Julie Skripka
Bed Rest Doula
Birth Doula
Postpartum & Infant Care Doula
Certified Lactation Consultant
Julie has over 20 years experience in childcare; ranging from nannying, babysitting, running the church nursery, and being a mother of four. She has an English Degree with minors in Child Development and Communications from MSU.
For as long as she can remember, Julie has been a caregiver. She loves babies! From infants to adults, she strives to make others feel comfortable, loved, and supported in a judgment-free space. Each family is different and unique. Julie appreciates the variety of families she has had the pleasure of working with. Establishing good relationships and connecting with the families she cares for is a priority.
While working with several clients, Julie saw a great need for better feeding support. Since there are so many options for feeding your baby, alot of questions arise. Having been asked an array of feeding questions Julie knew that even with having 4 kids of her own, she had to know more. In August of 2018, Julie became a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). In September of 2018, Julie continued to learn more about all forms of infant feeding in the first year, attending a ProDoula Infant Feeding Specialist Training. She is working for her certification in this area as well. Julie can help with any feeding questions and support families in finding what works best for them.
Julie loves moving and stretching her body through yoga. While practicing she saw many positive benefits from prenatal yoga. Moving and stretching through pregnancy helps our bodies feel relaxed and strong. Many of the yoga poses are amazing poses in labor as well. “I love helping clients find routines that work for their body in each stage of pregnancy.”
Julie is a ProDoula Certified Elite Labor Doula, Infant & Postpartum Care Doula, Certified Infant Feeding Specialist, became a Mothership Certified Health Service Provider in 2018, and a safeTALK Suicide Awareness Helper in 2019. Julie is a Certified VBAC Doula through The VBAC Link.
She loves spending time with her husband, Nick, and checking out new restaurants in the area. Her children: Harper, Hunter, Heath, and Hope are her whole world! They love to bake, play games and sports, enjoy nature, and check out the great attractions Grand Rapids has to offer! Julie lives near Muskegon and loves heading to Lake Michigan to catch a sunset.
Julie is a solo birth and postpartum doula with Gold Coast.
Testimonials
Julie is absolutely phenomenal! She was such a support and asset for my son’s birth. I know she was a valuable part of the team and helped our family with our beautiful birth experience. I am so thankful that she was there for us. The medical staff was impressed with her abilities and professionalism. Julie is the BEST!
Birth Support
Julie exceeded our family’s expectations! She became a part of the family immediately. She helped with the rhythm of our day and showed support, empathy, and compassion. She was always a step ahead with my kids and cooking, cleaning, soothing, and caring. Thank you Julie!
Catie , Postpartum Support
After Julie left our initial consult, my husband mentioned that he felt like we had just been with a “good friend”. I think that is the perfect way to describe every interaction with Julie. She immediately felt like someone we had known for a long time and now know that it was a blessing in disguise that our first doula (through another company) did not work out. Julie was the perfect person for us.
Rachel, Birth Support
My husband was initially unsure about having a doula. He was completely impressed and could not have imagined doing anything different. It gave him peace of mind to know that I had support from someone so competent and let him enjoy the birth more. He definitely worried less with Julie there and he felt supported to know what to do to assist.
Birth Support
I was able to sleep and recharge, and have a second paid or hands while my husband was away. She gave me emotional and physical support. I cannot speak highly enough of Julie. She was so positive and a great listener. She helped me come up with a plan when I needed it and gave me breaks to regroup.
Catie, Postpartum Support
Julie did so much for us. She gave us my husband and I so much confidence and calm throughout our birthing experience.
Birth Support
When the big day arrived, Julie offered physical support through massage, back pressure, getting blankets, finding a stool when I was in labor and didn’t have my feet planted firmly on the floor, giving suggestions and assisting in moving positions. She was also a huge emotional support – she would encourage through contractions and continue to remind me that I would see my baby soon! She was amazing.
Rachel, Birth Support
Julie was always aware of my appointments and continuously checked in with me to monitor how things we going and offer encouragement and support as needed. She was so kind, caring, and helpful.
Birth Support
Julie was also support for my husband taking away a lot of worry and concern as she has such a calming presence. When our son was born, she was there applying back pressure which helped so much for pushing and then somehow ended up taking some great snapshots to help us preserve the special moment. It was such a beautiful experience to welcome our son into the world surrounded by so much support and love. This was an incredibly moving birth story and Julie played a huge part in it. I am forever grateful to her and to Gold Coast Doulas.
Rachel, Birth Support
Julie was amazing! She really connected with our daughter and helped me meet all of her needs. She far exceeded our expectations and helped us have more quality time as a family during transition by allowing us more one-on-one time and the ability to get the sleep/rest that we all needed.
Carrie, Postpartum Support
Julie was awesome! Very supportive, compassionate, and wonderful with our daughter.
Postpartum Support
Julie exceeded our expectations! She was very uplifting during the entire process and truly helped us successfully have the birth story we desired!
Chelsey, Birth Support
Julie is an incredible doula who is very knowledgeable! She always takes the time to provide helpful resources for making decisions and birth affirmations. During birth, she is extremely encouraging, comforting, and has lots of tricks up her sleeve to improve physical comfort and positioning. She is also very supportive postpartum with further emotional support and breastfeeding support. We feel so blessed to have had Julie support both of our births! Highly recommend!
C. White, Birth Support
Julie was absolutely amazing to work with!!! Having a baby during a pandemic was definitely not something I expected, but Julie was available to support me in every way possible. When I had limited support due to stay at home orders, I knew Julie was always just a text or phone call away. Her periodic check-ins and encouraging messages made all the difference during a difficult time. I’m so glad to have met her and would love to work with her again in the future if we are blessed with another child.
Birth Support
During labor, Julie’s calming and empowering voice helped me to have the labor that I had always hoped for. She encouraged me to trust my body, move the way I wanted, and embrace labor. I delivered my second baby via successful VBAC. I remember after bringing up my baby into my chest, I started to tear up while saying “I did it!” and Julie’s voice responding, “Yes, you did it! You did it”. I’m pretty sure we were both crying at this point. It was such a beautiful moment.
Paula M., Birth Support
So glad I decided to hire a doula for my pregnancy! During the prenatal period Julie was so supportive and helped ease my high anxiety of having my first baby. I had terrible sciatic nerve pain and she helped send different stretches to try. My labor didn’t exactly go as planned, but Julie was beyond supportive, soothing, and positive. She took some really great pictures that I will forever cherish. I would not hesitate to use Gold Coast for another pregnancy!
Leah Crawford, Birth Support
Julie was SUCH a blessing to us not only during our actual labor experience but before and after too. We brought Julie onto our team a little later into our pregnancy because we'd been on the fence about investing in this type of support, purely for financial reasons. In retrospect I am so SO grateful we did. I can honestly say the birth of our baby girl would have been much different if we didn't have Julie on our team. And we had a wonderful birth. Memories I will cherish forever, and a sense of pride in myself that I can't attach a price tag to.
Katie V.