If every mother in the world could have an O’Nell by their side after having a baby there is no doubt in my mind the world would be a better place. O’Nell is a beautiful blend of deep knowledge and very practical support while also whisking a new mom up in a warmth and security that truly is a blessing. She will always be a special part of my story – coming into my own as a mom of two. She is pure magic and so warm and accepting.  

Sam

Sacred Tending Sessions

I keep trying to think of how to write to say thank you and the words (and time) escape me. It was incredibly meaningful and filling to experience yesterday’s rituals and care.

The profoundness of mamahood is so big that having you ground and celebrate the moment brought me into a giddy-ness again about having my babe. And I slept so well having had some care and my cup filled. I’m so grateful.

Katie

Motherhood Honoring Ceremony

O’Nell supported me after the birth of my son in August….seriously mamas, she is so deeply empathic, skilled, loving, and a deep well of mothering wisdom.

She prepared me sitz baths, she massaged and oiled my belly and anywhere else that I felt needed healing touch. She wrapped me up and put a castor pack on my belly with hot water bottles and all the while tended me with such love. I felt as though I was being held with such reverence for the birthing experience I had just been through.
She is such a grounding compassionate presence in the home and has such a subtle way of being while honoring the newborn bubble period. She is also quick witted and very easy to laugh with!
I couldn’t recommend her more for tending this magical and tender phase of postpartum.
Out of 10 stars, I would easily give her a 100!! An amazing gift for any postpartum mama.
Jayantii

Sacred Tending Sessions

I was held today in a way that I truly believe every mother needs at some point of their journey. I had a healing ceremony with a lovely doula/sister/healer O’Nell Starkey surrounding my pregnancy release. I had such an amazing spiritual experience and was given so much insight.

We called in the spirits of the Earth, I was wrapped in cloth, I was rubbed in oils, I was bathed in love and acceptance and validation, I had medicinal cocoa and I feel so clear and content in my skin and choices. I was able to see myself as my mother identity and also as my individual identity and how these two dance together in balance. I realized I am worthy of unconditional love and support and happiness. I felt my inner child cared for by the most divine mother I always wanted and at the same time I felt fully in my womanhood for calling in this support. It really sealed off my experience as a mother that released an energy back to the Divine.

We all deserve this level of care and support. We all need hands-on, heartfelt support from other womxn in our community. Thank you, dear sister”

Megan

Abortion Integration & Honoring Ritual

O’Nell proved to be an excellent caretaker of our twins. She was very observant of their behavior and their moods and despite only spending two or three mornings a week with us, she was able to quickly pick up the rhythms of their days. Her skill and knowledge in caring for newborns, including premature ones like ours, was both reassuring and impressive.

Despite her caretaking skill and knowledge, she was never forceful in presenting what she knew, never impatient in manner, voice or gesture. She completely adapted to and supported the schedule that we had for the twins and quickly became a trusted friend/confidante/advisor to my wife.

O’Nell and her calm, gentle, and confident demeanor very quickly became a welcome presence in our house. I can’t say enough about how she integrated herself into the way our house operates.

O’Nell also has impressive personal initiative. While she was with us, she made us feel that her role was to support out family in any way she could. She would look to see if shopping needed to be done and would offer to go. She would see dishes that needed to be done and would do them. She would see laundry needing to be washed or folded and would do them. Once we found her disinfecting doorknobs to help prevent the spread of our two year old’s cold.

Within the first several days of O’Nell working with us, we realized that we didn’t want to live without her. Had she been available, we would have hired her for every waking hour of her day.

In the four months that O’Nell has been working with us, I can’t imagine a doula who could have been more caring, more competent, or given more love to our twins than she has. My wife and I both feel very privileged to have been able to have O’Nell work with us. O’Nell couldn’t have chosen a better name for her services. She deservedly earns my highest recommendation.

Kevin

Day & Night Postpartum Doula Care

O’Nell was a complete blessing to have in our lives. She had amazing ideas and would take initiative all of the time to be helpful. Her manor with our twin girls was loving and compassionate. She is also very patient and would ask us if we’d eaten or slept well. Earth Angel is a very appropriate title to describe O’Nell. Any baby and new parent would be fortunate and lucky to have her with them during the transition. She is really one of a kind and we are blessed to have had her with us for our new parent experience. She has made us better parents and we love her like family now and will miss her dearly. I am so glad she was in our girls’ lives.
Patricia & Kyle

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care

O’Nell gives security and confidence to the mothers she works with. The mothers we worked with always commented to me on the bigness of her heart and her caring eyes. She is so tender and gentle with the babies and it is obvious that she has much respect and attention for each individual.

Many women came back multiple times for her postpartum massages and to gain help with breastfeeding. Her heart is full of joy for working with mothers, birth, and infants and I recommend her as a birth or postpartum doula to anyone who wants to feel supported and encouraged as a mother.

Angelina

Traditional Midwife, Temixco, Mexico

Wow – did all of my expectations on working with you get blown out of the water!? Thank you so much for sharing your gifts and passions with me in our Sacred Tending Sessions. Your experience, knowledge and dedication are so evident, just as is your passion and appreciation for motherhood. It was such a blessing getting this time with you and I know my heart, body and mind appreciated this space deeply. I only wish all new moms could experience your work – I’ll just consider myself lucky in the meantime.

Bryn

Sacred Tending Sessions

I can’t thank you enough for all of the nurturing support you provided me after Silas’s birth. It was such a treat to be on the receiving end! Your calm presence, listening ear, and magical touch were exactly what I needed. Keep doing what you’re doing!

Anna

Sacred Tending Sessions

Thank you so much for your love and grounded, soft and powerful ways. I feel so good since our time. You are wonderful and what you offer is so needed and helpful!!

Regina

Self-Love Ritual

Yesterday was seriously magical. It was the first time I could really drop into my body and integrate the birthing work it did just over a week ago. We are so honored and blessed to know you and have you be a part of our journey. I really can’t thank you enough. I will deeply treasure the entire experience with you. You are amazing!  

Jaime

Sacred Tending Sessions

After taking a private newborn/parenting class with O’Nell Starkey I felt immensely supported and well informed. Heading into the adventure of childbirth and parenthood is such a huge event. She tailored my private class to my specific questions and concerns. It was so easy to talk to her about my hopes and fears regarding these upcoming early weeks postpartum with my newborn son. The information she shared with me both clarified misconceptions I’d had and gave me good information and resources. I wish all new parents could spend some time learning from and being supported by such an intelligent, educated, kind, clear-spoken ally.
Georgia Rose

Early Weeks Private Class

Thank you so much for yesterday. It was such a fulfilling and special day and it would not have happened without you. I appreciate all of your support and love immensely! [My partner] said thank you too and he appreciates how thorough and intricate everything was.

Clare

Family Baby Welcoming Ceremony

After the birth of my second son, O’Nell treated me with three beautifully nourishing therapies – a yoni steam, a full body/hot stone womb massage, and a closing the bones ceremony. These special times where I was seen and heard as the powerful, yet extremely vulnerable, woman and mother I now am were so crucial in my integration of it all. Amidst all the changes and the seemingly chaotic energy, I was able to drop into safety and love because of the way O’Nell held me. She felt like a dear sister even though we had just met. All women deserve to be cared for so tenderly and righteously after the transformation of giving birth to new life”

Michelle

Sacred Tending Sessions

It was so wonderful having O’Nell’s gentle, warm presence during a sometimes difficult and chaotic transition! I especially appreciated her ability to enter our home and immediately join us in whatever activity/task – matching our energy/pace or offering a complementary alternative. She was also extremely flexible – able to switch tasks spontaneously – and efficient – able to whip up a meal in a few minutes! She was reliable and timely – so reassuring in a time when little was predictable!

It seemed like not a moment was wasted – O’Nell made such good use of her time with us – she struck a perfect balance of taking the initiative to complete tasks unprompted by me (packing a snack/water bottle for an excursion with toddler), while also following my lead and remaining attuned to my needs. O’Nell has a gift with babies, toddlers, and mothers alike. I so appreciated the time she spent with our family.

Julie

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care

O’Nell is an amazing baby whisperer. She is incredibly knowledgeable about all things baby. I must have asked her hundreds of questions and she answered each one with such wisdom, loving presence, and great information. All of the resources she offered were useful and helped me become a better mother.

I learned from watching her interact with my baby. She modeled slow, loving interactions with baby so beautifully. She also took care of me by feeding me, massaging me, doing ritual with me before baby was born, and making sure I was taking care of myself.

As a new parent, there was so much I didn’t even know I needed to learn. O’Nell taught parenting skills with care, grace, and excellent up to date information. I appreciated her knowledge of natural child care and progressive approach to babies.

O’Nell brought so much sweetness to my experience of motherhood by caring for me and teaching me how to care for my baby better. She is truly an earth angel!

Alyssa

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care & Early Parenting Consultations

We are so thankful that O’Nell was part of the birth of our son, Alec! O’Nell supported our entire family in the endless days before delivery, a long and complicated birth, and the sleepless postpartum nights. My husband and our four year old son particularly benefited from her loving attention during the challenging transition of welcoming our second child into the family. O’Nell has enough love for you, your new baby, and your entire family! You will never be sorry you invited her to participate in this exciting part of your life. (p.s. Ask her for a massage and you will want her to move in with your family forever.) Thank you, thank you, O’Nell!
Tisha

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care

Thank you so much for such a beautiful ritual & healing day yesterday…for guiding me through the integration ritual and providing the space. It’s what I needed at this time. It’s been resonating with me, revisiting moments and feelings.

I.G.

Motherhood and Grief Ritual

Thank you so much for taking care of me & us as a family during the initial postpartum time. The love and intention you put into every detail was deeply felt and received. So grateful to you for the work you provide in our community.

Rae

Sacred Tending Sessions

I found the all the healing practices to be incredibly helpful, including the yoni steam, breast and pelvic massage, and closing the bones ceremony. I loved the attention to detail, including placing herbs for me to smell while I did a sitz bath, and the altar put together for our final ritual of me returning to work. I also deeply appreciated being taught songs to sing to my baby, and that our time together never felt rushed, but was very much in tune with me and my baby.

Andrea

Sacred Tending Sessions

So much of our ceremony day still lingers in my heart, muscles and mind. Thank you again for all you are. I think of you and our impactful session often. 

J.L.

Divorce Rite of Passage Ceremony

You make my heart feel loved. Thank you for your tender and beautiful mother tending and for our Weaning Ritual kit. My toddler and I had a beautiful perfect bath celebrating our breastfeeding journey and mother-daughter relationship. She loved it and so did I. Thank you for guiding us and encouraging me. I feel more confident in leading and creating ritual now and my husband knows how important that is to me now. I’m so grateful for you!

Mary

Sacred Tending Sessions

I have never met a person who is as aligned to the energy of newborns as profoundly as O’Nell. There is a language that babies speak that few truly understand. O’Nell has not only mastered this language, she teaches it.

I am a woman in a same sex marriage and my wife carried our baby. Navigating the world of pregnancy and parenthood as a same-sex couple can often feel alienating. When we hired O’Nell as our doula, we felt held in the highest regard. O’Nell treated me, as the non-birthing parent, with as much support, honor and respect as my wife. She treated me as an equal, guiding me gently into solidifying my role as a mother.

I am forever grateful that we hired O’Nell as our doula. Our pregnancy was wrought with intense complications, multiple hospitalizations, and high intensity. O’Nell was 100% dedicated to both me and my wife. She was available to us at all hours of the day and night, talking us through our fears and refocusing us back, time and again, to a place of surrender and empowerment. When we thought our baby was going to be delivered early, we felt completely unprepared. O’Nell came to the hospital and spent an entire day teaching us a private class about newborns. We ended up feeling completely empowered in an ultimately powerless situation because of O’Nell’s time, dedication and care. She is an extremely gifted doula who puts her heart into every ounce of her care.

O’Nell Starkey kicks serious ass! If you are thinking about hiring her or taking her class, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make for your baby and your family.

Not only is O’Nell an incredibly intuitive doula, she has the energy of a hands-on healer. She is subtle, yet solid, mastering the energy of holding a little one with great care. You will learn an entirely new language just by watching her in action.

Candra

Early Weeks Private Class & Postpartum Day Doula

Since this was our third baby, most of the help I needed was with the older siblings. You were fun and creative playing with them, and also very calming for them. This helped to lower the chaos and stress for me very much. You were also willing to be firm, especially with my five year old, who really needs that in a caregiver. That was very important.

Even with baby number three, there are still things I am learning about caring for a newborn. I appreciated the introduction to the Moby carrier! You were great with him and I was never worried about leaving him with you when I was out. Overall, you were a huge help to my ability to stay sane during this transition to a 3-child family. I am so glad to have had your help!

Mary

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care

Simply having an extra set of hands was useful, but O’Nell was always a tremendous source of comfort and knowledge about our babies (and their maladies) – as well as our toddler. I looked forward to her time with us every week and was grateful for the additional research she did for our babies. We felt very supported during her time with us and only wish we could have had her every day.
Carrie

Day & Night Postpartum Doula Care

O’Nell blended so seemlessly into whatever was happening, assisting with everything from cooking to shopping to being present to listen. Her patience was truly amazing as I repeated the same questions and concerns everyday. Thank you so much for all your help. Everyone needs a doula like you!
Kelly

Daytime Postpartum Doula Care

Postpartum care is one of the best investments one could make. Consider asking for one of O’Nell’s care packages as a community gift for your mama blessing or baby shower. O’Nell is extraordinary!!!
Kerry Ingram

Colleague, Founder of Community Supported Postpartum