SUPPORTING THE SEISMIC SHIFT

INTO PARENTHOOD

Congratulations on the growth of your family, and your transition into a new chapter of life! We know the excitement and joy that you’re feeling, and we’ve been honored to celebrate it with our clients. We also know that welcoming a sweet-smelling, diaper-filling, non-sleeping bundle of love into your steady and predictable lives is not for the faint of heart! And for that reason, we refer to the perinatal period as “the seismic shift.”

Seismic /ˈsīz-mik/ (adjective) “of enormous proportions or effect”

Birth and early parenting change us. Not just a little, not just for the moment, but forever and the good news is… It’s usually for the better! But similar to an earthquake, the seismic shift that comes with it, can destroy everything in its path.

But what if we told you there was a way to prevent some of the shock and upheaval that is associated with birth, post-birth recovery, and the infant care adjustment period? 

boston area doulas

You are tough. But you don’t have to do it alone. Imagine having the support of a compassionate, evidence-based, non-judgmental doula. Someone who:

  • deeply understands the changes that you are navigating in pregnancy, birth and postpartum,

  • has clear and concise knowledge about what is “normal” and what is beyond the scope of normal,

  • eases your mind, and also provides vetted professional referrals when, or if they become necessary,

  • shows up for you, and creates a space where you could safely and comfortably process your birth experience, and adjust to your new responsibilities as a parent,

  • has no judgment about your birth or parenting approach, but who is skilled, knowledgeable and experienced in all approaches, and excited to help you find the approach that works for your family.

Those people are Boston Area Doulas.

We help new and expecting parents find calm, confidence, strength…and their inner Bad Ass.

OUR DOULAS

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    Evidence-Based

    The informative conversations and resources you can expect from Boston Area Doulas will always and only be backed by evidence. We know that the information you seek for making informed decisions is not based on the opinions of others. If it were, you’d just consult with random strangers on the internet. You insist on reputable sources and we insist on our team staying current on all things relevant to pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

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    Non-Judgmental

    Look, everywhere you turn, you’re literally staring into the face of judgment. From whether or not you find out your baby’s sex during pregnancy, the color you paint your nursery, how you feed your baby, or what kind of diapers you choose. You name it, someone has an opinion about it. At Boston Area Doulas we see you as the loving, caring, family-focused badass parents that you are. Our support is always judgment free.

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    compassionate

    Platitudes like, “It’ll be ok” and “Don’t worry about it” are condescending and lack compassion. Our doulas come to this work because of a deeply rooted passion to support others through the delicate cycle of life that is growing a family. This desire to support others comes from a place of compassion and requires us to have a strong ability to attune to the needs of others. Providing compassionate support is what we were put on the earth for.

OUR SERVICES

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Postpartum doula Boston
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MEET KATHLEEN, FOUNDER OF BOSTON AREA DOULAS

doulas Boston

Hi, I’m Kathleen! I am a certified birth and postpartum doula, certified infant feeding specialist, prenatal educator, and Body Ready Method pro.

Growing up, I had childhood aspirations of becoming an astronaut or comedian—understanding the universe or making people laugh. After college, I became a middle school teacher. I later earned a Masters in Teaching and had a rewarding 15-year education career— dedicating myself to teaching students, coaching teachers, and helping others recognize their own strengths. After the birth of my second child (and the amazing support of a much-needed doula), it became crystal clear that supporting and educating families as they birthed their babies and found their way as new parents was ultimately what I was put here to do.

Today, I love working with clients to help them find the best doula for their family.

Contact us today. ‪(857) 600-1907‬, kathleen@bostonareadoulas.com

Your pregnancy, birth and parenting experience matters. This seismic shift is best supported when an expert, in this case, a doula from Boston Area Doulas, attunes to your natural frequency, and helps you implement strategies and systems that are based on your desires. This is a life process that is unique to you. Your care must be equally as unique.

What People Are Saying

  • "We cannot say enough wonderful things about Kathleen and her team. Working with a doula during pregnancy, for our birth, and postpartum ensured we were truly present, in control, and supported in every experience. Kathleen is communicative, nurturing, and a wealth of knowledge - she tailored our doula services to exactly what we were seeking. Our birth doula was Avery, and because of her coaching and expertise, I was able to have an unmedicated hospital delivery - even after being induced with Pitocin. I am so proud of myself, and I don't think my wife and I will ever get tired of reminiscing about that day. I often refer to our labor and delivery experience as "fun" - we are SO lucky for that."

    -Birth and Postpartum Client, Childbirth and Newborn Care Class Participant

  • “Lisa expertly tended to her needs including feeding, comforting, diaper changes and more, but her support for our daughter far exceeded baseline childcare. Lisa engaged our daughter in stimulating activity, she assessed and provided guidance for our daughter’s feeding as my wife breastfed and then later when we transitioned to formula-feeding, and she leveraged years of experience to provide critical input on so many topics related to infant childcare...She cared for my wife and me as her own, supporting my wife’s healing both physically and emotionally following the birth experience. We grew to view Lisa as a member of our family over this short period, and we couldn’t have made it through without her!”

    — Postpartum Client

  • “Randi was instrumental in our postpartum experience. She helped us navigate early parenthood in countless tangible and intangible ways. Some examples include helping us troubleshoot different nursing positions, pumping, milk storage, baby wearing (she even brought a different style from home for us to try!), baby bath time, swaddling, and early childhood development activities. She helped us set up some of our baby gear that we hadn’t had a chance to figure out yet. When we had a last minute medical appointment for our daughter, Randi packed our diaper bag for us (which was still in its original wrapping!) and watched our pups for us while we were gone. She made sure that we ate, showered, and slept. By the end of the six weeks, we felt much more independent and confident taking care of our baby. I highly recommend working with Randi during your postpartum period. She goes the extra mile, meets you where you are, and is simply an invaluable resource to have on your team.”

    - Postpartum Client

  • “What I most appreciated about working with Kathleen is her approach - she's both thorough and thoughtful, balancing sharing all of the information, data and analysis we asked for, alongside empathy, emotional support and consciousness of who we are and what we need. I didn't realize how much I needed that kind of support until we started doing our sessions with Kathleen. I feel like she provided incredible balance for us, and opened up the way my husband and I were thinking about the rest of our pregnancy, our birth and the 4th trimester too.”

    —Childbirth Class, Postpartum Planning Consult and Birthing Planning Consult Client

  • "Marie was so warm and kind to us and our baby. I trusted her instantly and she taught us a few things we would have never known. So grateful to have had Marie join our family for such an overwhelming time, she made all the difference!"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "We can't over-emphasise just how valuable the presence of Betty and Reese was during the birth. More than we could ever have imagined beforehand, they offered critical support at crucial junctures during a very long labour. They were calm, yet confident in encouraging Sarah and myself along. Their presence helped ground us both during a stressful birthing experience that ultimately ended better than well. We feel so lucky to have met them both and have had them at our sides throughout the final stages of the pregnancy and birth. What a privilege it has been."

    -Birth Client

  • "Working with Kara was the most important thing I did in my entire birth experience. Not only was she calm, comforting, and helpful during my birth - she coached me in a way that felt tailored to me - she made me feel WAY more confident about taking care of my baby when so brought her home. There are so many simple things first time parents don’t know and Kara helped me learn her cry cues, with breastfeeding, bath time, and so many more things."

    -Birth and Postpartum Client

  • "Everyone was wonderful! They showed an extra level of care and concern for both baby Alice and me. For example, at night Kelly would take instructional videos to show me different swaddling techniques and send them in the morning. She would arrive each evening and sit at the kitchen table and ask about our day, give observations on her prior nights with Alice, and most impactful, would chat with me about how I was feeling. I couldn't wait until she would come at 8:30pm - always a ray of sunshine and so supportive of me in a time that can feel all about the baby. I got the sense she WANTED to be here, not that she HAD to be here. On extra tough nights, she'd give me a hug and tell me that everything would be ok. I'd go upstairs feeling relieved and a sense of safety."

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Just have to say how amazing it was having Randi, Kara, and Elena support us-- they are superstar angels in my book"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "There are no words to express how grateful I am to have found [Boston Area Doulas] and especially Lisa. She was the sunshine to my dark days in the beginning. She was just absolutely wonderful. I really don’t know what I would have done this time around without her.”

    -Postpartum Client

  • “Sarayu was really supportive as a doula. She made sure to talk with me about what I wanted for my birth plans. I really appreciated her availability and the time she took to discuss the plans. As a first time mother, I was nervous and had no idea what birth would be like, so knowing I had her in my corner gave me a lot of confidence. I was able to ask her questions about what would happen at the hospital and make some plans from that. Things went smoothly overall in the end, and it was reassuring to know I had Sarayu in my corner.”

    — Birth Client

  • “We’re so lucky and happy to have this kind of support [from Heather] during this wild ride! No one else would have fit the bill!!!” "Heather was fantastic! We feel so supported, which helps boost our confidence! She’s been super attentive to texts too.”

    -Birth and Postpartum Client

  • “Preparing with you during our session was really helpful and it helped my wife and I me ask a lot of questions and advocate for how I wanted things to go. I used some of your positioning tips and my nurse actually knew about the knees in/ankles out positioning... Thank you again for your time during our consult with you and for your help in preparing me for delivery!”

    -Birth Planning Consult Client

  • “Can't say enough about how much we enjoyed working with Jenny [Putnam] throughout my pregnancy and especially during labor/delivery. I had many moments during labor that I thought I could not physically go on and she was so supportive and encouraging. She made the entire experience empowering and positive. Our baby boy Ronan came into this world healthy and right on time. We are so grateful for Jenny for helping my husband Brett and I stay calm and focused.”

    -Birth Client

  • "Kathleen empowered me to feel more confident about caring for my baby. Kathleen helped me to trust my instincts, and as a result, I spend less time worrying and more time enjoying being a mother. The most valuable part of having Kathleen's doula support was her wealth of knowledge about newborn care and the comforting, supportive way in which she shared that knowledge with me. I wasn't very confident about breastfeeding and how best to help my baby sleep better, but she was so reassuring as well as informative, and she helped me to feel better about both. Kathleen has the perfect combination of being supportive and kind in conjunction with being extremely practical and knowledgeable, and with such a calming presence.”

    —Postpartum Client

  • "I had no knowledge of a labor/birth or postpartum doula prior to my experience, and I can truly say I would not have survived this experience without the care, kindness, support, and warmth provided to me first by Kathleen, and then by her incredible team who each bring unique skills and qualities to care for my son. Kathleen gave me the information and confidence I needed when processing my doctor's appointments, and her knowledge and physical support likely helped me avoid a c-section that I felt pressure around from my doctor during my labor. I experienced intense postpartum depression, and Kathleen helped me through it by doing overnights with my son from the very beginning of his life. I trust her like family, and that allowed me to feel confident leaving him in her capable hands. Sarah, Kelly and Jessie have all bonded with my son, and are loving, warm, confident and professional. I recommend Kathleen and her entire team to everyone I know how is expecting a baby and I truly cannot capture in words how life changing my experience with this group of remarkable caregivers has been and continues to be!"

    -Birth and Postpartum Client

  • "I cannot recommend Jess enough as a postpartum doula. As first-time parents, my partner and I had taken newborn care classes but had no practical experience. Jess became our trainer—a very friendly, non-judgmental face to turn to with any questions, but who could also sense along the way what we needed help understanding. For instance, Jess had a lot of guidance to share as we started our bottle-feeding journey and has an awesome grasp on developmental milestones that we wouldn’t have known about without her help. Jess is also very knowledgeable and thoughtful about postpartum care. She helped me understand what I was going through, and when medical problems came up, she helped me figure out how to advocate for myself with my healthcare providers. A couple of bonuses Jess brings to the table are that she clearly spends a good deal of time and effort networking with other professionals like lactation consultants, pelvic floor therapists, and more (who she reaches out to with questions to help her clients!), and she is an excellent cook who can make healthy, delicious meals out of whatever is sitting in your fridge and pantry. We are forever grateful for the help and guidance we received from Jess. We feel like we hit the jackpot for postpartum doulas and will definitely work with her again if we have another child.”

    -Postpartum Client

  • “Hiring Kathleen Stern from Boston Area Doulas to help with our birthing process was one of the best decisions we made. She helped us understand all our options going into the process with really thoughtful, practical information. I felt fully supported in all my choices. Having her support at the hospital was invaluable, both her emotional calmness helping keep both my husband and I grounded and reducing the worry and anxiety, and her techniques in pain management helping me get through the contractions and birth. I don't know how I would have gotten through the birth without her. She really listened to what we wanted and tailored her approach to meet us where we needed her. I can't recommend working with her enough.”

    —Birth Client

  • “Sarayu was consistently calm and positive and a great asset. She jumped right into things with good humor and expertise … She had great intuition of the level of support that was needed, offering valuable supports (backrubs, cool cloths, encouraging words) at the right times, without being intrusive. It was so valuable to have someone there who knew what to expect and knew how to navigate the hospital. I'm so glad that Sarayu was there on my team.”

    -Birth client

  • "Jenny and Marie were immensely helpful and I am so grateful to have had their support this time around. It’s truly something I will cherish forever because it’s enabled me to enjoy this fleeting period of time much more."

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Cricket has been a phenomenal support resource for our family! Cricket has not only lent us emotional support when we are struggling as new parents, aids us with physically taking care of our new baby and our home, and giving us some much needed ability to relax, but also helps us talk through our concerns and potential solutions to issues that arise with any infant, including when to reach out to our medical providers and other specialists. They are honest and straightforward about the newborn phase, and will normalize all of the crazy things that can happen when you become parents, which is incredibly helpful in those first few weeks! Cricket has quickly become a part of the fam and their presence has been instrumental in us surviving our first few weeks as parents!"

    -Postpartum Client

  • “The birth went so well and C is just the sweetest baby we could ever dream of. Heather has been an absolutely unbelievable support throughout the pregnancy, birth, and with hormonal postpartum freak outs! We are so glad we hired her and can’t thank you [Kathleen] and her enough!”

    -Birth Client

  • “We were very happy with the support we received [from Heather], especially the overnight visits. Really helped in the early days to have another partner able to care for our baby.”

    -Postpartum Client

  • “Kara is exceptional at what she does. We were very lucky to have her work with our family. She has a special touch with babies that only comes from years of experience in combination with a special caring yet firm personality.”

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Just wanted to give you an update on my doula session with Nayeli. We’ve completed our session this early morning, and I can’t believe how much progress we’ve made in such a short time. My baby is now much easier to put down and she’s willing to take bottles from time to time. We really appreciate Nayeli’s help and support. And also, thank you for all the coordinations."

    -Postpartum Client

  • “Jenny S is a self starter, tremendously helpful in so many ways, and I feel my son is completely safe, loved, and well cared for when she’s with him. She’s quick to offer help where needed, has such a way with children, is very discreet and respectful, and is always on time. She’s a gem.”

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Tasha and Sarah were both wonderful helps to our family. Both were such calming presences in our home and were so helpful with Colin and with keeping our home running. We’ll be forever grateful to both of them!”

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Kara was so on time for every postpartum visit I almost couldn’t believe it - down to the exact minute. She was so communicative and checked in at the start of visits to be sure we were happy with her services. We trusted her with Graham right from the start and knew he was well taken care of while we caught up on sleep. Thank you to Kara and Kathleen for such a positive experience!"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Heather and Cricket were awesome. The support Heather provided before birth via text and in the prep meetings was excellent. It was so helpful to be able to be in touch when we were waiting for labor. We also loved the postpartum visits, particularly the ones closer to the birth. Amazing to be able to get some sleep, and it was especially helpful to debrief the birth, get breastfeeding pointers, and learn hands on how to use a carrier, put baby in the bassinet, bathe the baby, etc. Thank you so, so much to Heather and Cricket! Your support set us up so well with Arthur. "

    -Birth and Postpartum Clients

  • Heather was “very responsive leading up to labor. Very attentive to our concerns. Provided good content.”

    -Birth Client

  • "Having you [Kathleen] and Kara by our side during this process made such a difference. Dalton and I are confident that the pregnancy, labor, and delivery process were infinitely improved by your support and availability as resources. You might remember that we weren't certain if we even wanted or "needed" a doula when we first spoke with you, but we are so glad we went ahead with it. Absolutely one of the best decisions we made. Thank you!"

    -Birth Client + Prenatal Class Client

  • "The transitioning to first time parent is hard, but I am glad I had the postpartum doula service with Kathleen and Elena. The decision was last minute but Kathleen managed to connect us with Elena. I still remember the first day I got discharged from the hospital how much support I received from Elena both physically and emotionally. We would definitely recommend Boston Area Doulas to other expecting parents!"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Working with Lisa was absolutely fantastic. As first time parents with no support system in Boston, we needed a doula who could self-direct and suggest ways to help us, because if you said, "How can I help?" we would say, "Ummmmmm." Lisa taught us so much about baby care basics, and if it wasn't for her we wouldn't have discovered our son's hernia so early on. I would recommend Lisa to anyone looking for postpartum support."

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Ari brought an extraordinary level of detail, care, and competence to her time with our family. We felt so wonderful knowing our son was in her care -- and that she had extensive experience caring for multiple little ones across a range of ages. She was always on time and found ways to make our lives a little easier - especially when it came to organizing the baby's area."

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Jane is a delight - and brought wisdom and enthusiasm to her work with our son! He absolutely adored her and was often smiling in her presence -- and so were we. She has a great sense of humor! We feel lucky to have had her presence as a doula during our family's transition back to work after parental leave."

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Jane was a huge help and we absolutely adore her. This postpartum journey has been easier so far and I attribute a part of it to having her here — those 4 hours weekly were a game-changer for us. We already miss her!"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "Both T and I were SO thankful to have Heather at the hospital with us. She played a crucial role helping both of us remain calm and confident throughout the process. "

    -Birth Client

  • "Hi Kathleen! I wanted to say thanks so much for your help and support during our postpartum period and our experience with having a postpartum doula. We are so grateful for the help we received through your doulas and thanks again for connecting us with doula care even as our needs evolved a bit from our original plan. All the best to you"

    -Postpartum Client

  • "We’re all doing great and your whole team has been fantastic. Morgan and Avery were perfect for birth support and we had our first sessions with Randi and Christina for postpartum care. They’re both great, Randi especially has really made a difference with breastfeeding. So we’re all well supported!"

    -Birth and Postpartum Client

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