WOW, Melanie is a godsend. We worked with Melanie for our second kid, and as second time parents we heard how helpful postpartum care could be but were skeptical of the utility of overnight care given our goals to exclusively breastfeed. Melanie changed the direction of my postpartum experience with her calm, warm spirit and created a confident space for our family to thrive.

First and foremost, we have full faith in her abilities and wealth of knowledge of female care (pre/post natal), infant care, and birthing. We could truly REST and turn our brains off when she cared for the baby, which was a luxury for us. She also helped me process my birth experience and the wackiness that is a second kid (who was a completely different temperament than our first!).

Second, our baby adored her, and Melanie gave us tips on how to better support her rapid development and establish good habits in the first 10 weeks of her life. She gave suggestions where appropriate and also worked with our goals to make everyone's experience better.

Lastly, Melanie was a kind and fun person to chat with during the cluster feeding marathons in the early days of breastfeeding when I couldn't see straight nor remember my own name. Someone I looked forward to spending time with every day :)

Every doula has their own way of nurturing, and it can look different depending on your needs. I offer perinatal, birth and postpartum support both as a stand alone service or as a package. I love supporting families ‘Full Spectrum’ through their entire journey, a practice that allows me to be completely focused on one family at a time, and allows me to really get to know my clients and offer them a continuum of care that I find invaluable.

 My offerings include:

• Perinatal Support 

• Hospital, birthing center and home labor and birth support and advocacy 

• Planned and unplanned Cesarian support

• Overnight Doula care

• Infant education and support

• Body feeding and bottle feeding support and education

• Post-Frenectomy Recovery Support for tongue and lip tie

• Emotional Support for birth or adoptive parents 

• Providing resources and referrals when appropriate

• Support for detection of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders

• Sleep Counseling support

If you could create the perfect person to entrust your newborn baby with, it would be Melanie. She was so kind, loving, observant, and diligent. We communicated great right from the start. She prioritized my mental health and sleep as the mother along with the care of our baby. The nights she worked with us were just incredible. I will recommend her to every expecting person I know. 

Melanie was our doula for my 2nd child. I didn't have a doula with my first child and can absolutely say that Melanie was a huge part of the reason my 2nd labor and delivery went so smoothly. I had a lot of concerns and worries from my first birthing experience. Melanie was patient, listened, and offered her input in a calm and caring way. I was induced and it took a long time for me to go into active labor. Melanie had helpful suggestions for trying to get baby into the right position- so much so that I am convinced she helped my labor progress thanks to some of the positions we tried. She also provided little candles and aromatherapy for when I was laboring in the tub, which was a nice touch. I got an epidural and Melanie also had great ideas for positioning when I had the epidural. Ultimately, Melanie was not only a part of our 2nd child's birth, but also a part of my own healing from a traumatic first birthing experience. I can't recommend her enough! -Abby A.

As first time parents navigating the complexities of natural birth, my husband and I are incredibly grateful that Melanie was a part of our birth experience. When I first spoke with Melanie I knew that she was the right choice for us. Her energy was calm and she brought the right balance to the table: evidence-based information and an understanding of the profound, transformative power of birth. Her values of inclusion for all people were also important to us. Melanie’s prenatal visit, where she answered our questions and walked us through what to expect, helped to calm our nerves. During early labor, her presence and knowledge of Spinning Babies techniques helped me push through. She came over, guided me through a handful of exercises, and a few hours later it was time for us to head to the hospital. In our birthing suite, she was on standby to do whatever I needed. She massaged my sore body, helped make sure my husband was taking care of himself, and advocated for my right to give consent. After our baby was born she helped us get our first latch for breastfeeding. I will forever cherish the photographs she took, particularly a video of my husband holding his child for the first time. Melanie’s postpartum support, as a first time parent with no family in the area, has been crucial. I texted her an SOS message one morning and she came for a visit later that afternoon to guide us through all the things we were struggling with. Even though her service for us is technically complete, I have reached out to her several times for help, and she has responded with a genuine attitude of care and support. All around, Melanie brought stability to an otherwise hectic time for our family. We would absolutely recommend her doula services for anyone looking for a natural birth experience.