I solicited Rachel's services for the birth of my second son, Griffin. Upon first meeting her I…read morefelt drawn to her calm demeanor and warm presence. She distributed an educational binder full of materials I found to be more honest and thorough than the information my OB had given me. For example, OB's won't distribute a list of medical interventions you may face during a hospital labor, but Rachel did. It was essential information I wish I was armed with during the hospital delivery of my first son. Emotionally, Rachel was very encouraging when I expressed doubts regarding my ability to tough-out a med-free labor. She helped instill the courage I needed to make the switch from the hospital to my local Birth Center. She helped me believe in myself and saw a strength in me I did not see. Physically, Rachel would have been an enormous help with pain management by providing soothing massage and counter pressure during labor. My labor was mercifully short, however, and I had to rely solely on my husband for pain relief during active labor. He did a great job providing this relief by utilizing the massage and counter pressure techniques that Rachel taught him. Thanks to her guidance, he was able to be an active participant in my labor instead of just a spectator! She was a calming, guiding voice during the pushing stage of my labor and very helpful with my initial breastfeed as well. Rachel will be all the things you need during the emotionally turbelent time of pregnancy and delivery. She will be a supportive friend, a motherly figure, an educator, an advisor, a listening ear, a guiding voice and a soldier ready to fight for you. She's a nurturing old soul with a backbone of steel. A beautiful doula both inside and out. You can't go wrong soliciting her services and I can't recommend her highly enough. I wish I had given myself the gift of a doula through my first labor!

I was referred to Rachel by my midwife since I had such bad anziety about labor. I was terrified of…read morethe pain as well as getting an epidural or an IV since I don't do well with needles. I'd cry thinking about having to deliver my baby and wasn't enjoying my pregnancy because of my anziety. My husband and I had VERY different views on labor. His answer to everything was. "Get an epidural, you'll be fine." He thought anyone who didn't want an epidural was crazy. He didn't see anything wrong with interventions and thought they were there and you should take full advantage of it. Originally I wasn't against interventions, I was just really scared of them because of the needles. Over the couple months of communicating with Rachel and reading the materials she suggested I decided I wanted to try to have a natural birth. My husband still maintained that his ideal labor would be a scheduled c section. With Rachel's help he finally was on board to give the natural birth a shot, although I'm pretty sure he didn't think it would actually happen. Rachel got through to him about the cycle of epdidural/pitocin and how once you start one intervention it just creates a snowball and odds are, you're getting more. I went into labor and I labored at home and got to the hospital at 10cm! After 2 hours of pushing, my daughter was born without any interventions! Rachel gave us the knowledge/tools to be able to labor at home as long as we did. I believe that made all the difference in being able to have a natural delivery. I would have had a VERY different labor if i wasn't for Rachel. At the hosptial she was great! With Rachel by my side I felt as if i could take on anything during labor. My husband is so happy we hired her. He said if we had another baby we'd do it the same way. She's worth every penny. Her posituve attitude can get you through anything! I think about my labor every day and couldn't be more happy with it!

Having Yvette as my doula was the best decision I ever could have made. I waited 12 yrs to have my…read moresecond child and was nervous. Yvette was by my side the entire pregnancy and during labor and after . She made sure my birthing plan was followed and that I was comfortable. I would not dream of having another child without a doula. Even though my boyfriend was there... the comforting techniques she used while I was in pain helped me get through and it made all the difference . I highly recommend her and she will definitely be my doula for my next child. She is very caring and understanding and has an amazing personality.

From the owner: Circle of Birth Doula Services specializes in empowering pregnant and postpartum women towards…read morehealthier birth outcomes. If you're a pregnant/postpartum woman and want an advocate, a listening ear, more pregnancy/postpartum education, instruction, or guidance than your provider can offer due to office visit time constraints than add me to your care team. Circle of Birth Doula Services offers guidance and instruction on comfort techniques during labor and delivery that will help center/focus you towards a healthier birth experience.

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.

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.

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.