About us
The only thing standing between a family and the right doula is simply a way to connect.
After years of supporting families in this dynamic city, we’ve learned this firsthand. We are two international doulas—one from Patagonia, the other from California— based in Amsterdam, with a combined five children between us.
Our mission is simple: to take the stress out of finding a doula, for free.
For some, the match happens organically. But for many others, the process can feel overwhelming. Imagine looking for a doula– endless hours spent sifting through search engines, reading through various doula websites, trying to understand unfamiliar lingo, and then discovering that the doula you found isn’t available on your due date... it can quickly become discouraging.
This experience is what inspired us to create Hello Doula. Our mission is simple: to take the stress out of finding a doula by offering a free, personalized, and straightforward process that connects you with the right support
Lua is a doula, psychologist, prenatal & postpartum mental health advocate, Pikler educator, and co founder of Hello Doula.
A doula since 2018, her birthworker journey spans from San Francisco to Amsterdam. She advocates for empathetic, evidence-based care for all parents, offering genuine and mindful emotional, physical and educational support from the early stages of pregnancy, throughout labor and birth and continues that connection as the family settles into its new form. She has supported families through a wide range of birthing experiences: home births, hospital births, VBACs, and Cesarean births.
Everyone should have access to empathetic, evidence-based care.
Balancing doula work with raising three children, she's also a Clinical Psychologist, specializing in perinatal and early childhood mental health.
In Amsterdam, you can find her teaching a Pikler group for babies and parents and teaching postpartum mental health awareness. Lua is also a Certified Lactation Counselor® (CLC), a Certified Postpartum Doula (San Francisco General Hospital), and a Certified Infant Massage Instructor from IAIM.
Lua lives in Amsterdam West with her partner and kids.
Justine gomes
Justine is a doula, childbirth educator, prenatal & postpartum nutritionist, and co founder of Hello Doula.
Originally from northern California, Justine has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. After graduating from UC Berkeley and Oxford with degrees in literature, she spent six years in education as a high school English literature teacher. In 2020, she retrained as a birth doula and nutritionist, receiving certifications from BiA Doula Training and Oh Baby Nutrition.
Birth is a rite of passage that requires individual care and community.
At 15, she supported a woman in labor for the very first time. The birthing woman was her mother. Witnessing this moment was life-altering– it left her with the understanding that birth is a huge rite of passage that requires individual care and community.
In 2020, during the middle of the Covid pandemic and pregnant with her first child, Justine decided to drastically change her birth plan to include a larger and more supportive birth team. This turned out to be the best decision for her. She believes that birth is something we actively participate in rather than something that just happens to us.
Families should feel empowered to make informed decisions.
Her goal is that every family she works with feels empowered to make informed decisions that are best for them. At the heart of her work is a deeply-rooted belief in the strength, resilience, and brilliant design of our bodies. Justine takes an informational approach, blending traditional wisdom and evidence-based care to support her clients through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Having supported clients from around the world, she understands that every family has different needs, experiences, and values.
You can find Justine in one of the many Amsterdam playgrounds or teaching childbirth education at Mom & Co and The Labour Dept.
She lives in Amsterdam West with her partner and two children.