I cannot recommend Maliya's doula services highly enough. Their care for our family throughout our pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period exceeded our expectations. At our first meeting, Maliya described birth as a ceremony. They took the time to really get to know us so that we could co-create a customized experience to meet our needs and pursue our birth goals. Maliya's wisdom and resources deepened our learning and preparedness; not just on a technical level as we readied our bodies, minds, and space for labor - but emotionally as first-time parents welcoming a new person into our home and lives. As our labor approached Maliya was always accessible and encouraging. We knew we had the best guide, cheerleader, FAQ-answerer, and advocate in our corner, and that allowed us to focus on other important details and savor the end of our pregnancy. On the big day, Maliya's physical and emotional support was phenomenal. Maliya came to our home, and then with us to the SF Birth Center. I felt that Maliya provided essential physical comfort measures and loving encouragement that allowed me to progress through labor feeling both safe and powerful. My husband felt that he had a wise coach to help him make good decisions, and valued having Maliya there to give him the rest he needed as my birth partner. We're grateful for Maliya's fantastic relationship with our midwives - they worked seamlessly together. We also knew that if we had had to transfer to a hospital or if circumstances required more urgent care, Maliya was who we would want there to help us navigate those twists and turns. As we lay there holding our beautiful baby for the first time, Maliya ensured we were fed and taken care of. They helped us cocoon in those precious first moments as a family of three. In addition to helping us birth our child, Maliya captured the experience with beautiful photographs that we will treasure forever. They also encapsulated our placenta. Our postpartum visit felt like having family over, and helped us process and remember poignant details from our baby's arrival. We are so lucky that our dream birth manifested, and Maliya's role as our doula was a core part of our positive experience. You'd be lucky to have Maliya's wise hands and warm heart as a part of your birth. read more

My wife and I found Maliya to be an amazing, supportive, wise and caring doula. She came recommended from two of our closest friends who said she was really great during their births, so we decided to give her a shot. When we met her, we were impressed by her calm, welcoming demeanor. We were immediately comfortable around her and we both have experience working with preschoolers, so we bonded over that too. I knew I was going to be VERY emotional for the birth and Maliya's calming presence won us over. We were not mistaken. Leading up to and during my wife's labor, Maliya was calm, accepting of everything and very supportive. As well, as a last minute change we wanted to labor in Oakland at my wife's parents house and deliver in Oakland as well. Maliya was super flexible and didn't even bat an eye in accommodating us. During labor, my wife greatly benefited from the labor techniques Maliya showed her and was able to get into a really comfortable rhythm. As a husband, I felt really good knowing that Emma was getting the support she needed on her epic transformative journey. Maliya created a very safe space for us to deliver our daughter when we finally went to the hospital and stayed long after the baby was born. She was accessible the whole time and didn't double book us at any point. Overall, we would recommend her and loved working with her. She's a special person. read more

We worked with Maliya through a COVID birth and she managed to prepare us for a wonderful first birth experience entirely via video conference! This is no easy feat! Maliya was super dedicated to making time for us -- we spent probably around 5-6 hours in total with her before the birth. During that time we 1) learned what to expect at the hospital and 2) she taught my husband how to perform comfort techniques for the labor process. Preparation for first time parents is SO important because this knowledge empowers you to feel like you're in control of the birth experience -- rather than having the birth "happen" to you... and giving birth is certainly very intimidating the first time around! Two concrete examples of why that preparation mattered to us (and neither of them are around the hot topic of "Epidural or not?"): 1) Right before I got an epidural, I was in A LOT of pain waiting for the anesthesiologist. The nurse asked me if I wanted some fentanyl to help with the pain while we waited. Since I knew what fentanyl was and that it was not something I personally wanted for myself, I was able to decline and hold out for the anesthesiologist to arrive. 2) About 30 minutes into pushing, we saw that my contractions seemed to be slowing down on the monitor. The attending told the nurse to "prep some Pit" (Pitocin) to help get the contractions get going again, but because I also knew that I did not want Pitocin before birth, I was able to say no and take control of my birth experience. For the record, my son was delivered only 10 minutes later! I could imagine a scenario where I would have made split second decisions while in a lot of pain, or gone along with what the attending suggested simply because I didn't know what she was prescribing -- working with Maliya helped us put in the mental work to educate ourselves and make informed decisions that made my son's birth a positive experience. In terms of other things you'd expect your doula to do... even though she wasn't physically at the hospital during active labor and birth (since we could only have 1 support person), we were able to call/text/FaceTime her and get almost real-time responses for any questions we had throughout the entire labor process. Maliya "held our hand" (virtually) through when to change labor positions, when to go to to the hospital, when to ask for a cervical check (since my water had broken at home), etc. After, she also scheduled time to check in and make sure we were adjusting okay -- talking to her helped me feel so much better when I was struggling with the 3-4 day hormone crash and trying to get my son back to his birth weight. In addition, we also got recommendations for so many resources we later leveraged heavily (i.e. lactation consultant, pelvic floor therapist). Anyways, the point is -- we went in thinking Maliya's role would be most crucial on the day I went into labor... but the real heavy-lifting she does comes waaay before. We loved working with her and highly highly highly recommend exploring if she could be a fit for your family if you are interested in doula support! read more

We recently worked with Maliya to prep for the birth of our first child and she is absolutely amazing! She had incredible recommendations throughout pregnancy and her sessions with us before the birth were well thought out and full of comprehensive information. She joined us virtually for the birth due to COVID and was such a calming, warm and grounding presence during labor. While it would have been great to have her in person, she navigated the virtual experience beautifully and provided wonderful support. I highly recommend working with Maliya! read more

Maliya was amazing! She was our Doula for our second home birth and we couldn't have been happier. She was from the first meetings to the end very attentive and there for us. During our birth, she was very hands on, always massaging and making sure my partner felt comfortable. I will highly recommend her. read more

Maliya was an amazing support resource through my pregnancy! I was far away from family and nervous going into pregnancy and childbirth. It was wonderfully reassuring to have her experience guiding us through the pregnancy, early labor at home and then active labor at the hospital. She helped to educate us in advance about what to expect and what choices we might have to make in the hospital. She helped guide us through some nutritional challenges during pregnancy and supported our wish for a natural childbirth, but in the safety of a hospital setting. She coached me and my partner through each contraction and offered helpful suggestions for comfort measures we could use together through the tough parts. I experienced some bleeding complications during birth and she stayed calm and collected the whole time, supporting my husband while the doctors took care of me. I couldn't be happier with our decision to hire Maliya to support us during the most impactful day of our lives! read more

There really aren't enough words to recommend Maliya highly enough as a doula. Without getting too deep into the story of our birth, suffice it to say that things did not go according to any sort of plan we had imagined. Maliya stayed a calm, attentive, grounded, holding presence for the entire, multiday experience, heralding questions with her trademark open mind, easily allowing for my husband, family and I to process and digest quickly changing information. Some of the things she said during my birth have become aphorisms in my family to this day. Maliya is an absolute treasure in the birth community. She is respectful, deep and powerful. I can't recommend her more!!!! read more

Maliya was our sibling doula and was amazing! She was absolutely perfect, and can't imagine how we could have done it with out her. Highly recommend! read more

When you meet Maliya you'll see that she has such a warm, kind, and patient presence, which are such incredible assets when it comes to the messy, sometimes scary, and deeply unknown (at least to me!) process of birth. Maliya was there for us every step of the way. She is incredibly knowledgeable about pain management tactics, herbal remedies, and the physical process of pregnancy and birth. I gave birth near to the start of the pandemic (May 2020) and the unknowns about the hospital process would have been almost unbearable without Maliya's gentle reassurances. Even though we knew that Maliya likely could not physically be with us at the hospital due to COVID, she came to our house and labored with me for many hours before we did end up going to the hospital. Her support didn't stop with birth: she checked in on us frequently when we were home with our newborn and I asked her a lot of questions I would have been embarrassed to ask anyone else. I was so grateful for Maliya, every step of the way. I can't recommend her highly enough! read more

We worked with Maliya for the birth of our first child in March 2020. From the moment that we met and spoke about her experience, I felt more at ease about the birthing process. Maliya is warm, comforting, and very knowledgable. She was open and non-judgmental about my birth plan preferences, while also providing detailed information about the various options that I would have at the hospital. She taught us pain management techniques and ways to labor at home and in our own space. We composed a birth plan together and I felt prepared and confident to advocate for myself during labor. Maliya constantly checked in via text and phone and was accessible for questions and concerns leading up to my due date. I would highly recommend working with Maliya - working with helped us to be calm and confident which was invaluable during my first birth! read more

I knew instantly when I met Maliya that she would be the one to assist me at my birth. I had always envisioned a private birth, my husband, doula and myself and Maliya was the perfect fit. Being a doula myself I had a checklist in my mind of the person I would like to have assist me and Mailya met all of my expectations and more. Maliya is such a beautiful kind soul and I am so glad to have had her share such a special moment with me and my husband. read more

As our doula during the birth of our baby, Maliya offered additional emotional and physical support to both myself and my husband in the hospital and made the unfamiliar labor process feel more comfortable. She also was very communicative and accessible in the days and weeks leading up to birth and was very present and focused on the big day. And most importantly, Maliya has a very sweet, and calming demeanor and helps puts one at ease during a time that might otherwise feel overwhelming. She's amazing and we highly recommend her!! read more

Choosing Maliya as my doula was the easiest part of my pregnancy. She has a gift of being able to intuit what people need. Getting to know her was a great gift. She has a presence that is enveloping, but not overwhelming. Working with Maliya throughout my pregnancy, labor and birth made such huge difference. Maliya is a warm and calming presence that really kept my husband and me centered and calm before and during my labor. I learned a lot from her about how labor might progress and techniques to help. She is very funny, down to earth, and easy to talk to. Both my husband and I felt an instant connection to her. I went two weeks past my due date and Maliya was checking in with me that whole time. I planned a home birth and labored at home for nearly 48 hours. Maliya helped me stay centered and was able to use hypnobirthing techniques to feel calm and excited that whole time. She guided me through maneuvers to help my water break and relieve the back pain I was having (I had back labor). Maliya gave my husband breaks so he could nap and stay fresh during my very long labor. I ended up needing to transfer to the hospital and Maliya kept my husband and me calm and excited even when things weren't going how we had planned. I couldn't wait after we got home to introduce our little boy to Maliya. read more

The birth of our son was an incredible experience thanks to Maliya! Labor and birth would have felt entirely different without her help. From the start, Maliya worked with us to explore what sort of experience we wanted, what we wanted to be apart of it, and how we wanted things to progress (to the extent that we could control them :)). She spent time with us in our apartment before birth that meant we were all really comfortable with one another and could walk through all the different techniques she knew for when labor would begin in the space that we'd be in. It was very hands on and gave us the confidence we lacked having never gone through this before that we could do it on our own. Maliya's presence in the delivery room was incredibly calming. It's a bit difficult to describe, but we felt her presence in the room, but without it distracting from the very intimate experience it also was between my partner and me. She really helped us feel more grounded at a time in which it's easy to feel overwhelmed and out of control. She was also familiar with some of the staff and equipment which made it easier for us to answer their questions and get what we needed. Throughout the entire process from when we first made the decision to work with her, she made herself available to answer whatever questions we had. Lastly, she took some incredible photos -- photos we wouldn't have even known before that we would have wanted, but that we are so thankful to have now. We felt so fortunate to have Maliya been a part of the birth of our son and we'd highly recommend her to you as well. read more

I cannot imagine going through labor and delivering my daughter without Maliya. From the moment we met she was so kind and had such a calming presence, I knew I wanted her to be our doula. Maliya was very informative in our meetings prior to giving birth, she answered our questions, explained terminology we didn't understand, helped us navigate next steps with the hospital, and diminished the scariness of delivering a baby as first time parents. Maliya was by our sides as soon as we needed her in the hospital, and coached me through the entire labor and delivery process; all while maintaining her calm presence, which was helpful not only for me, but also my husband. She stayed with us after our daughter was born to make sure everyone was adjusting and visited us at our home a few weeks later to confirm we were doing well. We are so grateful Maliya was there when our daughter was born, and hope that she will be with us for the births of all of our children. read more

We are so incredibly grateful that we were able to work with Maliya and have her support us as a doula! She has such a caring and calming energy and we knew right away when we met her that we would love to have her as part of our journey preparing for and during birth. She provided lots of helpful information and tools as we prepared for birth, and walked us through various scenarios that might come up at the hospital and any concerns we had. She was a huge support to both myself and my husband during pre-labor at home and at the hospital, where she helped us handle all of the unexpected decisions and things that came up. She was always available and so supportive during the process and really helped put us at ease and brought so much peace, love, and joy to the whole birth experience. Maliya is truly a special person and an amazing doula, and I would love to work with her again if we ever have another little one! read more