Hero Birth Services

We are SO EXCITED to offer our first ever online lactation course for expecting parents! ***The Practical Parent's Plan for Nursing a Newborn*** If you're feeling anxious about nursing your little one, this 5 week interactive class will help you make sense of the complex world of breastfeeding / chestfeeding so that you will be confident about nursing your baby and prepared to navigate any challenges that might arise.... Our beta cohort starts on MONDAY so there are still a couple more days if you want to join. (Best for parents due mid-March or later.) Special beta pricing is available for this round of the course ($50 off), so get your "guinea pig discount" today!

Heads up... if you’re looking for sleep support, there are lots of other less harmful options out there!

The kids look so proud

If you’ve felt any or all of these things, you’re not alone

CW: loss, child loss

Highly recommend this event! So many of our clients have benefitted from working with Virginia after a difficult birth experience.

In 1929 Gerber began an advertising campaign to convince dieticians and pediatricians that canned baby food was just as nutritious as homemade food, and even be...tter because it was scientifically prepared. As part of the campaign, doctors received free Gerber products for patients. Gerber also funded research touting the health benefits of their food. That researchvaguely worded and devoid of peer reviewwas published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, positioning it as scientific fact. Alongside these efforts, Gerber stated that women who prepared their own baby food were neglecting their husbandsand babies. One 1933 ad read, For Baby’s Sake, Stay Out of the Kitchen! Alongside these efforts, Gerber advocated for starting solids at 3 months old. And by the 1950’safter 20 years of advertisingthe average age of introducing solids fell to just 6 weeks old. Since then the medical community realized that too-early introduction of solids displaced valuable nutrition from breast milk/formula. The consensus among medical institutions today (AAP, U.S. National Institutes for Health, and World Health Organization) is that it’s best to introduce solids at 6 months old. It is at this time that most babies are developmentally ready to eat and need more iron. Conveniently, 6 months is also when babies are capable of feeding themselves. Baby food was invented. Mom guilt was marketed. There is no perfect order of introducing solids. No no need for stages of thickness. These were all constructs in the name of profit. Convenience has its place. I love a good yogurt pouch and rely on Cheerios when traveling. But the idea that real food has to be hard isn’t good for anyone. Babies don’t need banana pudding or pricey pouchesa banana is fine! There is a reason feeding feels complicated. Corporations spent the last century telling your grandmothers and great-grandmothers that they would be bad moms and wives if they didn’t buy pre-prepared baby food. So the next time you feel a twinge of guilt for feeding your baby YOUR way, remember that it’s not you. It’s history. See more

Give your littles some seasonal fun AND support a local artist/doula! Tiny Goblin Creation this looks amazing!

Virtual hugs for everyone feeling this right now

STARTING TODAY. This happens a couple times a year and is a great opportunity to get a new seat while responsibly recycling your old one! Don’t forget to get yo...ur seat checked by a car seat tech to ensure your little ones are riding safely every time. #OCFamily #OrangeCountyLife #OCDoula #SoCalFamily #CPST #ChildPassengerSafetyTechnician Repost @southernsavers with @make_repost Mark your calendars! The popular Car Seat Trade-In Event is happening again at Target! We missed the event in the spring, so don't miss it now. Starting 9/13 thru 9/26, bring in any used Car Seat and get a 20% off coupon for new car seats or baby gear! #CouponFamily#target #targethaul #targetad #targetdeals #targetbaby #targetcarseattradein #babydeals #babycoupons

"Weboth parents and providersoften have this idea that our rights change once a baby is involved, but that is more of a cultural idea than a legal one. If anything, these basic rights are even more important during pregnancy and birth, when we are responsible for this little life we will be guiding and protecting for the next 18 years."

Always an honor to support parents as they learn to feed their little ones! The journey is rarely smooth, and everyone deserves support along the way! Posted @withregram @nataschabelle It’s world breastfeeding week! I’m so grateful that Zoe and I got the hang of breastfeeding and for all the support from Jeff, my mom, and my amazing doula, Marlee. Here I am breastfeeding Zoe on a little hike near our home.

So so true in our experience

So important! If you’ve been told to do kegels by someone other than a pelvic floor physical therapist, THINK TWICE. And maybe see a pelvic PT (like one of the wonderful therapists at Nicole’s practice, PelvicSanity) while you’re at it

Great description of many of the ways we’ve been supporting families from afar since March.

Continuing to read, learn, and have important conversations with each other, our families and friends, and with fellow birth workers. Racial inequities in birth outcomes and experiences are REAL, right here in Orange County. We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how we can effect change. We’re starting by increasing our free/reduced cost services for families in need, prioritizing Black people and people of color. If you or someone you know could use extra support while preparing for birth or postpartum, send them our way. Offering birth classes, lactation consults, and general postpartum support (all virtual because ).

Virtual doula support over the past few months has allowed us to build some of the most meaningful relationships with clients we've ever had. We certainly never envisioned that we'd be doula-ing over a cell phone or laptop, sometimes without ever meeting our clients in person! But here we are, finding our new rhythm. While there is so much we miss about physically supporting births (including those amazing good-bye hugs when we leave our clients alone with their new baby), we've come to appreciate many things about this new way of working with growing families. If you've been wondering what virtual doula support really looks like, this blog post is for you!

Oof. This applies to labor & delivery units and pediatrician visits too.