Carly Ann Braun Photo

Carly Ann Braun

Doula Carly Ann

Chicago, IL Service range 50 miles within 1 hour drive of my home

https://doulacarlyann.com/

//instagram.com/doulacarlyann_chi

Birth Fee

$900 to $1800

Postpartum Rate

$40

Birth Fee

$900 to $1800

Postpartum Rate

$40


Birth Doula Experience

6 years and 100 births attended

Postpartum Doula Experience

1 years and 30 families served


Doula Training

  • DONA International-Approved Workshop, October 2018
  • Midwest Maternal Child Institute, January 2019

Type of practice: Solo practice

Clients per month: 2 to 4 births and 1 to 3 postpartum families

Postpartum limits/restrictions: No overnights

Attends hospital births? All Hospitals
I support clients birthing at all hospitals in the Chicago area. I find I am the best fit for clients choosing midwifery care or a highly supportive doctor and facility. If you're not sure if that's you, I can help you figure out if your provider matches your birth plan!

Attends birth center births? All Birth Centers
I love supporting clients at the Chicago area birth centers, it would be a joy to be your doula if you are birthing at a birth center!

Attends home births? Any Home Birth
I am super passionate about supporting home birth and even plan to become a home birth midwife (starting school in 2024!) It would be a joy to be your doula if you are birthing at home!


College Education

BA/BS


Special Services Offered

  • Antepartum doula support
  • Childbirth education services
  • First Aid and CPR
  • Lactation consultant/counselor services
  • LGBTQIA+ Support
  • Newborn care and parenting classes
  • Reduced rates for women considering adoption
  • Satellite doula (for remote and rural clients)
  • TENS units rental
  • Virtual and remote doula support

Training Documentation

credential


Relevant volunteer or advocacy work

Chicago Volunteer Doulas

Fee Details

My fees include two prenatal visits, lactation support, phone and email support throughout pregnancy, continuous support in labor, one postpartum visit, and email/text support through the first 6 weeks postpartum.

Service Area

Chicago, IL Service range 50 miles within 1 hour drive of my home

Client Testimonials for Carly Ann Braun

Post a testimonial for Carly Ann Braun

Ashley

1/7/2024

CarlyAnn was such an incredible support in bringing our baby boy Earthside. I had such a vision for my birth and none of it came to fruition. From a hopeful birth center birth to an emergency transfer to the hospital, it was a scary experience at times and having such a grounded, soothing and reassuring voice was paramount. CaryAnn was a support for everyone in the room: myself, my wife and my mother. She checked in with me multiple times to make sure I was comfortable with how everything was progressing, as she knew certain things were happening that I was hoping to avoid. She also checked in with my wife's family when arriving at the hospital. Overall, she was just genuinely concerned with keeping myself and my support team happy and healthy. She regularly offered water and food to myself and my wife during labor (suggesting over the phone, when she got to our house and at the hospital). I'm honestly sad we are planning to move out of state, because I would 110% hire CarlyAnn for all the births of our future children! 
She also put me in contact with the person who encapsulated my placenta and our current milk donor :) && she has a Facebook group for her clients to connect

Megan

8/11/2023

Carly Ann is an incredible doula - she has a strong, grounding presence and is extremely knowledgable, observant, and attentive, and helped us have the safe, healthy, natural birth experience that we wanted. I'm so happy that we found her and were able to work with her, and I can't recommend her enough. 

Marisa Paolillo

8/6/2023

Capable and even-keeled while multitasking baby-care and mamma-care. Crushed a project list each day. Took of baby with a iin a reliable and responsible and mature manner.

Allie

8/3/2023

Carly Ann is an amazing doula! She was the best choice we made throughout the whole pregnancy. I'd recommend her to anyone!

I had a lot of unusual factors in my pregnancy and Carly Ann was super knowledgeable and,  when she didn't know something specific, very enthusiastic about learning more. I have a complex trauma history and Carly Ann was more than trauma-informed. She had practical experience working with birthing parents with complex trauma that she could bring to working with us.

Her reputation preceeded her: when we mentioned that she was our doula, everyone from midwives to educators to nurses perked up and says how lucky we are to be working with her. Many seemed to take us more seriously when they knew we’d been working with her.

She was LGBTQ friendly and very helpful for my spouse as well. She was flexible with us and willing to find ways to help us meet our needs. She was very reliable. 

Lizzie Osmundson

7/30/2023

My husband and I instantly felt more at ease navigating the final stages of pregnancy and preparing for baby day after meeting Carly Ann. She become a part of our team and helping us build our tool kit so we would be ready for baby day, think through what we wanted baby day to look like and navigate scenarios in case things didn’t go exactly as planned. Carly Ann is a member of a community of practitioners who help you build a plan to work towards your ideal baby day, preparing mentally and physically to get there and avoid interventions if that is your goal. When baby day came for us things did not go 100% according to plan, but we feel that having Carly Ann on our team made us more prepared to navigate the unexpected and feel more at ease. Carly Ann has a calming presence and it is easy to feel comfortable letting her in to one of the most intimate experiences in life. With what I know now about my baby day, looking back I would choose to work with Carly Ann again and again.

Danielle and Greg Williams

7/20/2023

We loved working with Carly Ann and cannot recommend her enough! She was our advocate, cheerleader, and a great source of information throughout the pregnancy and baby day. During the pregnancy, she helped with many decisions by offering additional information and lending a supportive ear. Whenever I felt nervous about advocating for myself during prenatal appointments, Carly Ann would take the time to reassure me and talk through my choices. 

 

My goal was to avoid medical intervention throughout the birth unless it was absolutely necessary. On baby-day, Carly Ann was incredible in assisting with this! We were held in triage for an hour because the nurse wasn't able to feel my cervix. Carly Ann suggested different positions to move things along and by the time the nurse came back, she was able to feel my cervix and I was dilated enough to head to the birthing suite. During active labor, she helped my husband with pressure points and other ways to relieve some of the pain. When it was time to push, things slowed down so she helped with lots of positions to move things along and cheered me along when I was giving up hope. After around 3 1/2 hours of pushing, she gave us more hands-on strategies to help our baby move down and avoid medical intervention, and 1 hour later, our baby was born! Following the birth (immediately and in the weeks that followed), she was so thoughtful and helpful with feeding support. 

We highly recommend Carly Ann and feel so fortunate to have had her by our sides. 

Thank you for everything, Carly Ann - we truly appreciate you.

Sarah Parise

7/8/2023

I would recommend Carly Ann to anyone looking for a doula, with her support I was able to have the birth experience I wanted to have. Prior to birth she checked in, answered all of our questions, and provided excellent resources for us to fill comfortable going into our birth. When I did go into labor she supported us in early labor through multiple calls (am I in labor? Is this normal? What's the risk of x,y,z). When my husband I had a hard time timing contractions that seemed to close together she came to the house right away and supported both of us through the process. I would highly recommend her! 

Mariana Carreiro

7/7/2023

My experience with Carly Ann couldn't have been better! Even though my contract with her was for postpartum services, she gave me advice and guidance weeks before my due date. We started meeting in person 2 days after I came back from the hospital and she definitely brought light to my, my husband and my daughter's live. She though us everything! She took care of the entire family, and helped me navigate breastfeeding issues, along other postpartum challenges.  I am.not ready to think about a second child, but if it happens, I will definitely seek her support again. Highly recommend.  

AM

6/4/2023

Carly Ann was an absolute rock during my entire birth experience and especially on the day of delivery.  She really listened to my goals and helped to keep me grounded in them as we navigated a complex delivery day. Even with some unexpected complexities, Carly Ann partnered seamlessly with my midwife to get my birth preferences back on track. Carly Ann helped me get through the most meaningful day of my life and I am forever grateful. My wife and I found her to be affirming of our relationship constellation and highly sensitive to my needs as a person who navigates chronic health issues. She also comes with a strong network of referrals from which we benefitted. I would highly recommend Carly Ann to anyone who wants to feel seen and empowered.

Emily B

5/10/2023

At our first meeting, I told Carly Ann what I was hoping for, but said that I would be okay if everything went wrong and I ended up with a completely different birth experience. She replied, "You're thinking about this wrong. Let's start with what you envision and want, and we'll make adjustments as they come. But what do YOU want?" 

From that moment forward, Carly Ann helped me feel empowered to have the birth I wanted for myself and my baby. She was incredibly generous with her time, and full of resources. From our prenatal meeting where Carly Ann shared and had us practice birthing poses, to postpartum check ins and links for healing techniques, she provided both myself and partner with tons of guidance, reassurance, and comfort. She even brought flowers and postpartum tea, little touches showing how much she cares. I highly recommend her services! 

Marianne W.

4/20/2023

Carly Ann is an absolutely amazing birth doula! She provides such a strong, grounding presence, which was critical in enabling me to get through my labor and delivery. In our pre-delivery discussions and throughout my delivery I always felt supported and heard by her, which translated into feeling empowered in all my decisions. Definitely could not have gotten through it without her and will absolutely recommend her to friends and family!

Birth Availability for Carly Ann Braun

= Available. Calendar last updated: 10-11-2024

Postpartum Availability for Carly Ann Braun

= Available. Calendar last updated: 10-11-2024