Welcome!
We are Julia Larson and Erin Chapman, a birth, postpartum, and lactation support doula partnership based in Berkeley.
We offer:
Birth Doula Support
Postpartum Doula Care
Comprehensive Lactation Support
Extensive Postpartum Meal Planning & Preparation
Sleep Consulting/ Shaping
We have a combined almost 15 years of experience in the birth world and LOVE what we do!
We have attended over 250 briths in our careers and supported over 500 families with postpartum & lactation care.
We support women getting the specific birth and postpartum experience they desire by providing unbiased, personalized care each step of the way. We invest deeply and authentically in our families wellness and experience by spending quality, un-rushed time getting to you and your goals for welcoming your baby into the world. We believe in maximizing the impact of our support and care, not minimizing the time that we spend together and that shows in every steps of our care!
Our offerings
We are in network with MediCal & Kaiser and we accept FSA/HSA, Carrot, Progeny, Maven, and more.
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Full in home or local outdoor Film photography session with Julia (prenatal, labor, or within 6 weeks postpartum)
Four prenatal visits, up to 2hrs each
1st: Kick off & birth visioning
2nd: Breastfeeding preparation
3rd: Comfort measures & mock labor practice
4th: Massage & movementContinuous labor and birth support
with you through strong labor sensations, and important decision making as you work to meet your babyTwo postpartum home visits, up to 2hrs each
1st: Lactation focused, is baby getting enough, latch positioning, etc
2nd: Newborn Care focused, swaddling, burping, sleep routines, and moreA special closing visit 6 weeks after birth, 2hrs
A unique and important opportunity to center the mother and baby in celebration and recognition, we offer a yoni steam or herbal bath as a quiet time to reflect on the journey to meet baby and then come together as a full team for discussionAnd so much more:
On call for labor support from 37-42 weeks
Unlimited phone and email support
Curated Babylist registry with our loved products
Your own personal “birth bag” with labor tools including TENS unit
iPhone birth photography -
Full in home or local outdoor Film photography session with Julia (prenatal, labor, or within 6 weeks postpartum)
An in home prenatal or postpartum massage with CMT Eliza Deerfield, 90 mins
Two in home acupuncture appointments for mother wellness and/or labor encouragement w/ Giselle Moreno
Five prenatal daytime visits, up to 2hrs each
1st: Kick off & birth visioning
2nd: Breastfeeding preparation
3rd: Comfort measures & mock labor practice
4th: Massage & movement
5th: Due‑date check‑in & walkContinuous labor and birth support
with you through strong labor sensations, and important decision making as you work to meet your babyFive postpartum home visits, up to 2 hrs each
1st: Lactation focused, is baby getting enough, latch positioning, etc
2nd: Newborn Care focused, swaddling, burping, sleep routines, and more
3rd: Mother Care focused, oil scalp rub, massage, sitz bath, etc
4th & 5th, TBD per your needsTwo night shifts, 9hrs each
a welcome home night from the hospital, so you can start to recover and recoup lost rest plus one additional night for use in the first week homeA special closing visit 6 weeks after birth, 2hrs
A unique and important opportunity to center the mother and baby in celebration and recognition, we offer a yoni steam or herbal bath as a quiet time to reflect on the journey to meet baby and then come together as a full team for discussionAnd so much more:
On call for labor support from 37-42 weeks
Unlimited phone and email support
Curated Babylist registry with our loved products
Your own personal “birth bag” with labor tools including TENS unit
iPhone birth photography -
Nights shifts are 9hrs, 9pm-6am, up to five night shifts offered per client
Day shifts are 3-5hrs long, AM or PM
Includes:
Extensive handmade, nourishing, and delicious meals
Household tasks (dishes, laundry, & keeping home)
Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or pumping support
Helping to create a nurturing & quiet environment to support the whole families rest
Extensive sleep consulting and shaping
Massages, meditations, conversations, laughs, cries, and so much more -
Additional in home massages, 90 mins: $300
Additional in home acupuncture sessions, 60 mins: $200
Additional 30 min photo shoot with up to 20 digital images: $300
Our Philosophy& Care
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There is no single way to give birth or to cope with labor. We help each client find their own best way. Through unrushed and thorough preparation we aim to peel back any layers of anxiety that are understandably there leading into the birth and replace them with intention, vision, support, and joy.
“Support” means something different for each client. We take the time to discover what is important to you and tailor our care to provide what you need. This can include:Education on phases of labor and physiology
Cultivating connection to and trust in your body
Mental preparation, such as processing fears or anxieties
Practicing hands-on methods for both coping with the intensity of labor and enabling deep relaxation including massage, hypnobirthing, breathing techniques, and more.
Balancing and readying the body for a smooth birth using Spinning Babies Techniques before delivery
Working closely with the birth partner so they can flourish in the loving support role with support techniques that feel both natural to provide and impactful for the birthing person
Advocating for your desires in the maternal health care system with respect and cohesion
Building a strong, trusting relationship that allows us to feel comfortable and safe together in the labor space
We have attended almost 250 births in our careers and counting!
We support birth at Home, Pacifica Birth Center, Alta Bates, John Muir, Kaiser San Leandro, Kaiser Walnut Creek, Marin General, Highland and more. -
As your postpartum doulas we are there for you in all the up and downs of early parenthood. We strive to bring calm, regulated energy into our care post birth to ground you during this often dynamic life transition. We enjoy building strong, emotional connections with our postpartum clients so that our presence in your home feels easeful and organic. Postpartum care often includes:
Newborn care modeling and advice
Household tasks (dishes, laundry, & keeping home)
Sleep support, consulting, and shaping
Tending to the birthers heart, womb, and spirit with bodywork, massage, and other mother centered care
Authentic, non-judgmental emotional and physical support
A helping hand and a listening ear through all the joys and intensity of postpartum
We are huge foodies and really enjoy working with whose love language is a warm, yummy meal. We work with our clients prenatally to create a nourishment plan that promotes healing and recovery. We focus on unprocessed, organic, hand made meals that strengthen digestion and immunity. You can frequently find us in the kitchen baby wearing during our day time postpartum shifts— making breakfast, lunch, and a pot of stew for dinner!
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Lactation care starts before baby even arrives with our prenatal breastfeeding education session.
Doing a prenatal breastfeeding education session is extremely impactful— (1) it gives us a chance to meet and connect prenatally so if and when you need support once baby arrives we are able to hit the ground running and (2) it can be hard to learn and absorb information in the freshly postpartum period, so setting a foundation of knowledge and best practices before baby arrives really sets you up for success.
Topics include:
interactive instruction & demo of latch & positioning
“golden hour” preparation
how to know if baby is "getting enough"a “road map” of breastfeeding so you can better understand hour one, day one, week one what to expect
flange fitting
pump and bottle feeding q&a
In the postpartum space we offer comprehensive, medical scope feeding support that includes medical grade weights, weighted feeds, pumping and bottle feeding information, personalized herbal support, and more.
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Julia offers black, white, or color film photography in home or hospital to capture any part of your journey— pregnancy, during labor/birth, or newborn focused or of the whole family postpartum. All of the photos on this site are hers and more can be viewed here!
Let’s work together.
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly! We can't wait to hear from you!
Erin and Julia were the best support team we could have envisioned and hoped to have for our family. A warm, professional and highly skilled duo, they brought an outstanding quality of care to me as a first time mom, my partner, and our baby. I felt surrounded by family every time one of them walked into our home. Their holistic, 360 degree care approach and ability to anticipate our needs is exactly what we were looking for and could not find anywhere else.
I felt deeply cared for and respected by Erin during my prenatal visits with her, and I was so well prepared for my birth.
The postpartum care and lactation support provided by Erin and Julia, including nourishing meals, back rubs and words of encouragement meant the world to us.
The newborn expertise both of them brought to the table was instrumental in making us feel confident, and their night support was essential in giving us the rest we needed to be the best parents we can be.
Birth and postpartum are such vulnerable times for a family, with Erin and Julia we felt truly at home throughout the entire experience. We wholeheartedly recommend them and feel so fortunate to have them in our lives.
— Vera, Rafa, & baby Rada
Testimonials
We met Erin while admitted to the hospital 8 weeks before our due date, and she and Julia became a critical part of our postpartum journey once we brought home our 6-week premature baby. Erin and Julia have brought so much care, light, joy, and warmth into our lives; they seamlessly integrated into our home and our lives at a particularly difficult and vulnerable time. Their holistic, all-inclusive care allowed us to truly enjoy our experience as first-time parents. They created countless opportunities for relaxation, nourishment, and growth, from teaching us how to be more conscious and present parents to encouraging us to continue doing what brought us joy before birth.
Erin and Julia were very intentional about centering the mother postpartum, ensuring that I was taken care of physically, mentally, and emotionally. They provided massages, head rubs, herbal baths and steams, and laughter and comfort as each situation required. They integrated this care while still performing countless other tasks around the home and caring for our baby. This care made me feel seen at a time when first-time mothers can frequently feel overlooked and overtired. Julia also offered to take stunning film photos of our family, allowing us to encapsulate and truly celebrate this time in our lives.
Erin and Julia are excellent cooks and made countless nourishing meals throughout their time with us. They seamlessly integrated into our home and kitchen, frequently helping us use up ingredients and bringing their own ingredients to create nutritive and truly delicious meals. We felt like we had family cooking for us, and we truly underestimated the nourishing nature of a warm, home-cooked meal served to us while they took care of our baby.
We thrived with Julia and Erin's care, guidance, and nourishment – so much so that we extended our contract. We look forward to seeing them through the years and cannot wait to work with them again should we be lucky enough to rely on their support for another child.
— Deeva, Michael & Baby Sameer
It’s hard to put into words what Erin & Julia have meant to our family. They were with us at such a tender, vulnerable time, and truly I don’t know where we would be without them. As first-time parents, the newborn period came full of many blessings and joys, but also intense struggles; with breastfeeding, a challenging physical recovery after birth, and a tremendous amount of anxiety about how to properly care for our baby. I called Erin & Julia “Our Angels” because they came into our lives postpartum and immediately hit the ground running. Caring for our family in ways I didn’t even know I needed, and that made all the difference.
They are the ultimate dream team, each with their own unique way of showing up and taking care of us. From infant care, including feeding issues, to mother support, like herbal sitz baths and yoni steams, to whole family care, like being able to just take a nap with my husband. And did I mention the cooking…?! They are both incredible chefs, and I will forever crave their homemade meals.
Whenever one of them would arrive at our house for a shift, we felt a sense of relief, and when they would leave for that day, we felt recharged, calm, and present. And now, afterwards, I feel as though we always have them with us. Continuing to guide us with the knowledge they imparted. We ended up extending our contract with them because their help was so impactful, and they will be the first people we call when we have baby #2 on the way.
— Leah, Patrick, & Baby Lily
We connected with Erin and Julia in June of 2025, when I was 7 months pregnant. It was an exciting time but, as a first time parent, I also had anxiety and nervousness about labor, delivery, and postpartum. I had hundreds of questions and fears; it felt daunting to even figure out where to start. From the very first in-home consultation, Erin and Julia began carving away slowly and methodically at the mountain of topics I wanted to discuss. It was obvious right away how helpful it was going to be to have their insight, wisdom, and experience. Throughout the four pre-natal sessions, we felt prepared for labor and delivery (as best as we could be), and they both made concerted efforts to get to know us, and what we wanted out of our birth experience. Erin attended our birth and helped us make important decisions by translating the experience, offering comfort strategies, and advocating for us to make our own decisions. Both her dedication and impact was heartfelt and meaningful- she slept in the bathtub overnight, just to make sure she didn’t miss a thing! After birth, having Julia and Erin for postpartum support in the first six weeks allowed us restful nights and to begin my breastfeeding journey with clear and informed minds. Learning to breastfeed wasn’t easy, and we had bumps in the road the first couple of weeks, but with their support, warm meals, attentiveness, and agility in their schedules to visit when we needed them to- we found ourselves in a relaxed rhythm with a well-fed, well-rested baby sleeping 8+ hours straight each night by the end of our contract.
Erin and Julia will bring warmth, care, restfulness, and peace of mind into your home. I’ll be forever grateful for the privilege of working with Erin and Julia, and highly recommend their pre-natal, day of birth, and postpartum services.
— Holly, Gregg, & Baby Adelaide
I am endlessly grateful for the extraordinary care Julia and Erin provided throughout our entire birth journey. From our very first consultation, we instantly felt their warmth and professionalism. Their teamwork was seamless, nurturing, reassuring and so supportive. I loved having a group chat for easy communication and appreciated that they both took the time to come to our home to get to know us before stepping into such an intimate space.
On the day we met our daughter, Julia was truly my labor angel. I would not have had such a positive, beautiful, and memorable birth experience or believed in my own strength and power to go unmedicated without her grounding presence and encouragement. She supported every decision I made, was the ultimate hype woman, and somehow was always 10 steps ahead knowing what I needed before I did. My husband shared he felt more calm and confident supporting me with her guidance which allowed him to be fully present when I needed it most.
Julia honored every one of my birth preferences and advocated for me when needed. She went above and beyond capturing raw, meaningful moments with her film camera during labor and postpartum that I will cherish forever. The calm environment she helped create with fairy lights, her affirmations reminding me that I was safe during the strongest waves of contractions, and the essential oils sprayed above me as a reminder to relax my shoulders to breathe were truly invaluable.
It was so helpful to have the care continue after labor. I am particularly grateful for Julia and Erin's lactation consulting support, which helped me feel more confident when feeding my daughter. Our closing visit included reflecting on my birth story and a herbal bath with my baby, that felt like such a special way to close this chapter of our journey.
I feel immensely lucky to have found Julia and Erin to be a part of our last baby's birth story. Their genuine love for being a doula is undeniable and being supported by them during such a transformative moment in our lives is a gift I will always cherish.
— Erika, Dale & Baby Elia Violet
