: Not a nice person. Be sure to check her return policies…read morefor any items you consider purchasing as the belly binder a is ripped up sheet (muslin) that you can purchase at your local Joann's . This is the video I was given for the technique. I can't include it due to Yelp rules, but it is a regular person's YouTube account, not even one of the doulas or Maura. Search Bengkung Belly Binding on YouTube and a ton of videos will come up. The binder did not help me feel held in. I asked for a refund and was told the price was mainly for the doula coming to my house--which was unnecessary because the YouTube video was the guide. After continued times trying to reach a reasonable resolution, Maura told me that I was harassing her. (What the heck weirdo woman?) What doula worth anything speaks to a mom of a 2 week old that way. Beware!!!!!!!!! This doula is unstable and no new mom needs that. Get a Bellefit binder. It helps without dealing with a psycho doula.

Maura was a joy to work with before, during, and after the birth of my little one…read more She obviously approaches her work with a great deal of professionalism that isn't always present in the birthing world. For example, her email communication is clear and prompt, she is obviously very well organized, and she gave me sweet little new-mama-related gifts at our first meeting, as well as after Baby's birth. But all that is not reason enough to hire a doula, right? When I first met Maura, I must confess I was a bit dismayed by her youth. Although I knew she had lots of experience supporting births and more medical training than most doulas, there was a part of me that wanted an older presence on my birth team. Well, thankfully the rational part of me won out over this other, ageist part, because Maura was wonderful and everything we (my husband and I) could have wanted. And I'm sure she's probably not quite as young as she seemed that first day ;) My labor and birth were pretty quick, uncomplicated, and relatively painless. I don't think I actually noticed Maura much during the process. However, when I watched the video of my baby's birth (which Maura was happy to film and photograph for us), I noticed Maura was the one who'd pick up on how I was feeling and cheer me on when I seemed to need it, and my husband and mom (who I wanted hands-on with me) would follow her lead. She just seemed to have this way of fitting in and being exactly what we needed her to be at the time, even though we ourselves didn't know what that was. After Baby's birth, she provided encouraging support and a postpartum visit to see that all was going well for our family. She was pretty awesome answering my questions via text, about all things from newborn poop to homeopathic remedies. I know that she will soon begin to study midwifery, but if you find her still offering doula services, I would highly recommend adding her to your list of doulas to consider.

Leah Lemelin helped me trust my body more, feel calmer, and more present with what I was…read moreexperiencing. I felt more in command and confident throughout. I thought I wanted a doula just for the day of delivery but what I found was that the work we did together before delivery is what altered the whole experience. It was deeply supportive and prepared me in a way I didn't even know I needed or was possible. So, even if you are an experienced mom, you are having a traditional medical birth, having Leah as your doula will deepen your experience and give it back to you as truly yours in a profound way. I can't thank her enough for walking with me through it and guiding me into myself so I could remember my own agency and power and strength in it all.

Mary has been our lactation consultant for 1 year. She had been part of my support network since we…read moresaw her during an at-home visit when my daughter was 1 month old. I'd count her as one of the women that I've most leaned on as a first-time mother. She is a walking book of knowledge on everything child related. She is kind and passionate and always available. I'm not sure where we'd be without her. We are so grateful to have her in our lives.

We decided to go the home birth route after researching our options in the early months of…read morepregnancy. Our Midwife gave us a few choices, Sam was one of them, which we interviewed and ultimately chose Sam. The main reason was she was so down to earth that I knew she could get along with my fiesty husband and take charge at the same time if something was to go wrong. We also liked the fact that she could still come along with us if we had to go to the hospital to give birth. We were impressed and comforted by her great amount of expertise which we learned from taking one of her child birth classes. The day of the birth we called Sam at 2 am and she comforted our anxiety and asked us questions that would help her understand how far we were. As the labor progressed she came over and gave me little exercises like going up and down the stairs and swaying my hips to help move the baby around. She was the one who passed along the info to our midwife of how far along I was. My midwife came over and 30 minutes later we gave birth to our son. Sam was there adjusting my pillow, helping me drink water, and encouraging me while I pushed. After the birth, she checked on us frequently and gave us tidbit of info to help that we still use today. I would recommend Sam to anyone whether home birth or hospital birth to have by your side. We will use her again in the future and wouldn't think to go elsewhere!

We hired Samantha as our doula for the birth of our first-born, who arrived this past February. I…read morecan honestly say that had it not been for Samantha...despite my best intentions...I would not have had a natural childbirth. Although my labor was relatively short for a first-born, it was very intense and happened somewhat suddenly. Within an hour of me calling her to let her know I needed her, she was at my home and helping me work my way through it. The biggest challenge for me was fear, and she had a number of different techniques to keep me focused and relatively composed. Also, she incorporated my fiance into everything as well. It was such an amazing experience for him as well. By time we reached the hospital, I was fully dilated and our son was born just two hours later. Without Samantha, I would have given up and gone to the hospital much sooner and probably given in to getting an epidural. In case you have any doubt about whether you should go natural or not, within 15 minutes of giving birth I was up and walking around. My recovery time was quite short, which allowed me precious additional time to get to know my baby and adjust to my new life as a mommy. She was wonderful from start to finish, and I couldn't be happier with how things turned out. Thank you, Samantha!

I am so grateful to have had 312 Doulas be a part of 2 of my 3 births. The knowledge and resources…read morethey possess are priceless. I leaned on them through every step of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. They were a huge asset to our birth team and even helped my husband feel more confident in supporting my labor. We can't say enough good things about them!

We worked with Victoria and Heather as first time parents. We can't imagine our birth without…read morethem--and we don't want to! We started with them around 36 weeks and they immediately provided immense support and great service. (I only wish we found them sooner!) When we first interviewed Victoria to see if we'd like to go with 312Doulas I loved that they utilized the Evidence Based Birth resources, had an educational component built into the price, and saw Victoria as someone that would support the type of birth I wanted with absolutely no agenda, just a depth of experience, knowledge, and care. Immediately after ending the Zoom call we emailed that we'd love to work with her and it was truly the best decision we made around labor/birth. We felt the same way about Heather when meeting with her! Working with them leading up to the birth made my husband and I feel so much more confident and empowered going into such a new and intense experience. We both became much more equipped advocates for ourselves and felt like true partners with the doulas and our medical team instead of just participants in the birth. When it was time to give birth Victoria was an immense physical, mental, and emotional support during labor. One of the nurses recognized Victoria from her + Heather's work with other patients and said they're the best, even adding when fellow nurses want to work with doulas they go with 312Doulas. Heather joined us at the hospital when it was time to push. Heather was an amazing support--suggesting new positions and techniques to help me progress. This was especially important when the doctors started bringing up more intense interventions like forceps, Vaccuum or C-section despite baby and me coping well. Only Heather gave actionable ideas that led to progress. I credit the evidence-based knowledge 312Doulas gave us + Heather's active support with why we were able to have the birth we wanted and everyone stayed safe and healthy. We can't thank them enough and are so grateful for our time together. I could go on and on, but suffice it so say we HIGHLY recommend them to any expecting parents.

I emailed Alison to schedule an individual counseling meeting and she left a message to call her…read moreback between a certain window. When I called her back within her requested time frame, she never picked up. I left a message asking her to call me back and she never did. Maybe she is just too busy because it seems like the GRASP group is doing a pretty good job of marketing and getting their name out there. But if she doesn't have time to call back potential clients, real moms who are looking for support, maybe the group should hire a receptionist or personal assistant who can help them with scheduling and possibly grow their business or bring on another counselor. I think this group has found a niche market and if they can't handle the demand, they should expand or refer to others. Not returning phone calls is a bit unprofessional, not to mention discouraging.

I participated in the fall 2013 new mom's group. It was a fabulous experience for me and my newborn…read moreson. I enjoyed the structure of the group- Alison & Sara prepared a meaningful syllabus that addressed important topics for Mom & Baby. The topics also sparked great conversation amongst the Moms. I really liked that the group addressed Mom's health & relationships in addition to topics for the baby. I also learned a great deal about baby's development and how to play and engage with a newborn. I recommend this group to new Moms who are looking for education, support and networking.

They are amazing!! Such incredible experience during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Trustworthy…read moreand intelligent through the whole process! First time using a midwife, and I am choosing these midwives moving forward for my care.

I had such a great experience with the midwives! I wanted a natural unmedicated birth with as few…read moreinterventions as possible and to be able to be in control of my own birth and that's exactly what I got ! When we attended the meet the midwives and were able to ask questions I knew immediately I wanted them to deliver my baby .All of the nurses are super friendly and really take the time to make you feel at ease . They want you to be able to meet all the midwives so they make sure to schedule you with a different one at each visit since they are on call and you don't know which one will actually deliver your baby . When the time came for my little bambina to enter the world they allowed me to labor as I wanted . I labored in the Jacuzzi tub with essential oils with flameless color changing candles ,my labor music playlist ,hanging string lights in my room and I even brought a small crockpot with hot water and drops of lavender essential oil with a few towels in there for my contractions ( the midwife and nurses commented how wonderful my room smelled and what a good idea it was for contractions (thanks pinterest !)My water broke in the jacuzzi tub and my beautiful girl was born after 4 hours of labor and maybe a little over a hour of pushing . It was an amazing experience and I'd say If I had another I'd use them again but this shop is closed !!

Very cute boutique. Was very easy to get our gender results. They made me feel at ease and were…read morecomforting.

You definitely need a doula and a highly recommended The Birth Boutique. Jen and Lauren were my…read moredoulas and Lauren ended up being the one who was there for the big day. Lauren was something of a big-sister turned fairy godmother meets cheerleader whose support and guidance allowed me to have a successful VBAC. I didn't have a doula in my first birth and I seriously regret it. The whole experience was so much different having someone in the room who was knowledgable, supportive and invested in a positive outcome. I now tell all my friends, family and complete strangers that they need a doula. This is especially true if you're going for a VBAC. I can't recommend Lauren enough and I'm sure I'd being saying the same thing if Jen had been there for the birth!

I had to see Dr. Brotman because she is the physician who worked with the West Suburban Midwives at…read morethe time and if c section was needed she'd be the one called in. My child is now 12 years old and I never got over the way she treated me. I think that she should not be in practice. Her bedside manner was terrible, cold and frankly cruel. I had a high risk of clostridium difficile infection having had it three times before. She told me that if I didn't do the swab test for group B strep that my baby would most likely be born and get sick and die. The antibiotics needed to treat this would have most likely killed me, which seemed okay to her. Suffice to say - I did the swab under duress and it came back NEGATIVE. She would not work with me to come up with a safe alternative for ME and my baby. It was her way or the highway. Thankfully, I had an uncomplicated and easy delivery. I never had to see her again and never had more children. She should not be in practice, it was an absolutely hellish experience for me.

Hands down the most genuine OB you'll find - especially if you are looking for natural minded. I…read morewas a difficult case. I had my third child with Dr. Brotman after having two previous C-sections. She allowed me to wait to see if I could do a VBAC for my third. I went all the way to 41 weeks and 2 days. Labored for almost 2 days at home on and off before we agreed a repeat C-section would be best since my water was broken for well over 24 hours with no significant dilation. She is straight forward but extremely kind and caring. Also very respectful of your ideals/desires for your pregnancy and delivery especially if you are not "main-stream" minded. Also, with my third this was my first time getting preeclampsia. For me, as an individual who has an extremely hard time with medications she was Iike a 2nd mom. She would answer my texts and calls all times of the day - always with a calming disposition. I was in and out of two different hospitals before coming back to West Suburban with my new infant (which she graciously allowed as my husband needed to be at home with our other two under 4, one special needs) so I could be treated with a mag drip. And for the months post delivery, she also would be responsive via text/calls after hours on medication doses as my blood pressure was ever changing. I drive an hour each way to see her and will be continuing to do so as long as we live in IL. I cannot say enough great things about her. She is truly a blessing. I'm so grateful for her bringing our second daughter into this world and for truly caring about my physical and mental health during my whole journey.