Testimonials

Christie Close, Certified Postpartum Doula, Gentle Sleep Training, Nights and Live-in Services 

Dr. Justin, and Laira Lo, Los Altos, California

The first several months of a baby's life, especially for first-time parents, can be filled with stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, self-neglect, worry, and the list goes on. Fortunately, my wife and I were blessed to have one of the best Doulas, Christie Close, stay with us for the first three months after my wife delivered our son. However, her services started before the delivery. She provided us with consultations to help prepare for the arrival of our baby. This included things to expect. She answered our questions about responses we could make as a team in the event of emergencies, what issues to watch out for, how to prepare the nursery, and what supplies/toys/equipment to purchase. Most importantly, she gave us lots of emotional support, hand-holding, and reassurance.

Christie explained her Contented Baby philosophy of recognizing the "language" and major needs of newborns, how to anticipate those needs, and how to preemptively address those needs before the baby becomes stressed and reacts to lacking those needs.

A most amazing and unique value of Christie's work is that she lives with clients for 3 months after a baby is delivered. Having this support allowed us to develop a consistent schedule and create a smooth developmental course for our baby. Although Christie took the role of caregiver for our son, especially during my wife's recovery, she was never intrusive, nor dismissive of our wishes, preferences, or lifestyle. It was very obvious that her primary concern was our baby and that his care would never be compromised.

Christie kept a careful log, recording the hourly schedule for every aspect of our baby's life day and night. This helped us coordinate our schedules and minimize random, unpredictable events. This made these first few months so much less stressful. Christie slept in the baby's nursery and took care of night-time feedings, diaper changes, and other needs our baby had throughout the night, as needed. At first, we were apprehensive and felt a bit guilty leaving our baby in the care of someone else during the night. However, this allowed us to be well-rested to have better engagement and quality time with our baby throughout the day.

Christie said our baby would gently and gradually be trained to sleep 8 hrs by the end of the 12th week. This almost sounded too good to be true, but this was a huge selling point for us. In our case, at three months, he slept 8-13 hours straight through. He has been an easy, happy baby. I believe Christie helped him form this ease in the early weeks by having as little stress as possible. 

Lastly, what we found to be the most priceless is that Christie fell in love with our son Hudson as we fell in love with him. She instantly felt like family. Christie not only had the knowledge, expertise, and experience we needed that helped us, two clueless first-time parents, but more importantly, she loved our baby boy so much that we could trust her in every capacity to protect him, and she always kept his best interests at heart. We still consider Christie part of our family. We speak regularly, visit each other, and she is always invited to holiday gatherings and family functions. There is no substitute for such service. I highly recommend Christie for help in such an important, critical time in your child's life."

July, 2024

 

Monica and Drew Smith, San Rafael, California

"Christie was our night doula for 3 weeks and started when our baby was 4 weeks old. She arrived at our home every night ahead of schedule and let us know ahead of time if there were going to be any changes to the schedule due to heavy weather. She was clean and organized, and helped by washing pump parts and bottles before she left each morning.  

Christie helped our baby get on a schedule and sleep longer stretches through the night. By the time she left, our baby was doing 7-8 hour stretches at night! She gave us helpful tips on sleep, swaddling, feeding, and developmental play. 

Christie always prioritized the safety of our baby, and she taught us how to incorporate safe practices with swaddling, sleeping, and developmental play. She cared about our baby just like she was one of her own. 

We were very comfortable with Christie in our home and enjoyed her company. She brought over treats for us and shared very fun stories with us. We cannot thank her enough for being part of this critical time in our family’s life."

February 2024

 

David and Betsy Fisher, Santa Cruz, California

Wow! We are so unbelievably grateful for our time with you. Thank you for sharing your baby care ways, instilling confidence in us as we begin our parenthood journey, and most importantly, for your incredible devotion to our little one in his first months of life. We will always remember the care we all got from you during that time."

Feb, 2022

Rayna DiOrio, Mother of three, Tiburon, California

"Christie, thank you so much for taking such excellent care of our two baby daughters and our baby son in the early months of life. We are grateful to you for being an invaluable resource for our family and village over the years. We appreciate you deeply."

Nov, 2008