your birth, your body, your power, your way,
your birth, your body, your power, your way,
Birth Doula in Berlin
Somatic, continuous birth support for English-speaking and international families in Berlin.
Birth asks alot of us: physically, emotionally, and relationally. You deserve support that makes room for the full experience — the anticipation, the uncertainty, the intensity, and the unexpected.
I'm Cristina Leoni-Osion, a birth doula and somatic practitioner with over a decade of experience accompanying people through pregnancy, birth, and the transition into parenthood.
With a background in dance and choreography, reproductive justice, and body-based practice, I bring a particular sensitivity to movement, touch, sensation, and the many ways we navigate change. I offer steady, attentive companionship as you prepare for birth, move through labour, and begin life with your baby.
Whether you're planning a homebirth, hospital birth, VBAC, or are still discovering what feels right for you, my role is not to prescribe how you should give birth. It's to help you feel informed, supported, and connected to your own needs and choices — whatever unfolds.A different way of preparing for birth
Birth is not only something to understand intellectually. It is something you encounter through your body, your relationships, your environment, and the decisions you make along the way.
My approach draws on somatic practice and movement to explore how you might meet the sensations and demands of labour. We can work with breath, touch, sound, movement, rest, and positioning, discovering what feels supportive to you rather than following a single prescribed method.
Alongside this body-based preparation, I offer evidence-informed information, emotional support, and space to explore your questions, preferences, fears, and hopes.
There is no one right way to give birth. There is no single feeling you are supposed to have about becoming a parent. We make room for your experience as it is, while preparing for the possibilities ahead.
How I accompany you:
Before birth — Prepare
Our work begins with getting to know you: your hopes, questions, concerns, relationships, and the kind of support you want around you.
Together, we prepare for the physical and emotional dimensions of birth and the transition into parenthood. This is an opportunity to explore birth physiology, discuss your preferences, practice comfort measures, and consider how you and your partner or support people can navigate the experience together.
Our prenatal meetings may include:
Exploring the physiology and stages of labour and birth
Discussing your birth preferences, questions, fears, and hopes
Movement, breath, sound, touch, and positions for comfort
Exploring communication, informed decision-making, and self-advocacy
Preparing your partner or support people to participate in ways that feel meaningful
Planning for postpartum care, practical support, and your evolving needs
I offer three to four in-person prenatal meetings, with space to build trust and develop a shared understanding before birth.
During birth — Accompany
When labour begins, you don't have to navigate the experience alone.
I offer continuous, non-medical physical and emotional support throughout labour and birth, adapting to what you need as things change. Sometimes this means offering hands-on comfort or suggesting a different position. Sometimes it means helping your partner understand how to support you, creating a quieter environment, making space for questions, or simply staying close.
My movement and somatic background informs how I accompany intensity: with attention to rhythm, breath, sensation, sound, and the body's changing needs. We can experiment with what helps you find comfort, conserve energy, express yourself, or rest.
My role includes:
Continuous presence and reassurance
Touch, counter-pressure, movement, positioning, and other comfort measures
Support for your partner and coordination with your wider care team
Space to ask questions and communicate your preferences to your medical providers
Respect for your autonomy as circumstances and plans evolve
Attentive companionship through the immediate period after birth
I accompany you without judgment, whether birth unfolds according to plan or takes an unexpected direction. I cannot promise a particular outcome, but I can offer a consistent, caring presence as you meet what happens.
After birth — Integrate
Birth doesn't end the moment your baby arrives. The experience can continue to unfold in your body, your relationships, and your understanding of yourself for a long time afterward.
My support continues into the early postpartum period, with space for rest, practical care, and reflection. I offer a postpartum home visit with a nourishing meal, and we can talk through your experience if and when that feels right for you.
I also offer a bespoke closing ceremony, usually around the 40-day postpartum mark, shaped around your needs, values, and relationships. Through touch, ritual, journaling, intention-setting, and shared presence, we can mark this transition and make space for what you have lived through.
The ceremony can be private or include your partner, family, or wider community.
There is no prescribed way to process birth. The invitation is simply to give your experience time and care.
Who I work with
I accompany first-time and experienced parents, queer and LGBTQIA+ families, multicultural and international families, and neurodivergent birthing people. I welcome people planning homebirths, hospital births, and VBACs, as well as those whose previous experiences have shaped how they approach this birth.
My trauma-aware, somatically informed practice makes room for the ways earlier experiences can influence pregnancy and birth. We can approach fears and vulnerabilities gently, at your pace, without assuming that you need to feel a certain way or that every concern needs to be resolved before birth.
You don't need to arrive feeling confident, prepared, or connected to your body. We begin where you are.
I work in English and have experience accompanying families within Berlin's international birth community and German birth settings. I support communication and help you articulate your needs, while medical explanations and interpretation remain the responsibility of your healthcare providers.
My approach
My work as a doula grows from a wider practice in dance, somatics, reproductive justice, and community care.
Dance taught me to pay attention to rhythm, sensation, improvisation, and the relationship between bodies and the spaces they inhabit. My work in reproductive justice deepened my understanding of autonomy, access, and the many different ways people experience pregnancy, birth, and reproductive transitions.
Together, these experiences inform how I accompany people: with curiosity rather than assumptions, attention rather than prescription, and care that makes room for both vulnerability and agency.
I bring practical knowledge, physical comfort measures, and evidence-informed information to our work, alongside a deep respect for your own knowledge of yourself.
I believe care should meet you as a whole person — not simply as a body giving birth.
Practical details
My birth accompaniment includes three to four prenatal meetings, continuous labour and birth support, a postpartum home visit with a meal, and a closing ceremony.
Fees: €1,500–€2,500 using a Green Bottle sliding-scale model. A 40% deposit is taken when we sign an agreement, with the remaining balance arranged in one or two further instalments before your on-call period. If another payment arrangement would make care more accessible, we can discuss what is possible.
On-call support: During the month surrounding your estimated due date, I am on call 24/7. We agree on how to contact one another and where to meet. I aim to arrive within two hours of your contact, and I arrange a backup doula in case of illness or emergency. You will have the opportunity to meet your backup doula during our preparation.
faq’s
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Yes. I accompany people planning hospital births and homebirths, including those considering VBAC. My role is to support your comfort, communication, and choices, not to direct your medical care or determine how you should give birth.
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Birth unfolds in unexpected ways. I offer non-judgmental support as circumstances change, helping you stay connected to your needs, ask questions, and feel accompanied through decisions and transitions. My support does not depend on a particular birth outcome and my continuous support can follow from home, to birth clinic, to OR if needed.
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Yes. I have experience supporting people whose previous experiences, including medical or childhood trauma, influence how they approach birth. We can make space for your concerns and explore supportive practices at your pace. I do not promise to resolve trauma, and our work will always be guided by your comfort and needs.
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Yes. Birth affects the people around you, and partners often benefit from having someone to turn to as well. I can help your partner explore practical ways to support you, understand comfort measures, and find their own place within the birth experience while keeping your needs and choices at the center.
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I arrange a backup doula in case of illness or emergency, and we make time for you to meet them in advance. This helps establish familiarity and trust before the birth.
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Yes. I use a Green Bottle sliding-scale model, with fees ranging from €1,500 to €2,500 for the full accompaniment described above. The usual arrangement is a 40% deposit followed by one or two instalments. Please get in touch if you need to discuss a different arrangement.
Hypnobirth, Prenatal Somatics & Sound Experiences
Move Into Birth
Somatic preparation for birth
Birth preparation can be more than learning what to expect. Move Into Birth is an experiential, doula-led course that invites you to explore birth through movement, breath, touch, sound, and space. Together, we build practical tools, deepen body awareness, and make room for the questions, uncertainties, and possibilities of the journey ahead — with space for partners to discover how they can offer meaningful support, too.
Prepare for birth through your body, at your own pace.
Continuing Care with the Somatic Birth Collective
Your care can extend beyond birth accompaniment. As a doula client, you'll receive a 30% preferred rate on selected Somatic Birth Collective offerings, including opportunities for somatic preparation, ritual, and postpartum integration.
These offerings are available separately and can be tailored to your needs as you move through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood.
Opening & Closing Ceremonies
Some transitions ask to be marked, witnessed, and held with care. Through the Somatic Birth Collective, we offer bespoke opening and closing ceremonies for pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood, weaving together ritual, somatic practices, and sound to honor these profound thresholds.
My doula accompaniment includes a one-to-one closing session, offering time to reflect on your birth experience and mark the transition into parenthood in a way that feels meaningful to you.
For those wishing to go deeper, the Somatic Birth Collective offers an extended, bespoke closing ceremony incorporating collaborative ritual, somatic practices, and sound therapy with myself, Sarah Entwistle of Rootborn Berlin, and Laura Fiore of Reconnect Therapy. This more expansive experience is available as an additional offering.
Discover the Somatic Birth Collective and our ceremonial offerings.