Karen McMahon Postpartum Doula /  Newborn Care Specialist  Photo

Karen McMahon Postpartum Doula / Newborn Care Specialist

Smooth Transitions Postpartum Doula Service

Savage, MN Service range 30 miles

https://www.smoothtransitions.coach/

Postpartum Rate

$35

Postpartum Rate

$35


Postpartum Doula Experience

26 years and 500 families served


Doula Training

  • DONA International-Approved Workshop, April 2008

Type of practice: Solo practice

Clients per month: 1 to 2


College Education

BA/BS


Special Services Offered

  • Child passenger safety technician services
  • First Aid and CPR
  • Lactation consultant/counselor services
  • Military families support
  • Miscarriage support
  • Newborn care specialist
  • Parenting consulting
  • Placenta encapsulation
  • Satellite doula (for remote and rural clients)
  • Sleep educator
  • Sleep support consulting
  • Surrogates and intended parents
  • Virtual and remote doula support

Languages Spoken

  • English

Fee Details

Hello, and thanks for visiting my page! My name is Karen and I LOVE babies - and helping parents! This job isn't a job for me - it's my passion, and my joy! I have over 25 years experience and training as a Postpartum Doula (sometimes referred to as a Baby Nurse), a Newborn Care Specialist, and as an on-call Nanny. I can assist you with breast-feeding and bottle-feeding, newborn care and questions, gentle sleep-coaching methods, sibling care and adjustment, babies who refuse to take a bottle, and more. Smooth Transitions is one of the most trusted, longest-running postpartum doula services in the Twin Cities Metro (since 1996). Whatever your needs, I will work together with you to build a package that best fits you and your family. I look forward to talking with you!

Service Area

Savage, MN Service range 30 miles

Client Testimonials for Karen McMahon Postpartum Doula / Newborn Care Specialist

Post a testimonial for Karen McMahon Postpartum Doula / Newborn Care Specialist

Betsy

3/8/2024

Karen helped us care for our two newborn boys from birth through a few months of age. She is the best investment you can make post birth!!

We have experience with three other Postpartum Doula’s - unmatched, Karen is the best one we have ever hired!!

We felt so comfortable with her from the moment we met her. She is incredibly knowledgeable in newborn care, and intuitive and proactive to what a mother needs post birth.

She is punctual and trustworthy. She arrived before she was supposed to officially take over for the babies at night. She went the extra mile to ensure that the transition was smooth when she left in the morning.

Karen also helped with our toddler as needed, and a few times went above and beyond! For example, one morning I woke up to find our toddler had woken up well before me. Karen got him up, dressed and fed - and when I woke up, she had all three kids reading books together!!

The love and care Karen displayed for our family is unmatched in anyone we have ever hired. We will be forever grateful for Karen!!

Sarah

6/22/2022

Karen is absolutly amazing. I can't tell you how lucky you are if you are able to get availability. I'll never forget one time I slept in, and I came down the stairs to see that she stayed late so I could get that extra hour. She was sitting on the floor with my son playing patty-cake and listening to children's songs. She even taught me a few ways to play with him! (He's my first, and I was clueless.) While we were sleeping, she even fixed some things around the house AND folded laundry! She then showed me how to fix the things she fixed, so I also learned house maintenance from her.

As a new parent, I honestly don't know how we would have survived the first few months without her. She made everything better. She is so knowledgeable and so patient and caring that I still quote her to my husband. I am a little late in writing this review, as it's been five months since she's worked with us, but I still think of her often and use a lot of the tricks she taught me. (Did you know looking your baby in the eye makes his heart rate go up? Babies actually get excited when you look at them, so if you want them to sleep, don't look them in the eye if they happen to wake up in the night!)

In my mind, Karen is a complete saint and a standard that nobody else can live up to. Believe me, if she did daytime nannying for older kids, she would still be working with us. I can't thank her enough for all that she did for my family.

Sarah

11/10/2021

Our family worked with Karen as a overnight doula with our second son for 6 weeks, right after he was born.  Her help was invaluable for me. She was caring, experienced, good at troubleshooting and had an "all hands on deck" approach to helping our family.  With Karen I felt supported and able to enjoy the special time bonding with our new baby! 

Kate Perkins

7/19/2021

Karen is a baby whisperer!! She helped me with my first baby teaching me all the tricks and giving me the support i desperately needed when i became a mom! She allowed me to get rest while she cared for our son. Then when we had our second baby we had her come helps us again. My daughter would only nap in her swing, cried every time we put her down and refused bottles. Karen worked her magic once again!  She taught us everything we needed to get our daughter to sleep in her crib and take bottles. It was life changing for us! It allowed me to spend time with my son and be a better wife. I HIGHLY recommend Karen. She is so thoughtful and caring. She answered every one of my many many text messages with all the questions i had. Please if you’re on the fence don’t be! Get Karen! You won’t regret it!!

Cathy Poor

7/22/2020

Karen is wonderful!! Karen helped our family with overnights when our baby was two months old and again when he was seven months old. Karen has a lot of experience and is knowledgeable about all things regarding babies and baby sleeping. She loves working with babies and their families, and that passion shows during her work. She is caring and professional; she listens well and provides thoughtful feedback and advice. Many times, she provided advice over the phone or via text as part of her service - even when we hadn't hired her for months! I would recommend her to anyone.   

Marissa

5/8/2019

Karen was our postpartum doula/night nurse after my first child was born, a little over 6 years ago. She was amazing. Not only did she care for our newborn overnight, but she was kind, caring, loving, and a true wealth of knowledge. She taught me--a nervous first time mom--everything about infant sleep, proper latch techniques with breastfeeding, how to bathe a newborn, and more more. In addition, she helped with our laundry, folding, cleaning of bottles and pump parts, and other light housekeeping stuff (while the baby was sleeping at night). I highly recommend Karen -- she's a true professional.

Lindsay

3/13/2019

Karen is really good at what she does. She anticipates the needs of her clients and is quite knowledgeable. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a trustworthy and caring individual to take of your children. 

Jessica

3/3/2019

Hiring Karen to help me with my newborn son was the best decision. Her sweet desposition was so welcoming and I immediately trusted her with my child. Being far from home and not having family around to help was very hard on me and Karen eased much of that anxiety. My entire family felt so comfortable with her and my older son loved having her around! I needed someone to be there for me during that difficult time when bringing home a newborn, and Karen exceeded my expectations! I highly recommend! 

Marcy Schway

3/2/2019

I had Karen McMahon as my night nurse when I had my baby girl on June 13th 2017.  She was a lifesaver. I wound up having a c-section 2 days early and was freaking out because I knew that Karen couldn’t start until a couple days later. She immediately reassured me that she would find someone to help for the first 2 days. She talked me through everything and made me feel so much better. The other girl that helped the first 2 days was amazing as well. When Karen stayed with me she was so helpful. She took over when I was heavily drugged from the pain meds. I never had to worry about a thing. I don’t know what i would’ve done without her. When you have a c-section you are in pain and drugged up so to have to take care of a newborn when you can hardly take care of yourself is very tough. Having Karen was a lifesaver. I definitely recommend using her. 

Stacy Grunnet

3/1/2019

I started using Karen when my daughter was  4 weeks old.  I was desperate for sleep and a schedule I could follow. This might have been my 3rd child but apparently I forgot what having a newborn was like! Selective memory right?  Karen was so helpful. She was so kind and knowledgeable. Made me wish I found her with my other two kiddos. She was only with us for less than a week bc of her magic but when my daughter hit her 4 month sleep regression she was the first person I called!! I'm telling you what she is a miracle worker/baby whisperer! Although my sweet daughter is almost 2 now, we still keep in touch and would not hesitate to use her again should any need arise! I love referring her to everyone bc if she can bring peace and calm and sleep to others then so be it! ??

Sara Goldfine Baratz

12/22/2017

Karen was incredible to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone!  We are expecting baby number 2 this January and have already booked Karen to help us when baby arrives.  I know that she will be so helpful!  Not only did she take care of our daughter and allow us to get a little sleep between feedings, but she also went out of her way to help with little and big things around our house that needed attention, without us even asking.  She's so kind and gracious and really cares about the people she works with.  She also has extensive knowledge about breastfeeding, sleep training, and overall baby care.  Bringing a new baby into the world is no easy task and I don't know what I would have done without Karens help!  She's amazing!

Nina Sackheim Badzin

12/18/2017

Karen was an absolute pleasure to work with! She's loving, confident, competent, and an absolute pleasure to work with. Highly recommend for overnight care, care during the day, hands on help with baby and mama and extra help with the house, too.

Postpartum Availability for Karen McMahon Postpartum Doula / Newborn Care Specialist

= Available. Calendar last updated: 04-06-2024