Grow to Birth
Birth Doula Services and HypnoBirthing® Classes
Serving the Greater Boston Area
About Myself
My name is Shirli Holtzman. I am the mother of two girls: Yaara and Tamar, and I have worked as a Birth Doula and as a HypnoBirthing childbirth educator since 2007.
I was born and raised in Israel and relocated to the U.S in 2004, first to Berkeley CA, where I got certified and started my practice, and then to Cambridge MA.
I am also a Social Worker and received my master’s degree from Tel Aviv University. I worked for many years with disabled people, many of whom were women struggling with the healthcare system trying to get pregnant to fulfill their dream of being a mother. One of my roles was to guide them and empower them through this journey, which was sometimes very frustrating. This was the beginning of my interest in pregnancy, birth and motherhood.
My Master’s thesis focused on experiencing motherhood with a physical disability – the expectations, satisfaction and general feeling of well being associated with this challenge.
When I relocated to Berkeley I took a break from social work. I was pregnant and wanted to focus on my pregnancy. I knew I wanted to experience natural childbirth so I took HypnoBirthing classes, and with my husband and midwife support I had a wonderful natural birth. I felt empowered and calm through the whole process and fulfilled my dream with joy and love. I used HypnoBirthing with my second birth too. It was again a great and meaningful experience.
After having two wonderful birth experiences, I started thinking that all women should have calm, safe and empowered birthing experiences, whether or not they decide to use pain medication. I decided I want to guide parents through pregnancy and birth, giving them tools and reassurance so they can have the birth they wish.
I was certified as a Birth Doula through DONA and as a HypnoBirthing practitioner, and I love my work! I got certified also as an NLP practitioner (Neurolinguistic Programming) and work with women who have had a previous trauma (birth trauma or anything that can affect their birthing process) preparing them emotionally to give birth.
In my free time, I love hiking and being in nature, listening to music, reading books and spending time with my family.
Please contact me with any question or to set up an appointment.
Shirli
617.335.0962
Highlights
- Mother of two girls
- Certified Birth Doula (DONA)
- Certified Hypnobirthing® intructor
- Bilingual - English + Hebrew
- Lives in Cambridge MA