I chose Serenity, also known as Baby's First Day because I wanted a natural home birth with the added security of medical equipment if needed.
This was my first child. With that being said, I was disappointed with the care I received at Serenity.
Let's start with the $500 they charge women cash for their services after insurance 100% covers their costs.
They book you for appointments with their midwives so every appt is with a different person, who do not always keep each other in the loop. I even had one midwife at an appt have no clue I was there for my glucose testing even after I checked in at the front desk and let them know. Her response was she doesn't have time to check in with the front desk before each patient. Which I thought was very unorganized. Being with a diff person each visit also makes it hard to build relationships and you don't get personalized care.
To further comment on the appts, they are a complete waste of time. They have NO ULTRASOUNDS, nor do they bother to get you them, I had to request every time to get one and they would send me to another location at Womens Health, where I also had to get an appt with. At Serenity's appts it would be the same thing, how are you feeling, are you eating, basic questions. No medical check ups, they had zero clue how baby was growing, doing etc. They take a tape measurer and see how big your belly is and take an at home fetal doppler to hear baby's heartbeat, thats it.
I never felt like I was properly being cared for or that I was getting the information I needed for having a baby. ALL bloodwork appts were also sent off location which required another task of getting done instead of being done on location. Twice the running around.
I attempted to get my prenatal care at an OBGYN, which my insurance approved and still deliver at Serenity but Serenity was not having that. So I stayed with Serenity trying to stick to my holistic plan as much as possible.
I also didn't like that Serenity wanted to charge me $300 for genetic testing when my peers where getting it done as basic routine with their doctors. When I asked why, Serenity told me I wasn't high risk so it wasn't covered.
When I called my insurance they said it was covered. I did the testing, got a letter saying it was not covered, Serenity did make sure I didn't pay for that test, so that was nice.
I also paid $20 out of pocket for a glucose rapid test. Which was fine because it was much easier than the horror stories of the 3 hour long glucose test.
Communication was done via a client portal and they were pretty good at responding efficiently. The actual birthing center was a diff location not far from the appt location.
They do have postpartum care and baby first check ups, I assume to the same extent of the prenatal care so I declined and went to an OB and pediatrician.
They praised the classes they offered for preparing for birth but failed to mention they were $300 until after I asked the cost, so you'll get no free classes like you do with your doctor. They do recommend free lactation support classes every Thursday at Herbally Grounded 9-10am. (not certain on time slot)
Overall, the women who work at Serenity are pleasant but if you're looking for in depth care and want to really monitor and see your baby, have medical questions answered and really track your pregnancy, I do not recommend this center. This is the most hands off approach with very little, if at all, professional monitoring. I favored the home-like environment with hidden emergency equipment, as well as allowing Dad to deliver the baby if you wanted, the entire intimacy of delivering your baby solo or with your partner makes this location ideal. I would get prenatal care with an obgyn then choose Serenity for delivery "hospital" if thats the type of birth you're looking for. However, be advised, they will send you to UMC if an emergency arises. Not the hospital of your choice. They also offer actual home births and bring the midwife and equipment to you.
I also showed signs of preeclampsia at 37 weeks. I monitored at home, sent them the results, the following week went in and they sent me to 24 hour testing. By week 39 I was told to go to the hospital of my choice to get a doctors testing. I was admitted and induced due to the severity. So do not take high blood pressure lightly, i would skip the 24 hour testing and go straight to the hospital to let them check. For two weeks my baby and I were in danger, especially being so far along.
unfortunately, I will not choose Serenity again. The short encounters I got with actual doctors getting induced I felt more educated and informed than my entire time at Serenity. Although, midwife Amanda was as informative as she could be and really paid attention to detail. She was by far my favorite. read more