Kathleen Stern

Kathleen leads an agency of compassionate, evidence-based, non-judgmental doulas, & helps you find the right doula for your needs. She also teaches private childbirth, newborn care & feeding classes.

With childhood aspirations of becoming an astronaut or comedian, Kathleen (she/her) found her groove and ultimately became a teacher. She earned her Masters in Teaching from Simmons University. She stepped into a rewarding career, dedicating herself to teaching students, coaching teachers, and helping others recognize their own strengths. After the birth of her second child, it became crystal clear that supporting and educating families as they birthed their babies and found their way as new parents was ultimately what she was put here to do.

Kathleen’s postpartum experience with her first child was filled with exhaustion, self-doubt, and conflicting advice from well-meaning family and friends. She knew there must be a better way. During her second pregnancy, she hired a postpartum doula to provide her with the nonjudgmental, hands-on support she knew she would need. The immeasurable value, and the juxtaposition between her first and second experiences, prompted Kathleen to become a doula.

Today, she loves working with clients one-on-one doing infant feeding consults, postpartum planning sessions, childbirth and newborn care classes, and helping prep the bodies for the unique demands of pregnancy and birth. Being a college rower and longtime athlete, Kathleen thought she physically prepared. She quickly learned that she would have benefited from an expert’s support. In her 90-minute Body Ready Method® consults--a combination of discussion and observations of how clients sit/stand/walk/work/play/sleep-- she assesses alignment and identifies compensation patterns in the core, upper body, pelvis, and pelvic floor. She gets to know her a client's goals and works with them to create a personalized plan to prepare the body for birth and minimize pregnancy-related injuries and issues. Her current certifications include:
*Labor/Birth Doula
*VBAC Specialist
*Postpartum & Infant Care Doula
*Infant Feeding Specialist
*Adult, Child and Baby First Aid/CPR/AED
*Body Ready Method Pro (prep body for birth, increase efficiency in labor).

Ongoing professional development & trainings include: *Nutrition For Perinatal Health *Bereavement (Pregnancy & Infant Loss) *Cesarean Birth *Mental Health Emergencies *Implicit & Explicit Racial Bias Education (SPEAK UP Champion) *Postpartum Support for Multiples *Spinning Babies Virtual World Confluence *Supporting Clients using Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Kathleen’s best advice for expecting families is, “Reach out for help before you think you need it. You're not supposed to be able to do this by yourself.”

Kathleen lives in MA with her husband and “top-notch dad” Eric who, amongst many other wonderful things, is an engineer. The couple is inspired by their 5 and 8-year old daughters, who couldn’t be more different from one another, but are both hilarious, playful, and kind. In her down time, she loves to garden and exercise. When time allows, you can find this lady beachside, listening to a podcast, as she soaks in the tranquility of the water.

Kathleen, the owner and founder of Boston Area Doulas, is looking forward to learning about where you’re at in your reproductive journey, and is excited to share about how a doula can support you.