Leigh McBride

Birth Doula & Placenta Specialist

I consider doula work to be my most important work and feel a deep calling helping birthing people feel confident and supported in their choices surrounding labor and birth.

LET'S CONNECT

Serving birthing people during their childbearing years has been a passion of mine since my very first doula training in July of 2015! I continue to be inspired by the strength and courage I see each time a new life comes into this world. I consider doula work to be my most important work and feel a deep calling to help birthing people feel confident and supported in their choices surrounding labor and birth.

My doula journey began in my hometown of St. Louis, and I moved to Seattle in August 2016.  I completed over 30 hours of training at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations in February of 2017 and am a DONA certified birth doula.

In addition to supporting growing families as a doula, I am also in the marketing department at Bastyr University. I graduated from Lindenwood University in 2014 with dual degrees in Mass Communications and English Literature.  I feel lucky every day to work for a company as passionate about maternal child health care as I am.

My hobbies include hiking with my husband, fixing up our home, reading several books at a time, and checking out the Seattle improv and theatre scene.

When it comes to your birth, what are your fears? What are your hopes and preferences? As your doula, I will help you navigate through these questions and more in the hopes that you and your family feel supported and empowered. I look forward to meeting with you!

What Her Clients say
Leigh McBride was our doula for the birth of our first child and we couldn't have asked for a better doula!! Leigh has an incredible range of experience to draw from and does an excellent job of understanding the parents' goals and desires and building a plan for that. She met with us before and after the pregnancy to help understand our needs and answer questions, and she stayed with us through the entire labor process which was 24+ hours long! Leigh was an incredible help to us in navigating the medical team's input, and suggestions, and allowing us the space we needed. We strongly believe she helped us avoid a C-section and also feel very positive about the interventions we did chose to use. 10/10 would highly recommend to anyone looking for a doula. Thanks, Leigh!!
Caleb Johnston
Having Leigh McBride in my labor team was a great decision. She is extremely knowledgable and went above and beyond to help me manage the discomforts of labor, i had a very long labor and she was tirelessly there for me every step of the way, she is also very personable, making it enjoyable to spend time with her during the many many hours at the hospital. I am a first time mom and had a lot of questions and Leigh was there to ease my concerns at any time of day (or night) and quickly responded to me on text or phone to put my mind at ease. When my labor was not progressing for multiple days, she came to my house and gave me exercises and advice to help me, and was also a great emotional support for me. She also recently became a mom, and shared a lot of her learnings with me post partum which was great since she recently went through the same experience. I highly recommend Leigh for anyone looking for a doula that is knowledgable, dedicated, and also personable.
Armaghan Blair Javidan
Leigh McBride was fantastic to work with, and I would highly recommend adding her to your birth team! She made herself availble for any questions we had leading up to the birth, and after the birth, and was always so quick and knowledgeable in her response.  Her relaxed, calm, comforting and personable personality was a great fit for my husband and I.  During my son's birth I felt very supported and well coached.  She advocated for my original birth preferences when I was too tired to do so - and I'm so thankful for this in the end!
Katie Tarlow
Leigh has been my doula during two births. I wouldn't have wanted to do it without her, she was an excellent support and kept me calm as labor progressed. She is a great advocate and very knowledgeable.
Shannon Forster
Wow! My wife and I are SO pleased with Leigh – we just can't imagine our birth experience without her. She was so supportive, personable, compassionate, and knowledgeable! She stuck with us through a long induction process; she was a pleasure to hang out with for hours on end. She was very responsive via text, and she helped us talk through every option along the way so we could make the best decisions for our family. We would highly recommend Leigh to ANYONE who is looking for a doula!
Brad Walker
Leigh brought so much to my birth experience! She is a fountain of information and is great to have as a resource leading up to and after the birth. She helped prepare my partner and I for the what to expect, and she provided that key component of confidence and reassurance during the most intense hours of labor and delivery. With her by my side I felt my birthing event was supported in every way that I had hoped it would be. Even at my most vulnerable, I was never worried that things were out of my control because she was there as my advocate. My partner was very happy to have someone help him help me as well.  My family and I are so grateful for her contribution. Thank you Leigh!
Sarah, 7/30/2021
Leigh was the best decision we made for our pregnancy journey! She was extremely knowledgeable, always prepared and kinda beyond words. She made our labor experience so much less stressful and looking back I can't imagine having done it without her there with us! If you choose her for your labor experience you will not be disappointed! :) 
Kendall Matthews, 7/21/2021
Leigh was a great fit as I attempted a VBAC for our second little one. From pre-natal visits all the way through labor, birth and the postpartum visit I felt so supported and heard. Leigh understood my wishes and knew when I needed encouragement. Birth never quite goes as one expects but having Leigh as our doula was such a great choice for us and we would highly recommend Leigh to any of our friends and family.
Amanda C, 6/30/2021
Having Leigh at my birth was one of the best decisions I made during this whole process. She is kind, informative, supportive, and a really good listener. 
At first I thought I didn’t want to have any Doula, but now after everything is done I'm so glad that I did.
So I started looking around for doula considering price and quality. After talking to several different people, I ended up choosing Leigh.
She has been helpful before the birth, during, and with postpartum support.
Before:
While making the birth plan she was able to hear all of my jumbled wants and needs, & turn it into a perfect and easy to read document for my midwife and nurses.
During:
During the birth she listened to all of my wants and needs and was there. I had a calm birth, which is exactly what I wanted. She was able to help advocate for me, and help me understand everything things when I felt overwhelmed.
After:
After birth I had ongoing questions. She was able to help me with some initial breast-feeding questions. Also she encapsulated my placenta - which has so far gone really great and I’ve been feeling better. Overall I am so happy that I decided to have Leigh as part of my birth experience and
something that I will never forget. 
Mariana Grala, 2/21/2021
We had the pleasure of having Leigh as our doula for the birth of our first baby. Leigh was professional, personable, and supportive before, during, and after the birth. She is extremely knowledgeable and did an exceptional job at walking us through the whole process of labor, birth, and the postpartum period. She was an amazing resource when anything unexpected came up- she was able to walk us through our options and helped reassure us when we needed it. She has a genuine passion for being a doula and this is so evident. We were amazed at her ability to help with recommending different positions during labor and how effective this was in progressing things along. She was such a strong advocate for both my husband and I and we couldn't have done it without her. We would both highly recommend Leigh to anyone! 
Michelle and Dan Greenheck, 10/3/2020
We hired Leigh for our first child due in September, 2020. As first time parents we really appreciated her foresight and confidence. She's a great listener and her suggestions were always empathetic to our wants and needs. She taught us several ways to manage contractions and labor pains, and guided us through writing a birth plan. Leigh helped us understand various options when it came to a birth plan, and how our preferences fit in with them. When the big day came we felt prepared, even when we had not taken any child birth classes.
Leigh was a great advocate for us at the hospital. Leigh helped prepare a bath with lavender oil and faerie lights. The bath helped a lot with labor pains, and it helped mom have an unmedicated delivery that she had hoped for. Leigh helped mom find the right position for delivery and coached by counting out loud. We were overwhelmed by the moment, so we really appreciated her direction, positivity, focus, and support for us. Leigh also made sure that dad felt involved throughout the process. She found labor positions and excercises for us that involve a helper, and even found ways for him to help during delivery, such as holding moms leg while pushing.
We had an overwhelmingly positive experience becoming new parents with Leigh as our Doula. We will recommend her to any of our friends that are seeking help, and would love to have her as our doula again.
Brian and Felicia, 9/15/2020
Leigh was awesome!
We interviewed 3 doulas and decided to go with Leigh since we felt that she was very communicative and attentive to our questions and needs. We're so excited we made the right choice. Being first time parents, we were so glad that Leigh was always available to answer any questions during labor. She even suggested few techniques which helped induce labor! At the hospital, Leigh was very helpful and supportive and also made sure that we were always informed about our options. I would highly recommend Leigh.
Sianita N, 9/14/2020
My husband and I feel so lucky to have found Leigh as our Doula! I’m confident my birth experience wouldn’t have been nearly as positive without her support. We interviewed 3 doulas total and felt that Leigh genuinely understood what our wishes were and was more than happy and capable to help. She was very knowledgeable in an array of topics including spinning babies, lactation, calming methods (her back rubs are magic), progression tactics, and many other important tools. I loved her presence and will be calling her for baby #2. I highly recommend her services!!
Briana Alcala
5/6/2020
Having Leigh as our doula brought my partner and I incredible peace of mind. We were happy to have her calm, warm, and lively presence throughout my pregnancy and labor and delivery. She was at home with us while my labor was quickly progressing and it made it so much easier for my husband to be on the phone with the hospital and for him to make sure we had what we needed in the car because he knew I was I great hands. My labor progressed quickly and having Leigh helped us have the confidence to get to the hospital when we did. We are so grateful that she was there to help us for the birth of our daughter. 
Kathleen H, 4/11/2020
Leigh was amazing!
Being first time parents, it was comforting to have someone there who had experience; knew what questions to ask and when. Looking back, I know the experience would have been much different without her and my wife and I would have been less of a team and much more stressed. Having to have a C-Section made things even more tricky and I was so thankful to have someone to stay with my wife while I went with our daughter to the NICU. Leigh felt like family and never told us what to do. But she did give us valuable information to make the best informed decision in the moment. I cannot recommend Leigh enough.
Kyle Feldman, 3/16/2020
We cannot speak more highly of our time with Leigh. She joined us around 30 weeks, and helped us get our birth goals organized to present to our midwives. She took our vision into consideration and helped create a plan that really exemplified peace, serenity, and clarity. Our baby was stuck in the breech position, but fortunately Leigh provided numerous resources and helped us practice many techniques from Spinning Babies. Sadly, we were unable to turn the baby; however, Leigh stepped right in and helped us adjust our birth goals to include the new cesarean delivery. She kept our heads up and our hopes high as we went into the operating room, and she stayed with us until our new baby latched for the first time, making sure he had a secure, proper, and healthy start to breastfeeding. We would recommend Leigh to any expecting parents looking for support from an experienced, caring, positive doula. 
Ambar and Thomas Ness, 2/1/2020