Jessica Manning

2/24/2024

We were so lucky to work with Hannah for the birth of our second child. We are a same sex couple and one mom carried our first baby, who endured a traumatic entry into the world. Hannah helped guide us as a couple, and mom number two into her own first delivery, with such compassion, knowledge, trust, and reliability. Hannah is a tender, funny, experienced doula and mother, who shared so much wisdom and care for each of us and our kids. The birth preparation, delivery room experience, and post-partum care felt so nurturing. Hannah was our advocate and dear friend, offering guidance and support the whole way through. 

Pascale Laviolette

1/8/2024

From our first meeting, Hannah's compassionate nature was evident and immediately put us at ease. She quickly became a source of safety and trusted advocacy that grounded us from the moment early labour started, to our emotional debrief discussion after baby had arrived.

We had support from a team of midwives leading up to the birth, so we couldn't be sure which one would be with us on the day. To our surprise, when we arrived at the hospital the midwife on call was one we'd never met before! Of course she built trust quickly, but meeting a brand new face in this unbelievably vulnerable moment made us so grateful that we had Hannah as our touchstone of stability and familiarity. 

During active labour Hannah supported both of us in the unique way we both needed. Going into this experience I assumed her support was largely for me as the birthing parent, and certainly she was incredible at that, but she was also such an important part of my partner's experience. It's easy to forget how traumatic it can be for the non-birthing parent bearing witness to their loved one going through something so difficult, while feeling powerless. Hannah was there for both of us.

After ~17 hours of labour, we were headed into the OR for an emergency C-section. Baby had a rough start upon delivery and needed to be worked on for 15 excruciating minutes before he was returned to us; we were exhausted yet fear-stricken. Hannah was so unbelievably reassuring, validating, and calming during every period of uncertainty and distress. A few day after being home with baby, we looked through the photos she'd taken of the whole process and she helped us to begin to process what we'd been through. She knew just what to say, and when to be silent, and we trusted her to hold space for us as we shared and wept.

Having a birth doula is an invaluable gift, and we are so grateful Hannah was ours.

Arianna Sanelli

12/9/2023

We are so grateful to have had Hannah as our doula. Throughout the pregnancy we welcomed her regular check-ins and the chance to debrief after some of our medical appointments. Hannah was always prepared, empathetic and understanding. She provided us with many resources including Spinning Babies exercises and books on gestational diabetes and hypnobirthing. During the birth, Hannah was incredibly supportive and advocated for our needs to the medical team. Hannah also shot many beautiful pictures of our baby’s birth which we will cherish forever.

Cherry

11/11/2021

Having Hannah & Marta by my side through the pregnancy was one of the best decisions my husband and I made. I highly recommend working with Hannah & Marta. They were the dream team, and we're so grateful to have met them.

At first, I was skeptical about hiring a doula because I didn't quite understand the value doula brings to the pregnancy journey. However, many of my good friends highly recommend working with someone. Through research and connections, eventually, we were fortunate to meet Hannah & Marta.

We want to be informed enough to make the right decisions about my well-being and preparation for birth, mentally, physically, and emotionally. There was a lot of the unknown, given that this was our first pregnancy journey. While we have lots of trusted friends & family with a ton of helpful information, it was too overwhelming. Marta & Hannah guided us through the process and provided us with the right amount of information we needed at the right time. It was so important to have them by our side, to hear our concerns, and provide a sense of calm and reassurance in our preferences. I felt confident and at ease about my childbirth experience. My husband was prepared and knew that he had the support he needed to take care of me.

I wanted a natural birth. I ended up with a 36 hrs long labor at the hospital with very little intervention. We had a healthy baby boy. It was long and intensive, but I appreciate every moment of it. Marta & Hannah were there by my side the entire experience. It would have been much more challenging mentally and physically without their support. They made sure that I moved around, explored different positions during labor, and helped me cope with the intensity with various counter pressure techniques. They knew to step back when I needed my space and knew to step in when I needed them.

Just hire Hannah & Marta, you won't regret it.

Erica

7/10/2021

My partner and I started working with Hannah about 20 weeks into our first pregnancy. She is an incredibly compassionate person and really listened to our worries and desires and always gave us her honest opinion and helpful resources along the way. If there was ever a question that she didn't know the answer to, she would do her own research and follow up with a helpful email. Due to COVID, we did our prenatal visits both virtually  as well as masked and outdoors. Hannah made us feel completely supported throughout our pregnancy and offered words of encouragement and frequent check-ins as we neared our due date. For my partner, she provided book recommendations, comfort measures, and advice for how to offer support and what to expect in the hospital. Fortunately we were able to have Hannah with us during our delivery and while labor didn't go quite as expected, Hannah was ready to spring into action with position changes, comfort measures, etc. She did a great job with my partner and I to support us differently during labor. She helped us discuss the pros and cons of suggestions that doctors were making even when the doctors weren’t really encouraging our feedback and decision making in the process. When my labor slowed, she leapt into action and negotiated with staff to get me into different labor positions despite having an epidural. After our delivery, she continued to check in with us via text message and was encouraging and sympathetic. She came to our home for her postpartum visit and we chatted through our birth experience and she helped us fill in some gaps that we had forgotten or were unsure of. My partner and I have often commented that without Hannah, we definitely would have had a different birth outcome. I would absolutely recommend working with a doula and we're so glad that we found Hannah! She is incredibly warm, knowledgeable, and is a wonderful listener and resource. 

Gaurav

6/17/2021

Our experience with Hannah as our doula for our first child has been absolutely excellent. If you value knowledge over dogma, intentional decision making, high quality communication, a calm and collected demeanor, and an utmost commitment to clients, you can't go wrong with Hannah.

Hannah listens intently, is always calm and collected, and her top priority is ensuring that your birth experience will be exactly as YOU want it. Hannah is informative and supportive, bringing to bear her knowledge of biology and medicine, her knowledge of pre and post birth care, her first hand experience with births, and drawing on her network of birth workers.

She communicates with an incredible compassion paired with precision and intentionality — whether via email, text, or in person. This is so important as a doula as even a slight nuance of language can change the atmosphere and impact how you feel about your pregnancy, labor, or delivery.

During our pre-birth home visits, Hannah was thorough, educational, and supportive. She never lets a hanging question or task slip through the cracks. And she thoroughly walked through every single step of the process, helped us create our birth preferences doc with love and care, and set up thoughtful contingency plans that we wouldn't have even known to consider.

During labor itself, Hannah was especially compassionate, comforting, and confident during the most intense moments. She advocated when that's what we needed, and thoughtfully helped us consider the pros, cons, and downstream implications of various one-way medical interventions, empowering us to confidently make informed decisions.

During delivery Hannah captured the most important moments in videos and photos — memories that will be with us for a lifetime. Post-delivery Hannah has been kind and supportive as ever — quick to respond to questions, and thoughtful during her post-delivery in-person visit.

Laura Goldberg

6/5/2021

I feel so lucky to have found Hannah to help us through this experience as first time parents!

Early on I suffered from a pretty intense bout of prenatal anxiety and depression. And while my partner is incredibly supportive he also suffers from anxiety and Anything blood or bodily function related is just not his jam. Since we are also in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, I knew that I would need some extra support to help me through the rest of my pregnancy and birth process and Hannah exceeded my expectations!

From our very first intro session she was incredible, well informed and curious about how to make my birth the best it could be. The pre-birth sessions were incredibly informational and helped to ease both of our anxieties. In fact I think after the first meeting my anxiety all but went away. She was there to answer all my questions, even the ones that may have been silly or I would worry I might be judge for if I were to talk to a doctor. She made me feel heard, understood, and supported.

During the birth of my son Hannah was critical in creating the calm and supportive environment I wanted. She helped not only me but my poor anxious partner throughout the entire experience And I was able to deliver my son exactly the way I wanted to.

Her postpartum support was also amazing. She helped us with some hands on first-time parent trainings such as bathing our baby, swaddling him, and using some of our gear that had stumped us. She even helped with just day-to-day things like making sure I got to rest, eat and that our house didn’t go completely by the wayside.

If you’re looking for a Doula to help you through your birth and/or postpartum I could not recommend Hannah enough. I am so incredibly thankful for her, she was truly a critical part of my pregnancy and birth. I really feel like she helped set me, a first time mom, up for success so that I can enjoy this next chapter with my son.

Dana

1/27/2021

We are so thankful for finding Hannah to help us through the birth of our first child. In the months leading up to our due date, we met with Hannah for prenatal sessions. She went above and beyond to answer our questions and provide us with evidence based learnings for everything that came up during our pregnancy.

We can’t imagine making it through our birth experience without Hannah being there to support us. Hannah helped us navigate dealing with doctors and nurses, and making sure we got the care we needed. Beyond that, she made the birth environment and experience as peaceful as possible; she even brought tea-lights to the delivery room!

We really appreciated our final postpartum session with Hannah. After a tumultuous journey, Hannah made sure we had the tools for a successful fourth trimester. We can’t recommend Hannah strongly enough, and she will be at the top of our list when it is time for baby #2.

Cynthia

1/25/2021

It did not take long for me to know that Hannah was the doula that I wanted to work with. In our first conversation Hannah was able to provide useful information, tangible resources, and it became obvious that she was culturally conscious. Her professional manner made everything easy and most importantly, it provided me with the feeling of comfort. 

She was very thorough and always took notes when we spoke, her follow up after the appointments was very precise. During prenatal appointments she had a way of presenting the health choices that I would have to consider in a way that was manageable instead of overwhelming. When it came to deciding about things like testing during pregnancy, my birth plan, emergency scenarios, or afterbirth care for my baby I was informed and ready thanks to Hannah.

She repeatedly put my partner's anxious mind at ease, since it was his first experience with a birth outside of a hospital setting. She reassured him and served not only as my support but his as well. Hannah also provided support for my 11-year-old daughter whom was present during some prenatal appointments and my birth. Hannah was welcoming and included her by teaching her ways to best support me during active labor.

Hannah provided our family with virtual support. She gave suggestions, provided support during labor and filmed my baby's arrival into the world. Following his birth, she followed up with us to check in on multiple occasions for a period of two weeks. She again provided information about postpartum and resources that we needed. Hannah flattered us by writing a story about her work with my family, nothing was published or used without my granted formal consent.

Hannah's passion for Doula work was evident throughout our work with her. I cannot put into words how much support she provided to our family, I will forever be thankful. She was a blessing for us and for any mama and family that chooses to work with her.

norman

1/25/2021

I am someone never writes reviews for anything, even when I absolutely love something. Last May I learned that my partner and I were having baby, we decided to give birth at a birthing center in San Mateo, CA. After his birth and having worked with Hannah Addario-Berry to prepare for my son’s arrival I wanted to share my experience with my Doula. My name is Norman and I am 42 years old, Matias is I my 3rd child. My two older children are much older at 24 and 16 years old so it had been a long time since I had gone through the birthing process.  Hannah was very knowledgeable, her explanations of techniques, and exercises during pregnancy were very thorough. Her expertise made me feel more confident in our decision to give birth outside of a hospital setting. She was always very respectful, and easy to talk to. Right before we went into labor we got the news that Hannah was not feeling well, and with being in the middle of a Pandemic, we decided it would be safer to instead offer us support virtually. The thought of her not being there in person made me nervous, because I did not know how I would do without her there in person. Her virtual support was crucial, I called her many times, and she was also present on live screen. Hannah’s calm demeanor offered me guidance when I needed it, she also gave me friendly reminders of how I could support my partner while she was under a lot of distress. I cannot express how helpful she was when I was at a loss and simply did not know what to do to help. Looking back at our experience throughout the pregnancy, and birth, I have nothing but absolute gratitude and respect for Hannah’s services. She contributed greatly to make this a beautiful, and memorable, moment for my family, and I. -Norman M.