Sophia, Maya & Puri

Sophia

Sophia is a mom of 2 boys, birth and postpartum doula, and lactation counselor. She is a bilingual Spanish speaker and proudly serves clients in Spanish.

Sophia believes that every family deserves to have a fulfilling birth experience that they can cherish forever. She has become an enthusiastic advocate for families to make informed choices through the provision of evidence-based information. She believes that this is the foundation for families to be able to feel good about their birth choices.

Realizing that there is an enormous gap in care during the early postpartum period, She has become especially passionate about supporting and nurturing families during their transition to parenthood or as their family grows. She loves encouraging new parents to follow their instincts as they get to know their new baby.

Maya

Maya is a Certified Advanced Holistic Doula, Lactation Counselor, and Hypnobirthing Support Doula. Maya has been attending births since 2009 and is inspired by the transformation of individuals as they welcome new life. She has a deep respect for the ability of pregnant people to birth intuitively when they feel safe, loved and calm.

As a doula, her commitment is to guide you with warmth and compassion in this special time, supporting your natural instincts as you prepare for birth and life with a newborn. Her practice combines a rational, evidenced-based approach to birthing with a holistic focus on the body-mind connection. She also draws a healthy dose of practicality from her own personal experience as a mother of two. 

Maya specializes in Perinatal Havening and has used the technique to help her clients gain confidence in the birthing process, overcome fear of hospitals and doctors, heal traumatic birth experiences, and overall feel more joy and create a stronger bond between parents and babies.

Puri

Puri is a Birth Doula, Lactation Counselor, Childbirth Educator, and a mom of one little girl. She has been supporting families in NY since 2013 when she started working at Columbia University Early Head Start as a child specialist, doula, and childbirth educator. Since then, she has attended more than 160 births and continues educating herself. She is trained as a prenatal yoga teacher and infant massage teacher, and she is on her way to becoming an IBCLC.

Puri, originally from Barcelona (Spain), has a background in mental health. Her professional life has been dedicated to advocating and supporting families, helping them find their own voice and power. After the birth of her daughter and experiencing postpartum firsthand, she has become passionate about working with new parents beforehand so they can be as prepared as possible for one of the most humbling and transforming experiences of their lives.
 
Puri honors every choice you make and will offer the support that works best for you in a compassionate and nonjudgmental way, helping you feel confident and respected.

    • 3 prenatal sessions (one with each doula)

    • Birth Support

    • 2 postpartum checkins

    • Generous phone, text, email support throughout

    • PLUS optional group sessions on:

      -Birth Preparation & Coping Techniques

      -Postpartum Preparation & Recovery

      -Infant Feeding

      -Newborn Care

  • Sophia:

    • Certified Birth Doula

    • Postpartum Doula

    • Certified Lactation Counselor

    • Neonatal Resuscitation Certification

    • Homebirth Assistant

    Maya:

    • Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula

    • Certified Lactation Counselor

    • Neonatal Resuscitation Certification

    • Hypnobirthing Support Doula

    • Havening Practitioner

    • Trained in Spinning Babies

    Puri:

    • Full Spectrum Doula

    • Certified Lactation Counselor

    • Pre/postnatal yoga instructor

    • VBAC

    • Single parents

    • LGBTQ families

    • Hypnobirthing

    • Preemies

    • Twins

    • Unmedicated birth

    • Home birth

    • High risk families

    • People with mood disorders

  • “We gave birth under such stressful circumstances as the first wave of the pandemic was surging in NYC, and we felt incredibly supported by Maya and Sophia. They helped us navigate our own feelings as our birthing plans evolved with the changing hospital policies and offered many alternatives. We were so prepared for birth, largely due to the support we got from them in our pre-birth meetings and conversations. And then, they provided the most amazing virtual support! It was even more effective than we could have imagined. When I was in labor, Sophia was on FaceTime with us on and off while we labored at home. At one point, she suggested I do supported downward dog and lunges (kind of unthinkable while in labor), and the baby repositioned and labor sped up. It was unbelievable! Then, she stayed on FaceTime with us through five hours of hospital labor, providing encouragement and positioning suggestions, and even taking photos through Facetime. I called her from the maternity floor at 3 AM the first night for help breastfeeding and it made me feel so supported. You will be so loved and supported by Maya and Sophia!!”

    Sarah and Josh

  • Puri is an absolute doula angel! We cannot recommend her highly enough! When meeting with various doulas, Puri stood out and we felt confident we wanted to work with her - as her kind and respectful nature shone through. Our instincts proved correct - throughout the whole process, Puri went above and beyond to ensure we felt supported and informed. She shared great resources that were relevant to where we were at and was available and responsive to our needs. We can truly say that our pregnancy and birth was a positive experience and we have Puri to thank for this. During the birth, she was calming and reassuring, helping me to find the space to relax and create the birth I'd hoped for. She also helped us to ensure we arrived at the hospital at the optimal time, which was very important to us delivering in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Thank you so much again Puri, we couldn't have asked for a more down to earth and loving individual to be part of the process and help welcome our daughter into this world. You were born to do this job and we are forever grateful that we found you and now can't imagine going through this special experience without you!"

    All our love, Amba, James, and Zoë

  • After we signed up with Maya and Sophia, they were extremely proactive in setting up time ahead of the birth to prepare and think through the issues that we were trying to get to grips with. Having 2 experienced mamas and doulas providing such close support was of enormous comfort during the pandemic, which at the time was worsening before we had our boy. To that end, they proactively developed thoughtful plans to adapt their services to be safe during the pandemic without compromising their client first approach. During labor and the birth itself we had a fantastic experience. Maya arrived at our home at just the right time and fit into the labor dynamic that my wife and I had developed immediately, integrating herself into the birthing operation completely seamlessly and providing both of us with much needed support and expertise. The birth experience was so special and extraordinary and we felt such a special connection to Maya (who attended the birth) and Sophia (who provided support before and afterwards). We found the partnership worked really well. The way that Maya and Sophia work together made the experience especially seamless and having a doula team made us feel more supported with a robust birth and postpartum model.”

    Celine and Nick

  • “Hardly anything about my labor, birth and breastfeeding plan turned out the way I had hoped - except for you. You are everything I ever dreamed of for my doula! Your warm heart, intelligence, and steady presence have been so appreciated.”

    Chelsea and Neil

  • "I reflected all day and thought about you and all your loving and empowering support. So grateful for all the ways you walked with me as I (literally) roared into motherhood with some grace, lots of humility, and borrowed confidence until it became more and more my own.”

    Cazzie and Gerardo

  • “Maya was a fantastic doula and someone I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for an insightful and calming presence to assist with their birth. Maya was an amazing resource to have to answer all of our questions. When our birth didn’t go according to “plan” and we ended up needing to have an unplanned c-section, I was glad to have Maya with us. Both my husband and I were a bit anxious about the turn of events, but Maya’s calming presence brought us both back down to earth and helped us to enjoy the moment for what it was. It was also so nice to have her stay by my side while I was in post-Op so my husband could go spend time with our son in NICU. She was so caring and helpful throughout the whole ordeal and I am eternally grateful she was part of our birth team.”

    Katie and Jeff

  • "Maya has a wealth of knowledge - she helped us understand what to expect and how to manage certain situations. She was with us throughout the lengthy labor and delivery, and saying she went above and beyond is an understatement. We cannot imagine going through this roller coaster ride without Maya by our side, and we are forever grateful for her help.”

    Natalia and Darek

  • “Maya and Sophia were absolutely wonderful, and I truly could not have had an all natural birth without their help and support. I was initially on the fence about having a doula support me, and after making a rather last minute decision at around 37 weeks, I feel so fortunate to have done so. I wish that I had engaged with them much sooner, now knowing how helpful Maya & Sophia are, and my best piece of advice is that if you are considering having a doula, choose Maya & Sophia and do it sooner rather than later. I know that I would not have had the unmedicated / natural hospital birth experience that I feel so fortunate to have had without Maya by my side, and the support of Maya and Sophia before and after. We interviewed two other doulas before making our decision and we absolutely made the right choice. In addition to all the help and support prior to labor, Maya was incredibly helpful interacting with the staff at the hospital, recognized and knew some of the nurses, and knows exactly what to do to try to ensure that your wishes and best outcome are achieved.”

    Julie and Mike

  • "We're so grateful to have found Puri to support us through our prenatal and postpartum birth experience. She's profoundly knowledgeable, empathetic, supportive, and kind. Puri walked us through what to expect in a deeply relatable, detailed, and comforting way, even as our situation changed to a scheduled C-section (due to a breech baby) and caring for a newborn during a pandemic. She prepared us in such a thoughtful way for the delivery while still giving us the space to process things emotionally on our own terms. She was also invaluable as a lactation consultant and was incredibly helpful navigating postpartum and the initial challenges of latching and breastfeeding -- talking with us as well as providing information and resources (and helping us navigate all the conflicting advice we were sometimes getting from doctors and family). We still keep in touch with her to ask questions and advice, and were overjoyed to have her in our lives as we became first-time parents."

    Ellen + Alex

  • "I had the most incredible experience with the Uptown Doulas through NYC Birth Village. I felt extremely supported emotionally and physically through my pregnancy and labor/delivery with them by my side. I would not have been able to achieve a VBA2C without their preparation (I took a VBAC prep course through NYC Birth Village, and another Childbirth Preparation Course through the Uptown Doulas). I cannot recommend them more highly, I will DEFINITELY use them for future births."

    VBAC Client