Resources
PREGNANCY, BIRTH &
POSTPARTUM RESOURCES
ACUPUNCTURE
Homa Hamidi
Costa Mesa (818) 523-8896
Homa Hamidi is an acupuncturist and MD (Ob/Gyn) from Iran who has studied Eastern Medicine, acupuncture and functional medicine since immigrating to the US many years ago. She currently practices at Vitality Health & Wellness, Inc. She accepts multiple insurance plans.
Pilar’s Wellness Collective
Costa Mesa
Pilar offers prenatal acupuncture as well as labor prep treatments. Acupuncture sessions can help alleviate pregnancy symptoms, such as pain, nausea and vomiting, stress and anxiety and can help improve overall wellbeing.
Costa Mesa
Megan Joyce and her team support women as they transition towards their birthing time. Using a combination of acupuncture, moxibustion, and exercises, they can encourage breech babies to move to optimal positioning for labor. They also offer labor preparation treatments as well as postpartum support to promote healing, reduce postpartum depression and anxiety, and support healthy lactation.
BABY WEARING
Ladera Ranch
Holly Kohlmann is a trained Babywearing Educator with Center For Babywearing Studies. She provides private consultations with the opportunity to try a large assortment of baby carriers to discover which styles and brands fit your needs best.
BELLY BINDING
Gigi provides in-home and virtual belly binding sessions. She is also a postpartum doula and newborn care specialist. When performing your belly binding services, this knowledge and support comes with it.
Luka Barba provides the ancient practice of belly binding to help the uterus, major organs & abdominal wall receive the support and warmth needed to properly heal. Other benefits include perineal healing, a regaining of bladder control, healing diastasis recti as well as healing from emotional and spiritual trauma.
Lauren Martinez provides traditional Mexican style belly binding services.
BIRTH CENTERS
Long Beach Birth Center
Long Beach birth Center’s team of midwives and birth assistants support expecting families in birth center births as well as home births. However you choose to birth, they will honor and celebrate your vision for your birthing journey.
South Coast Midwifery in Irvine, is Orange County’s only Birthing Boutique, a birth center that provides high quality, concierge-style service, combined with a nurturing and spa-like environment.
BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHERS
The Aloha Mamatog
Zo’e offers Birth documentation in Orange County for families also booking maternity and newborn sessions, so by the time you deliver, you have built a relationship of trust.
BODYFEEDING CLASSES
The Breastfeeding Center of Orange County
Laguna Hills. Leora Robles, IBCLC offers a Breastfeeding 101 class covering topics such as: how to know your baby is getting enough milk, latching your baby, how often to breastfeed, what to expect in the first 72 hours, pumping basics, and common challenges.
Latch Amore
Newport Beach. Rachelle King, IBCLC teaches expecting parents how to establish a strong foundation from the start and how to navigate common issues that can easily derail the breastfeeding experience. She will provide dolls and pillows for demonstration and practice as well as review ways for partners and family to support and participate in the breastfeeding relationship.
Newport Beach. This class will cover the basics of meeting your baby’s nourishment needs with breastfeeding. Participants will gain knowledge on the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby, skin to skin, latching, feeding cues, position and hold, and signs that your baby is feeding effectively.
This virtual class will review all the basics of breastfeeding. You will discuss latch, supply, stages of milk, and much more. This class is led by Bethany Ewers. She is a local teacher, placenta specialist, doula, and certified lactation counselor.
BODYFEEDING ONLINE RESOURCES
Kellymom Breastfeeding & Parenting
Kellymom offers information and resources on a wide variety of chest/breastfeeding topics and addresses many common questions and concerns.
LactMed Database
This database provides information about drugs, supplements, and herbs that may affect breastmilk and offers therapeutic alternatives where appropriate.
Le Leche League International (LLLi)
LLLi provides encouragement, information, and education on chest/breastfeeding with online resources as well as in-person peer-to-peer support groups.
BODYFEEDING SUPPORT GROUPS
Lake Forest. This free breastfeeding support group is a safe space to discuss challenges of breastfeeding, receive breastfeeding tips, and do weighted feeds.
Laguna Hills. This group is a place for mothers to come together to share their joys and challenges surrounding their breastfeeding journeys. Here you’ll find professional guidance from a Board Certified Lactation Consultant along with friendship and support from other breastfeeding mothers.
CAR SEAT TECHNICIAN
4th Love Doula
Carmen is a CPST who can help check and install your car seat at any stage to ensure your most precious cargo is riding safely.
Holly provides both car seat check and car seat installation services. She will go over how to properly install and remove the car seat from your vehicle and will also set up the child’s seat to ensure a proper fit.
Your Birth Team
Amanda is a Child Passenger Safety Technician who helps parents navigate the complicated process of selecting and installing the right seat(s). Her instruction and support will help you feel 100% confident using your car seat.
CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION
HYPNOBIRTHING
Mind Baby Body
Laguna Hills. Hypnobirthing is as much a philosophy as it is a technique. The method teaches you that, in the absence of fear and tension, or special medical circumstances, severe pain does not have to be an accompaniment of labor. You will gain an understanding of how the birthing muscles work in perfect harmony – as they were designed to – when your body is sufficiently relaxed and you trust birth. You will learn how to achieve this kind of relaxation, free of the resistance that fear creates, and you will learn to use your natural birthing instincts for a calm, serene and comfortable birth.
Newport Beach. This 5-week HypnoBirthing® program is built around an educational process that includes special breathing, relaxation, visualization, meditative practice, attention to nutrition, and positive body toning. Most importantly it fosters an air of mutual respect for the birthing family, as well as the healthcare provider in a traditional healthcare system or an alternative setting.
BRADLEY METHOD
Honey Midwifery
Rancho Mission Viejo. The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth® is a 10-week, comprehensive and complete birthing preparation program available to expecting parents. In this class, you will learn what is happening to your baby and your body, what to expect, and how you and your partner will work together.
BIRTHING FROM WITHIN
Deeply Rooted Births
Laguna Hills. Lindzy Butterfield holds a 4-part Birth Prep Class Series guided by the framework of Birthing From Within. It covers topics such as Breaking Down Biases, Identifying Stressors, Addressing and Taming Fears, Building Birth Preferences, Preparing for Postpartum and more.
CHIROPRACTIC
Laguna Hills. Dr. Dani Calahan’s primary focus is in family wellness, particularly perinatal and pediatric chiropractic care. During pregnancy, chiropractic care focuses on alignment and balance in the musculoskeletal structures of the pelvis. Proper pelvic alignment helps the mother have an easier pregnancy and can also ease the birth process.
Dana Point. Dr. Annie Langford is a certified Webster Technique practitioner based in Dana Point. She specializes in prenatal and infant/pediatric chiropractic care and has a passion for helping families live healthier, happier lives.
Costa Mesa. Dr. Jane and her team are Webster Certified chiropractors providing gentle and effective chiropractic care, to help align and guide families towards vibrant health.
San Juan Capistrano. Dr. Brittney Cicon has been trained to use the Webster technique, which uses gentle adjustments on the mothers spine and pelvis to help the baby assume the best possible position for birth.
CLOTH DIAPERING SERVICES
Our goal is to make it easy for families to choose sustainable options by offering products that are kinder on the planet and gentle on your baby, with convenient service, to set your mind and life at ease. Services the Greater Los Angeles area, Orange County, Santa Barbara, Ventura Counties, and San Diego.
Subscription based delivery service for cloth diapers. Want Fresh Clean Diapers Delivered to your front door? We are here for you! Interested in cloth? – LET US DO THE DIRTY WORK! Pannolino Diaper Service is based out of Fountain Valley, CA and covers Orange County , Long Beach, Lakewood, Bellflower, San Diego, and San Diego County.
CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY
Luka offers in-home craniosacral therapy services. When applied during the postpartum period, CST helps with: breastfeeding issues, torticollis, plagiocephaly (flattening of the skull on one side), colic, acid reflux, birth trauma, postpartum depression, and tongue/lip-tie revisions.
Laguna Hills. Olivia Edmondson is a pediatric occupational therapist specializing in infant and toddler feeding and development. She is trained as a Craniosacral Fascial Therapist in the Gillespie Approach and uses this gentle bodywork modality in her treatments.
HOMEBIRTH MIDWIVES
Sacred Journey Midwifery
Lisa Marie Oxenham, LM, CPM is a Waterbirth Midwife who has been supporting birthing families for close to 25 years. She believes that how a baby is born matters to the birther, baby, and the father or partner. Her care is personal and individualized so that each mother feels safe and heard. Sacred Journey Midwifery serves Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.
HOSPITAL BIRTH CENTERS
INFANT CPR CLASS
Offer private, in-home courses taught by two nurses with a heart for educating, equipping, & empowering families & caregivers in OC.
Christy Gochez offers private and group classes in CPR for infants, children, and adults. She also teaches choking & drowning relief, and CPR/AED/First-Aid certification.
Top Notch Newborn Care
Orange, CA. Cassie teaches group classes ideal for expecting or new parents of infants younger than 12 months. This class will discuss: choking vs. gagging, choking relief for infant, back blows & infant CPR, food safety & hazards, water safety basics, and baby proofing beginning.
INFANT SLEEP CLASSES
Laguna Hills. Free Newborn Sleep Workshop covers: coming from the hospital, realistic expectations, the 5 S’s, tips for helping your newborn develop good sleep habits, the E.A.S.Y. Plan. Class led by Becci Binnquist, Certified Sleep Consultant & Postpartum Doula.
Newport Beach. This class will cover the basics of infant sleep 0-6 months. Topics covered in this course will include: sleep science, setting a strong foundation of healthy sleep hygiene, understanding sleepy cues, co-sleeping, creating a nap and night time sleep routine and more.
INFANT SLEEP CONSULTANTS
Emily Varon is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, BCBA, with a dedicated focus on sleep-related behaviors. She has worked in the field of behavior analysis since 2000 and has devoted her practice to improving the sleep habits of children since 2010. With a background rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis and child development, Emily deeply values science and research to support the strategies she offers families, and will only recommend protocols that are valid, proven methods.
Erica Doesburg is a Sleep Consultant servicing Orange County and mom of two who knows the importance of sleep and will help achieve your family’s sleep goals.
Becci Binnquist is a certified sleep consultant, with the goal to support families and help to get their little one to sleep independently. Since every family is different, she believes there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to sleep conditioning. Over the years, Becci has helped countless babies sleep through the night and take better naps.
INFANT MASSAGE
Join us in a circle of support led by Pilar, Holistic Women’s Health Specialist, Ayurvedic Specialist, Master Massage \ Therapist, Full Spectrum Doula and Mother. This is a time to share and connect with each other while practicing grounding and nurturing touch for your baby. You’ll learn the techniques and benefits of infant massage and how it supports that deep connection between you and baby. You’ll discover how calming and grounding it is for you as well. This group is open to Moms or Dads and their infants 6 weeks to 1 year.
LACTATION CONSULTANTS (in-home services)
Rachelle King is an RN and IBCLC who has been supporting families of Orange Country both in and out of hospital settings since 2012.
Luka Barba is a Certified Lactation Educator + Counselor who provides in-home visits to guide, coach and support breastfeeding mothers. Lactation consulting is an essential resource that helps new mothers overcome the hurdles that can present themselves in the early days and months of their breastfeeding journey.
Lauren Slak is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who provides services to all Orange County families looking for lactation support.
Ashley Shapiro is an IBCLC who services in-person home and office visits (Laguna Hills) within Orange County. She offers consultations forPrenatal, Postpartum, and Infancy and beyond. She has her Bachelors of Science in Nursing and has experience working as a Postpartum RN (Registered Nurse) on the Mother Baby Unit and a Baby Nurse on Labor and Delivery. She can provide tips and tricks for the family unit and has experience with complex medical issues that can affect breastfeeding. Whether you plan to breastfeed, combination feed, or formula feed she wants to support you!
Danielle is an advanced practice Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), ICCE Certified Childbirth Educator, and author of “Booby Fairy’s Guide To Breastfeeding” “Vagi-Tales: Memoirs From Down Under”. She is trained in Oral Tethering, specializing in the identification and treatment of lip ties, tongue ties, buccal and posterior tethering. She specializes in proper body work following frenectomy, including the importance of acupressure calming points. She has received her education from UCSD.
MASSAGE
Costa Mesa. Pilar uses the Arvigo© Technique which is founded on the ancient healing systems of the Mayan culture. This tradition holds true that the womb / uterus is the center of a woman’s well-being. The technique is an external, non-invasive manipulation that supports the internal organs that may have shifted, thereby restricting blood, lymph, nerve and prana and re-establishing balance through homeostasis and hemodynamics.
Newport Beach. Here at OC Massage Therapy, you know you’re getting the best massage possible! We specialize in just three types of massage: Trigger point massage, prenatal massage, and sports massage.
Laguna Hills. Lauren Martinez is a Maternity Bodywork Specialist in Laguna Hills who also offers in-home bodywork sessions in LA/OC.
This is a Service Marked (SM) massage which will bring your rectus abdominus muscles back together after the separation that occurs in almost all pregnancies. It helps flatten the “bulge” or “shelf” left after pregnancy and will relieve your body of the physical and emotional strains that carrying and caring for a newborn creates. Five or six sessions is typically required to bring the stomach muscles back together, and these massages also eliminate back pain caused by the stomach separation. Additionally, down time is so necessary for the new mom! This treatment series provides a cherished hour of “me time” that is so needed and deserved by new mommies.
Huntington Beach. Lokahi Physical Therapy & Wellness is proud to offer massage therapy as an integrated part of a wellness plan for our patients. We offer sports and deep tissue massage, pre- and post-natal therapies, lymphatic drainage, trigger point, and Swedish massage. Our massage therapists may also incorporate energy work such as reiki and muscle testing if indicated or upon request.
MATERNITY & NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY
Sonja is an Orange County Lifestyle and Family Photographer and loves photographing families, maternity, newborns, couples and high school seniors. Shooting exclusively as a natural light photographer, she loves doing outdoor photography sessions as well as in-home lifestyle sessions here in Orange County and surrounding areas such as San Juan Capistrano, Huntington Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Irvine. Her goal with every session is to create authentic, timeless pieces of art that tell your family’s story and capture those little details you never want to forget.
Christina and Marta are a sister team of photographers whose photographic style is a mix of lifestyle and posed because they value telling a story as much as looking at a really beautiful piece of art and always with clean and natural colors behind.
MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY
Sarah Pace, LMFT, PMH-C
Sarah is a mental health therapist based in Anaheim. She specializes in working with expecting and postpartum individuals and couples, helping her clients navigate through this life stage.
Orange County Parent Wellness Program (OCPWP)
OCPWP offers individual therapy in your home or at their clinic. They also offer family psychoeducation, support groups, wellness activities, case management, and community resources.
Newport Beach. The therapists in the collective specialize in perinatal care; life transitions, identity, family planning, depression & anxiety, pregnancy, postpartum, pregnancy loss, and infertility.
MEAL TRAIN
Free website to simplify receiving help with meals during the postpartum period. Allows family and friends to organize and plan who, what and when meal delivery will happen and can also include gift cards and donations to local eateries.
NEWBORN CARE CLASSES
Newport Beach. Let’s talk about burping, bathing, bonding and baby care concerns. In this class we will discuss the basics of taking care of your new little bundle of love. A lot of first time parents feel unprepared or overwhelmed with a newborn at home. They have received so much advice they do not know which way they are going. The good news is, this is your baby and you get to make the choice that is right for you and your new family. There is no right or wrong, it is your baby and your journey into parenthood.
Cassie teaches a Baby Care 101 class with a focus on First Time Parents. In this 4-hour class, you’ll go over: getting ready for baby, how to prepare the home and nursery, life after baby, recovery from birth, managing relationships, newborn appearance, reflexes and cues, caring for, feeding and soothing your new baby, breastfeeding, latch, positions and tricks, creating a secure attachment, brain development, growth spurts, safety, SIDS, crying, room sharing vs. bedsharing, product demonstrations, and opportunities to practice and learn with your partner.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
Laguna Hills. Olivia Edmondson is an occupational therapist and craniosacral fascial therapist. She offers infant and toddler feeding evaluations and treatment as well as developmental evaluations and treatment.
ORTHOPEDIC PHYSICAL THERAPIST
Dr. Nikki Amaro is a physical therapist and pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist. She helps expecting or new parents modify or return to exercise as well as heal their postpartum bodies.
PELVIC FLOOR THERAPISTS
Restored Physique
Costa Mesa. You don’t need to live with pain or symptoms. Let’s get you pain-free, symptom-free, and at your optimal level of health and well-being throughout pregnancy, postpartum, and for the rest of your life. Our concierge wellness team is dedicated to your health and personal goals. Every mom needs self care, and we are here to take care of you from the comfort of your own home at any stage of life.
Laguna Hills. Treating pre- and post- natal patients to help them find true and lasting relief from pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, urinary and bowel conditions, and orthopedic pelvic pain.
Mission Viejo, Tustin & Los Alamitos. Our mission is to deliver exceptional and unparalleled quality of care while providing every patient with a distinctive healing program that integrates the most current evidence based PT treatment for pelvic floor dysfunction. Sarton Physical Therapy was created to deliver hope and healing for life altering pelvic floor conditions: pelvic pain, pelvic organ prolapse, pain with sex, pudendal neuralgia, incontinence, interstitial cystitis, tailbone pain, coccyx pain, and other related disorders. We also offer expert care in pre and postpartum needs.
Huntington Beach. Lokahi Physical Therapy and Wellness strives to help restore LŌKAHI [harmony] and balance to their patients’ lives through compassionate, evidence-based, individualized care. Working together with a close-knit network of physicians and other specialists, including acupuncturists, chiropractors, mental health professionals and others, they seek to educate and empower their clientele.
PLACENTA ENCAPSULATION
Andrea and Jen are skilled placenta encapsulators who love teaching about the benefits of placenta encapsulation and supporting birth givers in their postpartum recovery. They offer services in Long Beach and the surrounding areas as well as Orange County.
Orange County & Long Beach. Brittany Noel has been a certified placenta encapsulator since 2016 servicing Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Bernadino County and Riverside County.
POSTPARTUM SUPPORT GROUPS
Empowered Postpartum
Empowered Postpartum was born from the belief that no new parent should face the challenging adjustment into parenthood alone. They offer virtual donation-based specialty support groups weekly and monthly. They also connect new families to perinatal and other family resources to help ease the transition into parenthood.
Postpartum Support International (PSI)
PSI supports families experiencing mental health issues related to childbearing. They provide online postpartum support groups with over 14 specialty support groups available 5 days a week.
The Mommy Center
Laguna Hills. The Mommy Center offers postpartum support Mommy & Me classes. It is your home for all things motherhood. We offer support, schooling, socialization and self-development for all moms. This is a warm and nurturing place where we help you be the mom that YOU want to be. Every mom is accepted without judgment and can feel safe to share all her feelings and experiences while making long lasting friendships.
Wrap Around Baby
Lake Forest. Free support groups include breastfeeding, postpartum, new parent, and new father groups. Classes include childbirth education, breastfeeding, newborn care, and sleep conditioning.
(This group is every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month 9:30-10:30 am at OC Birth Collective in Newport Beach)
Gathering on Zoom, Marlee offers a safe space for new parents with babies crawling age and under to meet other people going through the same season of life. (Registration required. Free to attend once or often. Meets monthly)
PRE-MADE POSTPARTUM MEAL DELIVERY
Mama Meals
We pull from maternal care principles found in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda and Weston A. Price to create nourishing meals that are warm, soft, nutrient-dense, and easy-to-digest, exactly what a postpartum body needs.
We lovingly prepare and ship Nourish Postpartum Meal Delivery nationwide. This delicious food decreases inflammation after birthing, speeds healing, encourages blood and lymph circulation, while creating quality milk composition and increasing milk production. As an Ayurvedic chef and nutritional health coach specializing in lactation, the postpartum tonics, teas, and meals are excellent for new mothers and their babies.
At Crave we focus on delivering nutrient dense meals that are in-season, organic and free of seed oils. Our meals are for everyone, with a special focus on those looking to stabilize blood sugar and for postpartum mamas. We deliver on Sundays and Thursdays. So you can start your week right with meals on hand and shimmy into the weekend knowing you won’t go hungry.
Meredith bakes sweet lactation treats to help support chestfeeding parents. Based in Ladera Ranch.
YONI STEAMING
At Pilar’s Wellness Collective in Costa Mesa, your steaming experience is unique and nourishing. Once you arrive you will have an opportunity to choose from our pre-blended herbal mixtures for your personalized steam: NOURISH, REPLENISH, HEAL, CLEANSE & SOOTHE.
An often neglected practice, vaginal steaming is essential for postpartum care and womb restoration. Steaming can improve womb healing, reduce scar tissue, activate the vagus nerve to release oxytocin, and provide emotional release. Jenna can teach you proper techniques for safe, effective vaginal steaming.
Our yoni steaming bundle arrives sanitized and delivered to your door. It includes everything needed to perform at home and a custom herb blend with boiling pot, stool, steaming poncho traditionally used in Oaxaca, and more. All items are lead-free with all natural components and finishes.