If you have a packed or unpredictable schedule and may occasionally need flexibility, this might…read morenot be the right fit for you. I don't enjoy leaving negative reviews, but I wish I had seen a review like this beforehand so I could make a more informed decision. I completely understand the need for cancellation policies, especially for small businesses. However, this policy felt particularly inflexible, especially given that I was a first-time client dealing with a genuine emergency. What made the situation more frustrating was the lack of communication -- I reached out multiple times (via phone and email) and never received a reply. While I respect their need to protect their time, I do feel that a more compassionate and customer-focused approach -- especially for new clients -- could help foster long-term relationships. Unfortunately, in my case, the experience left me feeling disappointed and unlikely to return.

My masseuse thought she was my life coach. She asked me invasive personal questions in an attempt…read moreto give me advice, but said a bunch of BS like "you have to be brave with your body." When I told her something hurt she'd justify why she was doing it and keep going ("pain and pleasure go together"). She'd ask what I wanted her to do and then not really do it. At the end she asked me if I had been the masseuse, what would I have done and what techniques would I've used (what? leave me alone). She then tried to give me more personal life advice and I told her she doesn't know me at all and she started talking about how she hopes I find something to make me happy and that I go for it. The massage itself was decent but I really just wanted to relax and she made that impossible.

Village Maternity was amazing at providing me with the birth experience I always wanted. For my…read morefirst pregnancy, I choose an OBGYN based solely on convenience. I did not do any research about the type of pregnancy and birth experience I wanted and that led to an overall negative experience. Going into this pregnancy, I wanted to make sure I had a team that would support me. The midwives and registered nurses at Village Maternity not only supported me and my decisions, but they went above and beyond. They were always easy to reach listening to all concerns, answering all my questions, and providing me with numerous educational resources. They were also very supportive of my goal to have a VBAC, and helped me successfully have one! I owe my positive pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience to Village Maternity. I am so grateful to everyone there and would recommend them to all mamas!

I feel so lucky to have found Village Maternity. They were on time for 99% of my appointments, and…read morenever rushed me once even though I frequently had 30-60 minutes worth of questions. They're evidence-based, and support natural childbirth. And they were extremely responsive via phone, email and even text 24/7. Plus, Metropolitan Hospital, where they deliver, is amazing. Every room is private (for no additional fee), they support natural delivery and don't rush your labor, and all of the doctors, nurses, and staff were extremely warm and kind.

If I could leave a 0-star review I would. I applied to be a birth doula with this service. I…read morereceived repeated requests to fill out the same video interviews. I should have stopped the process then but alas I persisted in hope this would work out. Then I I have to go through repeated rescheduled onboarding interviews with Jada because she kept having "schedule conflicts" and no respect for my time. When we met it was awkward and the discussion mostly focused on other doulas who don't want to meet with their client until they are way into active labor and then Boober worries about refunds. I do not operate in a way that would entail these risks happening. I spent a lot of time on the application and intake process for boober yet I continued to get leads for potential clients way outside of my geographic area of service. I got clients that were not serious about hiring a doula or I was one of many doulas who would meet with clients. I responded to some potential leads and sometimes wasn't followed up with, other times was matched with clients along with several other doulas or I was sent redundant messages about client requirements which I had already met. As a newer doula (with about a year of experience) I felt I couldn't compete with being matched with clients who were also introduced to several other doulas. I invested a lot of time and effort into my Boober application and profile and saw NO returns for it. I would get no responses, clients would hire other doulas or no doulas or no one from boober would follow up with me for the leads I was actually interested in. At some point I can no longer tolerate such disrespect for my time. While I believe in providing strong customer service our time as birth workers and service providers also needs to be respected and it's just not at Boober. I'm sorry I every signed up for the service. Also there are different commission structures based on race which I'm pretty sure is illegal. I'm all for birth equity but I'm not looking to be disrespected over and over again.

I am a black man in an interracial marriage. Yesterday, my wife and I went to the Prospect Heights…read moreTribeca Pediatrics in Brooklyn, NY, for the Infant CPR and safety. As the only black man and the only interracial couple in the class, I believe Geoff Gohacki gave me disparate treatment. My wife could not do the CPR on the floor because her belly made her uncomfortable to do so. The instructor told her to do CPR on the chair. I decided to be next to her because she is my wife, and I did not want her to be alone and feel inadequate. The instructor told me to get on the floor because my wife is pregnant, and I am not pregnant. That was very insensitive, rude, and uncalled for. I don't care if you were joking. You cannot make that kind of statement. My wife and I are adults and are not in high school or the military. I always tell people that my wife and I are pregnant. We are pregnant because we are doing this together. Lastly, if my wife and I are paying for the class, we don't have to look at how other people are doing it so that we can do the CPR. We could have stayed home and watched everything on YouTube. I was doing the infant CPR. I was not doing the chest compressions up to the instructor's standards. Instead of redirecting me, the instructor told me to look at the other people in the class. So you don't have a mouth to speak or are impatient to give me feedback on what I am doing wrong. My wife and I are not here to look at other people. After we left the class and walked toward our apartment, my wife started to cry about the unfortunate treatment this instructor put me through. It was distress we didn't deserve. Therefore, I would not recommend this instructor to a black man in an interracial couple.

Nettle came to us from a trusted recommendation and we have already passed it along to everyone we…read moreknow starting their birthing journey. We are forever grateful for Jo and Jenna's thoughtful and enthusiastic care and support. Every visit, phone call, text, etc was always particular and intimate to our own story while being backed by informed, professional advice and conversation. From billing support to postpartum visits in their new gorgeous office, Nettle made this process easy in a medical landscape that can often be so opaque and overwhelming. As a sporadic doula, I'm lucky enough to have been present at several births and they offer a level of care that I didn't know existed. We were fortunate to have an incredible home birth in our barely one bedroom apartment and throughout felt supported but empowered, nurtured but independent. From the first meeting we knew it was the only way, and they were there for us every step. Both pre and post natal care (not to mention labor and birth support) were approached with attentiveness, warmth, and joyful tenderness. I've carried their philosophy with me into parenthood and find myself asking WW(Jo/Jenna)D for decisions beyond the health of our baby girl and myself. Their sage advice and general outlook on all things birthing and beyond offer a lovely bedrock for this new phase. Briefly, we cannot recommend them highly enough. We love you Jo and Jenna and the whole Nettle crew!

I couldn't possibly express how grateful I am to Jo and Jenna for their incredible care. I am now…read moresix months postpartum and continue to reflect daily on the fact that I feel so lucky to have had Nettle Wellness as my north star throughout my pregnancy and after. I had the home birth I was hoping for, and never for a second felt like I wasn't in the best hands possible. My experience with them was transformative. If you want to feel supported, heard, understood, if you want to ask questions without fear of feeling annoying, if you want your appointments to feel like the focus is 100% on you, this is the place to go.

My husband and I are very happy that we chose Oula for our first pregnancy. The emphasis on…read moremidwife-based pregnancy-care was incredibly important to me as a Black woman from the UK, where midwife care is the norm. In each appointment at the Brooklyn office where I was based, I felt super welcomed and supported. The midwives, nurses and support team always spoke to me as an adult with the ability to make my own informed decisions. In other words, both my pregnancy journey and delivery ensued in a spirit of compassionate collaboration that I found especially empowering. Kendall, Jennifer, Shay, Shy, and Saonjie (who delivered my baby girl) are among the many names and faces that I made my experience so positive. My only frustration with my Oula experience was when I had to bounce between locations in Manhattan. Ordinarily, I had to go to the Spring St location for my ultrasound appointments, which I knew in advance. However, on two occasions my baby was not in the best position for a heart reading, so I was ultimately directed to Carnegie Hill in Midtown. This resulted in me paying a copay for three individual appointments for an appointment that could have been completed in one visit. It seems this is a kink that might have been ironed out since, but not at the time that I was an Oula patient. Still, overall, I am very pleased with my experience with Oula and have since recommended a friend who is now a patient. I would definitely return for any future pregnancies!

There is good care, and then there's Oula. I just went…read morethrough my pregnancy journey with the Oula Brooklyn team and cannot even begin to describe the level of attentiveness, compassion, and professionalism that I was shown throughout. Absolutely everyone in the office is wonderful - from the front desk staff to the nurses, the sonographers, and of course the midwives and the doctors (special shoutout to Elisabeth, Dr Olga and Melanie, who were my guardian angels!). They provide truly empowered, comprehensive care, attending to every aspect of a mother's wellbeing - physical and mental health alike. Every visit was so pleasant - quite a different experience than I had with a Weill Cornell OB practice during my first pregnancy. You never wait long to see a provider. No question or concern is made to feel too small or trivial. You're never rushed when in anyone's care. You're empowered to make your own choices and supported in whatever you wish for. And the ability to reach the practice via the portal is so helpful. Oula made my L&D experience an empowered, joyful one, and when I had post-delivery complications that required follow up, they were easy to reach and made arrangements for my continued care with MSW (shout out Kendall!). The hardest part of my Oula journey is saying goodbye to this wonderful team now that my baby is here. This team will always have a special place in my heart, and I cannot recommend Oula Brooklyn enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you Oula team!

Best decision I made was choosing cosmos midwifery for my home birth! From the first visit Jenna…read morewas kind, thoughtful and professional. I felt very safe and in good hands during the whole process. During the birth Jenna was calm and confident. I trusted her fully and she was very respectful towards all my preferences. Couldn't have picked a better provider for my home birth!! Thank you Jenna and Chloe!!

My partner and I worked with Chloe to try and get pregnant via IUI. Chloe is supportive,…read moreknowledgable, great with communication, and was wonderful to work with. We initially started with a fertility clinic to do IUI, but when we realized it wasn't our vibe and started working with Chloe we couldn't have been happier. I think I can definitely say it was a lot of Chloe's magic and expertise that helped me to pregnant.

I have come here a number of times. Always a 5+ star experience. Alicia is so caring and…read morepersonable. The yoni steam experience is deeply soothing. I am a repeat client already and will continue to be one!

I have gone 2x for my yoni steam and each time its incredible. The soothing atmosphere the owner…read morecreates is breath taking during this time. I truly appreciate all the information I learn everytime I step foot inside. Thank you.

You have no idea the things I heard from doctors this year: "Just stop thinking about it." But I…read morefeel it. "The more you feel it the worse you'll imagine it is." Whaaat ? "All you need to do is just Kegels." No. "I don't know ... I'm a urologist but I see mostly men." (But you're a woman ... don't you know what's in there?) If you're researching pelvic floor therapy in Brooklyn like I was a year ago, just know you found it! I don't know where I would be without Erin at Flow. Months after being struck by a van, I was post-whiplash with constant vertigo and a hypertonic pelvic floor. It took multiple doctor visits to find one who diagnosed my pelvic floor issues and told me to find a pelvic floor therapist. And then I found Erin at Flow. She has made a huge difference for me with both pelvic floor therapy AND releasing my tight fascia in my neck and tmj, which is helping me out of the "woods" with my vertigo. (Did you know your jaw and your pelvic floor are connected by fascia? Who knew ?) You think pelvic floor therapy might be weird and embarrassing, but Erin makes the whole experience feel totally ok. She is well-trained, experienced, insightful, and just really good at what she does. (I can give you a LIST of doctors NOT to go to ... but if you need a pelvic floor therapist, you'll just need this ONE.)

I had 3-4 PT sessions with Sarah and had pleasant experience so far. She's very through and…read moresympathetic with my pain which I really appreciate. Another great thing about the place is that the receptionist always pick up the call and easy to book appointments. The place itself is really beautiful and well equipped as well. Lastly, they take insurance which is hard to come by for PT.

Cara holds a very special place in my heart. My husband and I are eternally grateful for finding…read moreCara during the last few months of my pregnancy. She delivered my daughter in December of 2018. She made my LONG, difficult labor the best that I could've ever hoped for. Her patience, confidence, and determination are key factors that made me feel at ease during my, again, extremely long labor. I am so glad I chose her to deliver my baby girl and I hope to have her as my midwife for my next child. She made my home birth an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Before I even heard her name or knew "Business of Being Born" existed, I knew I wanted Cara…read moreMuhlhahn to be my home birth midwife. She was recommended to me by a friend, who had two home births attended by Cara, and very highly sung her praises as an attentive, knowledgeable, caring, and intuitive midwife. Finding the perfect midwife is like finding the perfect mate: one must go and see who's out there, meet some people, and hopefully find a person you "click" with. I met with other midwives and neither felt that click with their personalities nor practices. Cara is open, honest, and understanding -- and all but one of her scheduled pre-natal visits are in the patient's home. The first appointment is an interview to see if that "click" exists and, if it does, where you fill out the paperwork, determine dates of conception (if, like me, you're not sure) and when you're due, as well as arrange for the first ultrasound exam. Cara, a certified nurse midwife (CNM), does her own blood draws and glucose testing -- in your own home. Bonus! -- but outsources ultrasounds and other "big" tests to Carnegie Imaging for Women on Madison Ave. Her office manager will call ahead to arrange appointments a few weeks apart for the first and second trimesters, then weekly as your due date nears. Again, all of these appointments were in the comfort of my own home. Cara lugs around a massive bag of medical supplies (stethoscope, blood pressure gauge, stuff for blood draws, fetal heart monitor; for births she carries oxygen and other stuff in case of emergencies) and does meticulous note-taking on her patients' progress. While she checks blood pressure and measure belly growth, she is relatively hands-off and finds intervention unnecessary when there's no need for it (mom in good health, fetal heartbeat okay, no massive weight gain, etc.). In the weeks leading up to the birth, Cara will tell you what supplies are needed (think clean towels, sheets, gauze, and the biggest most absorbent maxi-pads ever created that probably could have mopped up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) and where to buy them (online from a provider specializing in home birth needs). She'll go through the supplies and explain what they're for and help you devise an action plan for the birth: when to call her, where you'd like to labor/give birth, who'll be there, where the linen closet is, etc. I did this prep with Cara and fully expected to have her there laboring with me in my home for a few hours, doing breathing exercises, helping me push, etc. I am, however, a very, very fast birther. I woke Cara up at 7am (at her home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan) and she got to my apartment (in Kew Gardens, Queens, aka parking hell) **twenty minutes later***. How fast she had to drive, how many lights she ran through and the number of traffic laws she broke as she drove like she was racing the devil to get to my home birth is beyond me. Cara arrived five minutes before I delivered and she literally caught the baby (I delivered standing up. Gravity: It's fantastic!!). The rest is a blur, but she checked the Apgar score, helped my husband cut the cord, washed the baby, helped wash me, got me nursing, stitched me up, measured and weighed the baby, filled out the birth certificate forms, and was out the door to help another pregnant woman in need. She called the next day to check on us and had another in home visit a few days later. Insurance companies in NY state are legally required to pay for midwives attending home births, but each company has their own way of getting out of this obligation. Cara's billing manager helped me navigate the various hoops I had to jump through to get my then-insurance company to pay for her services, but, in the end, the amount I paid was less than what I would have had to shell out for a hospital stay. If you want a birth experience that includes being poked and prodded and having to pee in a cup every few weeks, the home birth experience is not for you. If you fear that your body simply cannot due what nature intended it to do, then home birth is not for you. But if you trust yourself and trust your midwife or, like me, just don't want to make the most natural of events a clinical experience, then home birth is for you. And I highly recommend Cara Muhlhahn for the job.

They are absolutely only out for money. I've watched them unnecessarily refer people to…read morecardiologists and require that you come back to them for blood tests instead of going to an independent lab so that they can collect a copay for the blood draw. They ignore emails and phone calls with regard to filling out necessary forms and are only interested in the almighty dollar. They have the nerve to ask me to write a review after agreeing to waive a no-show fee after an appointment that was legitimately canceled on their portal. Complete with a cancellation confirmation. Absolutely out for the dollar and not for your health care. Beware

Andrea was one of the first people I called when I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 and #3…read more I took her class when I was pregnant with my first born, and I wanted to have the same experience while pregnant with my twins. Her class gave me strength and stamina to carry the twins to the full term, it definitely helped me with delivery and then speedy recovery. And on top, it was a fun activity to attend on weekly basis (especially in the time of COVID). I went into labor just 12 hours after my last class :)