After a really difficult start to my breastfeeding journey, I was exhausted, discouraged, and…read morehonestly ready to give up. Working with Liz completely changed everything for me. From the very first appointment, she made me feel seen and heard -- not judged. She met me exactly where I was, acknowledged how hard things had been, and helped me understand what was going on in a way that finally made sense. Her warmth and patience created a safe space where I felt comfortable asking questions I was embarrassed to ask anyone else. What sets her apart isn't just her expertise (which is exceptional), it's the way she genuinely cares. She helped me reframe my entire relationship with breastfeeding -- turning something that had felt stressful and defeating into something I now cherish. I walked away from each session feeling more confident and more hopeful than I had in weeks. If you're struggling and feel like you've hit a wall, please reach out to Liz. You deserve support like this. She's not just a consultant -- she's an advocate for you and your baby.

Liz is very accessible and helped me have a solid start to my breastfeeding journey. I am very…read moregrateful for all of the information she provided to me over 4-5 sessions. She is very adamant that natural/unmedicated birth is key to a successful breastfeeding. Which was ok for us since we were taking that route anyways. I appreciated her willingness to keep the sessions to the 45 minutes allotted by my insurance. She does charge a travel fee separate from insurance which I didn't love but makes sense for an independent business owner.

As the father, I don't think I can fully put into words how relieved and grateful I am for Teresa's…read morehelp. When breastfeeding wasn't going smoothly, she came into our home, quickly figured out exactly what was going wrong, and walked us through fixing it step by step. She was patient, professional, and never once made either of us feel silly for asking questions, even the basic ones. Watching my wife go from stressed and unsure to confident, and seeing our baby finally feeding well, meant everything to our family. Teresa gave us more than a fix, she gave us peace of mind during a hard stretch. We're so thankful to have had her in our corner!

Teresa has now supported me through three newborns, and she's the first call I make every single…read moretime. This round brought its own set of hurdles in those early weeks, and she worked through each one with patience, specific solutions, and real expertise. What I appreciate most is how much she teaches along the way--I always come away understanding the 'why,' not just following steps. She's responsive, deeply knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in you and your baby. I can't recommend her enough.

I don't have a lot of good words to say about Tali's services. To start of, there was a pretty…read morelengthy intake form and when she arrived, we went over the same questionnaire. Her advices were pretty generic and I didn't find it any useful. I had set clear expectations of what I was looking for from the session and that was not addressed. Later, when I followed up with questions on her portal, she declined to help sayinf those could be addressed if a follow up session is scheduled. Overall, it was a waste of time and money.

Tali has been caring, thorough, and knowledgeable every time. She listened to all of my confused,…read morefrustrated information and put the pieces together to figure out how to help. Tali genuinely cares about the parent and baby and offers solutions without pressure or judgment. And her coming to our house is such a bonus. We can't recommend her enough!

Katrina is the most exceptional PT! She has a deep knowledge of the body, and combines that with a…read morestrong intuitive sense. Plus, she is strong! She's incredibly good at understanding pain and tailoring treatment in a way that is specific and personal. You never feel like you're getting a generic approach; she's paying close attention. What I appreciate most is how she blends solid, evidence-based practice with real intuition. She gets to the root of issues quickly, and I've consistently felt understood and in very capable hands working with her. Katrina is the best at what she does!

As someone who works primarily with patients that are suffering from chronic pain, I am so grateful…read moreto have Katrina as a resource whenever I have a pelvic floor case. I have referred multiple clients to her and have heard nothing but great feedback, from her level of expertise but also her compassion for our patients. Thank you for doing what you do, Katrina. It's much needed!

I sought help from Kelly as a last resort after a month of baby struggling to get back to birth…read moreweight. I was prescribed triple feeding which was totally unsustainable. She helped tremendously and gave us so much confidence as parents. She was so patient and knowledgeable, and professional. We got the latch down and were able to drop the triple feeding routine. Here we are almost a year later still nursing and growing right on track!

Kelly is the best lactation consultant any mama could ask for!!! A week into my breast feeding…read morejourney with my first baby I was ready to give up. (We saw a horrible lactation consultant at Kaiser who made me feel like I was starving my baby and tried to move us to formula immediately.) Thankfully we found Kelly on Yelp and she was able to see us the next day. She listened to my concerns/frustrations with breastfeeding, then watched me nurse my baby and gave such compassionate guidance. She gave me so much confidence!!! Fast forward to today, my baby girl is 9 months old and I am still exclusively breastfeeding!!! Breastfeeding is so much harder than anyone ever told me it was going to be. My recommendation for any first time mama would be to make an appointment with Kelly and get all the support you didn't even know you would need, it makes a world of a difference!

Where to start when describing Ronnie? She was immensely supportive of our most recent pregnancy…read moreand birth, working with our whole family (husband and sibling at every appointment!) to counsel us on our way to becoming a family of four. Not only is she completely professional and incredibly knowledgeable, she is also relaxed, friendly, and gracious in a way that put our whole family at ease. When she was in our home for visits and for the birth of our second child, it was seamless and effortless. Prenatal care with Ronnie was like therapy++ -- I looked forward to every appointment as a way to enjoy and celebrate the pregnancy. We were never rushed and often spent over an hour chatting with her, in addition to covering all of the clinical bases. At our birth, she was a calm, unobtrusive presence -- reassuring to have there in case she was needed, but also content to be hands-off as we desired. Overall, I'd recommend Ronnie to anyone considering a homebirth, and I would certainly have Ronnie as our midwife again if we have another child.

Ronnie supported me during my journey to my VBAC and she was such an amazing support. I first found…read moreRonnie through her website and met with her shortly after having my c section to discuss my options for a VBAC and what could have led to my first birth experience. When I became pregnant 3 years later I had moved to Southern California but knew I wanted Ronnie to help me and so we talked at various milestones in my pregnancy over the phone. She is so knowledgeable about everything pregnancy and baby related. It was really good to have a second opinion in regards to things my doctor wanted for me and she gave me the courage to ask more questions. She recommended herbs at the end of my pregnancy which I think really helped me achieve my VBAC. Thanks Ronnie you're great!

Melissa is honestly the best and I wouldn't have survived my breastfeeding journey without her. My…read morefirst had a tongue/lip tie and I was having a really hard time nursing. I also had mastitis but my OB and urgent care had misdiagnosed me with the flu. My doula referred me to Melissa and she immediately helped me navigate the healthcare system and gave me tips on how to improve breastfeeding. It all worked and I was able to nurse for 19 months. I would have honestly given up if it wasn't for her. Five years later, I am having my second and knew to have her come by immediately for help. Highly recommend her!!

I couldn't recommend Melissa more. She is knowledgeable and really makes you feel seen. She's…read morerealistic about the pressures and stress of breastfeeding and postpartum and really works with you to come up with an attainable plan. Her kind, warm and calm demeanor put you at ease. I had low supply with my first and struggled through triple feeding and ultimately wasn't able to boost my supply enough and felt like I wasn't getting a personalized plan working with lactation consultants through my insurance and would always leave feeling a little confused and like I wasn't making progress due to something I wasn't doing right. With my second baby, I found Melissa, who was recommended by a friend, and the difference was night and day. Rather than feeling like I wasn't doing enough, she made me validated and we worked together to come up with a realistic plan to try to meet my goals. She answered any and all questions I had and provided a lot of support. Again, I couldn't recommend her more.

We had an outstanding experience with DOULAS by the BAY. They matched us with Mary Ann Cherie…read moreWolowski, who was with our family for the first eight weeks after our baby was born. She started right on the day after delivery while we were still at the hospital. This was incredibly helpful because it allowed my partner to focus on caring for our toddler while I recovered from my C-section and bonded with our newborn. Mary Ann was exceptional in every aspect of newborn and postpartum care. With her background as RN and an experienced nanny, she confidently took charge from day one. She handled everything--from swaddling and keeping the baby on a feeding schedule to making sure I stayed on track with pumping. She always had my pump parts cleaned, sterilized, and ready to use, which made those early weeks so much easier. She also gave me invaluable breastfeeding support. Thanks to her guidance, I established a full milk supply within just three days of my C-section, and I'm still successfully breastfeeding. She also referred us to an amazing lactation consultant who was an absolute game changer. Mary Ann was meticulous about everything baby-related and followed best practices in every detail. Her logging and tracking were incredibly thorough, giving us complete peace of mind. She was professional, respectful, organized, and kept everything spotless. The greatest gift she gave our family was rest. There were moments when it almost felt unreal how much recovery time my partner and I were able to get because we trusted her completely. She would even bring me a glass of iced water wherever I was--a small act of kindness that made a huge difference in my recovery. Because she took care of so much, I was able to focus on postpartum healing and even carve out time for simple self-care, like getting a haircut. Although her primary responsibility was caring for our newborn, she also formed a wonderful bond with our toddler and always made him feel included. She consistently went above and beyond by helping keep our home clean, making countless trips up and down the stairs without ever complaining, and never leaving before everything was tidied up--even if it meant staying a little past the end of her shift. We're incredibly grateful to Doulas by the Bay for matching us with someone who fit our family so perfectly. The agency made the process smooth, and Mary Ann exceeded every expectation we had. We wholeheartedly recommend Doulas by the Bay to any family looking for expert postpartum support. They gave us the gift of rest, confidence, and a much smoother transition into life as a family of four.

I reached out to find a birth doula and the initial meeting giving an overview of how they work was…read moreclear and straightforward. Doulas through this company are employees (not independent providers) and they stress that this is really good for always having a backup. We were then matched with 2 doula candidates and the scheduling process was easy and professional. However, we ultimately felt that these candidates were not properly trained or vetted. We never received any materials such as CVs for the doulas. The first doula said right away that she had never been a birth doula before and we would be her first birth. Her only experience was that she had been a night doula before. I was shocked that she had never even shadowed another birth doula as part of her training as a company employee. Bless her heart for being honest, but I did not want to pay to be her guinea pig. After this, I requested an additional candidate, but I was told the other one should be great. The second doula was also not a good fit. She kept emphasizing that at previous births hospital staff did not believe she was a birth doula (and thought she was just a family friend). It became clear why. I asked about her qualifications and she said she's working on her bachelor's degree even though she already has a master's degree. I thought this was strange and asked some follow up questions and ultimately could not determine what degree she had (maybe an associate's degree) or didn't have (definitely did not already have a master's). I also asked some basic medical questions about pain control and epidurals and she was not able to answer them. Ultimately we were able to find a wonderful birth doula through another matching company - experienced and with a real master's degree (in public health).

TL;DR: Last-minute cancellations, fell asleep on duty watching our newborn, refused hands-on baby…read morecare, offered useless virtual support, prepaid for 13 nights, and refused refund. We're disputing the charges with our credit card company. Do not recommend. We hired Czarina for evening doula services shortly after welcoming our newborn, hoping for support and rest. Unfortunately, the experience caused us significantly more stress than doing it alone. The most alarming issue was that she repeatedly fell asleep snoring loudly while on duty watching our newborn. This happened on multiple visits. We could see and hear her sleeping, which meant that instead of resting, we stayed awake monitoring her to ensure our baby was safe. When we addressed this directly, her response was shocking: she claimed she was doing it to "train us to be better parents" and get us used to sleeping while the baby sleeps. As exhausted first-time parents, this felt unreassuring and completely unsafe. We hired a night doula to reduce anxiety, not to monitor the caregiver. Beyond the safety issues, basic doula duties were neglected: * Refusal of Care: She was unwilling to help wash the baby and unable to provide clear, hands-on guidance for newborn care. * Household Help: She provided little to no assistance with basic household tasks. * Ineffective Virtual Support: She attempted to substitute some support with "virtual" sessions, which offered zero value to us as parents who needed physical, hands-on help with a newborn during overnight hours. Her reliability was poor, with multiple last-minute cancellations and rescheduling. Most importantly, we prepaid for 13 nights of service. When we terminated the arrangement due to the safety concerns and poor service, she refused to provide a refund for the unused nights. We were forced to escalate this to our credit card company to try and recoup our funds. Czarina was pleasant to speak with initially, but her actions put our peace of mind at risk and violated our trust. If you are looking for reliable, hands-on postpartum care that allows you to rest, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. Ask specific questions about staying awake during night shifts, hands-on newborn care (including bathing), refund policies, and what "virtual support" entails before hiring.

As others have reported we had a horrific experience with Czarina, and most unfortunately, we felt…read moretaken advantage of at a time when we were quite vulnerable right after we had our first child, and were struggling. If you don't take anything from this review, I ask you to please schedule a trial run as others have reported, Czarina will ask you to prepay for multiple days before having a chance to experience with her. Context: We hired Czarina as a night doula for 6 nights. Czarina showed up 5 minutes late (and also left 5 minutes early). When she arrived at our home, she made it pretty clear she was unhappy with our setup (we had our baby sleeping in our room, and our milk/fridge on our main level, requiring going up and down stairs for a bottle). She made it pretty obvious she was unhappy with the stairs which is like the one thing I needed her to do -- fetch stuff from downstairs. Second we had asked Czarina to wake my wife at very specific times to enable specific feedings. We were struggling with breast feeding, struggling to get feeding right at all and wanted to stick to a specific schedule (as recommended by our dr). Czarina failed to wake us up, claiming that she missed our alarm (turns out Czarina feel asleep as a night doula). Finally when my wife woke up and Czarina did bring the infant in, we had asked that she change her as our infant didn't like being wet during a feeding at all. Despite asking multiple times, the baby was brought in wet which prolonged each feeding. Overall Czarina was just not a fit for us, and despite having multiple attempts to receive a refund, Czarina has refused to provide any refunds. I beg you to read this review but also the others and reach out if you have questions. Being a new parent is incredibly stressful and I'd hate for you to have even more stress.

I would like to wholeheartedly recommend Rotem Perleson, whom I contacted about a week ago for…read morebreastfeeding advice and had an amazing experience with. Who accompanied me for several consecutive days and helped me and my daughter in an amazing way! In addition to the long support with messages and her incredible care that was felt at every moment, she came to visit us and gave me tools that I feel have changed the entire course of our day for the better. So if you are looking for someone who is tolerant, professional and supportive to help you strengthen your connection to breastfeeding and your baby From my personal experience, Rotem is the address!

* The best decision we made for our little one! *…read more As first-time parents, we were recommended Rotem by someone we trust--and working with her was truly an incredible experience. Simply put, she is phenomenal: deeply knowledgeable and experienced, compassionate, friendly, proactive, and endlessly supportive. I could go on and on. Rotem first visited us at the hospital, where her guidance was far more helpful and reassuring than what we received from the staff. She then continued supporting us once we were home, visiting multiple times a week during our baby's first month. She helped us learn what to do, supported us emotionally, and set clear expectations for what to expect--every step of the way. We are forever grateful to Rotem for the care and confidence she gave us during such an important time, and she has our highest possible recommendation.