Initially, I was very nervous about hiring someone who would be in our home, especially during one…read moreof the most vulnerable periods our our life. From night one, Laura instantly put me at ease. Laura did an absolutely fantastic job of taking care of our little one. She went above and beyond to make sure we all felt comfortable and removed all of the unpredictable variables in the early weeks of having a baby. She washed bottles, pump parts, provided detailed reports each night (that I could look at in real time when I would wake up to pump) and was just a gentle, stable presence in our home. Honestly, I could say that she took care of all of us. As a FTM, having someone around at night who knew babies better than I did ended up being such a huge comfort. She is reliable, consistent, knowledgable and someone who we could (and can still, to this day) consistently count on to show up for us and our family. I would easily recommend Laura to anyone looking for a Night Doula.

When our regular doula caught a cold and couldn't make her usual overnight session, we were so…read morefortunate to have Laura Ellis step in to help. She took care of our newborn twin boys, handling our system of cloth diapers and mixed breast milk and formula in bottles. Even our orange cat loved her. We're looking forward to working with Laura again.

I gave birth at 40 weeks and 3 days. Two days before delivery, I called to inform you that I was…read moresick. Instead of providing a prescription covered by my insurance, I was only given a list of medications to buy. Because I was very sick, I had to go to Walgreens and spend over $100 on medications that I could have received for free with a prescription. Later, I tested positive for COVID-19 and informed your team. The only response I received was "I'm sorry you have COVID, stay in quarantine for 5 days." At no point was I informed that COVID could lead to early labor. The day before delivery, when I entered active labor, I called again. My information was sent to Providence Everett, but I received no encouragement or support from any of the midwives. Ultimately, I had to undergo an emergency C-section because my baby's heart rate was unstable, and my newborn was transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital due to meconium aspiration. I did not hear from Sprouts until four days after my baby's birth, and the call was simply to say, "I'm sorry you went through that, let us know when you want to schedule your postpartum appointment." When I scheduled and came to my appointment, I felt dismissed and disrespected. At the front desk, I was asked "where's the baby" in an ironic tone, followed by "oh, I forgot, she's at the NICU." In my visit with Deborah, my concerns about missed communication and risks associated with my prolonged pregnancy were rejected instead of acknowledged with empathy. Despite my disappointment, I continued with follow-up appointments for postpartum care and birth control because I had no other provider at that time. However, I have consistently felt unsupported. Most recently, when I asked for an all-purpose nipple ointment (as recommended by the lactation team and nurses at Seattle Children's Hospital), I received a dismissive and questioning response instead of the prescription I needed. At this point, I believe the care I received from Sprouts Birth Center has fallen short of the support, compassion, and professionalism that should have been provided. For these reasons, I respectfully do not recommend this birth center at all.

Loved Mayya and Deborah (plus assistants and midwive students) for my midwifery care! This is my…read morethird birth (all water births); second out of hospital birth. I will always recommend out of hospital/midwife care, especially Sprout Birthing Center. Prenatal care: On point all around. All the traditional tests were offered to me to ensure there weren't any apparent complications that would make my pregnancy or birth high-risk. Birth: At the center. Arrived a little after 9pm to help move the pregnancy along (11 days overdue!). After hours birth meant my immediate family was able roam the center without interfering with day-to-day operations. My son was born at 11:01pm. Mayya and Brittni didn't rush me and didn't argue me when I said it was time to push. They let me control the birth. Their roles were simply to make sure we were healthy. After having a hospital birth with my second son, I can't rave enough about how much its truly means to drive your own birth. I was free to leave around 2 or 2:30am. 5 hours at the center and in home in bed to rest and heal! Can't complain about that! Postpartum Care: Thorough. Never once did I feel I wasn't being listened to. Billing: No issues as of yet ‍. I'll update if needed.

Cannot say enough good things about Thresholds and Amity. If you're looking for a more personalized…read moreapproach within a birthing class this is your place. Amity has so much experience and it shows. She truly cares about helping to demystify the birthing experience and after working with her, I felt less fearful and more empowered going into birth. Highly recommend, and would absolutely work with Amity again!

Took the Birthing from Within class with Amity and it was EVERYTHING. Loved, loved, loved it, would…read morerecommend. We did it fairly late in our pregnancy, so much so that my wife gave birth before the last class. We loved it so much, we brought our two-day old to class to say hi. Amity is not just a great teacher of birthing topics, but simply a great teacher. She is not afraid to tailor the material to the needs of class, and she seems to perfectly read the energy in a room. Many times, something unexpectedly poignant would happen, and she would somehow accentuate it by pausing, or speaking quietly, or maybe with magic(?). I may not be able to do her justice with my description, but she is a great teacher. We did not hire Amity as our doula, mostly because we had already done that by the time we found these classes. I have no doubt she would be great. She graciously welcomed our doula to class (she attended one) and was amazingly supportive to her, as well! Compared to classes at Swedish, these were so much more personal and informative. I took several classes at Swedish, and they are informative (at best), but I am so glad we went with Thresholds for our birthing education. It was not only super informative but also brought us closer together as a couple. We were as prepared as we could reasonably feel, going into a 60+ hour labor(!). Finally, I will say that after the birth, we had some difficulty with breastfeeding and jaw issues. We ended up seeing several, amazing care providers who we found through a referral network that started with Amity. She referred us to a craniosacral therapist who referred us to the lactation consultant who referred us to (etc, etc). There is this great network of birth/newborn specialists in Seattle and Amity was our gateway into that!

Christi performed placenta encapsulation for us after our baby girl was born and I highly recommend…read moreher for this service. The process took two days, and she spent about two hours in our home each day. She explained the whole process and took time to make sure I understood the instructions before she left. During "down time" she gave me some pointers on breastfeeding and some guidance on cluster feeding. She left our kitchen cleaner than it was before. :)

Christi Nixon at Emerald City Doula's was by far the very best person I was lucky to work with…read more Week 32 of my first pregnancy I was to suddenly change care from midwives to a specialty care. I was so stressed out, I decided to get myself a doula to help self advocate and boy was that the best choice! Wonderful Paula, who mans the office, got back to me immediately and helped reassure me that she was on the case and would help me quickly. I got a call that day and I was paired with Christi (who I was referred to). It's so strange having to choose a complete stranger to pay to be a close companion in little to no time. It turned out to be a perfect fit. After a long and troublesome induction I called Chrisi to Northwest and the nurses attitudes completely changed. Chrisi had a wonderful working relationship with the staff and I wish I'd called her sooner even if it meant going beyond the contracted time. In the end, with such a complicated and troublesome delivery, Christi was right there with me postpartum and helped me get through the most challenging parts of adjusting to parenthood. Her non judgement, compassion and empathy were life savers and what's best about having a postpartum doula is that they're there to help you specifically, so there is very little to no drama like you'd inevitably get with family. I also appreciated how available she was via text. She even helped coach me through my child's tongue tie and helped me find a wonderful lactation specialist who came to my home. Together we worked out breastfeeding and pumping and the very best gift of a postpartum doula was giving me one blissful full nights rest while she stayed up with my child. Having a doula is a wonderful gift to give yourself, having a postpartum doula in addition is a blessing and having Christi or anyone from Emerald City Doulas is a must! I recommend these wonderful folks hands down every chance I get.

I interviewed a doula who claimed she was fully vaccinated in our initial call. Later, in an email…read moreshe decided she needed to "come clean" and let me know that she was not vaccinated and didn't plan on becoming vaccinated. To each their own, but to LIE? This relationship must be built on trust and to be lied to like that breaks all the trust. The second doula wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise and rushed me off the phone. No Thank you.

I used their placenta encapsulation service which by the way is one of the most affordable in the…read moreSeattle area, and I would definitely recommend it. Simple to get it set up, very communicative, and when you deliver they simply pick it up from your birthing place. From there it was ready within about a day, and my encapsulator Leigh was very gracious when I accidentally wrote my address wrong... she still found my house (in the dark) even though I wasn't answering my phone in the midst of the newborn fog. And on top of it all it has been a game changer for my postpartum- I've seen wonderful benefits from it. Would definitely do it again, and use expecting joy in the future.

This is such an awesome space for a mix of drop-in community space and scheduled…read moreeducational/developmental fun. I used the free class trial offer to check out the baby wearing dance class and it was so fun. I'm still recovering from giving birth and I easily adapted the moves to what my body was able to handle, while still enjoying the connection and fun of dancing with other moms and our littles. The instructors brought great energy. The space itself is a great "make yourself at home" vibe. I can imagine it may get a bit crowded at popular days/times but was super convenient to navigate and find a place to park the stroller, then nurse my kiddo when I needed to. It feels like they've put a lot of consideration into what parents want/need from a place like this. I appreciate the variety of pricing options, from memberships to punch cards to single passes, especially since it's hard to predict our schedule these days. And access is linked to the kiddo, so partners and caregivers can take advantage of the space too. Will definitely be back!!

I discovered the Heybrook Seattle location recently with my 17th-month old. I was tired of…read morefrequenting spaces like coffee shops where there isn't really a spot to have her roam, and some other play areas in town have offerings that conflict with her nap time. Insert the Heybrook!... we were thrilled to have found the Clubhouse time and loved that we could come and go as worked for our schedule. We're excited to check out some classes soon, too. Our first impression was stellar and I wish we had checked it out sooner! The Heybrook is aesthetically beautiful, fun and safe for littles - and bonus that they have several toys we don't have at home! - they have coffee and good company for parents, and ample opportunity for young ones to socialize with each other. This place is a gift to the community, including the affordable cost with great value. Thank you, Heybrook!

Having Leah as our private childbirth teacher and postpartum doula is the best decision we've made…read morein preparing and caring for our first child! She has everything we looked for in getting us ready for the birth and helped us feeling confident in newborn caring. I'd hire Leah again and again! Leah is a well of knowledge when it comes to birth and caring for babies - she comes to our home to give the private childbirth class, in this private session format it allows us to ask direct questions; my husband and my mom were both in the class with me, Leah was able to cater the content to different roles in the household with the focus on the birthing mother. Leah is always extra prepared for the classes from various engaging activities to catered content. During the preparation for birth, we constantly reached out to Leah for suggestions and ideas. For the postpartum phase, Leah came to our home to educate us in various baby caring tasks/details per our requests; we did some lactation sessions, a lot of Q&As, and gave baby the first sponge bath! Leah's patient, steady, and very encouraging throughout the process, leaving us feel empowered to care for the baby after she leaves. She's super detailed, wearing masks to the postpartum sessions as the newborn is not vaccinated yet. She's super communicative - reply to my questions over email and text as things come up. Always super encouraging and send me the right direction. We wouldn't be able to be at such a fine place this early in the newborn stage if it's not Leah. I'd recommend Leah to anyone who's looking for childbirthing class and/or postpartum doula!

Leah is an absolute joy to work with!…read more She is kind, understanding, and extremely knowledgeable. We had her help following the birth of our twins (and my c-section) and it was such a relief not only having the extra set of hands but having the reassurance of her expertise, especially as a first time parent. It was so incredible having a few hours to nap - knowing the twins were in good hands - and waking up to a clean kitchen and folded laundry! I HIGHLY recommend Leah!

All pregnant moms typically have a standard 20-week anatomy scan appointment at a Maternal-Fetal…read moreMedicine clinic to do an in-depth ultrasound. However if you are a high-risk case then you will probably be visiting the MFM clinic more frequently. We were referred to the Kirkland branch for further diagnostics after a concerning 12-week NT scan and were very impressed with the kindness and empathy that Dr Peter Wall showed. We had a complex case and he did not sugarcoat anything, laid out all the facts and created space for us to absorb the news, ask questions and even cry if needed. He gave us more valuable information and insight than anyone else in our maternity care team did. His expertise clearly shows and instills both confidence and trust in patients. Highly recommend consulting Dr Wall if you experience any issues with your pregnancy, or just need a second opinion on a diagnosis.