Domino Kirke with Eleanor Findlay (Photo courtesy Carriage House Doula)

“You hear customers coming in all the time talking about Domino,” Kristen Reifsteck was telling The Observer over the phone early one Tuesday morning. “They’re mostly young, creative types, and they are obsessed.”

Ms. Reifsteck works at the Williamsburg baby boutique, Caribou Baby.

“We have to keep the cards right at the register,” agreed Caribou owner Adriane Stare. “Because so many people in Brooklyn are just really into the idea of having it be local. It’s all done through word-of-mouth. And we recommend Domino to so many of the women who are thinking of getting one.”

Ms. Reifsteck and Ms. Stare were talking about the new must-have for hipster mommies. No, Domino isn’t the latest in American Apparel’s maternity line. They were referring to Domino Kirke, a professional doula based out of Brooklyn.

Oh, but Ms. Kirke is so much more than a mere doula. In a profession that tends toward the low-key and crunchy, she has quickly become a brand name—more sought-after by Brooklyn moms than Van Leeuwen pickle-chip. The 29-year-old daughter of British drummer Simon Kirke (Bad Company and Free) and sister of Jemima Kirke (Lena Dunham’s posh wing-woman in Girls), Ms. Kirke until recently enjoyed a moderate amount of success as the gorgeous vocalist in an indie band, Domino. In 2006, she was starring in anti-socialite Arden Wohl’s super-hyped student film, Coven, alongside Columbia student Leelee Sobieski. She was hanging out with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. She was on her way to becoming another New York art world dynasty superstar.

Instead, two years ago Ms. Kirke co-founded a Brooklyn birth collective, Carriage House Doulas, with Samantha Huggins. The group has now grown to include two birth doulas, three post partum doulas and one acupuncturist (who is also a birth doula).

“I’ve chosen to work in a field with a lot less ego attached to it,” Ms. Kirke told us quietly in her lilting English accent. We were sitting in Modca, a Williamsburg cafe, and the gorgeous brunette was speaking softly so not as to wake up the 1 1/2 week-old soundly asleep in a sling across her breasts.

Ms. Kirke looks like a model and smiles like she knows the secrets of the universe (and would be thrilled to share them with you), so seeing her attached to the hottest accessory in Brooklyn that’s not a fixed-gear bike wasn’t totally unexpected.

The fact that the infant, Indigo, did not belong to Ms. Kirke was however, something of a surprise.

“I’m just helping out some friends,” Ms. Kirke whispered (her own son, 3-year-old Cassius, was in school). It seemed only natural that these friends would trust Ms. Kirke with their tiny newborn: after all, she had been with the mother all during labor and delivery. She had coached the parents on every aspect of the birth, from what oil is best or a perineal massage to the glories of ice chips.

“I’m just a very maternal person by nature,” Ms. Kirke continued. “I always loved babies. And this is just such generous, selfless work...you are just there to help facilitate the beginning of a new life.”

Ms. Kirke is gorgeous, with high cheekbones, a yoga instructor’s body, and long brown bed-head locks. More than just pretty, she’s sexy. Which could perhaps present certain problems. In the era of Jude Law and the nanny, most women would prefer their doulas as asexual as possible. What could be worse than watching your S.O. bond tearfully with another woman while a baby tears your private area apart?

“The thought of having a gorgeous supermodel within even ten feet of me while I am at most naked and vulnerable was truly terrifying,” admitted Molly Guy, owner of trendy downtown bridal showroom Stone Fox Bride. “But I heard nothing but amazing things across the board from all my friends who delivered babies with her.” The minute they met, she added, “all the fear and anxiety I had about childbirth disappeared as Domino gently but firmly began to guide me through the whole wild Brooklyn baby world.”

“Domino exudes hyper-sexuality,” according to her client-turned-roommate-turned-disciple Jessy Brodsky, a 25-year-old grad school student and artist. But it’s a good thing! “She’s just so at ease with herself, and it shows with her being able to get physical with women. When you’re giving birth, a woman is naked, there’s a lot of touching going on. You have to be able to lose that conscious hold of yourself and get into this almost animalistic state. And Domino is just able to bring you there...to literally open up.”

It makes sense. Sex, pregnancy, birth...it's all part of the same messy cycle. Even in the antiseptic, impersonal environment of a hospital, most of which do not have the time or resources to cater to individual birthing choices (unless you are Beyoncé) Ms. Kirke has been described as “showering you with love.”

Maybe that’s why, only two years into her new career, she was vetting approximately five phone calls a day from potential clients.

“She’s had to start turning people down, referring them to other doulas at the Carriage House, because she’s in such high demand,” noted a mother lucky enough to have gotten in before the Domino craze.

Ms. Kirke demurred when asked about her popularity. “Pregnant women are very intuitive on what they like and don’t like,” was all she’d say.

She did not have a doula for her son’s birth, and afterward realized how essential a non-medical professional was for women going through childbirth. “I just believe pregnant women need a familiar face, someone who isn’t related to them who they may have all this emotional past with, to be there, just for them, during the birth,” she explained for why she gave up her musical career for the new gig.

It’s also lucrative: For her services, she charges up to $1,500, and averages about five “assists” a month. A quick search confirmed that this is about going rate. But to hear it from the fans of Ms. Kirke’s work, she’s worth every penny.

“I thought doulas were just some hokey-pokey witchcraft thing,” said Monica Guckes, a 35-year-old musician/bartender from Brooklyn who had her baby with Ms. Kirke’s support last year. Ms. Guckes was initially hesitant about spending the extra cash for an already pricey life choice. Plus, as she said, “I already had the perfect partner...why was I going to pay an extra $1,500 to have someone there in the hospital room holding my hand?”

But during her 28-hour labor for her son Alerick Hayes Ashby, Ms. Guckes was glad she’d gone with with her intuition and hired Ms. Kirke. “She knew my body better than I did. She was totally in-tune to my natural rhythm...like a really good musician. She’s just got this ‘best friend from high school’ feel about her,” Ms. Guckes gushed.

Though she has assisted in home births, Ms. Kirke said the majority of her clients had their babies in medical facilities. Depending on who was on call, she said, doulas were treated by hospital staff members like either a helpful hand or an unnecessary inconvenience.

Ms. Guckes saw it differently.

“Hospitals hate doulas,” she said, “because a doula’s job is to know your rights as a patient. A lot of times the doctors want you out of there, and they’ll induce labor with Pitocin just to ‘get things going.’

“I was able to avoid all that pain and being drugged out because of Domino.”

Besides meeting clients several times before the birth itself, Ms. Kirke said she stayed with mothers for two hours after the baby was born to deal with postpartum pain, and typically saw the mother two or three times after they left the hospital to help with everything from breastfeeding to babysitting. She was currently studying to become a midwife as well.

“I’ve just always loved babies, even when I was a baby,” Ms. Kirke smiled.

With that, Indigo opened its eyes for a moment, yawned, and fell immediately back to sleep. It was time to go...Ms. Kirke’s friends would be wanting their baby returned soon. Although it looked quite happy where it was.

dgrant@observer.com