Holly Barhamand – Doula and Childbirth Educator

Holly is fantastic! Our 6-​week childbirth education course with her was the most helpful childbirth preparation we did. She made us feel reassured, confident and at ease. The class is a supportive environment to ask questions and get real answers from a pro. We trusted her experience fully, and she always taught thoughtfully and sympathetically. Highly recommend!

My husband and I took Holly’s Birthing From Within Childbirth class and really enjoyed it. We both had read and connected with the book Birthing From Within so the class seemed like a natural extension.
We went to Holly’s house for 3 Saturdays and covered what to expect physically and emotionally in labor. I was impressed with Holly’s overall knowledge and passion and how she was able to get all of the couples to participate so thoughtfully.
I recently gave birth to our first child and throughout my labor I was able to connect with things that Holly had said and so was my husband. Even though she constantly told us that labor is unpredictable, I had some mile markers in my head from what I had learned and it was very helpful.
I highly recommend this class! Thank you Holly :)

My partner & I took childbirth classes from Holly. What a great experience! She was knowledgable, funny, and a great teacher. She uses Birthing from Within principles & techniques to guide you through all the potential ways a birth can go and to help you come to terms with your feelings about them (i.e., kinds of births, interventions, the unexpected, etc.). Her classes also address the basic information, like stages of labor, pain relief options, etc. We definitely feel better prepared for whatever this experience may throw at us, whether it goes as planned (ha!) or everything unexpected happens. Highly recommend signing up for Holly’s class!

Holly’s birth prep class is absolutely outstanding. This is my second pregnancy, and my only regret is not finding her the first time around! She’s engaging, funny, knowledgable, honest, and her main focus goes far, far beyond facts and information (which are also rich and helpful). The exercises in pain coping were excellent. They became even more powerful when paired with the exercises for couples to help us to understand our fears, expectations, hopes, etc. Yeah, I think couples therapists may learn a thing or two sitting in on Holly’s classes!
Discussing the smells, sights, sounds and other details about childbirth are not a regular part of mainstream Midwestern culture. Somehow, Holly made the information and exercises approachable and not at all weird to do in front of a group of other people. Holly is a great facilitator. A lot of great ideas and discussion came from members in the class because she made space for participation, thought, and sharing. This class involves making art. Normally I think that kind of stuff is total hippy BS, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe I had some pent up stuff from my previous birth experience, but whatever it was, it was awesome. I totally surprised myself with that.
I uniquely appreciated Holly’s class because she was totally welcoming despite the fact that I was the only one in the room that already had given birth once (emergency c-​section not at all what was in my «plan»), and also the only one without a partner in class. Holly made it easy for me to be there, and to participate even though there was a lot of partner work. I really looked forward to coming home to share and practice with my partner.
Holly also shared information and guided discussions in such a way to help the couples to manage their expectations and understand all of the possibilities and interventions that can occur, including c-​section. She also spent time helping folks in the class to understand their emotions and expectations of themselves and each other. I’m paraphrasing, but she focused on helping us to prepare for the birth that gives us our babies, versus the 3-​page plan of stuff that we «want.» One thing is not «better» than another, only different, and understanding how to navigate it will make for the most positive birth experience.
Holly has spent time at all of the area hospitals, so her tips on productive communication with staff and doctors at the hospital, as well as what to remember to ask for (eg. squat bars, fresh batteries for the fetal heart monitor) were totally awesome.
I’m so happy I took this class with Holly. I’m due in a few weeks, and my partner and I both feel far more prepared for how to navigate our way through the labyrinth, whatever path that may be.

Holly’s childbirth education through Birthing Within was a great experience for my wife and I. I have to admit, going in I wasn’t thrilled about losing three Sundays for the classes, but knew it was the least I could do to support my wife and baby as a new father to be. I was really surprised that the class was nothing like I expected. It was very informative, with what I felt was unbiased opinions when sharing the various options of the birthing process. We were given very practical information that has equipped us with insight that will allow for us to make more informed decisions, or at least know some questions to ask, for the upcoming birth of our child. I highly recommend new parents to check out the class. I heard you can never really prepare fully for your child’s birth, but I do feel Holly has helped us get more comfortable with everything and we now can go into the experience with a plan, but at the same time remain flexible knowing all the other options we have available to us.

Holly’s childbirth preparation class is excellent. My husband and I learned pain coping and a lot of other things you might get in other classes, but we also learned something much more important: how to communicate with one another and really support each other through the process of labor. He was my coach and my rock, and the experience turned out to be an empowering one for both of us! I ended up delivering without any medication – something I had never thought I would be able to do. We have a beautiful, healthy boy, and while labor hurts a lot, we look back on it as a moment of trust, love, and togetherness, a moment when we accomplished an amazing feat together to bring our son into the world.
Holly is funny, smart, well-​read, and insightful. Many things she predicted did, indeed, happen during our labor, and because of her class, we were as prepared as we could be. We loved her freeform teaching style, and formed friendships within the class because of it. I would recommend this to anyone, and if we have a second child, we’ll be back with Holly for the red tent!

My husband and I took Holly’s class to prepare for the birth of our first child and we had a wonderful experience. Holly is very experienced when it comes to the many faces of childbirth and that alone is reason enough to take her class. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I knew what I *wanted* my birth to look like– an unmedicated, low intervention home birth. At 32 weeks, I had to transfer to hospital care because of high blood pressure. This was a huge adjustment for me and my husband. Holly’s class helped me become more open minded about how my birth might go and also helped me uncover some of my fears about childbirth and myself. After the last class, I felt much more prepared to enter the unknown of childbirth. I ended up getting induced (one of my fears) but went in with an open mind and had a wonderful unmedicated birth. Another great aspect of taking this class was meeting other soon to be parents and hearing their experiences. I will be recommending this class to anyone looking to prepare for childbirth.

Holly is an incredible birth educator. My partner and I enrolled in Holly’s class before the birth of our son. Her class goes beyond preparing you for what to expect physically and incorporates psychological and emotional aspects of birth. Holly is professional, enthusiastic, and very approachable. I would highly recommend her.

As a father, I highly recommend working with Holly. She is extremely knowledgeable, caring, and flexible. Every time we met with Holly or spent time in her classes, I felt that we were in great hands. I learned so much through her even though I felt like I was a prepared father-​to-​be,
On «game day» I could not have been more grateful to have Holly. The birth of our son did not go quite how I expected or exactly as we planned — things change which cause you to adapt. We had a long labor and Holly was perfect at understanding how we were tweaking the plan and was supportive and informative at every step of the way. She was there with us every step of the way. The birth of a child (our first) is a very intimate thing and it felt 100% natural to have Holly there with us and part of the experience. She will forever have a special place in our hearts for sharing that moment and journey with us. We have special memories that we could not have captured without her help.
Holly can be relied upon to be a phenomenal guide, a powerful advocate, and an incredible pillar of support for both mother and father. I hope to have the pleasure of working with her again.

Holly taught one class in our birth class that we took at Bloom Yoga over a series of weeks in the fall. She happened to teach the class about cesarean birth, including role-​playing a cesarean (my partner volunteered for the role play.) It turned out that I needed a cesarean — which was not what I wanted or planned. I credit Holly’s empathy and teaching for the fact that both my partner and I knew what to expect and felt less apprehensive about the procedure.

We hired Holly as our doula after being referred to her by a trusted friend. We interviewed two other doulas, and we knew immediately upon meeting Holly that she was the one for us. She is extremely knowledgeable and very professional. She put us at ease with her great personality, sense of humor, and extensive experience as a labor doula and a mother of three.
Pregnancy, labor, and delivery are very intimate processes which involve a number of incredibly personal decisions. Most people have opinions on the matters involved, and it seems everywhere you turn, people are anxious to force their views on you. It was important to us to find a doula who would help us stay informed of our options, but respect whatever decisions we ultimately made. Holly did just that. While I know she certainly must have very strong opinions of her own, she objectively and respectfully helped us navigate our own decision-​making process and arrive at choices that worked best for us.
During labor and delivery, Holly’s assistance was invaluable. She helped me cope with my pain by providing both emotional and physical support. She assisted my husband in comforting me, and reassured him that he was doing a great job. She helped us deal with the unexpected, informing us of our options at every stage, and giving us the confidence we needed to make decisions in circumstances that might otherwise have been overwhelming. Due to the circumstances surrounding my delivery and the doctor who happened to be on call that night, I feel certain I would have ended up with a cesarean were it not for Holly. She interacted with hospital staff in a professional and effective manner, and communicated our needs and desires to them while minimizing any distractions that might have taken my mind off the task at hand. She was the woman behind the curtain, pulling strings and quietly making everything work correctly, yet allowing us to be the stars of the show.
I would highly recommend Holly to anyone seeking insight, knowledge, support, and encouragement throughout their pregnancy, labor, and delivery. She’s the best!

Holly is one of the most knowledgeable and wonderful people I’ve ever met. She is honest about birth, labor, and being pregnant in general. I took her childbirth class with my birthing partner and it was so helpful. It not only helped my birthing partner and I feel calm and relaxed, but it put any fear I had about the birthing experience to rest. Like I mentioned, she is honest and for me, I am appreciative of that aspect of her personality. At the same time, she is caring and motherly and really knows what she is talking about. I am really looking forward to labor (in a few short weeks) and am sure Holly’s expertise will guide me through the adventure.

My pregnancy and labor would not have been the same without Holly there to guide us through!
When we first met with Holly we immediately knew she was the one to help us through this process. She was calm, intuitive and had tons of experience. We signed up for her birth classes immediately and selected her as our doula.
My husband and I didn’t know what to expect from the birth classes — especially with some of the topics being feelings and grief and loss. I was worried my husband would think they weren’t worth the time, but we both agree they absolutely were! The classes didn’t just focus on the act of delivering a baby, but also focused on preparing us for how we would feel and what our expectations were. I think these topics made us much calmer when the day to deliver actually came.
I can’t imagine my delivery without Holly there. We had an extremely long labor (40 hours with 36 hours unmedicated) and Holly was there breathing through it with me for 24+ hours of it. She was a calming and educated presence in a very stressful time. Whenever I or my husband needed something, she was there. It was amazing to have her constant presence there to calm and support us.
I would highly, highly recommend Holly for her child birth classes and doula services. If we still live in the area when we have our second child, there will be no question we will call Holly to be there with us again.

We used Holly as our birth doula and also attended her childbirth classes. I cannot recommend her enough. Starting with her classes, she approaches childbirth from a psychological aspect as well as a physical one. Attending her classes made me feel completely ready to get thru childbirth without fear. As a first time mom, having Holly as our doula made the going into labor process, I don’t want to say easier, but stress free. Neither my husband nor I had to worry about what to do and how to handle ourselves in the hospital. She also knew what to do to help me feel comfortable while I was laboring. She pushed my lower back when I didn’t even know that that would make it easier. Holly is like a secret weapon and I don’t recommend that anyone have a baby without her.