FOR LIFE! Like we said, Asasiya and her team MORE THAN EXCEEDED our expectations! We 100% recommend her services.

From the owner: Inner Circle is proud to be the first and only community-based midwifery practice in Greater…read morePhiladelphia to have its own in-house network of trusted doulas! As labor coaches, doulas help to ensure that you have the comfort and support that you need to deal with the intensity of the birthing process. There are many wonderful doulas in our area but we have helped narrow down your options by choosing a few that we find to be among the most qualified. We deeply value the role and skills that doulas bring to the birth team, therefore we have integrated this service into our practice as a measure of quality care and convenience.

My experience with Dara as my Doula was great. She was supportive from beginning to end. She was…read moreconsistent with reaching out during appointments. She made sure I had no questions unanswered. I was in labor for over 12 hrs and she kept me calm and relaxed during my contractions. She allowed me follow my birth plan of giving a natural birth to be fulfilled, even when I wanted to give up. Dara encouraged me to keep pushing and I did. I delivered a healthy baby girl March 23rd at 5:17am with no rips or tears. I can say because of the support of my Doula and her helping me and my husband through labor, things went smoother and less stressful.- Charmira N.

From the owner: Trained Birth Doula ready to support you and your family prepare for your new addition. Services…read moreinclude prenatal visits, continuous uninterrupted support throughout labor, as well as postpartum support.

Georgette Kerr and her team are life savers!! I love babies. I nannied and worked as a babysitter…read morewhen I was young. I didn't expect the transition to motherhood to be a hard as it was for me. Georgette was encouraging and provided amazing support both physically (sleep!) and emotionally. Suddenly my husband and other loved ones were asking ME what the baby needed and I had no idea. It was so reassuring when she came in and answered my questions and even took over when I just needed a break and needed sleep. She knew how to soothe my precious son and it was so reassuring to leave him in good hands for the night while I enjoyed incredibly restorative sleep. I wish the cost was lower so this service could be available to each and every mom. Everyone needs a doula!! It's a beautiful time in life but knowledgeable and confident support is needed.

The team from After the Stork is great. Two weeks in with our newborn, we decided it was time to…read morecatch up on some much needed sleep. We reached out to Georgette and she was able to accomodate our relatively last minute request. We had a few different doulas - though if you plan ahead I believe they would typically pair you with one - and all of them were excellent. Super friendly, shared useful tips, helped with some chores around the house, and most importantly, helped us sleep! If we have another one at some point - I know who we're gonna call.