When faced with the heaps of information out there about giving birth, it can feel pretty…read moreoverwhelming. I read lots of websites, books, and even attended two births myself. I knew I needed more to be fully prepared and ready to partake in this life changing and sacred event. Susan's class filled that void and thensome! Books (& hospital courses) can only get you so far. The Birth Journey course gave me plenty of opportunities to look deeper into my fears, expectations, hopes, and appreciation of the birth process. The course helped me get in touch with the psychological, emotional, and spiritual sides of birth --that are sadly so often ignored. It also gave me practical tools to use while birthing...dealing with pain and the awareness of what my body and baby were going through. I highly recommend this experience. It was also very valuable to interact with and hear from the other participants. Susan managed to jam-pack those 9 sessions with lots of useful information. She is a gifted, highly experienced, teacher. We had a wonderful home birth and I know this course and Susan's guidance helped us do so.

I took this course in the summer of 2010. It was an ideal natural birth course. All 8 students in…read morethe course left happy. The course goes far beyond the basic physiology of birth, and works on a psycho-emotional level to connect the parents with the birth process and their unborn child. While alternative, at no point did the instructor disparage traditional medicine. As for the negative reviewer below: Admittedly, the course is not designed for someone who is seeking to only learn how to undergo "modern techniques" such as pain killers and C-section. As that reviewer recommends: those are taught in his ascribed "hospital based" courses. I also encourage readers discouraged by that negative review to read his other reviews...which are mostly 1 stars of local business. I sense a troll looking for make-it-right handouts and refunds...

I brought Nancy a 4 and 6 year old who were excited and ready to learn how to swim. After two…read morelessons, the 6 year was learning quickly and we're still working on getting the 4 year old back into a swim lesson without crying. Her approach, in short, is that you should show your kid how to hold their breath, pour water on their heads, and then take or push them under the water. I don't mind crying if there's a lesson, so I was open to her suggestions when our 4-year-old didn't want to go under the water. Nancy told me to count to 3, give him a chance to hold his breath, and then go under with him. But when he didn't hold his breath, she blamed me for not acting confidently, complained that we had different parental styles, and then asked if his mom might be able to take my place in the next lesson. She proceeded to get in the pool and try herself. And when our son didn't hold his breath again, she told him it was his fault and reminded him that babies could do it. I'm not in the habit of shaming my children to motivate them, nor was I prepared for how she would shame me out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately, while Nancy's approach might work wonders for some kids, it seems just as likely to turn your kids off swimming. Just look at the reviews (I wish I had seen them before going), half the kids learn to swim, and the other half have PTSD (and the parents seem a little traumatized as well). I wish Nancy the best and believe she can help many kids learn to swim. But unfortunately, unless she can figure out how to serve the other half of her students that don't conform to her methods, I feel it necessary to warn other parents.

Traumatizing experience that left my toddler scared to get in our own pool. I feel so much guilt…read morefor putting them through a lesson.

My Luna app stopped working in July. Sarah responded a week later, offering me a new app a a…read morediscounted rate, as well as a refund for that month. Instead, she kept charging me for the first faulty app as well as for the second app (which also barely works). Now I'm being charged twice a month for a subscription I canceled, Sarah has stopped responding to my emails after never sending the refund, and seems to have taken down the phone number off Luna's website. So she's stolen about $100 from me and effectively disappeared. Bizarre behavior. I'm having to spend hours chatting with Apple Wallet to get my money back.

I've gone to LUNA Mother for 2 of my pregnancies (one was with the twins!). I loved that the…read moreworkouts allowed me to feel good in my body while making sure everything I was doing was safe for my pregnancy. I worked out at Luna up to the week I gave birth! I attribute my 2 smooth vbacs to my ability to stay active during pregnancy with Luna. Post birth, I used their app to recover and went to in-person classes as soon as I was cleared for working out to build back my pelvic floor strength. I love that the workouts are flexible to your level and increase with your fitness. I'm still working out there 7m post partum! Also, the owner, Sarah is a local Marin mom. She's lovely and knowledgeable! I would recommend you check it out as a woman in any stage of womanhood as the pelvic floor focused strengthening is important not just the demands of motherhood but for life

We absolutely love Dr. Yamaguchi! He has cared for our son from birth through his now teen years…read more He genuinely cares about our son's wellbeing. Excellent bedside manner as well.

I heard great things from this office and dr. Yamaguchi when I was expecting my son…read more -the nurses are all sweet hearts -the office is small -if u make an apt in the afternoon the office is an oven not sure if it's cuz they don't have ac but i always have to wear a rank top n sometimes that's not good enough. The reason I'm giving this a low rating is because today....after going many times.... I brought up vaccines. I informed them I wanted to take it slow. One at a time and what is only recommended for school.... after I wanted 50 mins to see him. Here is what I got in return after I said that: -dr. Yamaguchi handled my son roughly and made him cry multiple times ( and he was supper happy n smiley with me on the table) and blamed it on "separation anxiety ", which my son does not have. -was told that I would have to go in every week if I wanted to do one shot at a time ( umm kids don't go to school till their five sooo NO) -told me the flu shot is not required for school but is required for their office ( I'm sorry excuse me???) -didn't even talk about it. Just told me that I live in Petaluma and their are great practices up there and he would be happy to transfer my sons paperwork. If you want no control over what u want for your kid and u want the doctor to decide everything for your kid then this is the place for you. But if u care about your kid and if u have specific needs or if you don't want certain vaccines or u just don't want to follow some made up rule just because or treat your kid roughly Because you as a parent feel one way.....then DONT go here!

Jackie has provided us so much guidance and insight into how to best support our son. We have…read morereally found a partner who helps and works with us. Liam has blossomed since he started working with Jackie. He has a newfound sense of ease and confidence that comes through the skill building work he does in his OT sessions. Seeing her is one of the highlights of his week and we are so proud of him and the work they have done together.

We feel so fortunate to have found Wonder Land OT to work with our 7-year-old daughter. Jackie is…read moredeeply caring, highly knowledgeable, and truly engaged in every session. From the very beginning, Jackie built a strong connection with our daughter, and it's clear she feels safe, seen, and supported in Jackie's care. Our daughter genuinely looks forward to each session and leaves feeling proud and empowered. One of the most meaningful parts of this experience has been watching our daughter begin to reflect on her own learning and body needs. With Jackie's gentle guidance, she is developing greater self-awareness and confidence in advocating for herself, both at home and at school. Jackie also makes a point to connect with us regularly, offering thoughtful insights and practical strategies so we can continue to support our daughter at home and partner effectively with her teachers at school. Her collaborative approach and clear communication have made a real difference for our whole family, and we're so grateful to have her as part of our team.

I'm so glad my husband and I found Richelle and hired her as a sleep consultant. The 4-month sleep…read moreregression hit our son hard and we wanted to try non-sleep training solutions first. Richelle was so helpful revising his sleep schedule and giving us guidance on how to help him. Within a week or so we started seeing improvements and his sleep got so much better! As our son has grown, Richelle has continued to be a valued resource and now she's helping us transition him to one nap per day. We have recommended her to several friends struggling with sleep with their little ones and I'm sure we'll be reaching out for further help in the future.

From day 1 working with a Richelle as our Doula was one of the best pre parenting moves we made…read more This was our first baby and while we had a small clue of what the adventure ahead looked like, Richelle provided us with a plethora of knowledge to support us as new parents and a wealth of options to suit our life style and core values. All of our classes and meetups were via zoom which was very convenient for my husband and I and we got to know Richelle so well during this time, when show time came and it was time to head to the hospital we truly felt we had a best friend and advocate present, we even had a few surprises pop up and she was there to support with options before the hospital staff gave us any. From communication to one of a kind mentoring we couldn't have picked a better doula and look forward to sharing her with future friends and family looking for get support. Erica and Michael

My husband and I had a wonderful experience working with Alana Corrin through Healthy Mamas,…read moreHealthy Babies. First, learning about the services and speaking with Amber was great. She is highly organized and very responsive. I also loved the online mom support groups with different topics covered each week - these were so helpful! For the doula services, Alana was wonderful. She is very laid back and easy to talk to while also being super knowledgable and attentive. I wasn't sure if I was going to try to have a natural birth or get an epidural and I felt like Alana was ready to support me no matter what option I wound up choosing. Also, my husband tends to be very anxious around any medical or hospital setting so we weren't sure if he would be able to be with me for all of labor and delivery. Our meeting before birth was great because Alana was able to listen to his concerns and talk him through what L&D would be like so he wouldn't be so nervous. We only wound up being able to have one pre-birth meeting because my baby decided to show up 6.5 weeks early! Thankfully, Alana was able to meet us at the hospital within an hour of my husband calling her (around 3am??). My labor proceeded very quickly and we were both overwhelmed because we had not anticipated having our baby that early. Alana remained a calm and consistent presence throughout my labor and for a while after delivery after they took my baby to the NICU. She was also able to ask the nurses and doctors questions we had completely forgotten to ask and kept us up to date with everything that was happening. My husband wound up being able to stay for most of L&D and I think a lot of that has to do with Alana being there - we both felt fully supported the entire time. We had three post-partum sessions with Alana and they were also incredibly helpful. I would definitely recommend her to others and would love to work with her again if we wind up having another baby (hopefully closer to my due date next time, hehe)!

Ok, I gave 4 stars to highlight the comment. I'm honestly not sure what the right number of stars…read moreis. We consulted and ended up NOT hiring her (we had 1 video appointment). She seems to know things well, no concerns there, but we were a bit put off by the very commercial set up, ie, the initial consultation had a charge while all the other doulas were ok to do a free into over video. Then we got cut off because the initial intro appointment was so time limited (I think it was 15 minutes if I recall). Her regular emails are helpful, but we ended up not hiring her just because it seemed so money driven (her prices are on the high end, which looking at the reviews does seem to be somewhat justified).

The first several months of your baby's life, especially for first time parents, can be filled with…read morestress, anxiety, lack of sleep, self neglect, worry, and the list goes on. Fortunately for my wife and I, we were blessed to have one of the best Doula's working with Carte Blanche stay with us for the first three months after my wife delivered our son. However, her services started far before the birth of our son. Prior to the delivery she provided us with several consultations to help us prepare for the arrival of our baby. This included things expect, measures and responses we could make as a team in the event of emergencies, what issues and emergencies to watch out for, how to prepare the home and the nursery for the baby, what supplies/toys/equipment to purchase, emotional support, and most importantly- lots of hand holding and reassurance. Our Doula explained the Carte Blanche philosophy of recognizing the major needs of all newborns, how to anticipate those needs, and how to preemptively address those needs before the baby becomes stressed and reacts to lacking those needs. One of the most amazing and unique value of Carte Blanche is that their Doula's will live with you for 3 months after your baby is delivered. This allowed our Doula to help us develop a consistent structure and regimen which allowed for a much smoother developmental course for our baby. Although our Doula took the role of the primary caretaker for our son, she was never intrusive, nor dismissive of our wishes, preferences, or lifestyle; however, it was also very obvious that her primary concern was our baby and that would never be compromised. Our Doula created an hourly schedule for every aspect of our baby's life days in advance. This not only helped us coordinate our schedules and lives, but also helped to minimize the random unpredictable events which made these first few months so much less stressful. At our request, our Doula also slept in the baby's nursery and took care of all the night time feedings, diaper, changes, and any other needs our baby may have throughout the night. At first we were apprehensive and felt a bit guilty leaving our baby to the care of someone else during the night. However, this allowed us to be well rested to have better engagement and quality time with our baby throughout the day. If what I have just described hasn't sold you on Carte Blanche, perhaps this may be one of their most compelling value propositions. The Carte Blanche method is to facilitate all newborn babies to sleep through the night (at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep) by the end of the 12th week. This almost sounded too good to be true but was a huge selling point for my wife and I. In our case, the first night we had our baby overnight without the Doula, he slept 13 hours straight through. Our baby is now just over 8 months old and has continued to sleep 8-12 hours every night since our Doula has left. In addition, our baby has been an incredibly easy tempered baby who rarely cries, and is always smiling and laughing. Some may call that luck of the draw, but I believe the Carte Blanche method of setting up a predictable structure, minimizing stress within the household, and anticipating and preempting our baby's needs is what helped him develop and grow with as little stress as possible. Lastly, I don't want to fail to mention what I found to be the most valuable and priceless part of having a Doula with us for those crucial early months. Our Doula fell in love with Hudson as we fell in love with him. She instantly felt like family and became family. She not only had the knowledge, expertise, and experience we needed to help two totally clueless first time parents; but more importantly, she loved our baby boy to such a great degree, that we could trust her in every capacity to love him, to protect him, and always have his best interest at heart (even above her own). And to this day, even though she is no longer living with us, we still consider her a part of our family, we speak regularly, we see each other regularly, and she is always invited to holiday gatherings and family functions. There is no substitute, comparative, or alternative service that I would ever recommend for such an important and critical time in your child's life. I'd give them 100 star rating if that existed

I never knew a 24 hour a day live in doula existed until I met Carte Blanche Parent Services. They…read morewere able to set me up with the most fantastic Doula. If you are looking for a very well experienced Doula I would recommend you reach out to them they can even travel with your family to care for your child.

What an awesome experience! Whether you're and experienced woodworker and just want to make…read moresomething cool or a total novice with zero wood experience, this is the place for you! Michael provides clear instructions, quality equipment, and personalized advice to help you through the build process. Classes are flexible and he allows you to customize your project however you like. It makes the project feel much more personal! I took the cutting board class and he let me choose my materials (I chose walnut with maple), size of the board, and unique touches that I thought looked cool (rounded edges, handles). I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. It's fun to say to be able to say that you built something with quality materials that is going to last for years! The class took about 4 hours which I thought was totally reasonable. And I walked out of there with a finished project that I could show off right away. The shop is easy to get to and Michael works with you on scheduling to make sure you complete your project in a timeframe that works for you. The whole thing is really easy convenient! I'm looking forward to returning and taking other classes!

I had a great day learning from Michael this week. He's patient and flexible with the curriculum,…read moretailoring the session to exactly what I needed and asked for. I learned the proper a/k/a safe way to use: miter saw, jointer, planer, table saw, track saw, and router table all in one day. He's open for collaboration on future projects outside of the fixed classes, so when I come up with something that goes beyond any of my skills, we'll work together to design and execute. Awesome experience all around. Lesson learned: safe woodworking means no gloves and no long sleeves, so prepare to keep your core warm for sessions during the winter months.