TLC Doulas

When my husband and I decided we wanted to try for a natural, unmedicated birth, we began meeting with potential birth doulas. We were immediately struck by Sabine’s professionalism, calm and gentle, yet strong, demeanor and non-​judgmental expertise and wisdom.
Sabine aptly pointed out that, while we had done a ton of reading and research about the baby and his early development, we had very little information about labor and delivery of the baby. She provided us with some wonderful materials and spent a considerable amount of time preparing us and answering all of our questions.
Our birth was 13 hours and we were able to stick to our birth intentions. It was largely due, no doubt, to Sabine’s guidance and support up to and during the labor. The birth of our son was honestly the most amazing experience of our lives and we’re so grateful that we had Sabine alongside us throughout it. My husband found Sabine’s coaching and support throughout the birth to be «just right». She gave him the tools he needed to support me throughout the labor so that he was involved and never felt left out. Sabine was looking out for our whole family — and she did so seamlessly.
Sabine’s services didn’t stop there. She was a tremendous support to us following the birth, stopping by the house, answering emails and calls, etc. As an added bonus, Sabine is a wonderful photographer and took the most beautiful pics of us at 39 weeks, during the labor and delivery and a few weeks after the little guy arrived. We’ll treasure these photos for a lifetime!
I highly recommend Sabine to anyone — no matter how you’d like your birth to go. She is so knowledgeable and supportive and will undoubtedly alleviate so much of your stress and anxiety.
Thank you, Sabine, for everything! You are the best. Love and gratitude, Natascha, Kevin and Baby Griffin

Sabine is amazing. I was so frazzled in the early days after our daughter was born because she wasn’t breastfeeding. We spoke with so many people. I was sore and people were quite forceful in trying to get our little one to latch. It was not a good combo.
Sabine was recommended to us and I’m so glad. She came to our house (which was exactly what we needed so we could show her what wasn’t working). She was so patient with me and our baby (no painful squeezing of new mum’s sensitive chest). It took a few hours but we got our baby to latch happily and without a fight. Sabine even showed my husband how he could help out. We are very grateful.

We had Sabine as our Doula for birth of our 2^nd baby. Ours was a difficult pregnancy and see did an excellent job in helping us have a normal delivery of our baby boy! Highly recommend her. Sandeep & Divya

My husband and I welcomed our first baby into this world in June with the guidance of Sabine as our birth doula. the experience was nothing less than spectacular.
We first met Sabine during a «Meet the Doula» event at Harmony. Right from the first meeting, I was so comfortable with Sabine and liked that she did not judge me for my choice of bieth center but explained why it would work out well for me. When I expressed some doubt about the center, she encouraged me to explore my options and made me feel better about myself. We immediately knew she wss our first choice for a doula.
We quickly learned to trust Sabine’s extensive knowledge and experience and came to rely on her and her toolkit. I had a 16 hour labor but it was completely natural and unmedicated and I could not have gotten throgh it without Sabine and her guidance. Not only was she indispensable to me, she was a wealth of knowledge and an immense support to my husband.
I could keep going on and on but in short, i highly recommend Sabine.

My first birth five years ago did not go as planned. I had hoped for a natural un-​medicated birth. I attended the 6 week pre-​natal classes at Sutter, had a great family doctor who was supported of my wishes and a sister by my side who had just given birth to her 5^th child, I figured that was all I needed… I was so very ignorant to how hospital births work. At 12 days past my due date I reluctantly agreed to an induction (hind sight, I would have waited until it was truly medically necessary). 36 hours and many many interventions later, I was on an operating table having a C-​section. I couldn’t believe this had happened to me. I had read all about the ‘cascade of interventions’ and the high probability of C-​sections these days, but I honestly didn’t think it would happen to me. Although I was elated to meet my beautiful baby, and my C-​section was not a traumatic experience or anything, I was visibly deflated for not being able to bring my baby into the world the way I had hoped. I knew from that day, my second go at this would be different…
Fast forward 4 years and I was pregnant and ready to try this again, but this time I would NOT be ignorant and I would do everything in my power to VBAC this baby naturally. I explored the possibility of a home birth but for several reasons that was not the best option for me at the time, so I opted for the most VBAC friendly OB I could find (Dr. Alexandra Klikoff) and a GREAT doula, enter Sabine Omvik. After speaking with Sabine the first time, I knew she was the right fit for me. Clam, sincere, and she truly listened to me. When interviewing other doulas and midwives, I often felt like they had an agenda already and a set idea of what birth should be. Sabine listened to me, she provided me additional information, but never pushed or made me feel bad if I went another way. She met with us before the birth to get to know me and my husband better and provided relaxation techniques. When my labor seemed to be getting started, she was on the phone with me giving me tips on how to help the labor get going (this was at 9 days past due… again). When my husband called her to come once active labor had started, she was there in a flash (at 5am in the morning!). Her presence at my house helping me and my husband was incredible. She provided a sense of calm and reassurance and I just felt like I didn’t have to worry. Once it was time to head to the hospital, she was right there with us the whole time. Luckily, I had a great nurse at the hospital (Dominican) who was very supportive of my desire to have a natural VBAC and her and the on-​call OB read and followed my birth plan with respect (Oh, Sabine also helped me with the birth plan — which was great!). During transition, when the contractions were so strong and you are walking that line where you just feel like you can’t do it any more, she was right there calmly saying exactly what I needed to hear to keep me going. 3.5 hours after arriving at the hospital I gave birth to my 10+ lbs baby .all natural VBAC, 10 days post date… to say I was on cloud 9 is an understatement. This was the birth experience I had dreamed of, prayed for, worked for, and it happened. I still to this day (almost 1 year later) feel an incredible sense of empowerment from this birth. It heeled me. Sabine is an incredible woman doing incredible work. I can’t recommend her highly enough.

As first time parents, my husband and I knew we needed extra support to make it through the birth of our daughter. First off, Sabine has this calming energy about herself. Just meeting her made both of us relaxed. Second off, Sabine is very knowledgable, gives exact information on what is asked and is very, very professional.
She is also a person of intuition. She was a great source of information throughout my pregnancy. She suggested books that have been best investment of my time. Books that helped me with the birth and are still helping me as a brand new parent.
I would highly recommend to hire a doula for birth and if Sabine clicks for you, rest assured. You are in GREAT hands! Her aromatherapy was a great help during my very quick labor. She had tons of other things to help me, however everything for me was so quick that we just didn’t have time!
Most of the time during labor, I was holding Sabine’s hand and not my husband’s!
Thank You Sabine for your support, I have gained a friend in you :)

As first-​time parents my husband and I weren’t sure what to expect from the birthing process. Enter Sabine from TLC Doulas. From the moment she showed up at our house in Spring 2014 for a meet and greet, we were taken by her: Sabine is calm but strong; she’s open to molding the birth experience to what we wanted it to be. She’s extememly knowledgable about the physiological, physiological and spiritual aspects of birth. She knows her way around a hospital while likewise bringing alternative comfort measures into the birthing experience.
Sabine came to our house for two prenatal visits and one postnatal follow up. She helped me birth at my home for 8 hours and then transitioned with me to the hospital for another nine hours. She took beautiful photos during the birth as well.
With Sabine’s support and guidance, I was able to bring my son into the world with more strength and dignity than I knew posible. Likewise, she provided my husband with the support and information he needed to be my primary birth coach.
We couldn’t be happier with TLC doulas and will be giving Sabine a call in years to come for future births. I recommend Sabine wholeheartedly to expectant moms (and dads.)

For our second child, we decided to have a doula for the extra support we were missing for our first birth. From the beginning, we loved Sabine (pronounced Sabina). She has a very warm and friendly, yet calming demeanor. The prenatal appointments were great to talk out some left over feelings from my first birth and practice some comfort measures for a natural labor (our goal). Finally it was baby time. Due to a complication, we met at the hospital at the beginning of the labor. It seemed that I was starting to have back labor again, like my first baby, which was terrible. Using a kind of wrap like a harness with me on my hands and knees, we were able to get the baby shifted in a better position and avoid back labor. What a relief! Sabine was so reassuring, calming and knowledgeable during the whole time, never leaving our side. I also enjoyed the aromatherapy she provided. Although things went differently than we had planned, Sabine was so supportive and non-​judgmental; I was so relieved to have her by my side, along with my husband! I think he was also very glad to have the support. Also, our birth photos were spectacular. I doubt we’ll ever show them to others but I am so, so glad to have them.

We had such amazing birth. It was a bit of a crazy adventure when our original doula and the sub could not come to our birth. THANK GOODNESS FOR SABINE!!! She was amazing! Calm and compassionate!!! Knowledgable and strong!!! She made our birth experience magical and she did it on a moments notice!!! After the birth she took photos in those first few moments that I will treasure always. I later found how well respected she is in the Santa Cruz birthing community and with her past clients. If you are having a baby please give your self the gift of having this remarkable women by your side! My husband and I are so grateful she was with us!

I am very happy with all the choices I made regarding the birth of my son, and among those choices was selecting Sabine as one of our doulas. We met her at Harmony’s Meet the Doula event, and we were so impressed with her. With such a calming presence, more than a decade of experience, and passion for birth; we felt no need to meet with any more doulas. She was the one.
One week before our due date, we decided to switch from a hospital birth to a home birth. With so much of our birth plan changing, we were so grateful to have Sabine as our guide. Sabine’s «doula bag of tricks» includes (among other things) a TENS unit, aromatherapy essential oils, and homeopathic remedies, and a rebozo. When Sabine arrived I remember being so surprised at how calm I suddenly felt because of her presence. Her voice was soothing, and her knowledge of the process enabled her to suggest positions that kept me as comfortable as I could be.
Labor was hard work and exhausting, and I think Sabine worked harder than I did particularly during pushing stage when she pulled out her rebozo and allowed me to use her to push against! And while taking photographs of the first moments!!!
At the postpartum visit, she showed us the birth photos which were wonderful and also surprised us with a narrative of the birth story as well as a poem! These were very nice touches that both grandmas enjoyed as well.
We also booked some post-​partum doula services with Sabine, and I am very happy we did so. I felt so supported and nurtured when Sabine came to help after the baby was born. She helped with breastfeeding, fed me, and showed me some different ways to comfort my baby.
Sabine is truly as good as it gets, and I feel so blessed that she was part of the birth of my baby boy.

My husband and I had our first child in May 2013. Being fairly new to the area and away from family, we decided that we needed some help in the delivery room. We sought after the perfect person to help us in our time of need and we found her! We attended a «Meet the Doulas» event and met Sabine and knew she was the one. She has such a calming presence and knows all the tricks of the trade. Not to mention, that she is very well-​known in her field. My labor and delivery did not go as planned, but Sabine took the reigns and helped me focus during difficult times of my delivery, which helped avoid having a cesarean. Sabine is also a professional photographer. So, not only did she help my husband and I during labor and delivery, she also took amazing photos of all of the «firsts» just after birth. She also took our prenatal and announcement photos as well. Sabine also offers placenta encapsulation, which helped aid in my recovery. Sabine is an amazing person. We are so happy and lucky to have met her and to have her be apart of our most important time of our lives.