Reviews & Results

Doulas by the bay has amazing doulas and they’re always responsive. I’d recommend them to all mothers with new borns – I have in fact already.

Our doula was Rachel Marando. She’s the best. She’s knowledgable, caring, and thoughtful. We’re first time parents who didn’t know what we were doing at all, so Rachel was a lifesaver for us.

Even before our boy was born, Rachel visited us to help set up the nursery. She gave us great recommendations from swaddles we should buy to butt cream we needed, so we didn’t have to sift through tens of options on Amazon. She helped us save so much time.

I had a lot of trouble breastfeeding at the beginning but Rachel was there for me every step of the way. She’d help make recommendations, calm the baby, and connect me with a lactation consultant that could see me the very next day.

Rachel not only took care of my son well, but also made my life sane. She washed bottles and did laundry in between feedings at night without me asking. It was a great help.

If you’re looking for a doula, get Rachel. She’s the best!

Tina W.

San Jose, CA

My husband and I decided to hire a postpartum doula to help us out during the nights for our second baby. Shakila and Yesenia from Doulas by the Bay were very helpful in explaining the process and setting up interviews for us, and they quickly connected us to three doulas. While all the doulas we talked to seemed very nice and passionate about their jobs, we ultimately chose Gabriela who we seemed to gel with the best.

Gabriela was awesome! It’s very clear she’s taken care of a lot of babies, and she gave us a lot of great advice in addition to her help. Most notably, she helped us with feeding and latching issues and showed us how to read our baby’s various cues for hunger and sleep. She also got our baby on a good sleeping schedule. She was also great about washing the baby bottles and pumping supplies and folding laundry, which helped me out a lot. Our family feels very grateful that she covered the nights so that I could get some much needed rest; it really made a difference in my mood and made the newborn phase easier. I had a very positive experience all around.

Jennifer Y.

Los Altos, CA

My husband and I recently hired Samara as our ‘sibling doula’ to help care for our 18-month old son at our home while we went to the hospital to deliver our second baby.

Samara was a pleasure to work with – she was responsive and communicative in the weeks leading up to labor, flexible with her schedule to help meet our needs, and several weeks before my due date, came over to go on a walk with us and meet our son, who immediately took to her. While Samara was watching our son, she checked in with us on what he was up to and sent photos. Our son was super happy and clearly well-loved while we were gone.

We so appreciate Samara’s support and would absolutely work with her again in the future.

Lynsay S.

San Francisco, CA

I had a fantastic experience with Doulas By the Bay. Shakila and her team are a thorough professionals and very knowledgable about everything related to postpartum and babies including feeds, lactation and baby sleep. I hired Shakila’s night doulas for a period of 6 weeks after my baby was born. In that time, I came to trust them a lot. I worked with Elaine, Quelen and Shakila herself. They are all extremely kind, non-judgement about the wishes and choices of the moms related to feeds and sleep and very considerate about mom health. Elaine and Quelen even assisted me as I was trying to establish independent sleeping habits for my few weeks old baby.

Also all the doulas were very open to sharing immunization records – they even got a Tdap booster for my family.

I will hire Shakila’s team again in a heartbeat. Look no further if you are thinking of hiring a night doula to help out during those tough initial weeks. They are the village you need.

Chitra G.

San Francisco, CA

We were recommended Doulas by the Bay by friends that had had a great experience with the company and they lived up to every expectation. Shakila was our night doula 3 nights a week for ~5 weeks and she did a wonderful job helping us get as much sleep as possible on the nights she was here and helped our little man stretch his night time sleep longer over the weeks. She is so sweet, kind and caring and our bub was always so happy to see her when she came to our house. She was also fantastic at providing advice when we had questions, was very COVID conscious and cautious and we always felt 100% happy and safe to have her helping with our son. Cannot recommend enough.

Michelle H.

Riverside, CA

My husband and I wanted to find postpartum support for our son since we did not have the option to have family come help due to COVID. We are first time parents and knew we had no idea what we were doing, so we knew we would have questions and need support for the first few weeks after our son was born. Doulas by the bay was super helpful in connecting us with a Armanthia who was a perfect fit for us!

Armanthia was supper supportive during the weeks leading up to the birth and helped me with pregnancy challenges. She was able to come on the first night we were home from the hospital and helped me navigate postpartum challenges, breastfeeding, and baby development. She was responsive, flexible, and most of all incredibly warm and caring. She helped our baby develop good sleep habits and helped me get the sleep I needed for recovery!

We worked with Armanthia for 2 months and the entire experience has been absolutely amazing and I’m beyond grateful for her help! We already recommend both Armanthia and Doulas by the bay to friends who have asked us for recommendations and would work with both of them again if we are ever fortunate enough to have the opportunity. We really can’t thank Armanthia enough for all her help!

Kelly G.

San Francisco, CA

When we had our 2nd baby, we were so lucky to have the team of Shakila & Rachel to guide us through the first 3 months with our newborn (Shakila 1x a week and Rachel 4x a week). Shakila is extremely knowledgeable, professional and truly a baby whisperer. She was booked with another family during the time we needed her, but she was able to squeeze in 1 night a week with us and highly recommended her sister, Rachel, for the other nights of coverage. We were so pleased that we did this as Rachel also surpassed our expectations for a doula. She was always on time and found ways to be helpful — tidying the baby’s space, doing laundry, cleaning bottles & pump parts, recommending products, etc. She was always so gentle and loving with our baby. By the end of our time together, she knew my baby so well and my baby was most comfortable with her.

While the time they were with us was brief, they left such a lasting & meaningful imprint on us. They gave us the ability to really enjoy our two children and helped us feel confident and so much less anxious during those first crazy months. And we will be forever grateful for that.

By 4 months, our baby easily moved to 7-9 hour stretches of sleep…and then 10+ hours by 5 months. She is now 8 almost months old and still such a great sleeper, and I attribute this success to the incredible (and gentle) sleep training they gave her! I cannot say enough good things about Doulas by the Bay.

Celeste H.

El Cerrito, CA