Diva Doula

She is absolutely the best. We felt so fortunate to have with us throughout the experience of the birth of our daughter. She helped me find the strength i didnt know i had to have the birth I envisioned. She will always hold a special place in our hearts

Heard about Sandra through a friend of a friend and was interested in a doula because I wanted a natural birth. Also saw lots of research on benefits of having a doula (fewer requests for drugs, fewer cesareans, increased happiness with birth experience and partner satisfaction). Didn’t want it to be just my husband and I in the medical system.
Sandra called me back right away and was easy to reach throughout the pregnancy and labor. She had tons of experience (has been at 200+ births), a great reputation in the yoga and medical communities and had a good relationship with Kaiser SF where I was delivering. She was extremely knowledgeable about natural birthing yet non-​judgmental around pain management choices. I could tell she was assertive and would be a good advocate at the hospital. She even did extra counseling with me when our cat died a few days before my due date.
She was there through our entire labor and, if not for her, don’t know how I would have coped. I had really difficult back labor and she knew everything about positioning and different coping strategies. My husband got to rest a bit and be reassured that everything was ok, and she kept my family informed and out of the room. (-: After 35 hrs of labor, baby came out the old fashioned way… and it was amazing!!! Totally made possible with Sandra’s help. Worth. Every. Penny. Highly recommend!

This Doula is worth every cent! Sandra was invaluable during my crazy painfully long 3-​day labor. She was with my wife and I for the ENTIRE TIME, which was incredible. She explained everything that was happening throughout the process, and was an incredibly calming and peaceful presence in an overwhelming and hard experience. Although my birth was long and challenging, Sandra was so incredibly important in keeping me focused and sane for those three days. I can’t imagine AT ALL going through that without her. Invaluable. She should charge more, because she’s worth it.

Sandra was an amazing resource for us before, during and after the birth of our two children. With her support, both deliveries were all natural and intervention-​free – and pretty quick!
We first met Sandra when I was pregnant with our first baby, when she was our teacher for Kaiser’s childbirth prep class. We liked her immediately because she is so warm and funny and because she so obviously loves to help women and their partners as they learn about childbirth. She also made us feel really good about birthing at Kaiser. If you have the opportunity to take a childbirth class with Sandra, I highly recommend it.
We already had another doula lined up for our first birth, but it turned out she and Sandra were friends, so Sandra agreed to be our back-​up doula. When I got pregnant again and we found out our first doula was going to be traveling, it was immediately clear who we should call. And Sandra did not disappoint – as a birth doula, she was beyond amazing! She helped us prepare for the second labor, answering all of our many questions during prenatal visits or via email. During labor, she provided invaluable support for me and my husband and she worked incredibly well with hospital staff. I was extremely impressed and I think the nurses were as well. And then, at 5 in the morning, after wishing us and our new baby well, she left to go help another mama give birth! She has incredible energy!

We made a great decision when we hired Sandra to be our doula. I can’t imagine having our baby without her calming presence.
Sandra walked us through everything that was happening while at the hospital and was a constant positive force throughout the entire experience. Sandra has a lot of tricks up her sleeve to make you feel at ease and in tune with the birthing experience.
Her wisdom and guidance helped alleviate my fears and worries and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Sandra is also really witty and will keep you laughing.
My husband also really appreciated having her with us throughout my 20+ hour labor. :)
As I said before, I truly can’t imagine going through the best experience of my life without her!

When people ask me how the birth of my baby was, they are constantly amazed at how I was able to deliver a giant baby au natural with no interventions or drugs and smile when I talk about it today. It’s all because of my doula.
Sandra is truly gifted and dedicated at what she does. Total labor was about 28 hours for us, with only the last 6 spent in the hospital. Sandra’s experience enabled us to stay comfortably at home until we were fully dilated and ready to go. And her familiarity with the hospital staff was comforting once we got there. Many of the nurses knew her and you could tell they held true respect for this doula.
Sandra is all business — always prepared at home visits to inform you of any and all aspects of birth and answer all questions that come to mind. She helped us tailor our birth plan and was persistent in making sure we had what we wanted. But the best part is that she balances this professionalism with a warm sense of humor that will have you missing her dearly the day after your baby is born.
This was the best money I ever spent. And after delivering a healthy 10-​pound baby girl the way we wanted to with no pressure from doctors or medical staff to «consider alternatives», I can honestly say that Sandra was worth every penny. Thanks to her, we recall this event as sweet and special instead of painful and traumatic.

Several of our friends have had children recently, and their experiences have been pretty varied. None of them had a natural birth, despite some of them setting out to do so.
Our birth was over in 13 hours, with only 5 of those in the hospital, and there were no interventions whatsoever. We give all the credit for this to our sublime and fantastic Doula, Sandra. Sandra is not the cheapest Doula out there, but she is one of the most experienced, and our experience with her was nothing short of superb.
Let’s begin with the prenatal visits. Sandra took plenty of time to talk at length about all aspects of childbirth and gave us large amounts of help and advice that we would not have got elsewhere. She showed us positions to help ensure the baby was oriented correctly so as to avoid back labor, went through a number of strategies to help with the various stages of the birthing process, and helped us to prepare a birth plan.
During the actual birth she was absolutely superb. I labored at home for 8h, during which my husband and I called her regularly to give her updates, and she gave us great advice. Finally she decided it was time to come and see us. She kept us at home longer than we would otherwise have stayed (while still getting us into the hospital in plenty of time), and helped me move around and take different positions so as to advance my labor faster.
When we got to the hospital, she talked me through transition (when I started saying «I’m going to die» and «I can’t do this»), and helped me through my three hours of pushing. Finally my healthy baby daughter was delivered by the wonderful Dr Hsiao.
Sandra’s presence was wonderful — she has a wicked sense of humor, but is 100% serious about birth. She always knew the right thing to say and do. She was authoritative about making me do the things she knew would make a positive difference to my experience, while ensuring that I did not feel pressured to do things that would not.
I can’t recommend Sandra enough — as I say, she was the reason I was able to have the natural birth I wanted.
My experience was that natural birth was not half as scary as my imagination made it out to be. I spent the night after the birth wide awake in bed reliving my experience. I was on a total high after the birth which has stayed with me ever since (our baby daughter is now three weeks old). It has truly been the best experience of my life.
Forget the money — Sandra is priceless.

This Doula is «worth the moula!» Sandra Lloyd
was our Doula for the birth of our baby and we couldn’t recommend her more highly. She was the most awesome support all the way from the pre-​natal visits and most especially through my partner’s 36 hours of labor. She never let us down and my partner relied on her throughout for comfort, support, expertise and to help us advocate for my partner’s and child’s care at the hospital. She has attended over 100 births.
She’s funny, relaxed, and knowledgeable. She had many tricks up her sleeve to help my partner stay as relaxed and focused as possible and get through the labor.
My partner was sure that she wanted a hospital birth, but wasn’t sure of anything beyond that. She was very supportive of our birth plan, and helped us to fine tune it with reading and class recommendations. She encouraged my partner to go for a natural birth at the hospital, and directed us to great birth classes and readings in order to familiarize us with this and help us to make choices about the birth plan. While Sandra advocates natural child birth, as most doulas would, she completely supports whatever birth plan the expectant mother chooses.
Sandra noted that she was very comfortable and familiar with many of the SF hospitals and staffs, especially Kaiser and UCSF. She had a great way of respectfully getting the hospital staff to listen to what we wanted and to keep the atmosphere chilled out.
She costs a little more than some doulas, because of her extensive experience, and unbeatable bedside (and birth-​ball-​side) manner, so, she is definitely worth every penny. Plus, her fee includes several pre-​natal and one or two post-​natal visits, and she is very generous with her time and expertise.