Our Doula Philosophy
We support women and their families while providing informational support to enable them to make informed choices for themselves. We work to maintain the sanctity of the birth space as originally intended. As your Doulas, we are working for you, not your caregiver or hospital. We do not have a preconceived idea of how we think your birth should be - our role and goal is to support you in achieving the birth experience YOU desire and feel good about. We sincerely look forward to having the opportunity to share a very precious moment in time with you and your family. We also support each other as we learn and grow together as partners & doulas.
Read Our Yelp Reviews
We both recently moved from San Jose so a lot of our reviews are from the South Bay. Now, we love supporting families in the East Bay and SF as we re-establish ourselves in this part of the Bay Area.
Meet Shannon Padlog
My Back Up Doula
My passion for birth actually began the day I was born. It was Thanksgiving Day, the whole family was waiting downstairs in my grandmother’s home, while my mom labored upstairs, assisted by two wonderful midwives, her two best friends, and her sister. I was born peacefully right before it was time for dinner. My birth story has been an integral part of my life and I love sharing it. When I got older, I became very interested in childbirth as a social issue. I began reading everything I could about the history of childbirth in America, the physiological process of birth, and the childbirth practices and beliefs of other cultures. Through my research I learned what a doula was and thought “Wow, my dream job is already out there!”
Being a doula is the most awe-inspiring work I have ever done and I truly love my job! Birth is an amazing and transformative rite of passage and I am blessed to be able to support new families through their incredible journey.
I am a certified birth doula through DONA (Doulas of North America). I also received training as a lactation counselor through the Nursing Mother’s Counsel along with Diana & Felissa. I earned my B.S. degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Social Action in June of 2008.
I have attended childbirth education series for the Bradley Method, Birthing From Within and HypnoBirthing. I have also done the home study program through HypnoBabies to be a HypnoDoula.
Since 2009, I have supported over 90 families!! For more information about me, please see my personal Doula website: www.empoweredmamas.com