Jessica Apfel

(she/her)

BIRTH & POSTPARTUM DOULA, YOGA INSTRUCTOR

As Jessica likes to say, she has “one foot in woo, one foot in medicine", in that every birth story is unique and there are many ways to birth a baby. She brings a sense of humor, grounding presence, attentiveness, keen sense of organization and emotional awareness into the birth space. As your doula, she provides an abundance of support, nourishment, and resources in order to help you find agency within your mind and body, explore birth preferences that align to your goals, listen and help you make informed decisions, and build confidence as new parents.

  • Birth Doula Services

  • Postpartum Doula Services

  • Prenatal Yoga Classes

jessica's bio

Jessica is a certified birth doula, yoga teacher, and trained in lactation support who is based in Brooklyn. She has a great understanding of the NYC birth environment and access to resources to support your pregnancy and postpartum journey. Jessica has experience in supporting homebirths, hospital births, unmediated births, medicated births, VBACs (VBA3C), high risk pregnancies, cesareans, people with mood disorders, single parents, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC families. Mindfulness and trauma-informed practices greatly inform her approach to both birth work and yoga as well as bringing a sense of joy and humor into the space. 

In addition to birth work, Jessica also specializes in prenatal and postnatal yoga which gives her an in-depth knowledge about the pregnant and postpartum body, how to prepare for labor, and the pelvic floor which she also brings to her doula practice. She also teaches trauma-informed yoga with a non-profit that supports survivors of sexual trauma and domestic abuse. Outside of her work, she loves travel adventures, foodie adventures, park hangs and rooting for her Detroit Lions and Tigers. Prior to birth work, she worked in the hospitality industry (known for her fabulous margaritas) and as a marketing and graphic design coordinator. Jessica feels honored to be on this journey of supporting new parents. 

 What Others Are Saying

Jess is easy to talk to and has so much insight into the body and pregnancy. What game changer! I gave birth in a hospital and labored at home with my husband and Jess for hours before we arrived. She helped me through the hardest contractions with loving touch and a focus on my breath. She brought me so much comfort and strength and made me feel unstoppable.

-A.B.

Jess is an amazing doula! I hopped on phone calls with her several times during pregnancy and early labor and felt more confident and at ease after speaking with her. My labor and delivery room was so peaceful thanks to her presence and bag of doula goodies. Even the nurses commented on how great my room felt! Jess's calm demeanor was exactly what I needed during labor. Not only did she care for me, she made sure my husband had eaten and was resting when possible.

-A.C.

If like us, you found the pregnancy and childbirth learning curves overwhelming and peppered with judgment, please do yourself a favor and hire Jessica as your doula. She is a fount of knowledge, calm, and pragmatism and brings so much warmth, kindness, and organization to support you through the process. From the very first meeting we felt listened to and understood with zero judgment, including when we were undecided on things like pain management. Jessica brought clarity with regular check-ins, lots of helpful recommendations, and when d-day came, she was indispensable helping to identify active labor and when to get to the hospital. She also kept the nervous Lyft driver calm and focused on the road.

-S.Y.

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