Maggie Mao My husband and I discovered Maggie through the doula internship at the Minnesota Birth Center. We knew throughout our pregnancy that we wanted a doula for birth as this was our first birth. We transferred to MBC at 32 weeks and connected with Maggie for the first time at 35(I think) weeks. From the start, Maggie felt like the right person for us and our journey. She listened to our story and our hopes and dreams for our labor and delivery, and always made us feel heard and supported. She has vast knowledge of different practices that are done in both hospital and birth center settings and we talked in detail about what we wanted and what our plan was in the event of a hospital transfer. Maggie was available for every question we had and had resources to help answer those questions. She supported my goal for breastfeeding and offered so much knowledge about it. Another thing that I loved with Maggie was that she made me cookies. Date cookies to prep for labor and lactation cookies for after birth. When I went into labor and felt nervous and unsure if it was time, Maggie provided support and encouragement for timing my contractions and when early labor was apparent she was at our house within the hour to support me. She also supported my husband through offering breaks for him, ensuing he was eating and drinking, and overall checking in on both of our well being. When we didn’t have snacks for the labor time she ran to the store and got us food. Her verbal, emotional, and physical support throughout my labor was amazing. Looking back I would not have wanted to do it without her there to encourage us both that I could do it. And when I felt like I was at my breaking point she continued to tell me that I could do it. In the end, Maggie was an essential part of my birth journey and team and I cannot recommend her enough. Even 5 weeks postpartum she is still checking in, providing resources and affirmations. I cannot wait to have her as part of our team in the future when my husband and I decide to grow our family more.

I can't recommend Maggie highly enough! From the moment I hired her, she was an incredible source of knowledge and support. During our prenatal visits, she provided thorough, evidence-based information that helped me feel confident and informed about my birth choices. She answered every question with patience and care, empowering me to make decisions that felt right for me. When labor began, Maggie was a calming, reassuring presence. Her support was exactly what I needed to stay focused and relaxed throughout the experience. She was hands-on in the most gentle and effective way, offering comfort measures, guidance, and encouragement when I needed it most. For the post partum visit, mMaggie took the time to help me process my birth story with such empathy and validation. Her thoughtful insights helped me process the experience, affirming my feelings and giving me the space to reflect. I am beyond grateful for her presence in my birth experience!

Maggie is an incredible doula and was an invaluable addition to my birth team! I honestly can't say enough good things about her. For starters, she was so personable and easy to talk to. I felt connected to her from the moment we met and immediately wanted her to be my doula! She's incredibly knowledgeable and went above and beyond in our prenatal and postpartum meetings - from helping me write a birth plan, to teaching us spinning babies exercises, to processing my last birth, and more. She even baked me due date cookies! When it came to my actual birth, she did the most amazing job of holding space, helping me trust my body and intuition, stepping in when necessary, and overall just fully trusting me and the process of birth. It was so helpful having her to text in the final weeks of pregnancy/early labor as I tried to stay patient waiting for things to start happening. She supported both me and my husband in so many ways throughout the entire process of labor and birth, and I could not be more grateful!

Maggie was so helpful and necessary to our birth story. As first time parents, we did not really know what to expect when it came to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Maggie provided us with a peace of mind and walked us through everything to expect and got us comfortable with the entire process. During our prenatal sessions, Maggie worked with us to build our birth plan and coached us on positioning and comforting techniques that we then used during labor. With the typical length of labor and delivery, many shifts at our hospital took place and we met many new faces. Maggie was a consistency and calming presence that we needed to give us comfort during a difficult time. Even post delivery, Maggie stayed with us for many additional hours as our son went to have additional tests ran. We will not be having another birth without Maggie by our side and highly recommend her services to anyone who is expecting.

Maggie was the most incredible doula. When I reached out to her I was expecting someone who could give me some extra info/education if I needed it and to be able to recommend position changes and pain coping techniques while laboring. That was just a small fraction of all that Maggie did to support me and my husband through the birth process. She walked me through stretches prenatally, went over in detail ways to support me physically and mentally based on my previous birth experience and current expectations and desires, provided prenatal massage, provided lots of great resources and offered to find resources on any specific concerns I had, baked me cookies, and so much more. She has also checked in with me post birth and gone above and beyond to support me and give me space to process my birth with her afterwards. She shows so much intentionality and thoughtfulness in everything that she does. She also made me feel completely at ease and comfortable talking with her right away. I am beyond impressed with Maggie and am so grateful she was part of my birth experience. I wish I had had her as my doula with my first baby. I could not be happier with having her as part of such a critical moment in my life and the life of my family.

Maggie was everything we hoped for in a doula and more. I knew I wanted her as my doula after our initial 15 minute interview. She had an emotional depth and maturity about her that I knew would be a great support during labor and postpartum. She went above and beyond during my pregnancy and then postpartum as well. She was willing to meet various times before labor and always brought her doula bag with a variety of resources. She offered body massages and stretches to alleviate discomforts I was experiencing during third trimester and even baked me amazing date cookies to help me get my daily dose of dates! During labor, Maggie was a reassuring presence for my husband and I. Maggie has incredible listening skills and she remembers the smallest details which made me feel seen, known, and heard during my labor and delivery. During postpartum she checked in regularly and encouraged me during that delicate season. She even popped over with some homemade postpartum goodies! I cannot say enough about the caliber of person and doula Maggie is. She really has a gift for this type of accompaniment. We were incredibly blessed to have had her accompany us during our pregnancy and birth experience!! My husband and I would highly recommend Maggie as a doula with no reservations. We hope to have her as our doula again one day with baby #3!