Jenn completely changed my postpartum experience for the better. We got home from the hospital and…read morewere lost when it came to establishing a feeding routine that would be sustainable and support our little one. She spent so much time and energy and thoughtfulness walking us through a solid schedule and approach that worked seamlessly in our lives. She doesn't provide a standard approach, but rather tailors her recommendations to the family and baby at hand. Jenn came highly recommended from a friend and our pediatrician said that she's one of the two lactation specialists that she relies on in her practice. Highly recommend working with Jenn.

Jenn made a huge impact on my breastfeeding journey with just one visit. I had been triple feeding…read morefor weeks and had contemplated giving up on breastfeeding. Pediatricians weren't able to give us a path off of supplementing and we had gotten a lot of overwhelming advice of various treatments to improve transfer. Jenn did a thoughtful evaluation and gave us a very straightforward and actionable plan to transition off of triple feeding. She really built up my confidence around breastfeeding and within two weeks we were exclusively nursing. She also checked in a few times in the following week to see how things were going. Overall a really positive experience!

My husband I are so grateful we found Marilou at fairly last min notice, she brought such a…read morewonderful, calming energy to our house to help with our 6 week old. Our daughter immediately took to Lu, as did our toddler, who loved to stop in to the nursery and say hi. Marilou helped us figure out bath time, feeding, and tummy issues, all with a super gentle approach that put both me and the baby at ease. While she was here I was able to truly rest, a rarity in those early PP weeks. I would highly recommend Marilou to anyone!! I teared up when she left!

My wife and I had Jordan from Doulas by the Bay help care for our newborn overnight from 11 p.m. to…read more7 a.m., and she quickly earned our trust. Jordan is young, eager, and incredibly attentive. Throughout every overnight shift, she remained awake and alert, always ready when our daughter needed her. Most importantly, she cared for our baby with the same patience and gentleness we would ourselves, which gave us tremendous peace of mind as new parents. Her reliability was equally impressive. She was consistently punctual, arriving between 10:58 and 11:00 p.m., and was always respectful and ready to help. Trusting someone with your newborn is no small thing. Jordan made that trust easy. I would confidently recommend both Jordan and Doulas by the Bay to my closest friends and family, and we'd happily welcome her back into our home. Thank you, Jordan, for taking such wonderful care of our little girl!

Tracy was a exactly what I needed. While at the hospital, I saw a total of four different lactation…read moreconsultants. While they did the best they could in the support for me, I wished I had met with Tracy from the very beginning. At the first doctor visit for our little one, the doctor was concerned of the baby's weight loss and ordered an every two hour feeding regimen and a return the following day. The baby lost even more weight and in my postpartum, sleep deprived state, I left the office in tears. All my efforts felt like they were going nowhere and I was ready to throw in the towel to formula. Feeding felt too hard. They recommended a lactation consultant. Tracy was not only on the list of recommended LCs, but highly recommended from a friend. Tracy is an experienced, professional, responsive and AWESOME lactation consultant. We had a home consultation. The support during and after her visit was reassuring, caring and instrumental in building my confidence in breastfeeding. Her follow ups were great and I appreciated the checks-ins. Highly recommend Tracy for anyone starting out.

I am a midwife myself so I thought breastfeeding would not be a problem - I teach others to…read morebreastfeed their babies. Haha. Totally different story when it is you and your baby and you are sleep deprived and in pain or your baby isn't gaining weight, etc. I have a new appreciation for the many variables that come with feeding your baby - it's the first challenge of parenting isn't it? Tracy Dillen-Massillon came to our house to help with breastfeeding. She is a GEM! An ANGEL! Worth every penny! I was having infection/pain issues and she has helped me get through the most difficult ordeal of my pregnancy, birth or postpartum period. She is to the point, concise and clear. She immediately diagnosed my problem and gave solutions. She gives you a written plan (much needed with baby brain) and does not mind emails/phone call follow up and responds promptly. I have continued to have complications but she always comes up with a plan that works and meets the challenges with her broad range of knowledge. She is very up to date on medical research. She is also very non judgmental and works with your individual needs - she has a good balance of natural and western remedies to offer you. I don't know what I would have done without her. She also leads the breastfeeding circle at natural resources on monday which is also a great less expensive option for less pressing problems. But she came and saw me within 24 hours of my first phone call and boy was I flailing, like I said, worth every penny!!!

Maggie Kler is a phenomenal lactation consultant and postpartum guide, and I recommend her without…read morereservation to anyone navigating breastfeeding, whether things are going smoothly or you're struggling to meet your goals. With my firstborn, I lived in fear for the first month that she wasn't getting enough milk. Maggie helped me measure my current transfer, improve my technique, and understand the bigger picture of my baby's development. And my baby's weight corrected exactly as Maggie predicted! Every visit with Maggie was immensely helpful, regardless if there was a specific problem or a checkin, because she uniquely helped me one connect the dots between my baby's birth, status updates from pediatrician visits, and the round-the-clock grind of newborn feeding. Maggie was such an indispensable part of that experience that I reached out to her again during my second pregnancy. This time, she helped me troubleshoot my second baby's lower appetite and different positioning issues, and reassured me that breastfeeding was working even when my baby simply chose to eat less. Seven months postpartum, her read on the situation has proven completely accurate. Maggie combines deep expertise with a mother's empathy (something well intentioned pediatricians can't always offer!) plus a real understanding of what breastfeeding can and can't control. No one made me feel more supported in the hardest moments of postpartum recovery.

It's rare that I'd describe a retail store as "life changing" but this little shop was. In my raw,…read morepostpartum days after an emergency c section and a ten day stay in a hospital, I was breastfeeding and desperate for clothes I didn't feel terrible in and that I could breastfeed easily in. I stopped here and not only did they provide a cozy, private place for me to breastfeed with a helpful Breast Friend pillow, they also had changing tables and a scale for me to use, which brought me peace of mind. Then the nice young lady working there (after giving me space and privacy to nurse) helped me find nursing bras that I love (bravado, sadly being discontinued) and I even found some great nursing shirts that I wear every day. Please support this wonderful women owned shop!

Amanda is absolutely a doll! She was so easy to communicate, helpful of all hours, and really made…read morea bug difference in my breastfeeding journey. I hired her as a private LC because I didn't feel that clinic LC had enough time with each client and getting into one with a newborn isn't very convenient. Amanda and I did one before I delivered to help ensure that I had all the tips and tools needed to make my BF journey as successful as possible. After our consult she was still available to help troubleshoot and advise me. I am forever grateful to ever meet Amanda!

Amanda is a compassionate and knowledgeable resource for all families. She provides a caring and…read morewell informed approach to lactation support. Breastfeeding can be stressful and the support and information received from many doctors and hospitals is lacking. That's where Amanda comes in! She helps ease your fears, looks at the big picture and stays solution oriented. Additionally, her background as a NP gives her a breadth of knowledge to truly provide families with all the information they need to successfully breastfeed. So happy to find her, she is wonderful and I highly recommend her!

Sara is amazing! She did such a good job with our new son (we're first-time parents). We really…read moreloved her - actually we still love her, and realized we can't live without her, so we've convinced her to stay on for more days, whatever she can allot, given her busy client schedule. It really doesn't get better than her. She's completely trustworthy, fun to hang out with, a warm spirit, and totally knowledgeable. You know when you're looking for advice, and you get like 10 different opinions from hospital nurses, lactation consultants, OBs, pediatricians, friends, family, books, blogs? Well Sara always had the right advice for us, just what we needed, practical and sound. We ended up trusting her more than any of those other would-be advisors. No seriously, we did. Even more than the docs, if they ever disagreed (rarely). So, if you are lucky enough to get her, you will be incredibly...well, lucky.

Sara is truly a baby whisperer. After our move to San Francisco from London, she helped our son…read moreadjust his jet lag and then guided us through a gentle sleep training approach that really clicked for him. Very quickly, our little guy was sleeping through the night and taking long, restorative naps. Before working with Sara, we were really struggling. He was waking regularly throughout the night, and we were doing everything to get him back down. It was taking a real toll on our whole family. What made Sara stand out immediately was how aligned she was with our values. We are very conscious of attachment, and any version of cry-it-out or Ferber felt far too harsh for us. Sara's approach was gentle, thoughtful, and deeply respectful of both baby and parents. She gave us a framework that felt humane, intuitive, and sustainable. She is incredibly patient, generous with her knowledge, and so perceptive. One of the most amazing things she taught us was how to really tune into the different kinds of cries and better understand what our son was actually communicating. That alone was invaluable. We are so grateful for Sara and all of her guidance during this chapter. She brought so much calm, clarity, and confidence into our home at a time when we really needed it. When we have a second baby, she will absolutely be our first call.

Catriona has been wonderful with our newborn baby and supporting our family as we transition into…read moreparenthood. I really can't imagine bringing a newborn home without her support. Truly, it was the best money we've spent on all things baby related. She helped me to set up my own routine to adjust to life with a baby and has gotten our baby on a schedule that helps him sleep through the night.

Because of Melitta I was able to breastfeed my three children. I credit her with helping me and my…read morechildren to enjoy the proper care, nourishment and bonding that's so critical in the postpartum, infant and even toddler times of life. Breastfeeding is the hardest skill I have ever had to master. I could have given up at so many different points along the way, one child after another. But Melitta calmly, intelligently and non-judgmentally made it possible each time. I've had two children with tongue ties (maybe three) -- one which was posterior and extremely hard to spot -- and she was the only person who caught it. The many professionals at the hospital(s) as well as a home-visit nurse turned out to be wrong where Melitta was right. At the same time, Melitta does not push "breastfeeding at all costs" if the baby simply needs nourishment the mother cannot provide; there is no stigma to using formula when needed. She has an intuitive talent with infants and is an apt listener and observer with parents and their extended families. She coached my partner and other relatives about how to support me and literally feed me during those early weeks so I wouldn't lost my mind from sleep deprivation. Plus, her sense of humor made the challenges of new parenthood tolerable and solvable, including otherwise excruciating moments of projectile vomiting, newborn weight loss, cholestasis, early delivery, hemmorhoids, potential infant allergies, tongue tie and other latching problems, as well as maternal engorgement, mastitis, low supply or over-supply. Melitta's deep experience in the community means she can refer you to to the right places to quickly and painlessly take care of a tongue tie or an infection, connecting you with peer groups or other resources including sleep training professionals, and suggesting alternative therapies such as crainosacral. She shares the latest research and is knowledgeable in herbs and other supplements to support overall health during nursing and the postpartum period. She's also a gifted massage therapist, which informs her w ork with mother and child. I've recommended Melitta to many parents and will continue to do so.

Melitta is 100% the reason why I'm breastfeeding my 6 month old and love it so so much. For the…read morefirst two months of my baby's life, he simply refused to latch. He didn't have a tongue tie, he just hated breastfeeding. I did too. Every single day I came so close to quitting because it was truly making me miserable. Well, I had two visits with Melitta, and she changed everything. She's warm and knowledgeable and not at all dogmatic about breastfeeding. I truly felt that she was there to help me to whatever I wanted to do and didn't have any agenda of her own. She was really observant about me and my baby's situation and was able to provide me with more than just random tips that I had already heard about how to be successful, but more like a paradigm shift in the way I think about breastfeeding. It's hard to explain, but she somehow took the pressure off and gave me a renewed confidence and openness at the same time. She also talked to my baby in a way I've never heard anyone talk to a baby before. She would look him in the eyes and say in a plain, kind voice things like, "Okay, now we're going to try something different, and you might find it frustrating, but that's okay." Hearing someone talk to a baby like a real person and treat them with respect left a really big impression on me and has influenced the way that I parent. I'm really in awe of how much Melitta has done for me. In the early days, I thought breastfeeding was the worst thing ever and I spent most of my waking hours thinking about how awful it was. Now it's easy, fast, convenient, and a huge source of joy for me and my baby.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Rebecca as a lactation consultant, referred to me by my…read moremidwife. Rebecca made a fantastic first impression with her quick email replies. Maybe she could sense my desperation? Either way, we quickly set up an in-home visit (an invaluable bonus of not having to leave the house with a 2 week old baby). She not only had a very reasonable rate, but even offered a sliding scale. After struggling with breastfeeding in any and every way possible (latching, positioning, etc.), Rebecca's help was extremely welcomed. She was calm, confident, reassuring, caring and knowledgeable. We worked together for over 2 hours at that session, calling it quits at the baby's discretion. Although I don't have a "miracle worker" story about how everything was magically fixed and we lived happily ever after, I do have a happy ending the breastfeeding saga. It took a few more weeks (and a few more tricks) for me to really apply everything that Rebecca taught me in that session, but now my baby and I are pros, and I really do owe much of the success to Rebecca's help. I would highly recommend her services as a lactation consultant to anyone!

Rebecca Plum is an extremely talented, composed, and compassionate Midwife. I worked with Rebecca…read morewhile she was the primary Midwife for my doula clients, and from the very beginning I was impressed with the quality and the individually tailored care that she provided. I was first exposed to her work ethic and birth philosophy during our homebirth -team meeting. This is a time for everyone who is planning on attending the birth to gather and discuss the women's birth vision, discuss roles and prepare for various scenarios that might unfold. Rebecca smoothly moderated the session so that everyone knew what was expected of them which allowed us to all see ourselves as a team working to provide this couple with the love, respect and care that they deserved. What really stood out to me was Rebecca's deeply intuitive nature and her ability to address under currents and subtle signals, bring them into the conversation and positively harness all the unknowns and natural anxieties that can accompany birth. While being ever professional and remarkably prepared, she sparked an excitement in the air and made it down right fun. During the birth Rebecca continued to be the ever calm, smooth and joyful presence. As a doula, I have been a part of many birth teams and seen many provider's styles. Rebecca's style is at the core about trusting the birthing woman, the natural birth process, and giving the woman space to trust herself. She imbued the birth space with laughter and a true love for her work and the family that she served. It was contagious. Knowledge, experience, choice, and laughter- not a bad combination for a midwife!

Oh my god. Your search is over. Hire this amazing human being NOW…read more We hired Elizabeth for our first pregnancy and we regret nothing. We were already taking classes and knew I needed more support than just my already sleep deprived partner. She was phenomenal! Her calm, cool demeanor was something we needed when we didn't know what to do. I had BAD hip pain that I was having trouble managing on my own. After calling Elizabeth over, she knew exactly where to add pressure on my hips to relieve some of the pain before we hit the hospital. She suggested how to adjust the TENS unit patches to help manage such pain before heading over to the hospital. She even knudged when to go to the hospital. She was with us for all the decisions at the hospital (i.e. took the initiative to ask the anesthesiologist what to do when my epidural fell out. Originally the anesthesiologist gave us options but we wanted to know his recommendation). She even snapped the best birth photos! She kindly moved our stuff from the delivery room to the post partum unit. She truly listens to your concerns and wants the best for you and your family. I can sense the love and care from her. Elizabeth was wonderful and I truly believe with her help, we had a great delivery. Highly recommended :) Fyi Elizabeth had a similar structure to most Doulas in the area: 2 prenatal zoom visits, labor and delivery support, and 1 post natal visit.

Hiring a doula for one of the most intimate moments of your life is a hard task, and I couldn't be…read morehappier that I found doula Elizabeth. She brings years of birthing experience, so much knowledge, and a warm calm personality to the delivery room. Her prenatal visits helped calm any nerves I had, and she was so helpful in setting expectations and birth plans. During labor she was immensely helpful- suggesting positions, keeping me hydrated, a hand to hold, applying warm compresses, and checking in with the medical team. She always knew what to do! Her help also allowed my partner to be present in the birth experience by not having to worry as much as we welcomed our first baby. I hoped to have an intervention free birth in hospital, which isn't necessarily the easiest thing to have, and with doula Elizabeth's help I was able to achieve that. Welcoming my baby in a happy, calm, peaceful environment was such an amazingly wonderful experience. If you're looking for a wonderfully caring and super knowledgeable doula- look no further. Doula Elizabeth is amazing!