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 Day Doula Care
Postpartum Night Doula Care
Comprehensive Lactation Support
Extensive Postpartum Meal Planning & Preparation
Sleep Consulting/ Shaping
We share an immense passion for both the transformational value of birth and the sacred, very tender freshly postpartum period. We enjoy supporting clients through both of these very important but often very different transitions.
We are seeking clients that are intentional about their birth and postpartum preparation and seeking an engaged and experienced doula duo to amplify their efforts and provide a continuity of care that continues for weeks post delivery.
Our Support
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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.
More specifics on our birth support package below. -
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 during with very tender, vulnerable time 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, compassionate, 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 taking a chance to set a general 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 here’s and more can be viewed here!
Our offerings
Birth Support Package | $3600
booking priority given to those clients also looking to add postpartum care (day/nights/both)
at least 4 prenatal visits
1st: getting to know one another, creating a birth plan, aligning on birth goals, childbirth education Q&A
2nd: prenatal breastfeeding education and preparation
3rd: comfort measures, creating a partner support tool kit, creating an early labor plan
4th: postpartum planning, 30 min neck and back massage, movement & balancing for optimal fetal positioning
Continuous birth support upon labor & delivery
at least 2 postpartum home visits
1st: “Welcome home” postpartum visit within first week of life (lactation support, newborn care, swaddling, sleep, soothing etc.)
2nd: Special, unique closing visit, 4-6 weeks after birth to pamper the birthing person with herbal bath or herbal steam, and hold time to reflect on birth from greater distance
Unlimited email and phone support throughout your pregnancy
Guaranteed birth attendance
Free TENS Unit rental
iPhone Birth Photography
Film photography session w/ Julia to be used prenatally, during labor/birth, or during the first 6 weeks postpartum
up to 20 digital images and prints as desired
Postpartum Day or Night Support | $85/hr
Day Doula Support
Newborn care, tips, and guidance
Physical & emotional support for the birthing parent(s)
Extensive handmade, nourishing, and delicious meals
Household tasks (dishes, laundry, & keeping home)
Massages, meditations, conversations, laughs, cries, and so much more
Day shifts are usually 4-8 hrs in length and concentrated M-F
For contracts with more than 80hrs of day time care, our contract includes a custom postpartum menu to plan our food preparation around your tastes and dietary needs
Night Doula Support
Newborn care while you rest (diapering, burping, soothing baby)
Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or pumping support
Helping to create a nurturing & quiet environment to support the whole families rest
Extensive sleep consulting and shaping (many of our clients see 6-8hr long infant sleep stretches by 4-6 weeks of life)
Night shifts are usually 8hrs from 10pm-6am and concentrated during M-F
Note: This add-on includes an additional home visit with both Julia & Erin for a tour of your home/kitchen, a discussion on your priorities for postpartum support, and a sample day or night schedule walk through
Click here for more about postpartum care
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
Erin & Julia provided the kind of care to my little family I didn't know *existed* in this country.
Our UCSF birth was complicated, but Erin & Julia are one of the reasons we reflect back on it with gratitude and agency. Once we were home from the hospital, every early week was dotted with a meeting with Erin & Julia and they were like mini-meditations in that newborn era: lessons on how to do it and the feeling, as they departed, that we could.
Everything we know, we learned from Erin & Julia -- from how to breastfeed, bottle feed, how to pair the two in a way that supported our goals and our baby's health. Their home visits and hands-on teaching were invaluable, and always swiftly documented with an email our sleep-deprived parenting brains could re-read for reference. Their advice on low milk supply always centered my well-being with my baby's.
Without Erin & Julia’s instruction, it would have been easy to feel occasionally scared or at a loss -- but we're coming to the end of our parental leave feeling closer than ever as a family. That feeling wouldn't be possible without Erin & Julia.
— Caroline, Corbin, & Baby Lucius