Sara is the absolute best! Her calming presence helped us as new parents tremendously. We gained so…read moremuch confidence as she helped us navigate the first month with our baby girl. We also got precious sleep while she was with us which enabled us to take on the next day refreshed. The main reason why I was able to get good sleep as a new mom was because I trusted Sara with my baby. She is also hands down the reason why my breastfeeding journey has been so successful. She always answered our questions with grace and patience. We learned so much from her and she made us feel very comfortable. Having a postpartum doula was a great choice for us, but hiring Sara was what made the experience magical!

Sara was a breath of fresh air. I'm a first time mom and needed some extra help making sure our…read morelittle one was on the right track. We had Sara come for the night to get extra sleep. We got extra sleep as well as a ton of extra tips. Sara came to our house and we talked about our little ones formula we had been giving him. She could tell he needed to be on a more specialized formula and that if I wanted to could try to relactate. We did both! Our little one is doing so much better. Sara was so sweet and kind. She also didn't mind our pup running around the house. She gave us so many tips. Even ones that were better then what our pediatrician had recommended. I highly recommend hiring Sara, you'll get more then just a good night sleep but tons of info. She's super knowledgeable.

I took The Bradley Method classes with Susan Jesse and I loved it. Susan is so charismatic,…read moreanimated and hilarious that the classes were never boring. I learned a lot even though this was my 4th child. I was able to implement The Bradley Method and had a natural home/water birth. I would recommend every woman take her classes. Also, Susan also gives the best hugs EVER!! She's so awesome

I had the privlege of taking Susan's Bradley Method classes as well as having her be my doula for…read moremy hospital birth. The entire birthing experience and process was enriched by having the support and presence of this amazing woman. Duirng my ~26 hour labor, she never left my side and went above and beyond my expectations of what I thought a doula would be. I feel truly blessed to have met Susan and would highly reccomend her to anyone considering the Bradley method or in need of a doula. You will not be disappointed.

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I wasn't sure if I was going to hire a doula, but after having…read moreTeri I can't imagine having a birth without her! Throughout my pregnancy, her classes and resources equipped us with well-researched information and pro tips, which alleviated a lot of my fears and anxiety about L&D. During my labor and delivery, Teri guided me through stressful moments and helped tremendously with pain management. I ultimately delivered unmedicated, and thanks to Teri's suggestions, I delivered safely with manageable pain. She's extremely knowledgeable and soothing, she helped us stay calm throughout the entire experience. I can say with 100% confidence that if it wasn't for Teri, it would've had been a lot longer and a lot more pain. I'm immensely grateful for Teri's help in bringing my baby into this world and creating a magical birth experience for our family!

Teri is amazing and I can't say enough about how supportive she is. She was our rock while I was in…read morelabor and provided a wealth of knowledge before hand. She is easy going and just a badass! She helped us feel at ease with everything before and after baby.

I reached out to Kim after a friend recommended her for latching issues. I'd been struggling with a…read morelow milk supply and latching difficulties, and I am so glad I made that appointment. ​Kim is incredibly knowledgeable and filled in the gaps that my doctors and nurses missed. Thanks to her: ​No more pain: She properly measured me and found the correct flange size and shield (I was way off on my own!). ​Better output: I'm finally emptying completely and she recommended a much better pump. ​Whether you are actively struggling with breastfeeding or just want to make sure you're on the right track, go see Kim! She will give you information you didn't even know you needed!

I reached out to Kim after having trouble breast-feeding two weeks after giving birth to our son. I…read moream so thankful for her expertise, I wish I had contacted her sooner. She explained to us that even though the hospital had performed a frenectomy on his tongue, the procedure was not done correctly which was contributing to his poor latch and referred us to a local pediatric dentist with proper training. Without receiving that direction, I would've continued struggling and delayed his growth. I was also feeling very overwhelmed with all the various information we had received at the hospital about breast-feeding. Kim answered all of my questions and helped me to make sense of everything, decipher the facts from the myths, and provided me with science based guidelines. We worked on different feeding positions, oral movements that will help build his muscle strength, and proper flange sizing for successful pumping. I was extremely pleased that she makes house visits so I didn't have to stress about traveling with my newborn. I'm so happy to have Kim with me on this journey, and I will continue to utilize her skills.

Did a prenatal massage with Gracie and she's wonderful! The room is nice, she had all the comfort…read morepillows and really listened to where I noted any aches or pains to address. She also included some breathing techniques which was nice. Afterwords she also offered drinks and snacks from the studio lounge which being pregnant is always appreciated. Loved my massage here.

I reached out to Brilliant Births to find a birth doula. They offer a matching service and…read moreconnected me to 3 doulas who work independently (not employees of BB). We were really fortunate to find our birth doula (who we love!), but the other 2 candidates were not very impressive. The first doula missed our appointment with no follow-up communication. We were initially confused and thought she was the coordinator for BB, because she only communicated by text. The actual meeting was just by telephone so there was no face-to-face interaction, which felt strange. We could've easily FaceTimed or Zoomed. So communication and reliability were not great. The second doula abruptly canceled our half-hour appointment when we were 10 minutes late for a 30-minute appointment due to my husband wrapping up a Zoom meeting. During our appointment time, she was responding to my emails (in which I apologized for being late), but insisted she could no longer meet with us. I thought this was a really bad sign about what she would be like to work with - labor and delivery is rarely precisely timed and some flexibility is needed. In addition, her email said that she lives in Portola Valley, but we live Berkeley (also where Brilliant Births is located). This also struck me as strange, because it would take 1.5 hours for her to arrive to meet us at the hospital, which is not ideal.

We are incredibly grateful for the care and support we received from Shari Stamps. From our very…read morefirst appointment, she truly listened to our concerns and made us feel heard, supported, and understood throughout our baby's tongue-tie journey. What stood out most was her whole-body approach and the way she helped us see our baby as an individual with his own rights, preferences, likes, and dislikes. She gently reminded us that even at such a young age, our baby communicates with us, and that respecting his cues is an important part of supporting his growth and development. Shari provided thoughtful guidance, education, and practical tools that empowered us as parents. She helped me understand how I could actively support my child's tongue tie journey and gave me confidence in my ability to recognize and respond to his needs. We highly recommend Shari to any family looking for a caring, knowledgeable, and holistic approach. She has made a meaningful difference in our family's journey, and we are so thankful for her support.

Shari has been a life saver! I wish I was educated on tongue ties and lip ties sooner. I came…read moreacross Shari because my 2 month old had a side preference on nursing and would get super frustrated and stop nursing. She was also very gassy and clearly uncomfortable. Shari worked with me and my baby and checked her for a tongue and lip tie which she ended up having both! Before I could get an appointment to get it revised she taught me so much about body work and how it all affects baby's feeding. With the stretches and techniques of full body massaging baby, working with her mouth, neck, head, nursing got better. I was able to nurse her on both sides and we worked on latching. After her lip and tongue revisions, I continued doing everything Shari taught me and I haven't had problems since. This baby is my third and last so I thought I knew it all. It has been such an emotional experience and Shari saved our nursing bond. She is very nurturing, kind, and informative. She has a lot of knowledge and experience. The only thing I wish was done differently was the fact that I didnt go to her sooner!

I had an incredible experience with Lucinda for my two babies. She was super patient with me and…read morewas always available when I needed her.

Lucinda was recommended to me by an old friend. I called today to schedule an interview and was…read moreappalled by how rude she was on the phone! She answered, saying "Hello, this is Lucinda." I replied, "Hi Lucinda, how are you today?" She paused and responded, full of attitude, "uummmm, who is this?" Stunned, I too paused a moment and responded with my name. She asked me, still full of attitude, " uhhhhh...Ooooook, are you looking for a midwife, Alex? Or are you a telemarketer?" Completely shocked, I told her I WAS looking for a midwife. She tried to change to her tune, explained she was on the phone with another client and gets a lot of calls from telemarketers and asked if she could call me back. I told her that would not be necessary. This was a horrible way to engage with a potential client. If she is having that many problems with unwanted calls, she needs to resolve that problem so she does not continue to turn away potential clients due to her poor attitude and lack of customer service.

We went with Redwood Doulas for a night nurse. Our baby came 3 weeks early so our original doula…read morewas initially unavailable. Redwood doulas was responsive to help us get another interim doula right away. Doula Thais stepped in to help us super last minute. She was extremely professional and helpful. We were triple feeding when we first got back from the hospital, so doula Thais would every three hours bring me the baby, then bottle feed her while I pumped, then clean all the bottle and part pumps. When she left in the morning all of the bottle and pump parts were cleaned and organized and ready for the next day. She listened and helped us figure out our game plan for the nights. She was very communicative about her availability and it was great she was able to help on such short notice. We only had her for a few nights but would definitely recommend her to anyone considering her, she even followed up asking about our baby and how she was doing weeks later! Doula Suely was the other doula we worked with. We worked with Sue for about 7 weeks and she was so critical for helping us get peace and sleep. She was great and easy to work with and schedule shifts for the week. She went along with whatever schedule and plan we wanted for the night. But when we were uncertain about something, or wanted advice for reflux and spit up she was extremely helpful with her advice. You could tell the love and care she had for our baby! It's nerve wracking handing your baby over to someone for the entire night but it was so easy to trust Sue. She helped us get some extremely critical sleep and always ensured my pump parts and the bottles were clean in the morning. We ended up extending our contract by three weeks because Sue's help was so critical to our family. I can't recommend Sue enough!!

We loved working with Redwood Doulas and would highly recommend them!…read more Kymberlie is SO incredibly warm, understanding, empathetic, and compassionate. She was a great help in setting up the initial meetings with doulas who she thought would be a good match for us and figuring out schedules and such. During a postpartum call, she was so kind and empathetic. I just can't say thank you enough to her for her kindness. Doula Thais was our birth doula and was amazing in every way. She was incredibly supportive to both my husband and I, helping us navigate the unknowns pre-birth, during labor, and afterward. I had some medical issues crop up that required an extended postpartum stay and she was so so kind and continued to reach out and check in on me, which meant SO much to me. We also did a baby wearing session with her and that helped both of us feel more comfortable that we were wearing our baby correctly (those darn things have so many darn straps and snaps and doodads, lol). Regarding postpartum night support, we had initially gone with a doula (who ran her own business) that we hired outside of Redwood Doulas. Within two weeks, we were desperately looking for other help as this private-doula-for-hire was just not jamming well with us. We reached out to Kymberlie and she was able to help us do some trials until we found a doula we matched well with. We were able to snag a couple weeks with Doula Ivette and we loved working with her just as much as we did with Doula Thais! Doula Ivette came in the first night and was able to identify that our baby was gassy and helped show us different techniques on how to de-gas her! We continued using those techniques for the next few months while our baby's digestive system was sorting itself out. We weren't able to continue with Redwood Doulas after a few weeks as we had contacted them too late and we weren't able to find continuity of care with just one doula. For this reason, we decided to hire another private-doula-for-hire outside of Redwood Doulas and similar to our first experience doing this, this private-doula-for-hire just was not as professional as the doulas from Redwood Doulas. I bring this up to highlight that our experience with Redwood Doulas was truly exceptional. I contacted and spoke with A LOT of doulas and different agencies around the bay area and the team at Redwood Doulas was my favorite to work with. They were always ON TIME! Which is like SO FREAKING KEY when you're a first time parent holding a baby who has been screaming their head off for hours hours and nothing you do is working and you need a break from that damn yoga ball bouncing you've been doing! Lol. When my private-for-hire-doula would come late, the intense baby screams tears at you every additional minute you're waiting. But Redwood Doulas never did this to us. They were always on time- thank. goodness. Lol. So all in all, work with them!! They're awesome. (Open to DM's if anyone has questions, etc!)

Teri Nava-Anderson was our doula for our July 31st 2009 birth. Our birth was a planned homebirth…read morethat resulted in a transfer to our hospital with our concurrent care obstetrician. When I first found out I was pregnant I knew my outmost goal was to have a labor without the use of narcotics, epidurals or any type of painkillers for the labor. I was very comfortable with the capability of my body and trusted that I could do this with the assistance of a supportive husband, midwife and doula. I found Teri through a wonderful internet site that supports newlyweds and moms-to-be. I inquired more information and was very interested in having a doula for our birth. We meet and immediately felt so comfortable and very secure with her. She understood our wishes and goals and made us feel great about our decisions. It was the best decision we ever made. Teri was very supportive through the ENTIRE labor. She never lessened her enthusiasm to help us. She was always energetic and coherent of what best relaxation techniques suited us, even when we were just plain exhausted. At one point I was in the tub soaking through some tougher contractions. She instructed my husband on how to help me and she stayed a few feet away for the entire time (at least 2 hours!) watching us and making sure if we needed her she was just an arms length away. During pushing I wanted Teri right next to me--on the other side of my husband. I felt that she gave me some great strength through the thickest of contractions. Honestly, I felt that her positive energy is what got me through my long labor. It was her strength and confidence that gave me confidence to do the best I could in my labor. In the end I had to be transferred to my hospital at 10 cm dilated because my baby's head was not coming out, but once in the hospital I delivered the stubborn baby with 2 good pushes. I did not have an epidural or any type of pain suppressants. I did not even think or request any type of pain suppressant the entire time and I feel I owe this all to Teri's great work. She kept me relaxed and confident in the capability of my body and not the pain of labor. I felt so comfortable with Teri. She was soothing, mothering, loving, caring....everything. Her tone of voice was always comforting and loving. My husband was very comfortable with her and we really trusted her. She is a wonderful Doula and we wish her the best in her wonderful service as one. She will definitely be on our call list when we have a second child. We could not have met our wishes and survived the long labor (~50 hours) with no epidural or painkillers. She truly is a wonderful doula and made our birth the most wonderful experience. We recommend her to anyone that is planning to have a natural, unmedicated and painkiller free birth! We love you Teri! The Paoluccio's

I am happy to write a review for Teri and Harmony Doulas…read more Originally I didn't think I would want a doula at all, but my husband kept insisting. I think he was worried about whether he would be able to handle being at the birth and also worried about my stress level and wanting me to have extra support. I was a bit resistant, because I didn't know much about doulas and I was afraid they were all a bunch of hippies that would be judgmental if I decided to get an epidural, because I wasn't sure if I would need anesthesia or not. (It's hard to know if you've never had a baby before.) We met with several different doulas and also considered hiring the person who taught our childbirth classes who also happened to be a doula. In the end, my husband and I both liked Teri and her team the best. It was clear that they were all very experienced and they were very open-minded, while still being research based in terms of their recommendations. The thing that really stood out as well was the fact that Teri discussed upfront how to get reimbursement from an FSA or insurance for their services. I didn't even know that was possible before I met them and, again, it made them seem more experienced. They had also been present at births with my OB/GYN and hospital, which was a plus. I think some women like hiring just one doula so they know for sure who is going to be at the birth, but we liked all the women in Harmony Doula, so I knew I would be happy with whoever was on duty at the time. And actually for me, having 3 doulas was a big plus. I felt better knowing that if one of the doulas was pooped, someone else who was fresh would come in and take over. The other reason I chose a group with 3 doulas was because I wanted to be sure someone would be there who I knew on the big day. No matter how good one doula is, something can always happen, a car accident, a family emergency, so I felt more comfortable knowing there were 3 doulas that would be available. Before the baby was born, they came to our place a few times. Usually two of them came together, but I think once it it was all three. They talked through our birth plan and helped us think of things we hadn't considered. They also showed us prenatal yoga and massage and showed my husband how he could help me do stretches and give me massages. They were also very available whenever I had questions, like on Thanksgiving when I started having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions and worried I was going into early labor. I was pretty terrified about giving birth and they really helped me with my stress and made me feel like I could do it. As I got close to my due date, my doctor told me that they normally induce labor at 41 weeks, which I didn't realize, because I thought 42 weeks was the standard. I really wanted to give the baby time to be "ready" and for labor to start naturally, so I reached out to Teri and she sent me a lot about labor induction and pros and cons of waiting until 42 weeks. On the big day (40 weeks and 6 days), I started having contractions around midnight. I wasn't sure if they were "real" or not, so I waited and called Teri around 2 am. She answered right away and calmly talked me through what was going on. Since my contractions were far apart, she encouraged me to try to sleep. Teri then came over to our place early in the morning and helped me do some exercises to get the baby into the correct position. Then, as fate would have it, I had an OB/GYN appointment scheduled for that day around noon, so we (me, my husband and Teri) all went to the doctor's office together. The doctor checked me and said I was 6 cm dilated and should go to the hospital right away. Another thing I realized after getting to the hospital is that the doctor doesn't show up until the very end and the nurses only come to check on you sporadically, so having Teri there was huge for me, because I knew she was going to be there the whole time. When I was ready to push, the doulas had a shift change and Jennifer arrived, but Teri was excited to see the baby be born, so I actually had two doulas there with me in the end. When it was time to push, they were excellent at helping me figure out different positions to try. When I was very close to getting the baby out, I got a very intense look on my face and my husband actually got a little scared and kept touching my face and telling me to relax and Teri was able to calmly suggest that he go sit in the corner for a minute to calm himself down, which was helpful for me and for him (he made it back before the baby came out). Basically, Teri and her team are awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone. I was able to have the birth just how I wanted and, of course, the most important thing is that the baby is healthy. I am not sure I could have made it through labor without anesthesia if not for Teri and her team.

I worked with Naphtalie and her partner Sara for the birth of my first child in March 2019. As this…read morewas our first child and my husband and I had been overwhelmed by other life activities for most of the pregnancy we felt completely unprepared. They were great at providing as much information as they could to help us feel more confident going into the birthing process. They did not make us feel pressured into any certain type of birth but provided the information and support to empower us to make the decisions right for us. Now onto the labor part. My water broke at midnight on a Friday night. I let Sara know (as she was who I had originally been scheduling everything with) and she walked me through what to expect next. I went throughout the night with only a couple of contractions. Kaiser wanted me to come in in the morning but I talked to Sara again and she let me know the choice is up to me. She knew my plan was to have a natural, non-induced labor so she gave me some strategies to try to get labor going. At that point Naphtalie reached out as well with additional ideas and support. As Saturday went on and still nothing was progressing my husband and I got more nervous. Naphtalie offered to come over which was so helpful. She listened to all of our thoughts and anxieties, gave me a massage hitting certain pressure points, and even painted my toenails. We decided to not wait any longer and went to the hospital with Naphtalie following. While at the hospital Naphtalie was great at listening to the thoughts from the hospital staff and my husband and I and acted as a sounding board to help us make decisions. Once I was induced labor kicked into high gear and contractions were coming rapidfire with no real breaks in between. Naphtalie was great at letting my husband be my main support (since he was doing a great job) but being there to provide additional support via massage, visualization, soothing words, etc. I eventually decided I needed an epidural to get a break from the constant contractions. Again Naphtalie supported my decision without making me feel guilty for not being able to keep to my "plan" of a natural birth. (Feeling pressured into a natural birth and judged for not going through with it was something I was worried about with hiring a doula and was something completely unfounded.) Little man made his arrival and Naphtalie stayed with us for quite some time helping us get set up for breastfeeding and making sure we were all set. It was hard to say goodbye after we had all been through so much together. Once we got home Naphtalie was only ever a text away. She checked in on us from time to time which was the perfect mix of providing support but not bombarding us. She came to our house for a follow up which was nice to just recap everything and get any questions answered for things that had come up post birth. Overall I am so glad that we hired a doula and Naphtalie in particular. We could have done it on our own but having the extra support to help us feel so empowered throughout the process was priceless.

From the owner: Warm, professional, gentle doula support for all of your prenatal, birth & postpartum needs…read more Experience with singletons, as well as twins. Breastfeeding support, gentle sleep training, and parent advice.