I can't say enough good things about Awakenings! I hired Esther for a home birth after a rather…read moretraumatic hospital birth with my previous child. I felt supported and held throughout the entire process. Esther took time to educate me on homeopathics to help alleviate headaches and helped me navigate a scary situation when my genetic testing came back with some red flags. I felt she went above and beyond when it came to helping with stuff like this that I could tell she was passionate about. I always felt that she was in my corner and when it came time for the birth (my third) she was able to give me space to birth the way I wanted to while being all hands on deck to help my husband catch our baby. It was a really healing experience for me. Postpartum she was very involved and paid close attention to details, even flagging some concerning heart rate stuff with my newborn that I was able to take to my pediatrician and have assessed. Truly full of gratitude for Esther and the experience I was able to have while guided by her professionalism, wisdom, and skill.

Esther was such a blessing to our family and to the entry of our youngest son. She is deeply…read moreknowledgeable and will give you a balanced amount of information around all the decisions that need to be made during pregnancy and beyond. We highly recommend Esther to midwife babies into this world. She's such a gift!

I don't have enough good things to say about Shannon and her business. She was absolutely…read moreincredible from start to finish. From the very first phone call I felt so comfortable and genuinely heard. She took the time to answer every question and listen to my previous birth story and never made me feel rushed. She listened with understanding and compassion and for the first time I truly felt like a care provider was really listening to me. For my first birth, I had a typical hospital birth with a typical OB. Although I did not have a traumatic experience, I wanted something different for my second time around. I found Shannon and it truly was a blessing. The level of care and attention to detail was above and beyond anything I had experienced before. When the day came to give birth, having her there made me feel so safe supported and empowered. If I was ever to do this again, I would not hesitate to use Shannon and her team and have another home birth. It truly was a defining experience and something that I believe that all women should be able to experience. If you're looking for a quality Midwife service that treats you like family and truly listens to you look no further. I cannot recommend Shannon enough!

How do you simply "leave a review" for the beautiful people who facilitated an absolutely…read morelife-changing and indescribable experience? It feels so trivial to try to put into words what Shannon and A'maya gave to our family. They will forever have a space in my heart, and I cannot recommend working with them enough. From the very beginning, they gave us such a deep feeling of comfort and security, not only through their incredible knowledge but through their presence alone. During the birth, they created such a calm and steady presence in our home. I always felt supported and reassured, and their quiet confidence helped me stay grounded through the entire experience (and it was long). They knew exactly when to step in and when to simply hold space. Their care extended far beyond the clinical -- it was emotional, human, and deeply compassionate. Choosing a home birth for my first birth was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and having Shannon and A'maya as my midwives made it more beautiful than I could have imagined. And somehow, incredibly, alhamdulillah, I can honestly say I miss my birth. How many people can say that? It was such a powerful, peaceful, and empowering experience, one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. That is a testament to the environment they created and the care they provided. I am forever grateful. May Allah bless them abundantly, reward them for every moment of care they gave us, place barakah in their work, and allow them to continue being a source of comfort, safety, and strength for families like ours. Ameen.

I sought out Lindy for my second pregnancy because of a less-than-ideal birth experience with our…read morefirst baby (at a different hospital in the Bay Area, not at Alta Bates). With our first, I had a long labor and the OB, midwife, and L&D nurse were not in agreement about how to manage it. The OB was pushing for a C-section, which I ended up not needing. The experience of being caught between providers was stressful and made me wonder if I might have ended up with an unnecessary surgery had I not happened to have that midwife and nurse advocating for me. With baby #2 I felt so much better being in Lindy's care. She is passionate about the mother's wellbeing alongside the health of the baby, so I felt genuinely cared for in every prenatal visit, during labor & delivery, and throughout my hospital stay. She provided holistic care at every check-up, focused not just on physical health but also on mental and emotional wellbeing. In between our visits, if issues came up I could (and did) call or email her with a whole range of questions -- from how to handle shortness of breath to medication safety during pregnancy, to how to think about postpartum support systems. As I approached my due date she also gave me a bunch of practical tips on how to get better sleep with a newborn and insisted that my partner join some of our visits so that we would all be on the same page. The labor and delivery experience with Lindy was in stark contrast to my first one. When I went into labor Lindy met us at the hospital and already had a room ready for us so we didn't have to wait around in triage. There was no back and forth between providers because it was clear that Lindy was in charge, which gave us a lot of comfort. The process was also a lot less restrictive and invasive -- no continuous monitoring, no dilation checks (which of course may vary depending on your situation). Lindy is a legend in the East Bay midwife world. She pioneered the model of private practice midwifery with hospital-based delivery in the East Bay, and she personally trained many of the private midwives in the area. I loved my experience as a patient in her care and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity.

Lindy delivered our baby this past August and we are extremely happy to have had her throughout the…read morewhole process. Being our first child we were very nervous about the whole process, but Lindy made us feel reassured with her knowledge and experience. She took the time to explain everything we needed/wanted to know and gave us tools we needed to be confident in delivery and postpartum. Our baby is happy and healthy and we are extremely grateful for Lindy's guidance through it all. Thanks Lindy!! - Mitchell and Kim

Kiki is amazing! Knowledgeable, comforting and patient, she made me feel safe and calm during the…read morebirth of my daughter (now 10 months old). She was by my side for the duration of my labor helping me to breathe, move and stay calm. When my labor stalled she employed a number of natural techniques to get things quickly moving again. This was my first pregnancy and honestly, if I didn't have Kiki with me advising me and walking me through the process I would have been a frightened mess. I strongly recommend Kiki without reservation!

When I first found out I was pregnant with my second baby I knew that I wanted to attempt a home…read morebirth. I search online for the best midwifes in SF and Maria popped up. After my first in person visit with Maria and Suzannah I felt confident in my decision. My husband, who was apprehensive at first of a home birth, also felt more at ease. Throughout my pregnancy, Maria was there for me physically and emotionally every step of the way. The student midwife/photographer, Suzannah, was even able to schedule a maternity photo shoot for me! Once it came time for my labor I was met with a hands on team, compassion, and professionalism. Since I had a toddler at home, my husband had to take care of the little one for parts of the labor. Maria filled in the gaps that were needed when my husband couldn't be present. Overall, having a home birth was such a special, intimate, and pure moment. It was the best decision I could have made for myself, my baby, and my family. I did not anticipate how fulfilled and proud of myself I would feel. Thank you Maria and Suzannah for supporting me through my pregnancy and labor. You both helped create such a calm and safe environment for me to bring my baby into the world. The support I felt from other women during this journey is unmatched. I could not have gotten this type of support and compassion in a hospital setting. I will definitely be reaching out to Maria when we're ready for baby #3!

We used Maria for our two boys, one born in 2018, and one in 2021. Both experiences were great…read more Through both pregnancies, we had ample time in appointments to get to know each other. She had calm and thoughtful responses to our questions, and a refreshing openness to discuss benefits and concerns at any stage without giving any feeling of pressure. By the time my wife was in labor with our first boy, we had complete trust that Maria could encourage and guide us through labor and delivery at home. We chose a home-birth for our second son, too. Maria always stays steady, clear, and calm, exactly the type of person you'd want at such a special and transformative event. Just like all the other reviewers, we can thank Maria enough - she is a true gem!

I cannot recommend Marilou at Doulas by the Bay highly enough. She was our postpartum night doula…read morefor the first few weeks after our son was born, and she was incredible. As new parents, the sleep deprivation is real, but knowing she was there allowed us to finally get the much-needed rest we required to function. Beyond just being a set of expert hands, she became a trusted guide for us and taught us invaluable newborn care tips that we still use daily. We trusted her implicitly with our baby from night one which was critical for us as anxious new parents. Marilou's calm, professional, and warm presence made us feel so at ease during a very vulnerable time. We truly loved our time with her and are so grateful for the care she provided. If you are looking for a doula who is knowledgeable, nurturing, and completely trustworthy, Marilou is amazing!

We had an incredible experience with Sally for our son from when he was 1-3 months. She was…read moreconsistently punctual, professional, and incredibly kind. Beyond just helping with night feeds, she took the initiative with bottles and laundry, which was a huge help to our family. We felt completely at ease knowing our little one was in such caring hands. In addition, she helped with sleep training. Additionally, the office staff was a pleasure to work with. They were extremely professional and maintained a quick turnaround time on all our requests and paperwork. We highly recommend this team for anyone looking for top-tier newborn care!

Ellie is my favorite midwife I saw during my pregnancy at Alta Bates hospital. I was there for so…read morelong I think I saw 6 midwives and 3-4 MDs. She's so calming, empathetic, and knowledgeable. I was hoping so badly I'd give birth when she was on shift but I kissed her by a few hours.

We worked with Ellie starting early in our pregnancy with our second. For my first, I had an…read moreunmedicated hospital birth in SF at UCSF. I can't say enough good things about Ellie. Her demeanor instantly puts you at ease. She is professional, reassuring, confident and keeps a sense of humor. I think I laughed about something every visit. My birth was VERY fast, and Ellie was totally calm and collected, reassuring my husband (who was super freaked out this time). With Ellie, I truly felt like my health and well-being were being cared for before, during, and after my birth. Compare that to the first time around, where I felt like it was only about the health of the baby (which is certainly super important, but us mamas go through a lot getting those little things to the other side!). I joke with my husband that I want to have another baby just to have Ellie as my midwife again! Our 2 year old even named her babydoll after her.

It's 8pm on a Saturday night and I am relaxing on my couch having a glass of wine. My little man…read morehas been sleeping in his crib since he fell asleep there, ON HIS OWN, SEVEN minutes after we put him down - without a peep. You read that right. Since I have such ample time, this review will be a long one. I gave you fair warning. I'm not so rigid to think or expect that every night will unfold like tonight. There will be teeth! walking! talking! more regressions to come. However, a month after starting this process, it has become a reasonable reality for me to expect that on more days/nights rather than not (meaning NAPS and bedtime), he will go to sleep. It is a work in progress, but Dahlia guided us through it with the confidence and clarify we ourselves needed to provide to our son for the process to work. The backstory: At 11 weeks old, my son morphed from our lovely sleeping newborn waking twice a night to waking EVERY HOUR, needing to be soothed back to sleep...while sleeping in our bed. As the weeks dragged on, it became clear he was not going to outgrow this hiccup in an amount of time that would preserve my sanity (or marriage lol), and things were snowballing from bad to dreadful (more on that below). He eventually settled on a pattern of waking 4-7 times per night; however, he started having negative sleep associations to most every soothing trick in the book. I won't waste time listing such strategies or the gimmicks I bought on Amazon. Well-meaning folks always shared their soothing strategies. Well, if you can envision it, we tried it. Don't start to tell me about white noise and black out shades. Eventually, NOTHING WORKED except the boob. So sleep - meaning all naps and bedtime plus the night wake ups - became an hour long battle with raging, screaming, kicking, tears. All of which did not guarantee an outcome of sleep in the end! This was a vicious cycle on repeat at least 4 times daily which went on for almost two months (give or take some days where baby was so exhausted he slept well for a night or two). On top of this, I had impending abdominal and oral surgeries. Just icing on the cake. We knew we had to sleep train. After pouring through blogs and books about the various sleep training techniques and studies, I still had reservations (and extreme anxiety subjecting my baby to this), and needed someone to lead me through its ups and downs. Alright I'll be honest - sleep training is mostly down. It is painful. Gutwrenchingly PTSD painful if your baby is anything like mine. Enter Dahlia. She is honest, positive, supportive, respectful, and above all, will use her knowledge to SEE YOU THROUGH IT. She makes herself available and genuinely wants to help you. I cannot thank her enough and I definitely promise you will not get that from a blog. So dread. I used to DREAD naps and bedtime. The clock would hit 5:30pm and my heart would sink a little. My soul would wail a sad song. Now, I think about the time I can spend writing long reviews and blogging while he's sleeping. And the biggest plus? The little man wakes up RELAXED and RESTED and happy to see me. THANK YOU DAHLIA!

Dahlia is the BEST! We hired her for 3 months of postpartum work, which is no small task with…read moretwins! She was so caring, nurturing, and gentle with our babies, her experience was only outweighed by her sweetness and profound gift for "twinning". I feel so lucky to have had her work with us, she taught us (first-time parents) so much, from swaddling to bathing to infant massage! Every morning when Dahila arrived it was a ray of sunshine and positive energy, my babies responded so well to her songs, her feeding techniques, and her cuddles. We were so sad to say goodbye to her when it was time, and are almost jealous of the next family that gets to work with her! :) :)

Nova was recommended to me for a home birth VBAC (already had one successful one). After finding…read moreout I was a woman of plus size, I was denied service with them. Their claim was that their VBACs need to be "pristine" because of liability reasons. My being plus size is not evidence based and is in fact, the same kind of shaming that I would expect from a typical medical doctor and not someone who practices midwifery. This was deeply disappointing. I'm grateful they can offer home birth options for women but if you don't fit their mold, you won't be accepted. Huh.. I went on to have a successful unmedicated 2nd VBAC.

We found nova midwifery through a friend... we were interested in having a home birth but weren't…read moresure, so we reached out to a friend to learn about their experience. They recommended Mason at Nova, so we called for an initial consult. Our son was delivered in 2015 at kaiser without intervention, and we liked the experience... except for all the medical stuff like wearing a heart monitor and sleeping in a hospital and all the worry that seems to come along with being in a hospital. For our second birth, we wanted a natural birth, but maybe a little more comfortable. We ended up hiring Mason and Melissa at Nova for our prenatal care, delivery, and recovery, and had a really nice experience. First, they're both 5 star people. Good bedside manner, good sense of humor, a nice wealth of knowledge. They are very good at quelling your fears and questions that come along with pregnancy and delivery, and appointments are typically really positive (you got this girl!). I would say from the husband side that a homebirth was WAY more enjoyable for me. My own bed, my own home, my own food, and I got to catch my daughter as my wife leaned over the ottoman. What an experience! I'll never look at that ottoman the same. I feel like these women checked all the boxes, professional, fun, empathetic, and knowledgeable. I hear they have new space in Walnut Creek, but one of the nicest things for us is they did some home visits for prenatal care since they had other clients in our area. Towards the end, we saw them in the office, and it was always a tranquil environment, very different from the kaiser waiting room. I think the recovery is the biggest advantage to the homebirth. These ladies support you through the first few weeks, and being home with your newborn is sooooo nice in the first few hours of life. I don't think I would have been comfortable with my first child at home, but now that I know what I'm doing, homebirths and nova are the only way I would go for an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery.

I saw Debbie Coleman during my second pregnancy. Although her office was running behind schedule…read moreand the waiting room visits were lengthy I felt like she was knowledgeable and made me feel safe and comfortable with having a natural birth at Alta Bates. She was out of town during my labor and delivery but she gave me enough resources to feel comfortable with delivering with another midwife/Dr. I'm currently pregnant with my 3rd child and will go back to her. Yes parking sucks at the San Leandro office but there's plenty of street parking and parking close to the library across the street.

Debbie and her team are the kindest, helped me through out my pregnancy and gave me the best…read morereferrals and advice to keep me from being extremely sick with my daughter. And I even decided to leave a picture in her office after my birth because she made me feel so loved and comfortable...