Olga Maksin, Birth Doula

07/29/2025

After supporting 7 (!!) labors in recent 3 weeks I'm on a vacation with my family. While keeping in touch with my latest clients and reflecting on the past month, I realized I have mostly full availability for September onwards. If you, or someone you know may benefit from birth support - lets be in touch!

I loved working with all of my clients, and besides one sweet family that had an unplanned c-section, all delivered the way they wished for (including 3 unmedicated VBACS!). Its my pure honor to be accompanying these people in such a special time in their lives; helping their voices to be heard, their preferences be respected and them having a good experience as they are expanding their families.

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07/26/2025

It’s so heartwarming to get such a review!

I cannot recommend Olga Maksin highly enough. From the very first conversation, she put us at ease with her calm, grounded energy and wealth of knowledge. Her easygoing nature made every interaction f...

06/04/2025

It is so heartwarming to get this review 🥰

05/03/2025

Third time supporting a labor in the same room. Three empowering births and three good sized babies!

04/23/2025

Did you know that almost third of all births in the USA start with an induction? Induction is a major intervention in a natural process of labor and is not without risks. While it could be medically indicated, often times the actual reason is not medical nor evidence based. If you are offered one, here are five things to ask your provider:

What are the best questions to ask if you're offered induction of labour? Here are 5 great questions and what you'll learn from the answers.

03/28/2025

New reads on my desk. Finally made time to start those

03/06/2025

I have immediate availability and good availability for April, May and June! ❤️🤰

12/09/2024

Always happy to learn new things.

11/01/2024

From the archive - in photo: postpartum visit of my last client during my pregnancy. I was 6 months pregnant (and oh was I big!) and it was a beautiful unmedicated VBAC in a least supportive hospital that had the OR ready. While team was in the room to place an epidural, I whispered in my clients ears it may only take 15 more minutes. They were so surprised when she asked them to hold off. 15 minutes later the baby was born!
As doulas we don’t take credit for births succes sorties - women’s bodies are capabale and so amazing!
We do take credit for educating, supporting, caring, trying and asking the med staff (through our clients) to hold off, to give time, to give peace. Pregnancy is not a disease. Medical interventions can be life saving, but are highly overused. Do no harm. Let birth happen.
Happy Friday and beautiful, empowering births to all.

10/16/2024

Vaginal checks are performed routinely by most OB practices towards the end of the pregnancy. I don’t recommend doing them unless there is a reason to. It was interesting to learn the research that was done to find a relation between vaginal exams and premature rupture of membranes (or when the water breaks before contractions start). The exam itself does not seem to cause it but one study found an increased risk possibly due to a membrane sweeping that is occasionally performed without explicit consent during a vaginal exam. Membrane sweeping is a mechanical induction method of separating the amniotic sac from the cervix by sweeping the fingers around the sac (cervix has to be dilated slightly to do so).

09/20/2024

A comparison I did between two popular prenatal vitamins - Thorne and Ritual suggests Thorne has a better composition, especially if combined with a separate DHA supplement. See comparison in the attached photo.
Additional vitamins and minerals in Thorne include: Vitamin A, vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, zinc, selenium and others.
The main advantage of Ritual is having DHA and a likely better absorbent form of vitamin K. But this comes at an expense of excluding many other vitamins and minerals and half amount of Choline (which even in Thorne is only 20% of the recommended DV)

05/18/2024

New reading has arrived 😍🤱