Eliminate the overwhelm with nourishing support:
Bay Area Postpartum Doula Care
Eliminate the overwhelm with nourishing support:
Bay Area Postpartum Doula Care
We know that as you welcome your newborn home you also welcome a whole new dynamic. What you once considered a simple task has turned upside down. Your postpartum doula will remind you just how normal it is to feel overwhelmed by this major life change. With her presence, she will assist you in alleviating the anxiety, help you combat self-doubt, and celebrate your new normal.
Our postpartum doula team is expertly educated in newborn care, infant feeding, and postpartum parent care.
Our education and experience has taught us to squash obstacles before they arise, recognize early “red flags” and help you navigate your new normal. Your doula will embolden you with trusted solutions, proven techniques, unbiased guidance, and an endless list reliable resources to ease your difficulties during this major life transition.
A Bay City Doula is Your Person Who Helps You awaken your inner strength!
Our role as your postpartum doulas:
With the support of your Bay City Doula, you can turn the “impossible” possible!
Your postpartum doula will equip you with the tools you need to stabilize, thrive, and develop a sense of balance. Your doula’s goal is to support your parenting philosophies, empower your wellbeing, and summon your inner strength. Whether you call on her to catch up on some much-needed rest, for empathetic emotional support, or to guide you in re-establishing a routine, you can trust that her support will come in the form of compassionate understanding. This level of support is designed to help you develop self-confidence, reliant personal trust, and the fortitude to grab the reigns and reach your full parenting potential.
Postartum Doulas: What We Do
Postpartum Doula services are tailored to your family’s needs and include the following:
- Postpartum recovery and self-care
- Exploring parenting styles
- Partner support
- Routine strategizing and building
- Navigating infant feeding & lactation support
- Newborn comfort techniques
- Infant sleep positioning & timing
- Troubleshooting issues in real-time
- Newborn product and safety information
- Day-to-day light housekeeping & laundry
- Meal preparation
- Sibling care
- And so much more
We provide solutions, or we have a personally vetted referral for the solution!
How to get started:
Postpartum & Infant Care Doula Support; how you need it when you need it. CHOOSE FROM:
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Daytime Shifts
Helping you navigate your new daily routine, so you can bond with baby and support your healing.
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Overnight Shifts
The skilled support you need to have a good night of rest as a new family, caring for your needs as parents and your baby.
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24 LIVE-IN CARE
24 Hour Live-In Care for the first 72 hours after you return home with baby, helping you establish a new "normal" with confidence.
I contacted Bay City Doulas a couple months before giving birth, after deciding that having a night doula would help us tremendously as first time parents with no family help in the area. They were quick to respond after I reached out, and Anathea scheduled a call with me to discuss my needs. She promptly connected me to one of their doulas, Kem, who she thought would be a good match. After having a positive video call with Kem, we agreed to move forward, and proceeded to have a fantastic experience over the next eight weeks. It was very clear from day one that Kem is an experienced caregiver to babies and mothers, as she was so gentle and kind with our newborn, as well as supportive of me and my postpartum needs. She was very flexible in following our lead in supporting whatever we needed, and I fully trusted her to care for our newborn while we got some much needed sleep in between feedings. She tracked all the feedings and diaper changes, and was very communicative, reliable, and trustworthy. Kem also checked in every day on my well-being and answered all of my questions related to breastfeeding, my own recovery, etc. Additionally, she taught us some invaluable lessons and positive habits to help settle the baby for sleep that set us up for success as we transitioned out of the newborn phase. Anathea and Cosima reached out regularly to check-in, and were available for any time I needed to contact them. And for any day Kem was not going to be available, a substitute doula was offered so that we would still have support. Highly recommend working with Bay City Doulas!
Absolutely incredible experience with our postpartum doula, Iridian, through Bay City Doulas. She was so kind and helpful in managing the first few weeks of our newborn’s life. She was thoughtful, helpful, and had great tips. We are so grateful to have had her as part of our family during this period. Bay City Doulas also was so helpful in understanding our needs and matching us with someone who was a great fit for our family.
Bay City Doulas and our doula Briana helped us become more confident and well rested, capable parents. As a first time mom, I was a little nervous about asking for help but Briana was experienced, calm and reliable. We were in great hands for 12 weeks!
Bay City doulas was fantastic to work with! They sent over information for several doulas to interview which was great to find a personality that meshed with us. We ended up working with Kem, and Mondi would fill in if Kem wasn't available. Both doulas we're fantastic and really helped us navigate our first month as parents. Being able to pick their brains and get helpful advice was so amazing. Would HIGHLY recommend to everyone.
I had a fantastic experience with Bay City Doulas! Briza was our night doula for 4 weeks and I’m not sure what we would have done without her support. She was clearly a pro with a ton of experience so we trusted her right away with our baby. She was proactive with communication, flexible in changes and I really appreciated her positive, down to earth and encouraging approach. I would highly recommend her to anyone. Anathea and Cosima were also really easy to work with and I had a super positive experience with their whole admin process. They understand the first few weeks of parenting can be hard and try to make everything as seamless as possible.
We used Bay City Doulas for night support for a few weeks after our second child was born. They were flexible, professional and very helpful. Highly recommend their services to anyone with a newborn wanting a good nights sleep or an extra set of hands. Thanks Crystal and Bay City Doulas!
I am so grateful I found Bay City Doula for my postpartum care. Naomi helped me with my baby every night so I am able to get some rest. Not only did she take care of him she is so knowledgeable that she spent the time educating me about different strategies and techniques to help him sleep better and prepare for sleep training. I am so grateful for this service and my postpartum period would have looked very differently if it weren’t for this service.
When searching for a postpartum doula agency, we felt immediately connected with Bay City Doula at the initial intake call with Anathea. She was incredibly down to earth, easy to talk to, and very responsive. And had a doula in mind for us almost right away. I had the opportunity to meet a doula, Karina, on Zoom first and then she came to visit with our family before our son was born. Karina was so warm and easy to connect with. My toddler daughter also took to her right away. Our experience with Karina over 6 weeks was truly amazing. Our newborn son and our family were so well cared for, it felt like Karina was a part of our family. We were so sad when our contract came to an end, but Karina helped our family get into a great routine managing 2 under 2 and really set us up for success. Throughout our contract, Cosima checked in weekly to make sure things were going okay as well. I can’t say enough great things about our experience with Bay City Doulas!
We hired Bay City Doulas to help at night with our second child right after he was born. Our family was looking to have some extra help so we could get more sleep. We worked with Crystal who was our night doula. She arrived prompt every night, always washed her hands, dove in and started helping right away. She bottled fed the baby multiple times a night, swaddled him, changed diapers and helped with the baby’s laundry and bottle cleaning. This allowed us to get a full nights sleep. She never once had to interrupt us, she was amazing at getting him comfortable, fed and back to sleep. She communicated all formula oz, and diaper changes with us each night. Additionally, the staff at bay city doulas was helpful from the very beginning. They connected us to a doula immediately, helped us with the paperwork needed for our benefits administration and called multiple times to check in to see how we were doing. Highly recommend!
We were looking for help overnight to take care of our first child as I recovered from a c-section, and my spouse returned to work, over the nighttime hours. As new parents, we were also looking to learn from the team on care for our newborn. Bay City Doulas exceeded our expectations! We had the pleasure of working with Cheyenne for a little over 4 weeks during my recovery. She was not only highly responsive to our baby's needs but also helped to educate us on best practices for taking care of a newborn. The help through the night reassured us that our baby would be taken care of as I recovered and allowed us to catch up on much-needed sleep after a hectic hospital stay, leading to more quality time with our baby during the day and uneventful recovery. She had a ton of knowledge that she shared, such as (but not limited to) how to trim a newborn's nails, give a bath, and address feeding challenges, etc. Needless to say, she was very reliable and empathetic and brought a calming presence during a potentially stressful time. Both Anathea and Cosima were Bay City Doulas were highly responsive both pre and post-partum. We would strongly recommend Bay City Doulas!
We have had an excellent experience with Bay City Doulas and our doula, Jocelyn. The team at BCD was thorough upfront in finding a good fit for our family. Since bringing our baby home from the hospital, Jocelyn has played a vital role in helping my wife and I find our footing as new parents. It’s not just about her being great with our baby and allowing us to get much needed rest. She has been a true “coach”, teaching us important skills and providing plenty of moral support. It has helped us establish a routine and build confidence in ultimately “going it alone” without the extra assistance. I highly recommend!
We worked with Cheyenne from Bay City Doulas for our first month postpartum. As a first time parent, we completely underestimated how sleep deprived we would be and how steep the learning curve was. It was amazingly reassuring to have Cheyenne for night support. She showed us how to better care for him, sooth him when he was upset, change his diaper more effectively to prevent leakage, etc. I spent many late night pumping sessions just chatting with her about what to expect and ways we can help get him into a routine later on. It was nice being able to get some extra rest knowing that your baby is excellent hands. She made our first month of parenthood much easier and less stressful than it would have been. She is a wonderful person and is incredibly kind and warm. Bay City Doulas was incredible to work with as well. I ended up giving birth two weeks earlier then expected and they were able to provide us replacement Doula support until Cheyenne was available. Each person they sent to us was kind, knowledgeable, and took great care of our baby. The owners also call every week to check in which was really nice. I would definitely work with them and Cheyenne again in the future if we needed more support.
Bay City Doulas provided me excellent postpartum doula services. The owners Anathea and Cosima were professional, friendly, and responsive. They were able to accommodate my requests and paired me up with certified and knowledgeable doulas that fit my needs. The overnight and daytime support offered to me by Maya and Zoe eased the difficult transition into motherhood.
Our baby arrived prematurely, before I'd had time to line up a nighttime doula for help. I contacted Bay City Doulas and others after baby arrived, and Bay City Doulas made the process so smooth, when I was postpartum and underslept. They were able to accommodate me with a tight turnaround. We worked with Ashley for a month. She constantly offered her help even my toddler, and she took care of things that I told her not to worry about because I felt they were out of scope. I never had a moment of hesitation leaving my newborn with her while I got some much needed rest, and she was very sweet with my toddler. I would absolutely recommend Bay City Doulas and Ashley.
We have had a wonderful experience with Bay City Doulas. Right from the start they have been very responsive and efficient in getting us matched with a doula. We were matched with Bethany, who was very accommodating meeting us for multiple video calls ahead of time to get to know us and what we were looking for. She jumped right in when she arrived, asking what she could do to help out with and I felt totally comfortable having her care for our newborn overnight. The weekly check ins with Cosima were also much appreciated. Would highly recommend!
100% worth the expense. We hired Bay City Doulas for support after the birth of our second child and our oldest was only 17 months. Our doula, Shanelle, was the best! She helped us so much with both kids as we navigated becoming a family of four. We will be forever grateful for her and for Bay City Doulas for pairing us together.
We had a fantastic experience with Bay City Doulas and we can’t say enough good things about our doula, Ashley, who joined us 7 weeks postpartum. The Bay City Doulas team was kind and efficient to work with and they offered transparent pricing and scheduling options. The co-owners understood our preferences quickly to find a great match for our family and then checked in weekly -- we felt very supported at an overwhelming time. Our doula Ashley’s calm confidence and hands-on attitude gave me the support, encouragement and rest I needed to get back to feeling like myself. She gave our whole family a much-needed sense of routine and balance, our daughter loved her and she was lovely company for me during what often felt like an isolating time. It made such a difference feeling that someone had our back and we all started getting more sleep (day and night) after she joined us. We are grateful for the restorative effect Ashley had on our family and the great start she gave us as new parents and our daughter as a new human.
Our experience with Bay City Doulas has been amazing. The whole process of planning and setting up with the right doula for me was very easy. Kem was our doula, i can't imagine going through the first few nights from the hospital without her. She was really there for me, always checked in on me and i felt very supported. We had her for the first 2 months and it made our life so much easier. We were able to setup a sleeping schedule for our baby early on and it has really brought sanity to our lives. She always made sure I had water and a snack through the night. The bottles and pump parts were always washed and sanitized making our mornings easier. She really became part of our family. We had dinner as a family every night and enjoyed her company. She always gave me great advice on any of the issues I had. On days I was down I could always just talk to her and she was there to listen to me vent and made me feel better. Post partum is hard as is and hiring Kem was the right choice for us.
My husband and I are so glad we decided to hire a doula for postpartum care for our second child! Overall working with Bay City Doula was great, Anathea and Cosima were very responsive and they would check in every week. We had Breanna and Shanelle come in for 5 hours during the day, 5 days a week for one month and they were amazing, very helpful and great with our baby. I was able to fully trust them with our newborn and catch up on much needed sleep, which I feel definitely helped speed up recovery. They both provided wonderful support, not only through newborn care, washing bottles, doing laundry, vacuuming, tidying up the apartment etc., but they always had words of encouragement for me and tips on taking care of both my newborn and my older toddler. I highly recommend Bay City Doula, you won’t regret it! Many thanks again to Anathea, Cosima, Breanna and Shanelle!!
Bay City Doulas is fantastic! I had a postpartum doula for the first few weeks after the birth of my daughter. She is my fourth child it was my first experience with postpartum care. What a difference it made! Amihan helped with everything from meal prep for the whole family and after school snacks, breastfeeding support, laundry help and baby care that helped me get sleep and spend quality time with my older kids. Thanks to her I was able to enter this new phase feeling supported, rested and present. Bay city doulas as an agency was caring, organized and very attentive to my specific wishes in the postpartum period. Highly, highly recommend!
Anathea and Cosima (the co-owners) were simply amazing to work with throughout our entire experience with Bay City Doulas. We needed last minute night support after our original night doula had to be replaced. With newborn twins, we were desperate and they really came through for us. We ended up extending our contract multiple times and they went above and beyond to help us make that happen. We especially appreciated that they would almost always be able to provide a back-up doula if something came up with our regular doula. The doulas were all fantastic -- so supportive, kind and helpful. We wouldn't have survived those first few months without the Bay City Doulas, so we're forever grateful!
I had a wonderful experience with Bay City Doulas. I was late to the game in finding a night doula and they were super responsive and accommodating. The process was super smooth, and I felt supported throughout. They called every Monday to ask about how my experience was. I worked with Cheyenne and Ashley and both were a pleasure. They took wonderful care of my daughter, provided specific recommendations on how to get her to sleep longer stretches, were very sweet to my older daughter, and enabled me to get some much needed rest. I never worried about leaving my daughter in their care.
I reached out in need of sleep training support for my 9 month old son. The intake process was super informative and supportive. I was paired with Kailey for two weeks and we couldn't be happier. My baby boy is sleeping through the night now and I'm finally getting much needed rest. From start to finish, my needs were met quickly (and even over the weekend) and everyone I've spoken to has been so professional, supportive, and caring. Thank you so much!
Crystal was amazing - we could NOT have survived without her. She helped us for about 4.5 weeks, and did everything from diaper changes, putting our son to sleep, and washing and cleaning his bottles. Without her we averaged around 3 hours of sleep a night, and with her, about 6.5! Life changing. Super respectful of our house as well.
Worked with Cheyenne for first 4 weeks of life, 5 days a week. Very pleasant to work with and helped us get some much needed sleep by looking after our baby overnight, helping with dishes and laundry. Provided newborn care tips/advice when solicited. Was communicative on rare days she was running behind. Was out sick for 2 days and the team readily offered a replacement doula and gave opportunity to extend beyond 4 weeks if needed. Appreciated the weekly check-ins also by the company.
Bay City Doulas is Amazing!! I honestly cannot imagine my journey into motherhood without the support of this team. Anathea supported me from the day we connected and ensured that my family, my baby, and most importantly I had everything needed to care for ourselves. We were matched with Doula Kem and instantly she became part of our family. She was loving and graceful. Having a newborn and learning to breastfeed is a big adventure, but on top of that I endured many complications with my BF journey. Kem was there by my side. She never made me feel judged or insecure about voicing my needs, opinions, or asking for advice. She took amazing care of me so that I could care for our daughter. I would 100% recommend a Bay City Doulas to ALL new moms.
Bay City Doulas was extremely helpful with the birth of our first child! Baby arrived much earlier than expected and Anathea helped us find night coverage and additional coverage with no problem and on incredibly short notice. I’d been struggling to find Postpartum night doula support in San Francisco and they came threw for us. Katy and Shanelle were great doulas and extremely helpful. They really helped us get settled, know more about baby care, and let us sleep!! I cannot recommend this service enough, you will not regret getting all the help you can and having peace of mind the baby is okay all night while you sleep. Having that extra help do doing dishes, laundry, etc was just an amazing feeling during the first few weeks Postpartum, especially if you’re recovering from giving birth (either labor or c-section)! Thanks again to Anathea and the doulas at Bay City Doulas!
We had a great experience with Bay City Doulas! Anathea and Cosima are both warm and professional and helped us find a perfect match: Katy. Right away we felt comfortable with Katy in our home taking care of our little one. She answered our many questions, helped us troubleshoot growth spurts, and helped us when we were struggling with daytime naps. The foundation Katy helped us build with night sleep has made it so our 5 month old now sleeps through the night no problem. This was the best money we’ve ever spent and we will absolutely be back with our next little one!
I would highly recommend Bay City Doulas! They are receptive to your needs and willing to work with you through any situation. Whenever we had an unexpected issue come up, Anathea and Cosima were able to move around the schedule and coverage to meet our needs as best as possible. I appreciated their weekly check-ins asking for feedback and their prompt responses and communication. Most importantly, their doulas are incredible people who are knowledgeable and experienced professionals. I felt super supported through the entire process and was confident our baby was in good hands. Thank you!!
Bay City Doulas was extremely helpful for our family from day one. They helped match us with a night doula, Yasmin, who was with us for 6 weeks and helped out a tremendous amount. I highly recommend Bay City Doulas and would use them again for future needs!
Our doula Katy has been wonderful for our family during the period after first bringing baby home. Helpful, kind and great with our son I would recommend Bay City Doulas to anyone and would use them again!
We heard about Bay city doulas from a friend and we can’t recommend the team enough for their kind postpartum care for mum, father and our newborn! Don’t hesitate, the team are fantastic and their care will make the fourth trimester and newborn haze much more manageable as you adjust to being new parents! Anathea & Cosima were responsive and inquisitive on our needs from the get go and as business owners, checked in with us throughout our four week support period as new parents. Breanna was our fantastic doula - she was so kind and texted with me during my hospital stay which was so comforting. She also helped my husband and i transition as new parents by providing great tips /coaching with our newborn, and also looking after our baby so we could sleep/eat/recover over the four weeks we had her support. Our baby was well looked after and we’re so glad we had Breanna in the early newborn madness. We miss Breanna already!
Bay City Doulas is simply amazing. We were having issues with Doulas from another doula agency backing out of contracts and covering the first few weeks of our second child's arrival. We literally had dozens of interviews over several months leading up to delivery with the other agency. In stark contrast, Anathea responded immediately when we desperately reached out to find coverage and she immediately instilled confidence when we were on the verge of giving up. All it took was one interview with Stacy and we were in contract. Support has been wonderful and 10 hours of support per night is an absolute godsend when you first get back from the hospital. Cosima was very diligent in following up every week looking for feedback and genuinely inquiring on how we're doing. We could not be more grateful for Bay City Doulas and would hire them again in a heartbeat. They went above and beyond to identify someone who is comfortable driving to our Santa Cruz mountain home. Don't waste your time or money with anyone else.
Bay City Doulas is awesome! We're about to end our time with our postpartum doula, Komal, and it's so bittersweet because I love having her here but she's also set us up for success with night sleep with our 2 month old. I filled out the contact form on their website when my daughter was 4 weeks old and we were struggling with sleep/fussiness and got a call back from Anathea within a couple hours. She was so understanding and knowledgeable and got me connected with Komal for a consultation within 2 days (and this is rare bc most doulas are booked well in advance!) Cosima has checked in with us each week to make sure everything was going well, which is such a nice touch. Gosh and what can I say about Komal!? I feel like words are not enough because she has been such a positive light in our household over the last 6 weeks. She comes 4 nights/week and her shift is from 9pm to 7am. At first I thought that may be too much, but I can't imagine the week without her now and am so glad that's what we committed to because she is that amazing. She's always on time, is so positive and has such good energy, not only cares for the baby but also for me, and helps with things around the house like dishes and folding laundry. My baby was quite fussy in the beginning and it didn't phase Komal at all; she was a pro handling it. She always comes with tips on how to improve sleep (even naps) and feeds/supply. We also usually just chit chat for an hour or so once she arrives, which I've really looked forward to. It's so nice to have another person to connect with especially in these early postpartum days. I would use Bay City Doulas and Komal again in a second! Cannot recommend them enough.
Highly recommend working with Bay City Doulas - experience could not have been better from the business side as well as the care that our family received. We used them for our first child, and after the first night I knew it was the best investment I could have made. The business owners are organized and professional, with weekly check in calls and communication and our doula, Yasmine, taught us so much about getting our baby to sleep well early on and navigating the first month in general. Cannot recommend Yasmine enough - she is kind, professional, punctual and a true baby whisperer who shared with us what she does so we could learn as well for nights she was not there. After doing much research on doula options in the Bay Area, Bay City Doulas not only stood out for the reasons I listed above, but because they have many doulas working for them and as babies can come early or late, they are able to always provide coverage which gave us peace of mind. Our original doula had a life change last minute and despite being a week out from my due date we still were given another amazing doula, Yasmine, and the process was simple and stress free on our end. You will not be disappointed!
First time parents. We knew we’ll before getting pregnant we wanted a night nurse or postpartum doula. We decided to go with an agency for the flexibility incase someone got sick (covid) or things changed. Things certainly changed for us. I ended up giving birth 2 months early. Anathea and Cosima were flexible with us changing up the schedule due to our circumstances. We worked with Breanna and she was great. She’s also just a great person in general. We couldn’t have navigated these first few months without them. Anathea and Cosima make an effort to call each week to check in and make sure everything is going well. I would recommend them for anyone needing some support.
We used Bay City Doulas for 16 overnight sessions when our son was between the ages of 2 months and 5 months. The service is extremely well managed and run, which gave us confidence in the quality of the doulas before they even arrived. The service admins take the time to get an understanding of your needs and then checks in on a weekly basis to make sure your care is going well and discuss any changes in your baby's needs. Brittany was our first doula and she was great. Our son had silent reflux, and Brittany was able to find ways to keep him calm and happy at night so we could sleep. She also made recommendations for various equipment we could use to help (thank you for the tip on the husher!) keep him calm during the night. Our second doula, Georgia, was very experienced and helpful as well, allowing us to get some much-needed sleep. Navigating doulas and doula services can be daunting as you're either preparing for your child to come or especially if you're like us, and desperately searching for a good night's sleep after your little one has arrived. We recommend Bay City Doulas as that trusted and organized service with prices that are on par with quality doulas in the area.
We are so happy with the service we received from Bay City Doulas. Our postpartum doula Yasmine came on overnight shifts several times per week and was instrumental in getting our second child on a nighttime sleep routine and schedule from the time she was four days old! I wish I had known about Bay City Doulas when our first child was born. Yasmine was always on time, professional, kind, and willing to help with household tasks whenever we needed it. Co-owners Cosima and Anathea were always courteous, professional, helpful and communicative. I highly recommend Bay City Doulas to first-time and second-time (and beyond) parents!
We had a wonderful experience with Bay City Doulas. We contacted them late in the game and they were able to pair us with a doula without a day or two. Our doula, Yasmine, was absolutely wonderful! All in all BCD helped make our first month home with baby so much better.
When my husband and I found out we were having twins, we knew we would need nighttime help in the early postpartum months. I feel so lucky to have found Bay City Doulas, as they helped us find THE BEST postpartum night doula for our family! Cosima and Anathea really listened to our needs and matched us with an angel of a woman, Kem White, to help us get through the tender and sleepless early postpartum nights. I felt very supported by Cosima and Anathea throughout the entire contract. Kem quickly helped us get on a seamless night routine with our twins. I truly think we would still be a mess if we never had her help from the beginning. She seemed to always know what we or the babies needed, while keeping things calm, comfortable, and quiet throughout the night. I trusted her to keep my babies happy and safe and I was able to get some much needed rest. She also helped me process some big feelings and challenges by just being there and encouraging me along the way. I 100% recommend Bay City Doulas and will be forever thankful for their support!
As a first time father, hiring Cosima And Bay City Doulas was the best decision I ever made. Cosima is sweet, honest and more than anything a master of her craft. It was great to have an expert on call for you to show you how to do things and cater to your specific needs and wants. I had plenty of questions and scenarios that I went over with Cosima and she was happy to walk us through every process. Having a new born really consists of almost no sleep so having Cosima and Bay City Doulas as an ace up my sleeve was a godsend. In addition to showing us the way, and recommending particular products/solutions when I asked, she was also available to take care of our baby and give us time off, Day or Night. I would highly recommend Cosima and Bay City Doulas to all new parents in the area.
If you’re pregnant I highly recommend securing a postpartum doula with Bay City Doulas now. Those early days of parenthood can be extremely stressful, especially if you don’t have a lot of family nearby who can help. In the hospital we had a ton of nurses answering questions and helping out, but at home we were all alone. Luckily we had secured a doula who made our transition into parenthood MUCH easier. Anathea and Cosima were extremely attentive and professional and set us up with Kem who ended up being the perfect fit for us. Yes she was an extra pair of hands and helped us get some much-needed rest, but she was also a wealth of knowledge and emotional support. She helped us out with so much – cooking, laundry, baby’s first bath, sleep tips, swaddling, and more. We felt so much more confident knowing we could lean on Kem’s experience. We also had the benefit of an agency, which meant when Kem was sick we got a backup at the last minute for uninterrupted service. If you’re even considering postpartum care, give Bay City Doulas a call!
We evaluated several doula agencies, and Bay City Doulas really stood out — not only in their professionalism and responsiveness, but also their warmth and genuine sense of caring. The process of choosing a doula from their portfolio was smooth: they told us who was available, and we had a Zoom interview with the doula of our choice. Once we had engaged the doula, our point person Cosima checked in with us personally to make sure that our needs were being met and there were no issues. Billing was straightforward, and rescheduling was never an issue. On the whole, nothing but praise and appreciation for Bay City Doulas' work — they are an amazing resource for soon-to-be and new parents. We had a wonderful experience with our postpartum night doula via Bay City Doulas, Katy. She supported us 10h/night three times a week for over three months. She was a delight to have in our home: she fit right in and we were very comfortable having her around. She was never late, always asked what was the most pressing issue we needed help with, and had a lot of useful advice for us novice parents. She helped us troubleshoot various small issues. Her demeanor was always calm and comforting, and it was very obvious that caring for small children is her true passion.
Hiring a postpartum night doula was the best decision for our twin girls. We had a doula twice a week and everyday we would count down until the next night they were coming. This helped us get through hard days! Overall, working with the agency was great, very responsive and fast and they would check in every week. We had Natalie the first 4 weeks. She was incredible! She provided wonderful support not just through caring for our twins, washing bottles, folding laundry, cooking breakfast etc. but she always provided such encouraging words of support and tips! And an added plus was she brought tasty treats from local SF bakeries. 🙂 she was a real highlight in my postpartum recovery which were some tough days!! We tried to extend the contract past 4 weeks but she was no longer available and we were assigned to Breanna. Breanna was awesome, super easygoing and calm. The twins loved her! She was always punctual and I appreciated her flexibility with shifting arrival time based on their feeding schedule that day. She knew how to handle 2 babies at the same time. And made tandem feeding look easy. Overall, we had a wonderful experience!
They swooped in and saved us. We all experienced the pandemic. We all have our stories of how it affected us while pregnant, birthing and postpartum. We hired a doula in March for our 3rd baby due in October. Why so early? Because our first experience with a night doula we felt like it wasn’t what it should have been. So we hired based on a reference from word of mouth from an acquaintance. She ended up having to send some one we didn’t plan on having as our doula. But we were stuck. We had no help, no family no support. I had an 18 month at home and an 8 year old distance learning. The replacement could not work the hours we required, so we terminated the contract. But we were charged for first and last month and she kept the deposit. It was horrible. I was in a panic because I had just stayed 10 day in the hospital after birth due to eclampsia. I also have an autoimmune disease that hinders my ability to do pretty much daily tasks when stressed. I was experiencing PPD. The story is long because when we reached out to Bay City Doulas, they did everything in their power to help me get the support I needed. Once we confirmed care, I was able to work with Anathea and Kem. They were both extremely cautious with covid. They wore a mask at all times, even while they slept. I felt safe and confident with their ability to tend to my son for the first 4 months of his life. He had a steady sleeping arrangement which made it easier for me when the contract was finished. He wasn’t sleeping through the night for me, but they made me aware what he was doing, was biologically normal sleep and that helped me a lot. There’s so much pressure on parents to have a baby that sleeps through the night. They were both very kind and caring. Always went with what I planned and gave me advice when I needed it. They were there to listen, to send me back to bed and to care for my child while I healed and gave my child the comfort and support they needed while I was unable to physically attend to them. Even in the nights I was completely out of it mentally, they were gentle and understanding. I wish they were around for my first and second because my recovery would have been much more stable than it was.
We honestly can’t say enough positive things about Bay City Doulas. We hired them as our postpartum night doulas for 11 weeks after the birth of our first son, Bryce. We first booked for 6 weeks, 3 nights a week, and then extended by 5 more weeks because their support was just so incredible. We had the opportunity to work with three of their doulas and loved them all. If you’re thinking it’s a splurge to get night support we’re here to tell you it is worth every cent. DO IT. Cosima was with us for the first 6 weeks and we became fast friends. She knew all the tricks to soothe our teeny one and we learned from her how to handle nights. Since I got to be with her for 3 feedings a night, she helped me with breast feeding positioning and understanding what was normal/not normal behavior. She was genuinely invested in how Bryce was doing and helped us to understand not only what was going on with his behavior during nights but also days. We looked forward to her visits every time she came. Soon after she started coming, my husband was getting a full night’s sleep and I was getting solid sleep between every feeding. Anyone with a newborn knows this is a huge deal - it is NOT easy to filter out the grunts, gurgles, and choking sounds. She taught us soothing methods and helped us feel comfortable with what was normal. Once our 6 weeks with Cosima was up we transferred to Zoie for 3 weeks and again had an incredible experience. Zoie was so easy to get along with and so helpful to us with little Bryce. Bryce had had a few nights of 5-6 hours of sleep but was not consistently making it this long. Once Zoie came along he seemed to have no trouble. She is so far the only person who has been able to change his diaper without waking him up. We wrapped up our night doula experience with two awesome weeks with Breanna too. We will be booking them well in advance when of the arrival of our next little one (whenever that may be… Bryce is only 5 months old now ;-)).
Was delighted with our experience with Bay City Doulas, specifically the services from Breanna were amazing. She was on-time, professional and capable! The team here were flexible with the contract and above all communicative throughout the entire process. If we have another baby, we will reach out! Thank you for the excellent service!
Fantastic Team, so professional and well-organised. Zoey was absolutely amazing! Thank you!
I had a wonderful experience with Christie. I delivered during this pandemic and was alone at the hospital, without sleep for 48 hrs. She came to my help on a very short notice and helped me with my newborn. Took care of me and my baby like a family. She has an extremely calm personality and is undoubtedly very experienced with newborns. Would recommend her a thousand times.
Kenya was wonderful. She provided overnight support for 3 months starting at 4 days a week then tapering down to 2 days a week. Even before the baby came, Cosima and Anathea were extremely helpful consulting about what to expect and providing a lot of advice. I can't recommend them all enough.