Stork & Sprout

I had Jody as my point person and Susan and Michelle during labor and delivery. I cannot recommend them enough, particularly Michelle.
Jody was there to answer questions early on during my pregnancy. I was moving across the country at 32 weeks and had no hospital/​OB and so decided to hire a doula to provide some stability and support. I could not have asked for a better team. Jody responded to emails and often checked in on me without me reaching out. I was very open to having a medicated birth if necessary and the entire team was incredibly supportive of all my decisions. I never felt anything but support and encouragement.
Michelle in particular was amazing and I cannot recommend her enough. My labour was slightly complicated and lasted 40 hours (in the hospital). It was medicated. Susan stayed with me through the early part (first night) and Michelle through the second. Both of them barely slept and were there to answer any requests I had. During the second night, (when I was still in pain and exhausted despite two epidurals) Michelle was there to help me sleep when I couldn’t, move when I couldn’t, and provide emotional support. She was thoughtful in her interactions with the hospital staff, who later commented on her incredible help and poise. Despite the fact that my labour was medicated, I could not have done it without Michelle’s help. My husband and I (and our new baby girl) agree that her help was invaluable.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about Stork & Sprout and it’s amazing group of doulas. When I had my first child in Minnesota we found a postpartum doula to help me get through the first weeks of new mama land, since all of my family was here in CA. Ever since, my go-​to piece of advice for new mamas is to do the same. I don’t think many people know about postpartum doulas and the wonders they work for a new mom. Second time around I knew that I would need some support. I found Stork & Sprout and I couldn’t be happier with our relationship. I’ve used them for postpartum support, lactation advice and their private baby massage course.
LACTATION: My first session was with Brittany and Eliza. I could not breastfeed my daughter and when Brittany showed up at my house that morning, I was pretty certain I was on my way to the same with my new son. Brittany was confident, honest, and offered some super easy tricks to help with his latch and with my mental roadblocks. It was like magic, and within days, we were nursing in a way that felt good for both baby and mama. I’m so thankful, as this was a true challenge for me and I’m super proud that I’m able to nurse my son!
POSTPARTUM: Laura is my postpartum doula and I absolutely love her. You can’t help but form a special relationship when someone is such a positive part of a major moment in your life. She is nothing short of a baby whisperer. My son adores her. She has also been my source of support, which — with a bossy toddler running around our house in addition to the newborn — has enabled me to continue to be the mama, wife, and person I want to be, moving forward to confidence and joy. She’s reminded me of the newborn basics, continued to encourage me with nursing, gives me advice or suggestions for questions as they come up, and loves on my babe so that I can have some «mama-​time» to nap, shower, run errands, and take my older daughter out for quality time. Most importantly, I trust her and I love her company. Laura is truly a special person and an amazing doula, I’m so grateful that she’s been a part of our journey with #2!
MASSAGE: I also had the awesome experience of working with Eliza, and taking her baby massage course. I wanted to learn baby massage because I was looking for new bonding activities with my son. I signed up when I heard that baby massage can help babies sleep better and build trust, support their immune and neurological systems, among other super positive things. Hello — sleep better! Eliza is super fun to be with and also a great teacher. I really liked how she broke the course into 3 sessions, each focusing on different areas of the baby’s body. This allowed me to practice in between sessions and ask questions if I had them during our next visit. Plus, the baby would never make it through a full body massage. The great thing is, you can pepper it in throughout the day or even while nursing, and still get the benefits. Eliza even shared some older kid massages with me, which I do with my toddler and she loves… and has helped her sleep too! My son is totally into the massage and I feel like it’s helped us connect even more. I highly recommend taking Eliza’s course — you will love her too!

This is for postpartum care by Laura!
I asked for postpartum care in the hospital from Brittany. I had a C-​section and stayed in the hospital for four nights. Brittany sent Laura to stay with me over night (They usually provide postpartum care at your home but they were accommodating with my request). She sent Laura to help me and she was wonderful. She helped me with breastfeeding, latching, soothing the baby, communicating with the nurses, paying attention to my needs, etc. She was also a fantastic emotional support. I am so glad that my ob-​gyn knew about Stork & Sprout and that I called them. Thanks Laura!

Like some other reviewers I never thought I would hire a doula. I live across the country from my family and I knew that I would be birthing the baby without my sister or mother for support. At my hospital (UCSF) you don’t know what OB or midwife will be there when you have the baby, so I wanted to have a trusted person (besides my husband) in the room with me. My husband and I both really loved having a doula. We had Jody as a contact person and she was on call when I went into labor. She was incredibly helpful, calm, patient, kind, and proactive. She helped us have the birth experience we wanted to have. I would highly recommend Stork and Sprout! Jody was incredible!

I never thought I would be the kind of person who wanted a doula, since I tend to be a very indpendent, «just tough it out» kind of gal. However, once I started thinking about labor and all the different decisions I’d have to make along the way, I realized I wanted some support. I also wanted my husband to have support when I was out of it, or in pain, so he wouldn’t be freaking out alone! After meeting all the wonderful women of Stork & Sprout, I knew they were the ones I wanted with me! I cannot say enough about how helpful they were before, during and after labor. I realize it is a lot of money, but kids are expensive anyway and I guarantee this will be some of the best money you ever spend on your baby! I hired them for both labor and postpartum support, and both were equally essential to me surviving becoming a new mom.
I could write pages about how awesome they are, but here are the highlights:
* They are super non judgmental and will support you in anything from scheduled C section to birthing at home (most other doulas I looked into were super pushy about doing nonmedicated labor, and while I wanted to go as far as I could without meds, I was pretty sure I was going to do the epidural at some point).
* They answered all my questions promptly in the months leading up to birth, although I didn’t really use them much during that time (but you can). The day of the birth, everything went wrong with my family support — I couldn’t get ahold of my husband because he was in a long meeting, my mom was on a business trip to Boston, and my sister was also out of reach. Ack! It was sooo wonderful being able to call Susan a bunch of times for emotional support, and she offered to come to the hospital right away so I wouldn’t have to wait for my family alone (although I turned her down since I was being induced so I knew it would take a long time for me to actually be in labor). I also called her at 2am when I was trying to decide between some different options to move my induction along, and she was so great — at that point my husband and dad were with me but it’s not like they know anything about labor! It was wonderful to just be able to talk through my options with someone who has seen it all.
* Jody was so wonderful during the labor; she had lots of ideas for different positions we could try even though I had to be hooked up to the monitors the whole time, and she got me through to 8 cm before I needed the epidural! A lot of the physical positions and coping methods she used were things we had tried to learn in all our labor prep /​yoga partners’ workshops /​etc., but when it came to the actual day she was so much more effective than my husband! I had all back labor and the only thing that helped was Jody pushing on my hips and Mia (apprentice doula) massaging my feet. Thank goodness Jody was there because we thought we knew how to do the hip thing from our yoga workshop, but whatever my husband was doing was ineffective until Jody showed him what to do! Jody was so calm and strong that it just made the whole thing seem so doable and not frightening at all.
* After the birth, Jody got my baby to latch and breastfeed within about 5 min of her birth, which helped my milk supply and was really reassuring since I was worried about being able to breastfeed (most of my friends had a lot of trouble with it).
* Cindy & Susan were awesome for postpartum. We did daytimes in the first few weeks to help us clean the house, learn to take care of baby more efficiently, have time to take a shower, etc. Then overnight help 1 – 2 times per week for the first 6 weeks — what a relief! They come for 8 hours and my husband could sleep the whole time which meant he was way more functional and helpful to me the next day. I could sleep way more since all I had to do was feed her then hand her back to them to do diaper change and get her back to sleep. They were champions at helping me feed her — my kid was so excessively sleepy we had to undress her completely and wipe her with a wet washcloth every 10 seconds to get her to stay awake to eat. I found it really stressful and Cindy & Susan helped so much and kept me calm. If you think overnight help is a ridiculous luxury, let me tell you that it is actually a medical necessity for new moms! I had to take my blood pressure every day for a few weeks after labor due to some complications, and the days after I had overnight help, my BP was consistently 20 points lower. People need sleep, yo! And once the baby was a month old, I just had them do bottles overnight so both my husband and I could sleep all night :)
If you are looking for any kind of support for labor or motherhood (and trust me, you’ll want all the support you can get no matter how capable you think you are, or how many friends /​neighbors /​family members are around to help you), Stork & Sprout should be your first and only call! I will for sure be booking them to help with my next baby too!

we went with stork and sprout for labor support and placenta encapsulation because we wanted some extra guidance during labor for our first baby. they were so supportive from the get-​go and we could not be more pleased. the way they have set up their system gave me and my husband a lot of peace of mind because we met all 4 doulas and felt comfortable that any of them would be awesome support during labor. they all have such wonderful, different personalities, but all evoke a ton of experience and calm. loved that they came to our home to meet us and the workshop at Nandi yoga was very beneficial to us both. cindy was our point person and I could text her about anything and she always responded promptly and cheerfully… even when I texted her at 4 in the morning when my water broke, we went back and forth and she directed me appropriately. In the end, Susan was the one who was with us during my very long labor and we could not have asked for a better or more capable, creative, hard working expert. she was by my side from start to finish, even staying past her shift since I was pushing, so she could meet our little girl. there are no words for the gratitude we feel towards her. she really was such a welcome addition to the room in every way and my family loved her too! she’s coming next week for a home post partum visit. Brittany delivered our encapsulated placenta pills a few days after I gave birth and I’ve been taking them every day. feeling pretty good, despite the lack of sleep, healing from having an almost 9 pound baby vaginally, and hormone changes, so I think they’re helping! thank you stork and sprout! you are worth your weight in gold and the work you do is so important.

Michelle and her team are the best! Michelle helped me deliver my child with no epidural. I couldn’t have done it without them. If I plan a second baby I will hire them again blindly. Please don’t care about the money, the support, experience they bring to the table is very very needed. I trust these guys blindly!

Stork & Sprout was a huge help for my wife when she gave birth! It was our first baby and I know she would have been much more worried without the doulas there to answer all of our questions and give us good advice. It not only helped my wife, but it made me much calmer too. Neither of us had any experience with being part of a birth, so we were very unsure of what to expect and how to handle it. Luckily for us, our friends at Stork & Sprout were there to ease our minds and make the process smoother and less stressful. Thanks again!

The team of Stork & Sprout are the most genuine and loving ladies that I have ever met. They are extremely happy in what they do and it comes through in the care for you, your baby and your family — regardless of if it’s your first or additional.
We met the ladies a little late in the game, so I suggest that within your first trimester, you give them a call and go to their meet and greet. We had a team led by Susan and I was able to call her and the other ladies for questions and concerns I had.
Our baby was born in November 2015, almost 2 weeks late, and I can say if it weren’t for Jody and Laura, the delivery would have gone a completely different way. Specifically, it would have ended in a c-​section, which I just really didn’t want to do. They made sure that the hospital stuck to our wishes during labor and delivery (just remember, though, that a birth plan is more like a birth suggestion — your plan may not line up with your baby’s, so go with the flow).
My labor was tough and long, but these ladies, worked really well with the nurses and midwives at the hospital, to help me deliver a healthy baby girl. They were constantly with us during the days I was in the hospital (I’m still fuzzy on if they ate or slept, but I’m sure they got to do a little of both), they tried all sorts of things to make sure I was as comfortable as can be (squeezing my hips to release the pressure during contractions), and hands on (moved my legs in Cirque du Soliel positions to get my body to do what it needed to).
The entire time, they were supportive, creative, and positive (They literally cheered when I threw up — which hasn’t happened since my college days and for different reasons, of course =)). And after everything, they checked in with us at a home follow up.
A few days later, I needed the help of Brittany, the lactation specialist (as well as new owner). She was fantastic and stayed with us for a couple of hours to make sure the baby and I got the hang of things.
If I had to do it again (which I won’t because one delivery was good enough for me!), I would absolutely make sure that Stork & Sprout were by our sides!

My wife is probably the better person to write this review, but she never writes Unilocal reviews so I will do so. We used the junior team as our doulas during the birth of our daughter, and my wife used the post partum doula services. Michelle helped as during the birth and Brittany after. We couldn’t be happier with their service. They both were the steady presences we needed during the rough transition to parenthood. So what are you waiting for? Hire them already.

Soon after I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted a doula. Initially, I was slightly hesitant because of the cost and none of my immediate friends had hired a doula. But when I took into consideration that:
— I did not want a c-​section, and was open to the idea of a natural birth
— our primary OB/​GYN probably would most likely not be the doctor on call to deliver our baby
— it was our first child, and both my husband and I knew very little of the process
— my anxious mother requested not to be called until the baby was out, and therefore would not be part of my support system within the labor room. I also did not have older sisters to guide me through the process.
I took a few weeks researching doulas in my area (on the peninsula) through other Unilocal reviews and recommendations through my doctor. Ultimately, I chose S&S (beginning of 2^nd trimester) not only because of the winning personalities of all the doulas, but I loved the idea that they worked as a team!
When it was time, I ended up laboring at home (about a day) until it was necessary to go to the hospital because my bag of waters had ruptured. During the entire process, we were updating Jody (our primary doula) through text and phone calls. She met us at the hospital at 1:30am, and stayed with us the entire time until approximately 5:30pm the next day where Cindy stepped in and switched places. I particularly loved this aspect of S&S! During my labor, I feed off the positive energy of the doulas, and having an energized and refreshed doula step in was extremely helpful. Cindy was by my side when I was given then green light to push. However, after 3hrs of pushing, the baby hadn’t dropped further and the midwife/​doctor and I discussed «alternative options» which meant c-​section. Even though I ended up needing a surgery, I have no regrets hiring S&S, because we tried everything! I pushed in multiple positions, different stretches to open up my pelvis/​hips – and all without an epidural!
After the birth, when my husband and I were alone in the recovery room, he mentioned that he was glad we had the doula (s). He would have been all thumbs and it was comforting to know that he could leave to grab a cup of coffee or a bite to eat, and someone we could trust would be in the labor room with me. I ended up with a long labor (admitted: Sun 1:30am | birth: Tues 1:23pm) and the doulas switched once more during my c-​section surgery to ensure someone would be there in the recovery room with us after the birth.
Thank you Stork & Sprout!

Used their services in August last year so this post is a bit overdue. S&S was very professional and warm — if you are a first time parent (or even if you’ve been through this before) they make it so easy to put yourself in their hands and they are always responsive.
I had contact with almost all of the doulas at some point or another, but Susan ended up being there. She was there in the hospital with us for over 24 hours! Quite a marathon for everyone. But she really helped me get through the process, especially towards the end, and was so calm and reassuring. They have a lot of experience and ideas and exercises to try if things aren’t working.
Highly recommend!

Update: I feel it’s important to note S&S has changed ownership and neither of the doulas I worked with are still with S&S. I have no data with their current doula offerings.
(i wish Unilocal didn’t require a star rating with updates. Dropping to 4 because of the uncertainty)

I cannot recommend Stork and Sprout highly enough! I was lucky enough to have them for the births of both of my sons (this review is a bit overdue — one is 5 months and the other is now 2).
For my first birth, our team was Jessica, Melissa, Dana. Jessica was my primary point of contact. We had such a great experience that when I found out I was pregnant the second time, Stork and Sprout was one of the first phone calls I made! These doulas are extremely knowledgeable and reliable, but also warm and personable, and use a personalized approach, and made me feel comfortable immediately.
My husband and I are both MD’s, and my husband has attended many births, so you would think we would have a fair idea of what to expect and how to be prepared. However, I learned much new information from S&S for both births — things to consider in advance, questions to ask, ways to prepare. Also, even though I am educated in the health care system, I found it helpful for someone to remind me that as long as the baby or me is not in distress during the birth, that if an intervention is recommended, I could ask for time to discuss it before making a decision. This literally changed the outcome of my first birth, where a C-​section was called for although the baby was not in distress, and Jessica made a suggestion to try that neither the OB, the nurse, nor I had thought of. The baby ended up being born 30 min later, completely naturally. I cannot say how much I appreciated this. These doulas have been at enough different types of births, including completely natural births, that they have experience with the «range of normal» and can help provide a reality check. Also, they have dealt with the various hospitals and clinics in the area and know many of the care providers, which was helpful in preparing for the hospital.
Jessica stayed with me during my entire birth — she talked me through each contraction in a way that was helpful to me personally. She helped my husband get involved and showed us how he could physically support me in labor. She reminded him to eat and rest. She made suggestions for various laboring positions to try. She was extremely professional and worked very well with the labor/​delivery nurse. When I needed to talk through a decision, she reminded me of my goals and of the various options and provided a level head when I was unable to think rationally due to being in labor. She stayed after the birth and helped with breastfeeding for the first time, and applied some Arnica to my face for the swelling. In other words, she was knowledgable, kind, patient, professional, thorough. She helped create an atmosphere of calm and peace within the labor/​delivery room. I don’t think I would have been able to avoid an epidural without Jessica’s help.
For my second birth, Melissa, Cindy, and Jody were our team. Again the doulas were extremely knowledgeable, supportive, and easily reachable when I had a question. They had helpful suggestions on everything from what to expect with a second labor/​delivery, how to prepare my first child, and suggestions for dealing with SI joint pain I experienced. I received much more (quantity and quality) information regarding what to expect and how to know I was in labor than I did from my OB or anywhere else. Melissa also helped me sort through some difficult decisions regarding whether/​when to induce the birth — I found her logic and guidance invaluable. I appreciated the ease with which these doulas helped guide me through making decisions in a nonjudgemental way, without their own «agenda». In addition, during the birth itself, inside the hospital, Melissa herself recognized that the baby was about to be born as the nurse and doctor were not in the room when it was about to happen. :)
Another great part of S&S’s approach is that they keep up to date with information and use evidence to guide how they practice. They came to my home after each birth to follow up and provided more very helpful information on breastfeeding, babywearing, and recovery suggestions. Again, I cannot recommend them highly enough!

Amazing customer service and care!
I contacted Stork and Sprout (S&S) recently in desperate need of a doula. I’m due in 3 weeks and as we got closer to our EDD, it became more apparent that we wanted/​needed a doula. A staff at S&S contacted me to let me know that all their doulas were booked… it seemed like lots of babies were due around my EDD. I was sad to hear this but to my surprise our convo did not end there…
She then recommended 2 doulas that she thought would be a good fit based on my needs. What’s even more impressive was that before she called me, she first called the 2 doulas to make sure they were available during my EDD. How awesome is that?! I am so grateful for the care that she put into helping me find a doula. And she was right, both doulas she recommended had something about them we liked. But it all boiled down to fit and we chose Jen to be our doula from MamaDoula Service.
Thank you for your help, Stork and Sprout!

I worked with Stork and Sprout on my VBAC birth and I did it successfully without epidural (before this I thought epidural would always be used for birth).
My first birth was an emergency C-​section. Water broke first, had to induce. Labor stalled at 3.5 cm and was extremely painful. Epidural numbed waist down completely. Not knowing how to push. Forceps failure. During my first birth there were several times that I doubted myself. Both me and my husband didn’t know what was going on. The doctor came late. The nurses were busy with their things and didn’t help much. I knew that even some reassurance would make a huge difference but I wasn’t able to get any. For my second birth I decided to work with a doula to attempt VBAC.
I found about Stork and Sprout from the OB’s office. I instantly loved them after attending their open house. I also did some research of local doulas and thought their service and price a quite nice package. I decided to go with the senior team. Cindy, Melissa, Jody and Lauren (an observing junior doula) came to my home during the two prenatal visits. We talked about all my concerns as well as exercises to assume optimum fetal positions and to open pelvis. We practiced ways that could help me relax. Melissa told me that when contraction came, not to focus on the pain, rather to think about the coming interval, which helped a lot during my labor. I also took their suggestion to start eating dates during the last few weeks, which were proven to help with a natural birth.
On the day of labor, just the thought of having professional help with us relaxed me a lot. I spoke with Cindy over phone while having contractions. When we went to the hospital, Jody met us there. I had back labor and Jody helped easing my pain by squeezing my hips and rubbing my back. The massaging techniques turned out very helpful. Her gentle voices were very comforting and reassuring. My husband always wanted to help me during labor. This time he knew how to help with Jody’s instruction. My labor turned out to be short and smooth. I dilated fast and delivered two hours after arriving at hospital. After giving birth Jody helped snapping many photos of the baby, my husband and me. She also helped with starting breastfeeding. During the following days we also consulted her about feeding, and always got warm and helpful replies. I believe the birth couldn’t be so smooth without the help of Stork and Sprout doulas. I wish I had them with my first birth.

I wanted a natural, unmedicated hospital birth and that’s exactly what the Junior doula team helped me achieve.
After doing much research on hospital births I decided that I really wanted a birth doula to help me advocate for myself and know the choices available to me should something go awry.
I was lucky enough to come across information on Stork and Sprout. Jessica encouraged us to come to a Meet the Doulas night, which we did. We instantly loved the dynamic — how they function as a team, learning from each other’s experience and complementing each others skill sets. When I discussed it with my OB she had such great things to say about Stork and Sprout. I thought this was so important because you want someone that works with the medical team, and they are certainly recognized for their professionalism and ability to partner.
With this, we decided to hire the junior team — Lauren and Michelle. I was a bit hesitant at first but knew that although they were less experienced doulas, they certainly had more experience than me! I could not be more pleased that we chose them. From the first meeting I felt very comfortable and became less anxious about the hospital birth… which had become an obsession at that point. They helped make sure that I was educated on the various things that can happen and recommended books and online sources for both the birth and breastfeeding. They also recommended some exercises for me to start doing to make sure my little girl stayed head down.
On the evening of June 4^th, I labored at home for nine hours and checked in with Lauren by phone. Once the contractions were close we decided it was time to head to Mills. We arrived only a few minutes before Michelle (Lauren had a birth the night before and so Michelle stepped in). I was already seven centimeters so things moved quick! I had just entered the «transition» phase and that is when I needed help the most. Michelle helped me stay focused, kept me breathing through the pain and helped my partner support me too. It was all rather quick, about another forty five minutes in transition and less than 5 pushes and my daughter was here. Michelle took pictures and beautifully captured our first family photo which we used for our announcement card.
Without Michele I think I would have fallen apart during transition. As the baby moved down the contractions reached a new intensity — it was staying focused that got me through it. She worked extremely well with the hospital nurses and doctor — whom were also amazing.
She also came to visit me after at home which was so sweet. She’s stayed in contact with occasional messages. As a new mom, you can use all the support you can get. Michele’s kindness, experience and calm demeanor was the exact support I needed during the birth. I can’t thank her, Lauren and Jessica enough. I was blessed and am very grateful to have had such a wonderful experience.

This review is from my wife — and I wholeheartedly agree:
I gave birth eight months ago. It seems like a lot more time has past.
Learning to live with my child has been an adjustment; there have been trials and tribulations. My son had very bad colic until 4 and a half months. He was tongue-​tied and had trouble latching. He STILL wakes up every three hours at night to feed. But one thing that I have no regrets about, no second thoughts, is his birth — because I made one of the best decisions of my life when I hired Stork & Sprout.
As a first time mom, and someone who likes to do research, I knew as much as a layperson could about being pregnant and giving birth. My husband and I went to ALL the classes Kaiser offered about it. I was constantly on the internet. I knew what I wanted for my son’s birth — all natural, no pain medication, no unnecessary interventions. The last thing I wanted was a c-​section. In my research I had seen studies that showed that the most statistically helpful thing in the prevention of cesareans was: a Doula.
I looked around at different mid-​wives and doulas. They were all nice and had experience, but there was something about meeting Jessica (and later Melissa) that spoke to me. They were it.
I had many anxieties about my birth. You see, I had been diagnosed as hypertensive and therefore a high risk pregnancy. My doctor was clear — if I had not gone into labor naturally by 38 weeks, I should be induced. I understood the reasons, and they made perfect sense. My anxiety arose from my anecdotal experiences where every time I had seen someone induced it quickly devolved — induction leads to epidural, epidural leads to slowing of birth, slowing of birth leads to breaking the water, breaking the water leads to cesarean. I knew that this wasn’t always the case, but I had witnessed it happen too many times — even where the mom’s intentions were like mine.
When I met with Melissa and Jessica, they listened to all my concerns. They made it clear that their job was to support me, help me make decisions which were right for me, and help me understand what was going on. But most of all, their job was to make sure that no matter what happened during my birth, I would have no regrets.
When I was eventually induced at 39 weeks, Melissa made the trek in the wee hours of the morning to be by my side. Something that one doesn’t know until you’re in the moment — and my husband especially realized — is that for first time parents all the research in the world about birth is a pale imitation of the experience.
Melissa was a rock. A rock with experience. She knew what to do and when to do it. Every birth is different, but it felt like she had magically prepared just for mine. I never felt like I was lost or helpless or alone. When my labor was in full swing, my husband supported me from the front, and Melissa from the back. When I started to waiver, Melissa did what I needed her to — became firm and direct. When I was stalled at 9 centimeters dilated and the doctors suggested breaking my water, it was Melissa who allowed me to calmly think about the choice and know what my options were. When I was 9.5 centimeters dilated, sobbing with exhaustion, wanting to do nothing but push, it was Melissa who asked the doctor questions my Husband and I would never have known to ask. Within minutes, I was ready to push. And minutes later my son was born.
My birth did not go «as planned» (and how many really do?), but my birth process did. I know that every thing that happened, every decision that was made was the right one. And I absolutely know that it is because Stork & Sprout were with me.

Before hiring Stork and Sprout, I was very worried about pregnancy and starting a new chapter of my life. I worried that I worried too much, agonizing over endless low probability what-​ifs. I worried that I worried too little, being swamped at work and knowing that I must be letting some important piece of baby prep slip through the cracks. I worried about the pain of giving birth and stress of bringing a new baby home, especially after hearing all the horror stories people like to tell. (Why do they DO that? Anyways…)
Jessica, Melissa, and Cindy removed the worry and truly made the birth and homecoming of our son a joyous and wonderful experience. Their knowledge and reassuring presence allowed us to relax and just be in the moment. My labor was 41 hours, and I still get the warm fuzzies when I think of them and what an amazing job they did in coaching and supporting us.
During the last couple months of pregnancy, Jessica and Melissa, my birth doulas, set up meetings at our home to go over a birth plan and pain management techniques.
Before the first meeting, I was on the fence about whether to have an epidural, not to mention befuddled by all the other checkboxes on the Kaiser birth plan form! On the one hand, avoiding the «cascade of interventions» described in birth class sounded good, but on the other hand, I didn’t know if it was hubris to think I could handle the pain unmedicated. Melissa helped me have the confidence to go with my gut (all-​natural birth), and reminded me that I could always change my mind later.
For the second meeting, Jessica evaluated what pain management techniques we responded to best; I had no idea that different people can react so differently to the breathing, focal points, massage, etc. She also showed us exercises to encourage baby to move into an optimal position for birth. This was cool because I had heard such exercises existed, but was afraid to start trying stuff from random websites!
When my contractions started at 2 a.m., both Melissa and Jessica were super quick to respond to our texts and give us advice for what to do. I really liked that Stork and Sprout had an «on call» system, so someone from my team of doulas was always available around the clock. When my waters broke, Jessica came to the hospital with us. Later, since my labor took so many hours, Melissa «tagged in» seamlessly so that Jessica could get some rest.
My memories of labor are a little hazy (was somewhat preoccupied at the time), but a few highlights stand out clearly:
1. Doctors and nurses alike repeatedly told us, unprompted, how awesome Jessica was, and how lucky we were to have her as a doula. My husband and I strongly suspect we got better care and attention from the hospital staff because Jessica and Melissa collaborated with them so well. Both of them were extremely knowledgeable about what to ask for and what questions to ask, which was a great relief to my husband and me.
2. Jessica and Melissa were *amazing* at coaching me through contractions. How amazing? Doctors and nurses would walk in and need to be *told* that I didn’t have an epidural. I definitely remember several looks of shock that we were coping so well. Needless to say, Jessica and Melissa were a very soothing presence, and had some very effective in-​the-​moment tips for helping me breathe and stay relaxed!
3. They made me feel like I was a rockstar when I thought I was failing horribly. I was stuck at 8 cm dilation for many, many hours. Doctors didn’t want me to push yet, in order to prevent swelling. NOT pushing was extremely difficult for me, and I was starting to panic about the damage I was causing whenever I let one through. At some point I was feeling hopeless enough that I said someone should either knock me out and do a C-​section, or else invent teleportation. Melissa kept making me feel like I was in control, and kept encouraging me to do exercises to help the dilation along. I’m super glad she didn’t let me give up, because the result was so worth it!
After we came home with our brand new baby, Cindy was our post-​partum doula. We chose the «In For The Night» package, and she visited twice a week during the nights. She was fantastic at soothing our son, and we definitely learned some tricks from her about how to change diapers quickly and make a better swaddle. Last but not least, it was so, so, nice to catch up on sleep! My husband was able to snooze the entire night, and all I had to do was breastfeed — Cindy took care of changing and putting the baby back to sleep. Given all the stress and hormones and «baby blues,» she really helped keep us sane during those hectic first weeks!
This review is long and somewhat late because it was mostly typed with my thumb on a phone over many sessions of breastfeeding, but I definitely wanted to share how happy we are with our experience with Stork and Sprout. We wouldn’t hesitate to choose them again if we decide to have another baby!

I’m so overdue in writing this, but it’s not due to lack of appreciation, it’s due to the craziness of being a new mom. Where to begin? I guess at the beginning. Just to warn you, this is going to be LONG. ..
I decided that I wanted a doula before I got pregnant. Once I was finally pregnant, I asked my Dr. who he would recommend. Much to my surprise, he told me that he’d only work with the ladies of Stork and Sprout. Well, I must admit, I felt backed into a corner. What if I didn’t like them? What if they weren’t able to work with what my husband and I wanted for the birth of our child? What if they weren’t available? A whole lot of «what ifs».
Our first meeting with Jessica and Melissa was at the San Mateo Birth and Baby Fair (that I dragged my husband to). I was nervous as I was barely through the first trimester and my husband was not very excited about the idea of having a doula in the room for delivery. Thankfully, both Jessica and Melissa were so warm and open in answering questions for us. We decided on the spot to sign up and save our «due date» with Stork and Sprout.
Obviously some months passed before our first meeting in our home. All of the doulas (Melissa, Jessica, and Jody) were so understanding of me wanting/​needing to schedule way ahead (I’m a planner). Jessica and Jody came over about two months before our due date. They talked us through what to expect, asked what we were looking for/​hoping for in our birth/​delivery experience, gave us some exercises to use (our baby was breech at the time), informed us of other resources, etc. We had scheduled something following the appointment, so didn’t have time to get through everything. Jessica and Jody were so great that they came back that evening for another hour. This was just the first time (of many) that they showed how dedicated they were to us as their clients.
During our next meeting, with Melissa, we went through more of our desires for the birth of our child, techniques that would be helpful in labor, and what to expect in terms of labor.
Prior to our first few meetings, my husband was not sold on the idea of having a doula. He believed that the doula would «replace» him in the delivery room. After these meetings, he was feeling much more comfortable and at ease with the idea of having assistance during labor and delivery, especially since my goal was to have an unmedicated labor.
Well, things don’t usually go according to plan, do they. .. I ended up being induced, getting an epidural port, getting an epidural, and narrowly avoiding a c-​section (see Gigi’s study for reference) due to very high blood pressure and low platelets — my Dr. told me after delivery that he was shocked that I ended up not getting a cesarian given the path we were on. After induction, I was in labor for 42 hours before I had my beautiful son. It was NOTHING like I had hoped or anticipated, but it was PERFECT thanks to the support of Jessica (the night I was induced) and Melissa (the following day until I gave birth the next morning).
My mother told me after I had my son, that she thought we were crazy to spend the money on something as silly as a doula. After all, she’d had four children without one. After delivery (and being there for much of my labor), my mom said that it was the best investment we could have made — now she tells all of her friends to help get their daughters doulas and more specifically, Jessica and Melissa. Also, remember my husband who wasn’t sold on the idea of having a doula, well, he appreciated the support that he got to know what he could do to better help me when I was in pain and to know our options at the hospital. Two non-​believers left the birth being complete believers in having a doula present.
Once we got home, Melissa helped with breastfeeding, and just making sure things were going well. She advised me on when to call my Dr. because pains that I was having weren’t «normal» and when to see a lactation consultant because my son’s latch was tricky. Honestly, it’s all a bit of a blur now, but I think she came over at least twice to help us at home. Also, she gave us a narrative (with statistics) of my entire labor. Because it’s all such a blur now, this is so cool to have.
I am SO unbelievably grateful to the wonderful ladies at Stork and Sprout. I’ve already had one friend use them, although their experience was VERY different than ours — fast and unmedicated (another friend used another doula and her experience was nothing like ours), they loved working with these ladies too. I HIGHLY recommend Stork and Sprout to ANY expectant parents. I completely understand that this is an investment, but one that I will gladly make in the future given the support I received before delivery, throughout labor, during birth, and once we were home.
Good luck to all new parents!