I hired Michelle as my birth doula through Modern Mama and overall had mixed feelings about the…read moreexperience. She is clearly knowledgeable and experienced, and I am thankful for the role she played in my birth. During transition and pushing, she offered guidance and support that was helpful in those intense final hours. I do believe she understands birth well and brings expertise to the room. That said, there were a few things that did not sit right with me. At multiple points during contractions, when I looked up, she was visibly on Facebook and Instagram. I understand that long labors can involve downtime, but she was only physically present at the hospital for a few hours during transition and pushing. Given the relatively short window of in person support, it felt disappointing and inappropriate that she was on social media during that time. It made me feel like she was not fully present in such a vulnerable moment. There were also moments where her reactions felt disproportionate, such as when the toilet water unexpectedly splashed up. Her response heightened the situation rather than helping me feel grounded and calm. In addition, I found the overall value of the package to be underwhelming compared to other doulas I interviewed. Many offered formal childbirth classes (which were extra through MM) and ongoing support groups as part of their services, whereas Modern Mama primarily offered monthly mini classes on rotating topics, which did not always feel directly relevant or comprehensive. For the investment, I had expected more structured education and support. Though I was appreciative of the nice photos that were included. I am grateful for her knowledge and the role she played in helping bring my baby into the world, but I do wish the level of presence, professionalism, and overall value had been stronger throughout the experience. I likely won't hire Modern Mama again although I don't have experience with the other doulas.

The support, care, and commitment that we received from Modern Mama and our night Doula ( Kristin)…read moretruly allowed our family to get the jump start that we needed. As first time parents, we found that we didn't have a true understanding of what was best to do once we brought our little guy home from the hospital. Sure - we had read a lot and had additional support to help us get ready, but with Modern Mama, we found a professional who specializes in exactly what we needed - "what does good look like?" / "what should we be doing?" / "what are we doing right/ wrong?" From the moment that Kristin walked into our door, we were met with a calm and welcoming presence that shared recommendations for getting to sleep, eat, and dressed appropriately. She shared with us what most parents do and what is truly a choice for us. What's more, she was an incredible support for my wife who was breastfeeding for the first time, encouraging her and helping her to establish appropriate techniques and set her up with pumping appropriately, which would have taken us weeks without the support. Lastly, Kristin also followed up with us multiple times after the nights that she had stayed, seeing how we were doing and following up with great resources tied to the questions that we had + other professionals that could help with some of the areas that we were looking to develop. We'd highly recommend the support from Modern Mama and specifically Kristin as a doula for and first time parents - I truly believe they were a primary reason for us to start off on the right foot at home. (For reference, we had the 3 night package for the first couple of nights at home)

I knew I wanted a doula for my labor/birth, and had a doula recommended to me by a friend. I…read moreprocrastinated on contacting her, and by the time I did- she was booked. So, about 10 weeks before I was due I started the search for another doula and came across both Lora, and Chelsea, individually. I contacted them and they let me know they had recently teamed up and were available. We had a zoom call with them and my husband and I decided to book them for our August birth. Chelsea & Lora came for a home visit in June, so we could meet them and discuss initial ideas about my labor/birth/etc. They both brought their individual strengths and so much knowledge. They then came back a few weeks before I was due to discuss plans for when i went into labor, comfort measures, etc. They were both there any other time my husband and I had a question throughout the whole process as well. I had a long, long (44 hour) labor and we (mainly my husband) were in contact with Chelsea/Lora the entire time. About 22 hours in, once the pain had gotten pretty bad, Lora came to our house at 8pm. She quietly supported us and helped get through the contractions. At midnight, Chelsea swapped in so Lora could get some rest. Chelsea encouraged me to keep moving and try different things to help progress labor. When we thought it was time to go to the birth center, Chelsea came with us. When I finally ended up being admitted, Lora was the doula who ultimately joined us at the birth center- and spent over 12 hours there with us. I had mentioned during one of our previous meetings that I would love it if the doula who was present could snap some pictures during the day of labor/birth- I wasn't looking for anything too fancy or professional but just wanted some iphone pics. Lora went above and beyond, using her own camera to take lots of pictures and a video of the birth- which we haven't seen yet but are so excited for! Both Lora & Chelsea truly went above and beyond, and are a perfect complementary team. They came for a 2 week postpartum visit and it felt like having friends over to meet the baby- we cannot recommend them and their services enough & will definitely be using them for baby 2!

We absolutely adore and appreciate Lora and all her knowledge! We're due with our first baby in…read moreOctober 2020 and she helped us get through educational evidence based birth classes during the pandemic! I feel more prepared now for the birthing process, what to expect and techniques we can do to help us labor as naturally as possible! Worth every penny :)

Wow. What an amazing home birth experience. First of all,…read morelet me express my gratitude to all the midwives at Aurora. They are all kind, highly experienced, knowledgeable, and relatable. It's hard to come across a practice where ALL the providers are top notch. Usually there's one great provider with the others being mediocre at best. That's not the case here! Regardless of who ends up being the midwife when you give birth, you won't be disappointed! Secondly, I am extremely thankful for their ability to provide modern care with a holistic approach. The reason I chose Aurora is because they are truly up-to-date on natural approaches to pregnancy management and what is considered safe vs not. Most modern providers don't give you advice on nutrition, natural pain management (because that doesn't exist), nor do they make sure you are ok mentally. From my previous pregnancy, where I received care from an OB at another practice, I was treated as if pregnancy was a medical condition and the provider never asked for consent. They used scare tactics to talk me into getting things and doing things that I would never normally agree to. With Aurora, they take pride in asking consent for every single action before doing so. I had never experienced care where they actually consider the individual's values and opinions and not just their educated beliefs. Lastly, the whole experience of the birth was amazing and enlightening. During my first pregnancy, many things went haywire and it felt very much like a medical procedure. With Aurora, my birth at home was very peaceful and hands off. The midwives assured me every step along the way to trust my body and to do what it was asking me to do. By trusting them and listening to my body's intuition, I was able to have the best, quickest birth at home with my husband and toddler! Overall, I would give them 10/10 and recommend Aurora Midwifery to any momma who is currently pregnant. Although it's most likely my last pregnancy, I would choose Aurora time and time again for pregnancy care.

Aurora midwifery is an amazing group of birth workers and I mean all of them! I did not get to…read moreexperience my birth at home with them sadly. We had to transfer care but they offered support for my birth at the hospital and postpartum. They really do care about you and your baby! They really take time with you at every appointment unlike obgyn providers. They have great communication and answer all your worries / questions quickly. They made exceptions for me that they definitely didn't have to. I recommend anyone looking for home birth to Aurora midwifery.

Kailey was my Doula for my third birth with my son Owen. My two previous birth experiences involved…read moreinduction, epidurals, pitocin, and an overall feeling that I did not have control over my own body, choices, and the process of giving birth. My second son actually broke his arm from shoulder dystocia during delivery and had I been more informed and knowledgeable I would have opted to push in a different position other than lying on my back. Kailey helped me gain the knowledge I yearned for to be able to make informed decisions surrounding my birth with Owen. I knew I wanted things to be different and I wanted to give birth completely unmedicated. Kailey spent a lot of time sharing evidence based articles surrounding any questions I had. With her help we were able to come up with a birth plan my husband and I were comfortable with and I felt educated and empowered in the decisions I was choosing for myself and my baby. On the day I gave birth Kailey was prompt and there for me through every single contraction, encouraging me, supporting me, physically massaging and applying counter pressure techniques for pain management. During the final phases of birth while I was pushing Kailey helped me stay focused on my end goal and helped bring me back to relaxing my body and mind and continuing to remind me that I was made for this and my baby was almost here. At 12:54 pm after only about 2 hrs of active labor I gave birth unmedicated in the most amazingly empowering and spiritual birth experience that I always dreamed of. I highly recommend using Kailey as your Doula!!

From the owner: Here at Empowering Promise, I offer Birth doula services, Postpartum Services, Placenta…read moreEncapsulation, Birthplan audits, and lactation bites. My own three pregnancy and birth journeys fueled my passion for the birth world. When you choose me to help you achieve your empowering birth experience. You also choose to help a single mom of three support her kids!

We cannot say enough great things about Ashley! She was everything that we each hoped we could get…read morefrom hiring a doula, and so much more. We hired Ashley for the birth of my second child, when I was attempting an unmedicated VBAC after a horrendous experience with my first birth. I knew I wanted labor support for this birth, but honestly hiring a doula was a little "crunchy" and outside of our realm of comfort. From the first meeting with Ashley I could tell that I was completely wrong! Ashley was so real and down to earth, and made us both feel completely at ease and prepared for our TOLAC and hopeful VBAC. During actual labor, Ashley came when I told her I needed her, and helped me to do relax through contractions and do some exercise to try to turn my posterior baby. We labored at home with her help for as long as possible, and when I felt "pushy" she got us to the hospital and into a room ready to have a baby! Her coaching through early labor, transition, and especially pushing was instrumental to my successful VBAC. She was amazing at addressing my fears during labor and made sure I was informed and felt completely in control the whole time, as well as kept my husband calm and helped him to be involved with helping me. After the experience we had, I would 100% recommend Ashley to everyone I know, and would have her by my side for all future births.  Thank you so much for our healing experience Ashley!!

I wanted a natural birth and Ashley helped me get it! I wouldn't have done it without her help!…read more She had many techniques to help me get thru the pain and also tips for my husband to help during labor and delivery. She made herself 24/7 available whenever I had questions since this was my first birth. She's very compassionate, caring, genuine and understanding to what you want. If I had to do it again I would hire her again in a heartbeat! If you're reading this, hire her...you won't regret it!

My son just completed their five day spring break coding camp and had an absolute blast. This was…read morereally his first introduction to coding and I am so impressed with how much he learned. All of the "Sensai's" were all very nice and extremely helpful. Jason was also very friendly and a pleasure to work with. We look forward to continuing on with my sons coding knowledge and education.

My daughter loves this place, she is 11 and always talks about how cool and nice the teenage…read moresensei's are. The owner who is almost always there is so courteous and helpful. Feels like a real positive place to be! My daughter is doing what she loves, it's a unique opportunity for kids to use their love of tech in a useful way, the center is well run, clean and a great location