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Milan was an absolute lifesaver when I came home from the hospital. We initially hadn't planned for a postpartum day doula but I quickly realized that help during the day would be needed. From day one Milan gave me the confidence I needed to care for my newborn.

She helped us with the first bath, made sure I stay hydrated and came up with ideas on how to get the baby to nap. She also brought her own wrap baby carrier. Thanks to her I was able to actually enjoy a long hot shower while the baby enjoyed contact naps.

She also guided me through meditation when I was worried about my baby's weight gain. What I appreciated the most was her ability to get things done with little guidance, never making me feel like I'd need to find the energy to explain something to her. She prepared a sitz bath, helped me put the dishes and the laundry away or showed me how the Snoo works.

Even though she isn't working with us anymore I still hear her reminders to stay hydrated while breastfeeding and to trust my instincts when I make a decision for the baby. Thank you, Milan! 

- Teresa H.

"Milan has an uncanny ability to intuit where her support will be most needed. Whether is was comforting the baby, supporting me or our toddler, unloading the dishwasher, or straightening up, I never felt like I had to tell her how to help - she always just knew - which is SO valuable when you're overwhelmed and sleep deprived." - Caitlin K.

"I want to begin at the end - I cried as I walked Milan to her car on our last day together.  In fact, I walked down the road along side her car with my baby in the carrier (weeks prior I wasn’t comfortable even putting the carrier on by myself) not wanting to say goodbye.

Milan was always right on time without fail and came into our home with a positive can-do attitude, but always took cues from us as far as mood, noise level and list of to dos.  Milan is deeply passionate about her job.  She not only has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to newborn care, but also focuses on supporting mothers through the challenging postpartum period.  I looked forward to Milan’s visits each week - I felt safe and supported as a new mom.  I always felt comfortable even in my most vulnerable state.  I relied on Milan for advice and words of wisdom and feel extremely grateful for the opportunity to have had her as part of our new parenting team." - Tess B.

We were incredibly lucky to find Milan while I was pregnant with our first baby - neither my husband nor I had much experience around babies, and especially newborns, so we knew we needed someone to help us figure out those first few months. When our daughter arrived a month early, Milan was so supportive and accommodating, she immediately tried to rearrange her schedule to be able to fit us in and be there for us in the early days home from the hospital. The best part is that not only was she so sweet and caring with our tiny preemie, helping us with everything from feeding to burping to changing her and setting up her nursery, but she also knew exactly how to comfort and support me in the time of stress and worries of the first time parent, especially parent of a baby born early. Milan also helped me navigate through multiple pumps, different bottles and nipples to find the right one, different baby carriers and tons of other questions which seemed to be never ending during the first months.

My husband and I were initially a little concerned about having someone in the house on a daily basis because we are pretty particular about our space and habits, but Milan fit right in and made the transition very seamless, getting along great with our pets and making us feel very comfortable, and she very quickly picked up on certain preferences we had in terms of washing, organizing or folding things, etc without me saying anything.

Not to mention our baby who absolutely adored Milan, she knew exactly how to calm her down, how to get her to nap, how to help her when she was gassy or uncomfortable, and as soon as our baby started smiling, Milan was always able to get a smile out of her, even on the grumpiest days (and we had plenty of those)!

We were so sad when we finally had to say goodbye because Milan became a huge part of our family, this experience would have been so much harder without her and I would absolutely recommend Milan and hope to have her back in our family if we have a second baby. Thank you Milan, we miss you!!!

- Anastassia J.

Our baby girl was our first and my husband and I did not have much experience around newborns. I had heard that having support during those first few weeks was paramount. Milan helped us feel like humans during those first few weeks and made everything so much less intimidating.

In the first few weeks she did everything from helping sharpen our burping and diaper changing skills to helping me recover physically through things like sitz baths. It was also lovely to have someone who was interested in the baby's health and my own. So much is about the baby in this early days, and rightfully so, but it is still a huge physical recovery for mothers, especially when they're not sleeping. As time went on, Milan helped us try to figure out those early sleep schedules, sleep safety tips, and helped me figure out how to set up and use my pump (it took a few tries)! She also helped me organize our nursery (she knows how to use/set-up ALL of the baby things) and it helped my headspace to have someone who could help me get at least one room in my house organized. She also helped me get comfortable with baby wearing, which gave me so much more independence to take walks or just do stuff around the house. We learned how to use the baby bjorn and the soft wraps and it made such a huge difference in how I was able to spend time each day.

Mostly though, Milan is a wonderful soul and I miss my best walk companion. We shared amazing conversations and we miss her terribly. We would absolutely use her again.

- Alex H.

We brought in Milan to help out with our 8 week old son; we needed help managing and improving on his daytime sleep, as well as a bit of a support on (and reprieve from) the demands of first time parenthood :)

She was wonderful in so many ways. she took the approach of following our lead in terms of schedule and preferences with our son, since we'd been on our own in the daytime for 2 months by the time she came in, but she made suggestions and provided advice along the way that's proved very helpful without ever being overbearing.

She has great instincts and is very knowledgeable, and for situations where she hadn't directly experienced something before, she tapped into her doula network to get advice and was ready to try a bunch of ideas until one stuck. A good example: my son randomly decided to start rejecting the bottle after having taken it since birth; we tried some things until it turned out to be that I couldn't be in the same room as him because of his preference for nursing.

She's also so warm and thoughtful, and made an instant connection with my son (and with me!)

- Julia W.

Milan worked for us as a daytime postpartum doula for 11 weeks, beginning the day we brought our baby home from the hospital. She was kind, thoughtful, skilled, knowledgeable, collaborative, willing to get her hands dirty, respectful of our home, patient, funny, supportive, safe and sweet with our baby, and proactive about covid safety. If she had any interest at all in being a nanny, we would gladly pay her whatever she wanted to care for our baby long-term.

Hire her. She will help you be a more confident parent, and she will make your postpartum life better.

Highlights:

 - We delivered 11 days early. Milan met us at home when we were discharged from the hospital. She got there early and helped my mom do last-minute baby set-up that we hadn't gotten to.

 - I had some initial doubts about Milan's number of years of experience. Even though she had a ton of experience working with infants, not all of that was spent as a doula, and I originally envisioned working with someone who had been a doula for 10-15 years. We hired her anyway, because we liked her and because there were a limited number of doulas with availability around our due date. This ended up not being an issue AT ALL. I felt comfortable with her almost immediately, and she was very clearly experienced.

 - Milan was extremely adaptable. She was focused on helping us with what we needed in the moment, but also helped remind us of longer-term needs that we wanted to work on so that they wouldn't get lost in the chaos and exhaustion of having a newborn. She was proactive, and frequently offered to do things before we knew we needed them. Examples:
    * offering advice on diaper changes, burping, and bottles - we're first-time parents and we loved having someone to learn from and to ask questions
    * being another pair of hands to wrangle the baby during breastfeeding - our baby is very squirmy and Milan never hesitated to jump in when needed
    * helping us give the first bath, take the baby on the first walk, and do the first bottle feeding - when it was time for us to do something new for the first time, we would save it so we could do it with Milan
    * picking up groceries
    * making suggestions for baby-related equipment
    * explaining WTF some of the things were that people had gifted us ("Are all of these just different diaper creams??")
    * letting us vent after a mother-in-law visit
    * setting up our baby monitor
    * teaching us how to use our baby carrier
    * making us a snack
    * pushing us to do basic things like feed ourselves, drink more water, shower, and nap while she was there
    * just holding the baby for a while so we could eat and watch tv for an hour uninterrupted
    * talking to us about child care options and helping us write a job posting
    * changing our bedsheets - I honestly didn't know how much I needed this, but between very limited sleep and less frequent showers and unpredictably leaking breasts, those new sheets made my day every time

 - She was honest and straightforward. When she didn't know something, she said so. And then she would read the instruction manual, or do the research, or ask her network of colleagues. Another example: We had gotten the newborn diapers and the size 1 diapers mixed up in the diaper drawer, and had been using too-big diapers for a day without noticing. When I figured it out, I told Milan. But it was early in our time together and I didn't want to sound critical of her, so I told her that my mom had put the wrong diapers in the drawer by mistake. Milan didn't hesitate before saying that *she* had put the diapers in the drawer, and *she* had probably mixed them up. It was a small thing and it would have been easy for her to let it go, but she didn't. That impressed me.

 - Her sense of humor gave us space to joke about the parts of new parenthood that are funny and truly terrible.

 - She communicated openly and directly about covid. She told us when she had potential symptoms, and she made responsible choices that made us feel like she was prioritizing our family's health. When we had potential symptoms, she talked through them with us so that she could make a responsible decision that would protect her own health and the health of her other clients. She worked with us to reschedule when that was the prudent thing to do, and she consistently wore a mask in our home.

- Emma D.

Milan is a wonderful daytime doula and have recommended her to all my friends. Milan was a lifesaver during the first few weeks as new parents as our families live abroad. Our infant daughter received so much love from Milan and was calm and relaxed when Milan was around.

Milan waited for us at our home when we came back from the hospital and helped us navigate the first few days with our newborn daughter. She even changed her schedule to make sure she was able to be there for us on the first day back home with the baby. Milan helped us figure out breastfeeding (which was very hard in the beginning) and those early sleep schedules - every baby is so different and I would not have been able to get there by just reading books or googling. Milan truly is a baby whisperer and helped me understand what my daughter needed in every particular moment! She taught me various soothing methods (e.g., how to use a baby carrier) and rocked my daughter to sleep when I was exhausted. Milan also knows all baby things and told me what to order on Amazon and what I don't need to order (we saved a lot of money!!)

Milan also looked after me and helped me with my post-partum recovery. She made sure I was able to nap for a few hours (life-changing!!) and I knew that Amelia was in great hands while I rested. In addition, Milan prepared the most delicious overnight oats and snack plates for me and for my husband. But most importantly, she was a great friend and helped me to feel confident and trust my instincts as a new mom. She encouraged me to go outside on walks with my daughter and to do things that were important for my mental health. I really think I have been so happy as a first-time mom thanks to the support and guidance I have received from Milan.

We miss Milan a lot and would absolutely use her again! - Rahel S.