“Sela did an awesome job. She was knowledgable, flexible, and reliable. She went above and beyond to make sure our birth plan happened exactly as we wanted.”

- The Klaver-Smith Family

“Our doula, Sela W., was a wonderful advocate and calm presence throughout our experience. Sela is knowledgeable, patient, and a clear communicator. She set clear goals, provided detailed summaries after each visit and was an invaluable care provider during postpartum complication. Her calm presence and expertise helped keep my partner and I calm during a very stressful time. Her confident knowledge application helped to enforce key aspects of our birth plan and maintain a healthy balance between my desires as a patient and the physicians’ recommendations. Highly recommend NYC Birth Village and Doula SELA! Will absolutely hire Sela again if we desire to have another child. She is a very special, insightful, and caring doula.”

- Rachel T.

“Words cannot express how grateful I am to have had the expertise and support of Sela Patrice throughout the entire process. She was very responsive and even went above and beyond to check on me when I became too busy to check in. Her nurturing and caring nature helped me a lot during labor. I felt safe, supported, and well informed to make decisions that helped me have the experience that I wanted. She encouraged me to be my own advocate and to do what was best for me and the baby. She was a huge help in encouraging my mother and partner to joining on supporting me during labor which made it a beautiful experience for all three of us. I will be referring Sela Patrice to my friends and family because I know that she will be a great support. Her professionalism and expertise is superb. I look forward to hiring her as my doula for future pregnancies.”

- Briana Reid-Bey

“We were truly lucky to have you by our side during the labor and birth of Olivia. You brought such an amazing energy and gave me a calm sense of mind during the very stressful moments. My birth experience wasn’t exactly what I planned and hoped to be but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. Your presence and helpfulness was everything I could’ve asked for. We couldn’t have asked for a more amazing doula. Thank you so much for bing a part of one of our most important times in our lives we are beyond grateful.”

- The Ramirez Family

“She is incredible! Amazing person and extremely good at her job. She was calm, and supportive, and knowledgable about everything. She was confident and gave me confidence and strength during my birth experience. She helped me prepare to have a positive experience.”

- The Miller-Morales Family

“She was there every step of the way. When my birth plan did not go as planned, Sela gave wonderful support. she advocated for me when things didn’t feel right or wasn’t explained clear. She guided me through labor comforts and made me feel safe when I ultimately had to get a c-section. If my husband and I have a second child, I would love to have Sela by our side again, I cannot recommend her highly enough!”

- Yakie Ramirez

“Dear Sela, thank you so much for your care & guidance throughout our journey. Like we said, you will forever be a part of ours and Amelia’s story. We are eternally grateful for the calm, steadfast support you provided. You made us feel confident & empowered during the birth. Lots of love.

- The Saffers

I truly didn't understand how intense the postpartum period would be until I was in it. I had spent so much time preparing for labor and delivery, but once we got home, I felt completely overwhelmed. My body was recovering, I was trying to figure out how to feed this tiny human, and the sleep deprivation hit me like a truck. I remember crying one night while I was scrolling on TikTok, desperately trying to figure out if something my baby was doing was ‘normal.’ That’s when I came across Boram and their At Home services.

We matched with Sela, a postpartum should who felt like a lifeline from the moment she walked in. She showed me how to recognize my baby’s feeding cues, helped me troubleshoot latch issues, and most importantly, she gave me permission to rest. She’d gently remind me to eat, encouraged me to nap while she watched the baby, and held space for me to talk about the emotional rollercoaster I was on.

What I didn’t expect was how healing it would feel to have someone care for me. Not just the baby, but me, as a new mom who was learning everything in real time. My husband felt supported, too, because Sela helped him understand how he could help (without waiting to be asked). We both felt more confident and connected as parents because of her presence.

Looking back now, I can't imagine those early weeks without the support we got from Boram. Every new mom deserves this kind of care.

- Sam

“Sela Patrice is a consummate professional. She was very present during my pregnancy with my second son and was flexible as my birth plan had to change from a vaginal delivery to a c-section due to my son’s breech presentation. She provided great advice and recommendations for my husband and me to prepare for delivery and recovery. Sela also provided great tips on how to labor at home (which I used as my body did go into spontaneous labor a week before my scheduled c-section). As a postpartum doula she spent quality time with me and my newborn son at home, providing home remedies, advocacy strategies, belly binding assistance to encourage healing, etc.”

- Yuridia Pena

“My breastfeeding journey turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. I tried to find a lactation consultant but many of them were booked, thankfully Boram came up in my 2am Google search. We booked sessions through At Home and were paired with Sela who is a certified postpartum doula and CLC. Sela helped me SO much to get in a flow with breastfeeding, which made me and my baby happier, and led to our entire family sleeping easier. Sela, thank you SO much!”

- Noel

 “I had never understood the importance of a doula until I found Sela. As a first time mom, a generally young and healthy person, and as a Black woman specifically, I felt that the safest course of action for my child and myself would be a home birth with minimal intervention. I specifically wanted to avoid both an unnecessary C-section and any other preventable complications related to birth. This led me to look for other forms of pain management besides an epidural. I was not looking to eliminate my pain, but to manage it and to accept the natural process of giving birth. What I found through my research as someone with no experience in birth was that fear would be my biggest enemy; and to eliminate fear I needed to trust my body, my environment, and the people that I was surrounded by. I fully trusted Sela. From the beginning she was knowledgeable and prepared. She asked what I envisioned for my birth plan and we discussed techniques for pain management such as deep breathing, counter pressure, meditation, and the use of warm water. We also discussed the possibility of my birth not going according to plan and I felt fully comfortable with Sela advocating for me in the event of a complication. I trusted her knowledge and her ability to think clearly and remain calm in a critical situation. My trust in her could not have been more validated the day I went into labor. As a first time mom I had been told to expect to go past my due date. So when my water broke at 5am a week early I think everyone was caught by surprise including Sela. That did not stop her from springing into action. Although I had midwives at my house, they left because they said that I was not very far along and we were to call them when my contractions were two minutes apart. In their absence, Sela took the lead with assistance from my husband. She timed my contractions and kept me comfortable with massages and essential oils, but she also didn’t let me get so comfortable that my labor stalled. She put me in physically challenging positions reminding me that they would bring me closer to meeting my baby. At one point I even told her that I didn’t want my labor to progress but she kept encouraging me. At the most challenging and painful point of my labor, my contractions kept coming with no breaks and my breathing turned into moaning. Sela walked arm in arm with me back and forth encouraging me to bellow in low tones to open up my body rather than screaming in a high pitch that would cause me to close up. I didn’t know how long this would last so it surprised me when I felt the baby’s hair. I ran to the birthing pool to ease the burning sensation I was feeling and I told Sela that I was going to tear as I felt the baby coming. Sela looked me in the eye and said “You’re not going to tear”. I still think about this moment and I wonder how she could know such a thing without examining me. I’ve come to the conclusion that she knew the power of my own mind even better than I did. She had not forgotten what I almost had, which was that fear would be my biggest enemy; and to eliminate fear I needed to trust my body, my environment, and the people that I was surrounded by. Whether I was to tear or not, it would not help me to be afraid. With the next contraction, my daughter was born. After a moment of shock on my end, Sela grabbed my baby from the water and put her on my chest . The baby hadn’t cried yet so Sela searched the room for a suction device. The midwives still hadn’t arrived! Thankfully my daughter started crying and Sela helped her latch to my breast. Sela then took our first photo together and recorded the time of birth. This amazing woman essentially managed my entire delivery, retrieved my baby from the water, helped me establish breastfeeding, and then photographed it without any help from the medical professionals that I had hired. Thank God for her. The midwives arrived shortly after to make sure the baby and I were healthy and we were. I didn’t tear! Then everyone went on their way and we were left with our sweet baby. 

I think of Sela almost every day. She was the first person to lay hands on my daughter. She was there for me in the most critical situation of my life and she knew what I was capable of when I did not. She not only helped me to manage my pain and my fear, but to conquer them. I’m stronger now than I ever was. She was my guardian angel, my Doula, and I will forever be grateful.”

- Nekairah