What Our Clients Say

"As a first-time mom, a doula is a must! I highly recommend. They were such a great resource. Due to prior losses, I had prenatal anxiety and they helped provide education and resources to feel more confident. For birth itself - I required an emergency c section so I couldn’t use their services during delivery. However, Katya was available throughout my induction for support and feedback. She even took my call at 3am. She was also creative in how to support me and baby after birth."

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-Jackie from Reston, VA

"Mary and Katya have been our doula team for both our August 2021 and November 2022 births, with Mary being our primary and Katya acting as her backup for each. We have had absolutely wonderful experiences working closely with Mary both times for everything from prenatal meetings to discuss our birth goals, support provided during labor and delivery, placenta encapsulation, to postpartum questions and recommendations! At around 20 weeks of my second pregnancy, she even helped us gather and evaluate our options for providers and birth locations when we discovered that the birth center we had utilized for our first pregnancy had closed indefinitely. Her insight was hugely helpful at a time when we were disappointed about the closure and stressed about getting these unknowns settled as quickly as possible. Mary is a calm, reassuring presence and my husband and I are both so grateful to have had her knowledge and experience by our sides as we welcomed our daughters into the world via beautiful, unmedicated births that were everything we had hoped for!"

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-Coral from Ashburn, VA

"I had such a positive experience with my pregnancy and labor and I owe it to Katya! She helped me choose the right provider for my birth preferences, provided me with the resources I needed to best prepare my mind and body for birth, and was there for any questions I had leading up to the day! Labor and delivery were what I envisioned for myself and my baby. Katya was supportive and guided me to cope and deliver my baby unmedicated. I am so thankful for the support and proud that I was able to have the birth experience I imagined. Our postpartum visit was also everything I needed to confirm I am not in this alone. I was struggling with breastfeeding and she gave me tips on different positions to try and to get a better latch. Nothing but positives to say about Katya and Madam Doula! Thank you for making my birth journey a positive one."

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-Lexi from Ashburn, VA

"Katya was absolutely amazing! My original doula had an emergency and Katya stepped in. I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous because we hadn’t talked a lot before my birth, but she was fantastic. She suggested a few positions to help me get some rest during my early labor. Somehow she got me comfortable enough to sleep between my contractions. When things really got going, she rubbed my back and applied counter pressure to help. She provided great support for not only me but my husband as well. I’m not sure if I could have done it without her there. We were so lucky to have her as a doula. She definitely gave us the birth experience we dreamed of."

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-Corinn from Culpeper, VA

"Mary was just incredible, a true gem of a human being. She immediately helped put us both at ease and kept us distracted for the short time it took to complete. I had to push for nearly 4 hours and she was instrumental in ensuring we all made it through. She offered lots encouragement and positive feedback when I needed it most and helped me find the strength to make the final pushes when I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to. I am very confident that without her knowledge, support, and compassion I never would’ve had the low intervention vaginal delivery I hoped for. Mary cut our sweet tiny human’s cord and we both felt it was a fitting moment to celebrate her part in his arrival. Everyone should be so fortunate to have Mary at their side through delivery and I will absolutely have her assist me through any future deliveries. Thank you Mary!"

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-Caroline from Alexandria, VA

"Knowledgable. Passionate.  Supportive.
Six months postpartum and I am still on a birth high from Katya’s empowering encouragement during delivery.  A mutual friend connected us when I was looking for a doula for my third pregnancy.  From the beginning, Katya’s words were both positive and inspiring to give me more confidence and strength to achieve my goals and dream birth.  She takes her passion of this process of childbirth and delves into knowledge in all outlets to be able to provide a strong support system and share wonderful resources. Katya was joyfully available through my many questions and hesitations along the way.  During the birth, she created a peaceful environment to help me relax as well as provided the physical support to make me feel comfortable.
I am forever grateful to Katya’s gentle nature, knowledge, and support which contributed to my fast, easy, and comfortable birth."

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-Colleen from Bethesda, MD

"Madam Doula's services were excellent. My wife and I scheduled Mary & Madison for postpartum care as we just had our first child. Both Mary and Madison were calming, knowledgable, patient and reassuring of us as new parents. Both Mary and Madison would willingly help with any light chores around our apartment while still tending to our baby girl Joy. They really helped lighten the load and gave my wife and I valuable time to rest and also spend sometime together. Mary even went the extra mile by inquiring within her network to help us schedule additional postpartum care for dates that Madam Doula was unavailable. Mary & Madison were simply exceptional and I would recommend them and anyone from Madam Doula, as they certainly helped our transition into parenthood a lot smoother."

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-Jamaal from Fairfax, VA

"You will have a hard time finding better support than Katya and Mary. When we interviewed with Katya I immediately knew her upbeat and joyful spirit paired with experience and dedication to her job was exactly what I wanted in a doula. She is such a great source of encouragement through what can be a stressful time as you get ready to have your baby. Mary is super positive and has a very calming presence and is full of knowledge and helping you find connections in the community for services needed by momma to be. Together they’re a great team and we loved being able to work with them. I will be recommending them to all the expecting mammas I know."

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-Bethany from Vienna, VA

"I contacted Mary to encapsulate my placenta, though she was fully booked and my due date was around the corner, she made herself available to help me. She took the time to answer any questions prior to signing the contact, and smoothly worked with my family to pick up my placenta from the hospital and deliver the pills. Even surprised me with a little memento. I am 3 weeks postpartum and Mary has kindly checked on me. Highly recommend her services."

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-Claudia from Alexandria, VA 

"Katya and Mary are wonderful! They provided guidance and knowledge throughout the entire process. If we were ever hesitant about something or having a hard time making a decision, they were a text or phone call away! Being first time parents, we felt so much more confident with Katya there at the birth of our baby."

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-Alexandra from Hamilton, VA

"Katya is absolutely phenomenal. She has a perfect combination of expertise and a calming personable presence. I cannot express how grateful I was to have her with me for the delivery of my first child. I was feeling a little disappointed as my birth experience didn't go as planned, but she still made me feel empowered and comfortable throughout the whole experience. I cannot recommend her enough!!"

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-Carlina from Centreville, VA

"I cannot recommend Katya and Mary enough! This is my second birth after 8.5 years. I had a doula in a different state for my first birth so I knew the wonderful power of having a doula. But this time the experience was even better and more wonderful, and I learned a lot more from Katya and Mary than from my first birth. Katya was so helpful starting in my very first consultation with her and I knew she was the one immediately. She is very knowledgeable and knows exactly what she is talking about, and at the same time very respectful, open-minded, supportive, friendly, and kind. She helped me from figuring out my baby registry, understanding birth preparation, process and breathing techniques, to how to take care of myself and the baby after birth, not to mention all that she did with us and for us during the actual birth! I definitely felt so much more at ease because of her. So did my husband - who felt much more comfortable and involved in the birth process because of Katya’s guidance. We both are extremely comfortable with Katya. The birth experience would have been very different without Katya. And I achieved exactly what I wanted - an unmedicated natural birth!!

Mary was wonderful in communicating with us and provided us with excellent postpartum care. Mary was very responsive and answered our questions very quickly. We loved working with her too. It is also wonderful knowing that we had both of them in our team. It was so fun getting to know both of them and working with them. The experience was absolutely positive and I cannot recommend them enough!"

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-Charlene from Derwood, MD

"Mary and Katya were really helpful throughout my delivery. They made sure that I received the best support especially during labor and postpartum. I highly recommend Madam Doula for all your pregnancy related care. They took good care of me and they are like family. Thank you very much Katya and Mary for the awesome support."

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-Sree from Bristow, VA

"Katya is an amazing doula. Her emotional intelligence and support for whatever you decide set her apart. Katya worked with my husband and I in preparing for and during labor, as well as postpartum support. Throughout Katya offers information for us to make an informed decision but stressed that she will support whatever we decide. Her emotional support postpartum helped me transition into motherhood (plus her caring for my baby helped me get some naps!)"

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-Laura from Dulles, VA

"Words fail to express how grateful, fortunate, and lucky I feel to have had Mary with us during my first few weeks at home after my son's birth. I don't know what I would have done without her. Mary stayed with us over many nights caring for my son while letting me get some much needed sleep. As a first time mom to a newborn it is not so easy to trust someone to care for your baby, but I could rest easy knowing he was was being cared for by someone so loving, knowledgable, capable, and sweet as Mary. We also were lucky enough to have Mary’s support for some daytimes as well. Mary anticipated my every need before I even knew what I needed. She took initiative to help both me and the baby. She cared for mom just as much as she cared for baby...she even made delicious bone broth to nourish me! Her kind, loving, peaceful demeanor was exactly the support I needed during those precious first few weeks." 

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-Melanie from Washington, D.C. 

"I’m so blessed to have found Katya and Mary as my doulas! As a first time mom, I felt worried and somewhat alone because my mom couldn’t be with me for my labor and postpartum recovery. My husband has been a great support system, but I needed professional support to feel at ease with the whole labor and delivery process, and postpartum support, and I can say that Katya and Mary provided all the support I needed and more! Katya made feel at ease prior to my labor, always listening to my questions/concerns and offering advice along with tangible research articles for me to get informed. She was more than valuable during my labor, which was pretty long. She was available through the phone for me to labor at home, and met me at the hospital when I was transitioning to active labor. My baby was sunny side up, so Katya did not rest and continued to move me into different positions, which ultimately helped my baby turn by the time it was time to push. She also helped me advocate for myself when making decisions during labor which made a huge impact in my smooth delivery. Mary has also provided valuable support as my postpartum doula. She helped us with our baby at home, made me an amazing soup, helped me with breastfeeding, baby wearing, and even helped us give our baby her first bath. She is super patient, kind and trustworthy. I couldn’t recommend Madam Doula enough, and I’m so happy to have found them to be part of my pregnancy and now motherhood journey!"

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-Jessica from Fairfax, VA

"My husband and I went back and forth on whether we needed a doula and should we just save the money. Now we both agree it’s some of the best spent money of our lives. Katya was very instrumental in me forming my birth plan, answering questions and sharing her experiences. She spent 20 hours at the hospital, continuously the whole time positioning me in different ways to try to break my water and get our baby into position. My labor was long but was everything I wanted with Katya’s help. And then at our postpartum visit she helped with breastfeeding tips to keep our little man fed and happy and lots of encouragement at a time when both parents are often struggling!
We couldn’t be more thankful for Katya and give her our utmost recommendation!"

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-Rachel from Alexandria, VA

"Mary was phenomenal. We decided to have Mary as our doula in the beginning of our pregnancy. We had interviewed 2 other doulas and planned to interview 1 other in the area, but we immediately knew that Mary was the one after our Zoom meeting. She was so sweet, she actively listened and was genuinely interested in us as people, not just seeing us as another client. We were first time parents and super nervous about everything, especially the birth. She was always reachable by text, and we loved sending her updates from our appointments and belly progress as time went on. I ended up going into premature labor at 36 weeks and although none of us were expecting it, Mary was right there for us. She helped my husband decipher if I was in labor and she ended up meeting us at the hospital about an hour later. When I was in labor, she helped me voice my concerns to the nurses, she was patient, and she also empowered my husband to help me through the contractions. I was in labor for a little 24 hours & she stayed with us the entire time. We know that whenever we decide to have another little one, Mary is one of the first people we will call. We highly recommend her, and we are so grateful for a positive, memorable birthing experience."

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-Alannah from Potomac, MD

"Mary is a true asset to any new parent. As a postpartum doula, Mary showed us the ropes in the early days and was a great sounding board for any issues or problems that arose in the later weeks. She felt like part of the family by the end of her 8 week contract!"

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-Tessa from Fairfax, VA

"We cannot recommend Madam Doula enough. Mary spent the day leading up to our first child's birth leading my wife through exercises to help speed up the labor process. I am very sure it would have been a longer and more difficult process without her help. Additionally, Mary and Katya met with us throughout the 9 months, providing guidance, reassurance and quick communication. Our first pregnancy was easier and more enjoyable because of their help."

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-Charlie from Washington, D.C.

"I can’t say enough good things about Katya and Mary. Thanks to them I felt more prepared as a first time parent and significantly reduced my anxiety. My baby decided to make an appearance 5 weeks early which was totally unexpected. Katya answered my phone call at 4 am and guided me through some difficult decisions which were completely different from our original plan. Overall I felt super empowered and was able to have a successful natural birth at the hospital which I don’t think I would have been able to do without her. Once we brought the baby home Mary was there to offer postpartum support which made the whole transition so much easier. I felt so supported throughout the whole process and would 100% recommend Madam Doula to anyone planning on having a baby."

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-Yelena from Lorton, VA

"Highly recommend Katya's doula services! She provided helpful, evidence-based advice and guidance during the prenatal period and excellent hands-on support during labor. I really appreciated her, and believe that she helped improve my birth experience for my second child."

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-Julia from Burke, VA

"My husband and I had a wonderful experience working with Katya and Mary. They are both tremendously knowledgeable and were a great support leading up to delivery and postpartum. They worked with my own preferences and happily adjusted as circumstances changed without judgement. My birth experience didn’t go as I had hoped and Katya was there through out the night to answer questions and offer support before she was able to join us in the hospital. She was a steady and supportive hand when it came time to make a tough decision and we were grateful to have her with us. Mary was with us postpartum which was a chaotic time for us. She was flexible and a welcomed calm presence. We would gladly work with Madam Doula again and would definitely recommend them to other families."

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-Katherine from Reston, VA

"I had such a beautiful experience with these women- they really went the extra distance in making me feel supported through my pregnancy and postpartum. Mary encapsulated my placenta for us, and I’m so excited to use the pills in the coming months. Kind, warm, and professional- if you’re looking for a good doula company in the area, I can’t recommend Mary and Katya enough!"

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-Ana Sabrina from McLean, VA

"Having Katya and Mary as my doula team is what made it possible for me to have an amazing unmedicated birth for my first baby!
They helped my husband and I prepare (emotionally and psychologically especially) &, provided us with amazing resources, support and confidence. Although I wanted to deliver naturally, with my low pain tolerance, I had a lot of doubts and fears. From week 35, my doulas kept close watch on my pregnancy and encouraged me to advocate for myself, so that I felt I was the most prepared I could be.
During labor, Katya was there 100% for both me and my husband, advocated for us, and knew exactly what to do when I was pushing, when I lost a lot of blood, and the first few hours of postpartum, including baby’s initial latch.
I could not have had such a positive first birth without Katya and Mary - I would definitely have them as my doulas again! Totally recommend them 100%!"

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-Karis from Alexandria, VA

"Madam Doula was our choice after a thorough search for qualified, experienced doulas. We were planning for our first child, so very much in the dark on the birth process and what information to trust. We interviewed four doulas and Madam Doula stood out from the beginning. Mary and Katya helped us plan our birth and navigated 11th hour challenges. My wife had a healthy pregnancy, but our little guy decided to stay put until exactly 42 weeks, so we had to end up inducing. We were aiming for a natural birth - assiduously planned with Mary and Katya - but when a few hiccups during induction and the birth came up I was VERY relieved that Mary was there with us to help us pause when we needed, and press on when we had to.
Mary stayed with us overnight and extended herself to make sure that my wife had everything we needed - this wasn't a necessary step; she could have showed up when the birthing process truly began, but she came in early and left after we were 100% in a safe, comfortable post-birth. And, Mary has been with us for the past three months as we opted into the postpartum services as well. Our little guy loves spending time with her and we get a chance to catch up on sleep or have a nice quiet meal together nearby. Mary also helps tidy up the house! I can't recommend Madam Doula enough - our birth journey wouldn't have been as smooth or anxiety-free without both Mary and Katya."

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-Paul from Reston, VA

"I was interested in using a doula for the birth of my first child, was not planning to do a completely natural childbirth but wanted to at least do a partially natural birth and also have a knowledgeable advocate for me in the hospital.  Mary was incredible/ exactly what I was hoping for! She was nice, professional, and extremely knowledgeable in helping me navigate what I wanted my birth plan to be. And when of course things didn't go to plan, was amazing in advocating for me, asking great questions to the doctors, and supporting me through labor with different techniques.  I feel like without her and my husband there I would have ended up getting a c-section, but with both their support I was able to have a fast, vaginal birth with a quick recovery and a healthy happy baby! Mary also came to my house a week after we got home from the hospital to check in on us and answer additional questions as we navigated having a newborn, and we still stay in touch!  Very happy to have gotten to know and work with her, highly recommend her services."

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-Melissa from Arlington, VA

"I had the pleasure of working with both Katya and Mary for my postpartum care, and my husband and I agree that hiring them was one of the best decisions we've ever made. They are both personable, knowledgeable, and committed to providing the best possible care to moms and babies. I initially contracted them for nighttime sessions, and I'm so grateful for the emotional support and extra sleep I received while knowing that my newborn daughter was in great hands. In addition, Mary was able to provide emergency care for my older daughter when I went into labor in the middle of the night and had to rush to the hospital, and Katya added in daytime sessions to take care of me when I had to have surgery three weeks after my baby's birth. I honestly don't know what I would have done without them. If you are at all on the fence about working with a doula, let me make your decision very simple: call Madam Doula...you won't regret it!"

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-Autumn from Reston, VA

"Katya was so helpful after the birth of my second child. She was so sweet and caring with my newborn and was always ready to research and offer advice. I am so thankful that I found her-- I don't know how else we would have survived the first 6 weeks of adjusting to our new family dynamic!"

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-Leah from Washington, D.C. 

"When my other doulas didn’t stick around after a traumatic homebirth turned C-section, Mary provided me with in-home and virtual postpartum support that was equal parts sisterly compassion and practical suggestions and advice. Mary also provided on-call virtual support and guidance as I navigated postpartum birth control options and issues. She is rooted in her vast foundational knowledge of evidence based natural birth. Uniquely this is also nicely balanced with her respect for and knowledge of patient-centered Western interventions when necessary."

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-Courtney from Rockville, MD