“Keya is simply magical. I’ve taken her yoga class and was so impressed by her presence and her knowledge of the pregnant body that I asked her to be my doula. Keya was always very professional – always quick to respond with all the information that we needed. Our pre birth meetings were super helpful and Keya was full of resources. Not only did she give us a list of things to consider but she hyperlinked everything to Amazon so that it was easy for us to get anything that would be helpful. In addition – she gave us some simple resources to read and give us more information if we needed it. During the birth we had to change gears several times and at each stage she helped me and my husband adjust and refocus. Keya served as a calm and steady presence through what was a very long and difficult birth. When it was time to deliver she helped me understand all that was going on around me and gave me full support. She also came by postpartum and gave me much needed advice on breastfeeding and a range of other things. Working with Keya was one of the best decisions my husband and I made – she is exactly the kind of person you want standing by your side as your little one makes their way into the world!”

“Keya is excellent at providing detailed explanations about what to expect during pregnancy, labor, and after labor. It was so refreshing to have her as my doula because she obviously tailors services based on each family’s needs. Not to mention I found her yoga classes to be invaluable as she teaches with such care and wisdom. Keya is very confident, observant, and I feel she reads people well. It also helps that she has two children of her own and was so open to share what has and has not worked for her. During the birth, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without Keya! In fact, I vividly remember one moment when she stepped off to the side and I yelled ‘Keya, where are you!’ lol – labor was intense and there were moments I didn’t think I’d be able to continue. But there she was with that superwoman shirt, breathing and chanting with me, helping me ‘breathe my baby down’ and helping me understand I could do it. I remember another moment when we all first arrived at the birth center. I was sitting in the car waiting for a contraction to pass. Keya came up and greeted me in such a gentle way, it made me feel at ease. As intense as things became, I never felt like she was unsure of what to do. She’s extremely confident, yet humble and I believe that builds trust and confidence in clients. It’s obvious that Keya not only loves what she does but that she’s found her gift. And I thank her for blessing us mamas with that gift! After the birth of our beautiful baby boy, Keya observed my breastfeed latch and provided many helpful tips. I felt pretty clueless days after giving birth, so her follow-up after birth, the visit, the placenta pill delivery, and the phone calls really made me feel good. Each and every visit, phone conversation, and text exchange was so pleasant and enjoyable for me. I always felt comfortable sharing my challenges and happy moments with Keya. I never felt like I was just a ‘client’, but instead a good friend or family member. All of my questions and needs were met and she definitely exceeded my expectations of what I thought a doula would do (i.e., detailed overview of vaccines, actually practicing comfort measures, providing in-depth explanations, providing your amazon registry, recommending classes, following-up). If we decide to have another little one, Keya is my only choice!”

“Thanks to Keya Merah Nkonoki, I have a healthy, happy yoga baby. Now that my son Sage is two years old, his favorite thing right now is going into down-dog (using his head with booty straight up in the air) and arching into backbends with glee! During my 2nd and 3rd trimesters, I took prenatal yoga with Keya after work throughout my pregnancy. I loved how she always brought a different spiritual message to each class, but the same rock centered energy. She even brought us gratitude rocks at one class, and I still have mine that says “free”… As luck (or the universe) would have it, I got to have Keya at my side, helping me with yoga stretches and breathing, all throughout three long days of my Labor! She was assisting my doula. Everyone in my family was so impressed by Keya’s grounded energy and sweet light she brought into our home and my birth process. She let me squeeze her hand, lean into her with each surge (contraction), do lunges in our courtyard – whatever it took to keep things moving and flowing… My beautiful, healthy son Sage and I are eternally grateful. It was a blessing for me to be able to gift Keya with a private Sacred Infant Massage session in her home when her son Jai 3 was just two weeks old. Namaste…”

“I took prenatal yoga with Keya and had her help me after the birth of my baby as a postpartum doula. Keya is a fantastic yoga teacher and is always sharing tips/movements/poses to help during labor. I used a lot of what she talked about during my labor. Keya is also a wonderful postpartum doula. It was great to have her help. I don’t know how I would have made it through those first few weeks without it!”

“I’ll write a more in depth review when I have more time but wanted to say that Keya is absolutely gifted as a doula. She stepped in at the last minute (literally when I was having contractions) when our doula couldn’t make it, and I was thrilled she could come as I’d loved her prenatal yoga classes. She was there for us every step of the way through what turned into a three day labor. She kept us from heading to the hospital way too early with calming pain relief techniques at home, and her calm confidence and nonjudgemental, very supportive nature were so comforting to us and made for a harmonious birth team at the hospital. She had no shortage of solutions for helping me through the pain and her yoga and rebozo techniques were lifesavers. We were so grateful to have her there for us. I strongly recommend her as a doula and prenatal yoga teacher- she’s highly professional and her expertise is balanced with compassion and support. She’s a natural caregiver and helped us avoid a c-section and find inner strength we didn’t know we had.”

“From the moment Keya arrived at my door for our introductory meeting, I knew I wanted her with me and my husband as part of our childbirth journey. She has an incredible energy and personality that are warm and engaging. Her prenatal yoga classes were the best yoga classes I’d ever experienced–not just “good for prenatal yoga”, but best yoga classes, period. She knows her stuff and is a wonderful teacher and guide. During the labor, she was a true gift. She gave gentle, yet confident suggestions that helped my labor progress and helped manage the pain; she anticipated my needs and gave me just what I needed exactly when I needed it (shout out to the TENS unit!!); she respected my desires and my energy, flowing with my ever-changing moods; she stepped up and stepped back when needed, to allow my mother and husband to have a role; she celebrated me and my beautiful little bugaboo when the labor was over… In a word, she was magical. I truly could not have had such a beautiful and successful birth experience were it not for her.”