Home Birth Doulas in Santa Cruz, CA

These providers list home birth as a specialty. Compare profiles, read reviews from other families, and message the ones who feel like a fit.

29 Home Birth Doulas near Santa Cruz, CA

REBECCA GARCIA

Burlingame, California 3 years of experience

5.0 (10 reviews)

REBECCA GARCIA Background checked · Sep 2026

Responds within a few hours Accepts insurance

My name is Rebecca Garcia and I am thrilled you are seeking out a Doula for your journey. I have a strong energetic pull towards this life changing work, and I am so honored to be pursuing my passion as a birth worker. I love all things birth and feel that my strongest assets are listening, empathy, providing resources and cooking homemade meals for others. I tell all my clients, if there is a birth I am there. With all the stigma and negative depictions in the media surrounding birth, I want to ensure that my clients feel secure in all their decisions without any judgments. This Is Your Body, Your Birth & Only You Get To Make The Decisions That Works Best For You & Your Baby. I have two spirited little ones of my own; ages 4 and 6. I had doulas for both births and feel as though they made my birthing journey undeniably memorable. They feed me, hit pressure points during labor, loved me, educated me and most importantly encouraged me to find my voice and strength. These are the experiences I wish to provide to my future clients. I have experience in homebirths, birth centers & hospital settings. I understand that ones birthing journey is a sacred space, and wish to only support and offer any resources that may help aid in this time. If you are interested or just want to connect and talk anything birth, postpartum or baby please feel free to reach out. I am located in San Francisco and I am extending my services throughout the surrounding Bay Area. Virtual Options Also Provided

Recent review

Rebecca was very thorough in the education she provided to us as first time parents in the lead up to the birth. There were 4 in depth sessions which were really appreciated and learned tons during. It alleviated some nervousness around giving birth. During the birth, she came over just before the baby was born at the hospital and gave me a massage and really helped advocate for my wishes as predefined in the birth plan (which she helped me develop). After the baby was born, we had a few additional sessions with her. She brought over bone broth, did a baby massage, and really made the day special for me with a tray of yummy treats. Additionally, she did a closing of the bones ceremony. It's really when i realized that in becoming a mom I went through a transition and a change that was more than I really understood pre-birth. I remain super grateful to Rebecca for the wonderful care she provided me during our time together. Thank you for all the training and education prior to the birth and in taking care of me post partum. I wished I had more time with her!

- Maria Antonia H.

Maya Jones

Oakland, California 7 years of experience

Maya Jones

Responds within an hour Accepts insurance

Hi, I’m Maya Jones a Certified Full Spectrum Doula and Placenta Care Specialist dedicated to supporting you through every stage of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. My mission is to create safe, empowering experiences for all birthing people—honoring your unique birth preferences, whether natural, medicated, cesarean, or VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Growing up in East Palo Alto, I was inspired by the strength of my community and the compassion of my grandmother and mother, who were community leaders and nurturers. Their example taught me to lead with advocacy, care, and an unwavering commitment to uplifting others. With over a decade of childcare experience and a passion for birth work sparked in 2017, I founded All Hues LLC in 2023 to provide holistic, personalized care. My comprehensive training in Birth, Loss, and Postpartum Care, alongside certifications in Placenta Encapsulation and OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Safety, equips me to meet your needs with evidence-based knowledge, practical tools, and emotional reassurance. I am committed to addressing inequities in perinatal care and providing inclusive, affirming support to all families, especially Black families, families of color, LGBTQ+ families, single parents, and surrogates. Through compassionate guidance, I help you navigate the challenges and joys of parenthood with confidence and ease. Whether you’re looking for birth planning, hands-on labor support, lactation guidance, postpartum recovery care, or placenta encapsulation, my goal is to ensure you feel seen, respected, and cared for every step of the way. Let’s create a birth and postpartum experience that empowers you to not just survive but thrive!

Gretchen Retka

San Jose, California 15 years of experience

5.0 (1 review)

Gretchen Retka

Responds within a day

Parents: please share your EDD & contact info in the message body 🙏🏾 Birth doula of 13 years. This is my calling in life to be of service to labor/birth. I’m very grateful to have this as my service in this lifetime and believe every new life is a gift to be honored with care, love and respect for the process. Trained in techniques that encourage optimal fetal positioning by finding balance in the body (more comfort during pregnancy as well as labor/birth) optimal positioning helps labor be more comfortable, increasing odds of a efficient and smoother vaginal birth. I share these techniques with my clients in the third trimester to decrease the use of interventions & prevent trauma. Also practicing placenta encapsulation and massage therapy at Full Moon Birth & Family Wellness Center.

Recent review

We had the most magical natural unmedicated birth experience in a hospital and we owe so much of it to Gretchen. Right from our first interaction when we were interviewing birth doulas, we were drawn by her warm nature. Her prenatal visits were extremely helpful be it the exercises she taught us to enable an optimal baby position for birth or her inputs into crafting our birth plan. We would have been lost with the information overload if not for her timely, targeted and super informative educational resources that have been extremely helpful to us as first time parents. She has always been a text or phone call away to address anything we needed. She brought in a sign of relief when she entered the labor room...her calming presence during my final stretch of labor and the positions she guided me through definitely helped me avoid an epidural. The icing on the cake was her singing a lullaby to our little one upon birth, it felt divine. She also captured beautiful moments of our baby's birth that we will cherish forever. I will always remember her positive affirmation 'You are stronger than you think!'. Can't thank you enough Gretchen for being the rockstar that you are and all your support to growing families :)

- Gita Sowmya P.

Kaleena Hurlburt

Monterey, California 8 years of experience

Kaleena Hurlburt

A native of Seaside, Kaleena returned home to the Peninsula in 2018 after a long and prestigious career of professional dance in the Bay Area. Upon hanging up her pointe shoes, Kaleena was invited to join the esteemed San Francisco GYROTONIC® where she studied under some of the world's foremost teachers and shared that knowledge with clients of all ages and physical capabilities. It was after the ecstatic home births of both of her children that Kaleena furthered her curiosity into Birth and the depths of Pre and Post Natal movement studies. As a Certified Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator, Kaleena is passionate about sharing all she knows about movement and birth with her clients. With the Pre and Post Natal Applications of The Gyrotonic® Method movers can enhance their understanding of their pelvic floor anatomy and function, create space in their ever-changing bodies, understand birth biomechanics to encourage optimal fetal positioning, develop strength where needed, and learn how to create an elasticity that helps them move through their pregnancy and postpartum with strength and grace. In her free time, Kaleena loves spending time with her family outside exploring all the beauty the Central Coast has to offer. She loves serving her community as the Events Coordinator for The Birth Network of Monterey. “One empowered birth at a time, one birthing person who feels they are capable of moving through life without pain or trauma after birth… These are things that can make an impact on our greater community. This is what I want to do.” -Kaleena

Sampaguita C. S.

Oakland, California 10 years of experience

5.0 (3 reviews)

Sampaguita C. S.

Accepts insurance

Hi — I’m Sampaguita Thank you for being here. I’m a birth worker, student midwife, and lifelong advocate for reproductive and sexual bodily autonomy for every body. My work is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves choice, access, safety, and power in their reproductive journeys. I’m especially honored to support individuals and communities whose lineages have had to fight for this freedom — whether that meant the right to give birth and raise children, or the right not to. It is a sacred calling to support people through the transformative journeys of pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and parenting, and I hold this responsibility with deep gratitude. I bring a lived, embodied lens to this work as a... - Non-binary lesbian - Mixed 2nd-generation Filipino-American - Birth worker with nearly 10 years of experience - Working-class upbringing - Covid cautious and harm reductionist - Living with chronic pain and disabilities

Recent review

It was a privilege to have Sampaguita be our doula and I couldn't have imagined a better birthing experience than the one I've went through with her by our side. Sampaguita provided a safe safe for us to explore our vulnerabilities and fears and helped guide us through it so that we'll feel more confident stepping into our role as parents. From beginning to end, she created an environment of warmth and support that shaped my birth into a positive experience. We couldn't have asked for a better support system and it was a honor to share this part of our chapter with her. I highly recommend having Sampaguita as part of anyone's pregnancy and birth experience as we will definitely have her be a part of ours for our next pregnancy!

- Annie

Krystal Vélez-Gómez-Edwards

Oakland, California 4 years of experience

5.0 (4 reviews)

Krystal Vélez-Gómez-Edwards

Accepts insurance

My name is Krystal Brisette Vélez-Gómez-Edwards and I am of Indigenous-Mexicana and Nicaragüense descent. I am open to supporting all births of all beliefs and practices. I am passionate about my own cultural work and practicing as a traditional, Mexican doula, acknowledging birth as ceremony. My first career path was in nursing until I discovered my dismay with Western medicine and healthcare. Years later I experienced the birth of my son, Michael, who is now 16. I was 21 and had no support outside of my marriage, I had no clue what I was doing and I didn't know what I didn't know. I ate awfully and gained at least 70 pounds. When my water broke and I was admitted to the hospital, I was soon told I would need a cesarean due to my son going into "distress." I planned to have a natural birth, but here I was receiving an epidural (fentanyl!) and being cut open and tugged at from within. I was so detached from my own body. My baby was taken from the room and I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits and pleasure of skin-to-skin bonding, our 'golden hour' to breastfeed peacefully. I suffered from postpartum depression and learned to bury and forget the experience because I figured that's just how it was. It wasn't until years later that it came up for me and was a catalyst for many positive changes in my life. I was a few years into healing work with indigenous medicines and in one of my own ceremonies, I received a calling to bring ceremony back to birth, along with visions of burying a placenta at a sacred tree. I began researching traditional Mexican birth work to discover that this was in fact an indigenous tradition. I dedicated myself to the journey of birth work. I obtained training in many facets of holistic birth work and traditional, Mexican birth work, including herbalism to support birth and postpartum, womb healing, rebozo work, techniques for comfort and pain management as well as repositioning breech babies, lactation support, craniosacral therapy, cerrada de caderas (traditional closing ceremony), and the list continues to grow. I have been studying safe use of psychedelics during pregnancy and birth. As a traditional, certified holistic birth and postpartum doula, my primary role is to provide emotional, physical, and informational support to you during pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and beyond. I believe birth work is sacred and magical. Most importantly, I'm passionate about incorporating traditional practices into my work, which means I can also draw on indigenous knowledge and rituals to enhance and support your desired birthing experience. Together, we'll navigate this journey, ensuring you feel empowered and well-supported throughout.

Recent review

Cristal was absolutely essential to my uncomplicated delivery of my child. Her warmth and knowledge gave me the confidence and peace to go within myself and have an unmedicated delivery in the hospital. Being able to text her with any questions during and before early labor was incredibly comforting and helpful. Cristal was also a tremendous support for my mom and husband in the hospital, making the whole experience more personalized and less stressful. She provided them with the confidence and reassurance they needed, creating a calm and supportive environment for all of us. At the end of my quarentena, Cristal performed my cerada de caderas ceremony, which was beautiful and just the pampering I needed. This ceremony helped me reconnect with my roots and heal from my previous two birthing experiences. Cristal's support, both during and after delivery, was invaluable, and I am deeply grateful for her presence during this important time in my life. Thank you, Cristal, for everything you've done for me and my family!

- Rocío G.

Imane Keylani

Oakland, California 4 years of experience

5.0 (4 reviews)

Imane Keylani

Accepts insurance

Hi there! I am a birth, and postpartum doula and I work to create a calm and safe space for you as you journey through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. I prioritize your empowered and informed decision making, always turning you back to yourself and your intuition and ensuring you have all the information you need and want. I work with a holistic, traditional and Islamic framework. I believe in bringing in your belief system as the primary anchor to guide you through this process and am able to offer this especially, however not limited, to Muslim clients. When not working you can find me taking a class, running the lake in Oakland, laying in the sun somewhere or hunting for a coffee or smoothie with friends and their littles.

Recent review

Where do I even begin…. Imane is such a calm and peaceful presence. I only met her four hours before my baby was born — she was introduced to me by my original doula, who couldn’t attend because I was induced unexpectedly two weeks earlier than my due date. Even though we had just met, I immediately felt connected to her warm and positive energy. Inviting someone new into your birthing space isn’t an easy decision, but with Imane, it felt completely natural. She guided me through every contraction with such grace and reassurance that everything felt easier and more manageable. The name we had chosen for our son is Raihaan — and Imane happens to be the founder of “Rawh and Rayhan” same meaning different spelling. It felt like such a heavenly connection, as if things were meant to align that way. I am so grateful I said yes to having Imane step in. She made the birth of my second child feel calm, smooth, and truly special. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Thank you, Imane! Forever grateful! 🤲🙏💕

- Mariam Arif

Nubia Jones

Palo Alto, California 14 years of experience

Nubia Jones Background checked · Sep 2026

Responds within an hour

I’m Nubia, a mom of five (teens & young adults). I have 25years of experience in the birth, postpartum & newborn care field. This is my passion work. I have a tremendous amount of gratitude being able to do this heart-centered work professionally & full-time. I support mothers & families as a certified birth doula, postpartum doula, parent educator, certified breastfeeding counselor (CLC), an integrative nutrition health coach (IIN) and a student midwife. My journey started in the year 2000 in my hometown of Washington, DC. In 2015. Since then, I’ve supported a diverse clientele in New York City and now Cali. My philosophy: Mothers deserve to be respected, heard and nurtured doing this major transition in life to becoming a mom, whether it’s for the first time or the 8th time! I truly believe It takes a village to raise a family which is what led me to my purpose, heart-centered work of supporting mothers & families. I’m a strong advocate for mothers and families birthing in all settings including hospital, home & birth centers. I respect the many choices in mothering and parenting. It's an honor to walk the path of mothering with women as they navigate the many options we have today. I strongly believe in the woman's ability to grow, birth and nourish her baby with her natural, innate abilities while also respecting the need or preference of medical support along the way. It's all about the balance of holistic & medical. My support also includes follow up postpartum healing practices for mom, lactation and pumping support, newborn care and parent coaching. On my spare time I enjoy indulging in health & wellness therapies, spending time in nature, traveling, cooking, dancing, and enjoying quality time with my family. Let’s meet!🌷🤲🏽 www.doulavivabirths.com IG: @doulaviva_births 240-273-5088 Cell

Maria Depaz

Sand City, California 2 years of experience

Maria Depaz

Accepts insurance

Hello, my name is Maria Depaz. I was born and raised in Monterey County, California, and I have always carried a deep passion for medicine, community care, and teaching. For over 12 years, I have worked in the medical field as a CNA, Medical Assistant and Phlebotomist, with experience in pediatrics, family medicine, urgent care, and psychiatric care. I am NICU Certified and currently serve families as a Full Spectrum Doula, supporting individuals through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, abortion, pregnancy loss, and reproductive experiences with compassionate and culturally rooted care. Alongside my medical background, I incorporate traditional Mexican healing practices that have been passed through generations in our communities. This includes sobadas, cerradas de caderas, baños, and postpartum care that honors the body, spirit, and transition into parenthood. I truly believe care is human, and my motivation to support my community is deeply rooted in my experiences within the medical field. While I may not have become a doctor, I do not see that as a limitation, but rather as a gift. My roles allowed me to build meaningful connections, provide quality care, and truly get to know the patients and families we served within our community. Through those experiences, I learned that healing is not only found in medicine, but also in compassion, trust, advocacy, and human connection. Those lessons continue to guide the way I care for families today. My approach blends clinical knowledge with nurturing, human-centered support. I believe families deserve care that is informed, respectful, culturally connected, and centered around trust, consent, education, and dignity through every stage of their journey.

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