Emma R

7/8/2023

Lenore was an integral part of our birth team. From our first meeting it was clear how warm and supportive she is. In our prenatal conversations she was very encouraging and communicated her confidence and trust in us as first time parents. During the birth she was grounded and nurturing. She said the right things at exactly the right moments for me to get through the most challenging parts of labor. She was a peaceful and comforting presence. She also captured some incredible photos and videos that I am so grateful to have. It allowed my partner to be present with me throughout the birth. Lenore is incredible and I feel so thankful that we were able to have her support.

Kristin R

6/19/2023

Lenore was amazing throughout the birth journey. She helped us understand how best to prepare for birth during our prep sessions, which helped us feel much more confident as new parents. She was nurturing, patient, and kind.

During the delivery process, she helped us navigate unexpected challenges, providing empathetic and knowledgeable support to both birthing parent and partner. We are so grateful that she could be there-- it really made the difference in creating a better experience for both us and baby! She conveys a sense of calm and assurance throughout the process and we'd highly recommend working with her. 

Allison Young

11/8/2022

Lenore was fabulous to work with from start to finish. She is very responsive, kind and knowledgeable. She was my only support person for a hospital birth at Kaiser Oakland. She was definitely my anchor through the entire process and she made sure that I was safe and cared for and had what I needed at all times. She was very attentive to my birth preferences and was my voice and advocate when I needed it most. I cant recommend her enough!

Allison Young

11/8/2022

Lenore was fabulous to work with from start to finish. She is very responsive, kind and knowledgeable. She was my only support person for a hospital birth at Kaiser Oakland. She was definitely my anchor through the entire process and she made sure that I was safe and cared for and had what I needed at all times. She was very attentive to my birth preferences and was my voice and advocate when I needed it most. I cant recommend her enough!

Jacy

10/11/2022

I am so insanely grateful that Lenore was a part of our pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey. She supported my husband and I every step of the way, preparing us for birth in her prenatal sessions, supporting us physically and emotionally during the birth, and checking in thoughtfully and respectfully when we were postpartum. Lenore is incredibly knowledgable on pregnancy, birth and postpartum. She has so many wonderful connections that really set us up for success as we prepared to give birth to our son. She is generous with her time and wisdom, and made me feel so safe and strong when I was in labor. You will not regret working with Lenore, she is magic!

Anjuli

2/17/2022

We started looking for a doula early on in our pregnancy because I knew I wanted a warm, motherly person in the L+D room who was also well informed and would put me at ease. We found Lenore and she beyond checked all of our boxes. The perfect way to describe Lenore is a big, warm hug. She is also a wealth of knowledge! She was very responsive and so helpful in helping us feel as prepared as we can be for something as unpredictable as birth. When it finally came time for me to birth our baby I was (and am!) so beyond grateful for Lenore - she both empowered me and helped me to feel so relaxed throughout the entire process. She was both there when we needed it and also gave us space. She loved me up, coached me when I asked, kept her ears open the entire time and caught things in the L&D room which neither my husband or I ever would have and helped us make decisions by giving us all of the information and her expertise, but ultimately helping us feel like whatever we chose would be the best choice. She has a gifted way of offering her knowledge without being pushy or at all judgemental, she will back whatever decision you make. I can say 100% genuinely that I enjoyed my labor and birth and a huge factor in this was Lenore. I know you're probably shaking your head reading this, because who "enjoys" being in pain??? Although it was hands down the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life - I look back on my birth experience with nothing but pride, gratitude, and an overwhelming sense of calm and relaxation. A huge huge huge thank you to Lenore, I couldn't imagine our experience without you!! Biggest hugs and love from all 3 of us :-)

Anjuli

2/17/2022

We started looking for a doula early on in our pregnancy because I knew I wanted a warm, motherly person in the L+D room who was also well informed and would put me at ease. We found Lenore and she beyond checked all of our boxes. The perfect way to discribe Lenore is a big, warm hug. She is also a wealth of knowledge! She was very responsive and so helpful in helping us feel as prepared as we can be for something as unpredictable as birth. When it finally came time for me to birth our baby I was (and am!) so beyond grateful for Lenore - she both empowered me and helped me to feel so relaxed throughout the entire process. She was both there when we needed it and also gave us space. She loved me up, coached me when I asked, kept her ears open the entire time and caught things in the L&D room which neither my husband or I ever would have and helped us make decisions by giving us all of the information and her expertise, but ultimately helping us feel like whatever we chose would be the best choice. She has a gifted way of offering her knowledge without being pushy or at all judgemental, she will back whatever decision you make. I can say 100% genuniely that I enjoyed my labor and birth and a huge factor in this was Lenore. I know youre probably shaking your head reading this, because who "enjoys" being in pain??? Although it was hands down the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life - I look back on my birth experience with nothing but pride, gratitude, and an overwhelming sense of calm and relaxation. A huge huge huge thank you to Lenore, I couldn't imagine our experience without you!! Biggest hugs and love from all 3 of us :-)

Marielle Covington

11/30/2018

We were so lucky to find Lenore. From day 1 I felt comfortable sharing details about my pregnancy, my approach to motherhood and honest questions about the labor and delivery process with her. Little did she know our little boy wasn't going to make for an easy 3rd trimester or labor/delivery. Throughout the complications with my pregnancy, Lenore remained incredibly steadfast, supportive and knowledgeable about my options. She has the biggest heart and is so thoughtful and caring with her clients.

Andy Torrez Varon

11/29/2018

Within five minutes of meeting Lenore, I knew she had to be my Doula, She had the exact temperament that I knew I would need when I was ready to give birth. She is kind, gentle, but means business- my kind of woman!. She has a library of knowledge that always made me feel at ease knowing I could ask her anything I was curious or concerned about. Lenore gave birth herself a few months before I did and at first, I was nervous that this would affect communication or the day I went into labor but Lenore did not miss a beat! She answered every text and call promptly. "GO TIME" Lenore knew exactly what I needed before even having to communicate it. The O.B and nurses were very impressed by her work (At my follow up appt. a nurse had heard about our experience and asked for Lenore’s info).

Not only was she an amazing rock for me but she was invaluable for my husband too. He was able to remain calm and able to support me with the tools Lenore had given him.

The three of us went through such a magical and unforgettable experience together. Looking back at the day I have such elated feelings as I had the birth experience I had hoped for and I know I was able to keep calm and feel relaxed (as possible) because I felt safe and secure with Lenore guiding us through the birth experience. I will forever be grateful for Lenore being apart of my birth story.

Kelley Leathers

11/28/2018

I was so happy with my birth experience, and Lenore was such a huge part of that. As a single mother by choice, I knew I wanted a doula with me for my hospital delivery to help support me through the experience. When I spoke with Lenore by phone, I knew immediately that she was the doula for me! Her direct, practical, but loving style made me trust her immediately. She was a great support before the birth, helping me to think through my birth plan and what preparations to make ahead of time before baby came, and recommending great resources. Then during my labor and delivery...let’s just say there is no way I could have done it without her! I wanted to do a natural birth, but wasn’t sure if, when it came right down to it, I would be able to go through with it. But with Lenore by my side coaching me on breathing and vocalizing, offering emotional support, massaging me (and using that amazing TENS unit!), moving through the experience without drugs just felt like the most natural and obvious thing to do. It was still really hard, but with Lenore’s support it felt like a challenge that I was capable of rising to.

Afterward, I was really struggling in the early days home from the hospital. I was having challenges with breastfeeding, had to pump constantly, was hardly sleeping, and found myself needing more support than I had planned for. Like a good friend giving “tough love,” Lenore pushed me to get over my discomfort with asking for help and reach out beyond just my mom to my larger support network. Lo and behold, I had tons of people ready to help me - I just needed that nudge from Lenore to help me ask for it!

Lenore was like a combination of a coach and a friend for me during my overall birth process, and I am so thankful that she was a part of it!

Angie DeWitt-Moore

12/10/2016

I can't imagine our birth experience without Lenore. My partner and I were having our first child and hoped to have a birth with as few interventions as possible. We weren't confident about how to advocate for ourselves and navigate this process with medical professionals to have the experience we wanted. I also wanted her help in managing pain and helping my husband support me in pain management. From our first meeting Lenore put us at ease with her warmth and confidence in her practice--we knew we wanted her to be part of our birth journey. When the time came, Lenore remained the rock throughout the process. At every critical decision point, Lenore helped us understand our options so that we could make the best decision for us. Our daughter's birth was a long, arduous and trying process but Lenore was there supporting us until the very end. We are so lucky to have had her support and knowledge during this process and highly recommend her as a doula!!

Rebekah Ponce-Larsen

12/6/2016

Lenore is such a compassionate and kind person and an amazing doula. From the moment I met her, I felt very comfortable. She is the kind of person that you instantly connect with and whose authenticity and kindness are immediatelly apparant. I was able to open up to her about past birth experiences and I felt very reassured that she understood where I was coming from and that she would be there for me, not just for the birth but also afterwards, when and if I needed support. It was very important for me to know that my doula would also be available after the birth if I needed to process the birth or just needed some encouragement to help me stay positive about the experience. My birth experience took an unexpected turn and I ended up with an emergency c-section but nonetheless I felt a ton of support and guidance from Lenore. I was really grateful to have her not only at my birth but also throughout my pregnancy as a support and friend.

Ratchanee Aiemsaard

11/17/2016

When I went searching for a Doula I told myself I would definitely be sure to interview at least 2 Doulas before making this really big decision on the person who would help me through a very life changing time. Then we met, and we talked, and I was at ease, comfortable and connected. I knew that moment I didn't want or need to interview anyone else. Lenore gave out very warm, inviting, nurturing and confident energy, it was perfect. She treated me as a friend who's known and cared for me for so long, I loved that. When it was the big day, she was right by my side. Filling my space with positive and supportive aura. Hey, I even waited for her to come back from her break so I can start pushing my Baby out, even when Doc said it was time. I wanted and needed Lenore to be by my side when Baby would enter into this world. All and all, she's still keeps in contact, she's amazing!!

Leah Brooks

5/31/2016

My husband and I decided to contract a doula for the birth of our first child, partly to make sure that we had at least one familiar face during birth, since Kaiser Oakland births are a bit of a revolving door of nurses, midwives, and practitioners. I went into labor 3.5 weeks early and my original doula was not available, and Lenore came to us as the back-up. Since we had only met with our original doula once, we hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet or even become familiarized with the backups our doula works with. Essentially Lenore came to us as a “blind date” doula!

Lenore arrived during a stressful part of labor and I was immediately relieved, as she has a very calm and confident presence. She quickly got up-to-speed with our birth preferences, and listened to my requests for comfort, and encouraged me to advocate for myself with the hospital staff. She was a huge support for my husband as well, taking care of our needs so that my husband could just hold my hand and be there for me (which is what helped me the most during labor). She kept my husband and I hydrated, fed and overall very nourished throughout labor and delivery. Her words of encouragement were very reassuring as labor progressed and intensified. She had the vibe that you would get from a trusted older sister, which I found to be so comforting.

Despite the frantic circumstances under which we met, I feel very fortunate to have had Lenore by my side for the birth of my son. I would highly recommend Lenore to anyone looking for a doula.

yuka k

4/27/2016

We planned a homebirth for my second child, but it was my husband’s first. We wanted the extra support a doula provides for the labor process. Lenore met all of our expectations. We created a birth plan highlighting what we envisioned for the birth of our daughter during our prenatal visit. She provided a checklist that gave us the opportunity to think things through and decide how we wanted the birth to be. We also went over the concerns we had and Lenore was a great coach throughout the entire process. From the beginning, Lenore helped us to understand what her role was and wasn’t and communicated clearly.

During labor, she was very focused and exhibited a confidence in her skills as she massaged me and coached me through contractions. She gave me positive assurance that I was doing well throughout the birthing process. She reminded me to stay hydrated and gave me water to drink and held space to allow me to rest during my contractions.

Lenore not only supported me, but supported our whole family. She coached my husband how to help and be present and helped our daughter feel included in the birth experience. She was just wonderful in our homebirth and we walked away from our experience feeling like she was part of our family.