Birth Doulas

Labor companions, no matter what kind of birth you choose.

Birth, the single most transformative moment in a human being’s life.
A moment when the deepest love on earth meets with the most massive responsibility you ever knew imaginable.
A moment that will solidify your reason for existence.
Sounds pretty powerful, right?

Because it is. And, because it is, you deserve to be completely and professionally supported throughout the process.
You wouldn’t plan a wedding without a wedding planner, or buy a house without a realtor. That’s because those are also major life moments where one finds themselves in need of support and counsel.

So imagine this. You’re 30 weeks pregnant and your emotions feel like they’re getting the better of you. No one in your life seems to understand… Where do you turn? Your doula from GOLD COAST DOULAS.

You’re 36 weeks pregnant and you’re scheduled for your Group B Strep test. You’re unsure of what this is and how it can impact you now, during the birth, and on the postpartum side. Where do you turn? Your doula from GOLD COAST DOULAS.

It’s go time. You’re at the hospital, in labor, and things are moving. Your partner, standing by your side, is nervous and unsure how to help you. Your nurse is charting at the nurses station or with another patient. And did we mention, YOU’RE IN LABOR?! You’re anxious. You’re uncomfortable. And you need help. Where do you turn? Your doula from GOLD COAST DOULAS.

It is an honor that we take very seriously and one that we’ve been preparing for, for years. When trained, certified, and insured meets with dedicated, passionate, and accountable, what you end up with is a GOLD COAST DOULAS!

 
Kristin Revere doing hip compressions for a laboring mom in a hospital
Photo credits: The People Picture Company, lizzie photo, & Emily Waid Photography
  • Birth doula pricing starts at $900.
    Payment plans are available.
  • We accept most (HSA) Health Savings Accounts and (FSA) Flex Spending Accounts.
  • Our team meets qualifications for most employer-offered doula benefits.
  • We also accept Carrot Fertility  and Progyny benefits. If you have these benefits through your employer, contact us now to schedule a doula to help you during birth and up to 6 weeks after baby arrives. You can use these benefits for birth and newborn care – ex: feeding, night nanny for sleeping, and day-to-day family support.
  • Gold Coast Doulas does not currently accept Medicaid, but if you are Michigan Medicaid beneficiary and are interested in birth doula services, please visit Doulas Diversified.
  • Ask about our military discount.
Congratulations on having the wisdom and insight to know that you’ll want this level of support when you give birth to your baby, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to be that support.

When you engage our birth doula support, the benefits you can expect should include:

  • A compassionate and understanding intake call.
  • A doula who will listen attentively and work hard to meet your needs.
  • A prenatal visit to understand your wishes and desires for your birth.
  • On call support by email, phone, and text for the remainder of your pregnancy.
  • In-person support during labor to ease your mind, soothe your discomfort and contribute to your empowerment.
  • Comfort measures which include, but are not limited to massage, positional changes and variations, pressure and counter-pressure, breathing techniques, and reminders to rest, pee, and relax.
  • Support during the Golden Hour; the first hour of your baby’s life. This support includes early breastfeeding guidance for clients who choose to breastfeed.
  • A postpartum in-home follow up visit from your doula to help you establish strategies to help you thrive as new parents!

Our team is comprised of the most qualified birth doulas available.

Julie Skripka Doula

Julie Skripka

CLC, CED-L

Katie Bertsch

Katie Bertsch

CD, CVD (TVL)

Annette Reed of Gold Coast Doulas headshot

Annette Reed

RN, CED-L

If you’re ready to learn more about the support of a Gold Coast Doula, and we certainly hope you are, contact us today!

See what our clients are saying

I would recommend working with Gold Coast Doulas to EVERYONE who plans on having a baby. Throughout every step of the hiring process, pregnancy, hospital visit, dealing with doctors, labor, and postpartum; our Doula team has been our best friends! Every question I’ve had throughout pregnancy has been answered with sincere and knowledgeable care.
Our birth did not go according to plan in almost any aspect. Even as we watched our “plan” go out the window, our doula always made my husband and I feel empowered with our birth. She was there supporting each change of plan, adjusting how she helped us along the way. My husband was also more comfortable getting more involved with the birth with her gentle direction. With this being our first child, he knew he wanted to support me in any way he could, he just didn’t know how. Overall, even reflecting on the birth two weeks later, even though very little went ‘according to plan,’ we still look at the birth of our son in a very positive and even peaceful light, and we have much of that to attribute to our doula’s support. My husband has been telling anyone who will listen about how a doula made our birth that much better, and how he now thinks no birth is complete without one!
Going into my second pregnancy I knew I needed some extra help in addition to having my husband there. I wanted a VBAC and knew I needed an experienced doula that could be with me from start to finish. Kristin + Ashley were just that and more! Kristin was with me for labor and delivery and she was so encouraging and reassuring! This was a unique time for birthing mothers and doulas, and Kristin and Ashley were able to answer all my questions and worries about birthing during the COVID-19 pandemic. I highly recommend Gold Coast Doulas - not just for new moms, but for ALL moms wanting a judgement free, support-filled birth experience!
My husband was pretty quiet about the whole "doula thing" and just followed my lead. After the birth he was very vocal about how important and impactful our birth doulas were! He was relieved to not have the pressure to be my only support, and he was impressed with how much they knew and helped me/us.
Our baby was born 2 weeks ago, and my husband has already told countless people how much he appreciated having our doula in the delivery room with us. His level of anxiety was drastically reduced knowing that she was there. They worked well together as a team.
We felt so supported through the whole birthing process! I am still very happy with my birth story, which is pretty incredible to me given that none of it went to plan. Thanks so much for all of your help and encouragement.
Thank you so much for this beautiful birth experience we were able to achieve with your help! We are forever grateful! See you next pregnancy!
I will be recommending Gold Coast Doulas to every pregnant woman I know. Having a doula team on my side during pregnancy was great, and was absolutely game-changing during birth. We benefited so much from having a doula team by our sides. The doulas are responsive, knowledgeable, empathetic, and really supportive.
Our doula was with us for over 12 hours, helping us decide when to go to the hospital, suggesting various labor positions, physically supporting me during surges (along w/my husband), and applying counter pressure on my hips was a huge relief many times. She also provided emotional support, reassuring and encouraging me, telling me I was doing a good job, and overall just really helped me feel less scared and more capable. She was IN IT with me/us, and my husband and I agree that to go through all of that without our doula would have been a completely different situation. She really assured and helped both of us, especially since this was our first pregnancy/birth and we had no idea what labor would really be like. Without our doula we both may have become a bit anxious or uncertain at times.
Overall my experience was incredible. I am so THANKFUL that I chose to have doulas supporting me during my labor and delivery experience. I hired later and only had one month with my doulas during pregnancy, but they were there to answer any questions I had before the birth. It was helpful to get a better vision of what the experience was going to be beforehand.
I signed up for doula support pretty late in my pregnancy (~35 weeks) so only had them for a few weeks of pre-birth support. We met for an initial consultation to make sure we clicked, and we did a pre-birth meeting with my husband so they could better understand our hopes + expectations and discuss how we together could work to meet + achieve them. Our experience was amazing! I am so glad that I decided to pick up the phone and give this a chance. It was a much different experience (in a very positive way) than my first daughter's birth. I felt much more supported from my doula team, and truly felt like they were watching out for my well being.
The experience was amazing! Knowing that I had someone there to support ME during pregnancy, labor, and delivery was a huge deal for me mentally!
We’ve had the most perfect experience working with Gold Coast Doulas, just keep up the good work! Thank you so much for introducing such wonderful people into our lives!
One of my goals was to labor at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital. Our doula and I talked on the phone and texted around the clock. She offered to come to my home, but I felt relaxed and supported by her, so we decided to wait and meet each other at the hospital once we got there. It is hard to even put into words how grateful I am that we had our doula with us for labor and delivery. She helped my husband and I work together to keep labor moving. They traded on and off to keep me as comfortable as possible during contractions and talked me through breathing when I was having a hard time focusing. For both my husband and I, much of our anxiety was eased by our doula's presence.
I am so happy I made the investment to have doula support; it was one of the best decisions I made during my pregnancy!
My doula was amazing and I feel she was key in my success. She spoke to me in a soothing and uplifting voice, applied pressure and massage when I needed it. She helped direct me but also let me lead. She explained what was happening at each point, and helped me breathe throughout the entire process. During the one hour of pushing, her coaching was essential and her reminder to breathe deeply, although it was hard, was exactly what my body needed. I think she had everyone in the room breathing along with me. I am so thankful for her!
My baby's amazing birth was due to the outstanding support from my doulas at Gold Coast Doulas. These women supported my husband and I throughout the pregnancy and came to bat with and for us when baby decided it was time to join us in the world. Their advice and referrals during pregnancy were so helpful, and the labor support was incredible. After becoming first-time parents, my husband and I agreed that we could not imagine having gone through the labor without our doulas. I cannot recommend hiring a doula enough, and I could not be more grateful for my doula's support, knowledge, and guidance during a life-changing time.
As a first time mom, there were a lot of unknowns and fears surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. I had a birth plan going into it and knew exactly what I wanted and preferred, but was scared that things would go horribly wrong or I wouldn't be able to advocate for myself. My doulas gave me the encouragement and resources I needed to go into childbirth educated and prepared for whatever could happen. I had an idea of a perfect birth experience, knowing that I obviously couldn't control every variable, but with the help of my doulas, I was able to have an incredible childbirth experience that I will treasure forever! I highly recommend Gold Coast Doulas and will definitely refer all of my pregnant friends to them.
I partnered with Gold Coast Doulas for the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care of my second child. My experience was transformative. I felt supported and empowered throughout my pregnancy and highly recommend the HypnoBirthing Class. Having a birth doula was a game-changer. I credit my beautiful birth experience to the education and support I received from Gold Coast; I learned to trust my body and embrace childbirth with excitement instead of fear.
My husband felt so supported too! He said that part of the reason he felt so confident and comfortable with the labor and delivery was because of our doula's support. They were helping him and coaching him whenever he needed it, and they gave him room to feel stress and remove himself from the situation when it was needed. They supported him, and he was able to better support me because of it.
Our experience with our doulas was fantastic. They were everything I hoped for and more during my pregnancy and my birth. They were always available when I had questions and were so supportive and informative. My labor ended up not going how I'd hoped, and they're one of the main reasons I still feel so positive about the experience after the fact.
My birth doula was incredible. She was able to help me get into different positions and encourage me to continue to move. She helped me make the right decisions and made me feel good about those decisions. We used both the BRAIN and the WIN technique. She was able to talk me through every moment if I needed extra support. The best part is that the doula has experienced many births before. It was so helpful to get advice, places to research that were trusted, and references to my HypnoBirthing classes. She did an amazing job.
My husband felt 100% supported! We've talked so much after having the baby about how grateful he was that she was there for both me and him since it wasn't always the smoothest birth, and emotions were often high and overwhelming for him especially. She was always there to make sure he felt heard, supported, and guided on how he can best help me.
It was a wonderful experience. We felt comfortable in the prepping process and felt well prepared for all birth options. When our birth didn’t go as expected, it was great knowing we had someone on our side who could help walk us through the options and could support BOTH mom and dad in the delivery process.
My doulas were always available to answer questions and chat if I needed it. They provided me with great resources (about questions, practices, etc) when I had them, and they were so kind and supportive when I was struggling. We had several phone calls, especially leading up to my birth as I experienced intense prodromal labor, and they always made me feel like a priority.
Our experience with Gold Coast Doulas was amazing. Being gifted the hours of labor & postpartum support was easily the most helpful gift we were given.
Having a Doula during our pregnancy and birth was the best decision we made. I’d highly recommend it. Katie was always available to ask any questions we had during pregnancy and labor leaving us feeling supported and informed and took the worry out of the process. I was able to labor at home for quite awhile and wouldn’t have felt comfortable without Katie’s support. At the hospital Katie met me where I was at and helped support in anyway she could. She was very intuitive and knew what I needed. I highly recommend Katie and Gold Coast!
Devon Hamelink
My partner was skeptical about having a doula prior to meeting with them and prior to the hypnobirth class. After, he was extremely grateful for the support.
Nicole G.
Our Doula was Lisa, and she was WONDERFUL! Since we knew this was our last baby I wanted to make sure it was the best experience possible and I'm so glad we had a doula! She provided the extra support we (I) needed prior to, during, and after labor/delivery. She helped educate us too on what was happening during labor and was an advocate for us so we didn't feel overwhelmed with decisions.
I ended up being induced which I wasn't thrilled about, but she helped me make it as much of the natural labor I was hoping for anyway. My husband and I felt supported every step of the way and had such a better experience than we would have without her.
Prior to going to the hospital, Annette was freely available over the phone to provide guidance about different laboring positions and ways for my partner to support. Without this support, we most likely would have gone into the hospital much sooner than we would have liked. At the hospital, Lee Ann was crucial in our laboring journey. She clearly explained things to me, provided me with choices of laboring positions, and advocated for me with the nurses and doctors. She allowed me and my partner to be in the moment together and not have to worry about what was coming up next or the decisions we would need to make.
Birth Support
Without a doubt, I would suggest working with a Gold Coast Doulas! From the moment we first met with our doula team (Lee Ann and Annette) we felt heard, understood, and seen. As a plus size woman, it was important to me that I had a labor team around me that understood my desires- mainly that I was allowed to have a labor and delivery that was in my control and one where I did not feel pressured into any decisions based on preconceived assumptions due to my weight. Lee Ann and Annette supported me with this goal and I ended up having exactly the labor and delivery I could have hoped for. Working with Gold Coast Doulas allowed me to feel empowered and safe knowing I had the perfect team surrounding me.
Birth Support
This was my second pregnancy using Gold Coast and it was just as wonderful as my first. Their team is wonderful and informed and so supportive of the type of birth and pregnancy you want. They were there when I had any questions, and they were there during a very difficult labor from start to finish. Postpartum they were wonderful supports, and I am so grateful for such a wonderful team to know and support my family during such a big life change.
Mikaelah