Quite simply put, Lindy was the best midwife my husband and I could have asked for. From the time we started with her at 16 weeks until my last appointment six weeks after the birth, Lindy was incredibly professional while at the same time feeling like a wise aunt guiding us through the birth process. There was a moment in my labor when I felt like I was going to give up on the idea of natural childbirth and ask for the drugs. Lindy got me through that transition by providing me with her strength and wisdom. I trusted her implicitely and couldn't have been happier that we chose her as our midwife. read more

Couldn't recommend her more! She cared for me with the birth of my 2 girls 1/2016 and 3/2019. She was with me the whole time I was in the hospital and is a expert in her field. My husband and I felt supported and both births couldn't have gone better. She also is wealth of knowledge to help after the birth and with raising children. We would definitely have her again as a part of this crazy, amazing journey of pregnancy and birth. read more

Lindy is simply wonderful! If you are wondering which midwife to use-use Lindy and if you are wondering whether you should use a midwife at all-use Lindy!! And I don't say this lightly as I myself am an MD. Lindy just ushered me through my pregnancy and birth(my second VBAC) with such grace, confidence, kindness, love and skill that I am still in awe of all that she did. She is magical in her bedside manner, her incredible knowledge and kindness. During my very fast and intense delivery, she was a calming presence who never wavered in her kindness, faith in me and overall incredible skill(I didn't even tear). Throughout my pregnancy she answered all my questions, no matter how strange, with respect and years of knowledge and research behind her answers. I used MD friends my first two pregnancies-and my lifelong regret is that it took me so long to turn to midwifery and Lindy. The entire experience of pregnancy and birth was so much more pleasant, thorough and normal. My delivery was everything I could have wished for and I get teary just thinking of how wonderful Lindy was and how much I'm going to miss her. She really gives her all to her patients and their families. She's a gem of a woman and a truly outstanding midwife. She is extremely highly regarded in the medical community and when I told my doctor I was using her, her only reply was, "excellent choice, she's just amazing". I am so so thankful that I found Lindy for my third and last pregnancy. If I could change one thing it would be having used her for my first and second-as I know I would have avoided an unnecessary c-section and would have had a much better experience. But better late than never!! read more

Lindy was fantastic; from the moment we first went to see her through to the post birth follow up appointments. We had checked out a couple of Doctors, but we felt that Lindy was hands down the most engaged with us as people & committed to helping my wife have a natural childbirth. We wanted someone we knew delivering the baby & Lindy was the perfect choice. She was incredibly supportive of my wife, especially through the last 5 hours of her labour & helped her have a natural, drug free labour. The birth of our first child was an incredible event & it made my day when she asked if I wanted to catch the baby. read more

Lindy was the midwife for both my children and I cannot say enough about her. She is kind, caring and totally there for you when you need her. As a first time mom, I had tons of concerns and questions which I am sure Lindy has heard a million times before-but she never made me feel like that. She listened, empathized, reassured me and made me feel comforted. Both of my births went extremely well-thanks to Lindy's support, coaching and encouragement. Oh, and it also helped that she made me feel like a warrior! I can't recommend her enough! read more

Lindy is a beautiful person and an amazing midwife. We could not have asked for better care throughout my pregnancy, labor, and birth of our son. Lindy created a safe and positive environment at Alta Bates throughout the birthing process. She was calm, encouraging, loving, and her kind words have stuck with me far beyond the day our son was born. She allowed my husband to help catch the baby. She had me push slowly and carefully as not to tear and I didn't! She made having a natural, drug free birth as easy and smooth as possible :) I should also mention that my water broke the day before I went into labor. Lindy didn't fret or make me go to the hospital to be induced (as an OB probably would have). She allowed me to go into labor naturally. We can't thank Lindy enough and will surely be going back to her for #2! I also want to add that I saw Ellie a few times during the pregnancy when Lindy was not available and Ellie was also awesome! read more

Lindy helped us with our two babies and we feel very fortunate to have had her incredible support and skill. She books up about many months in advance so meet her soon, prospective parents!!! read more

Lindy is AWESOME. I delivered my son with her 6 weeks ago and I am still in awe of myself for having delivered such a big boy and eternally grateful to Lindy for helping me bring him into the world! Her care throughout my pregnancy was so supportive and loving. Now, even after the birth, she has been available to answer any questions and offer me the encouraging words I need to hear with her extensive knowledge of everything baby. Thank you Lindy!! read more

I am writing to wholeheartedly recommend Lindy, a wise and wonderful midwife. I just had my second child with her help, and both birth experiences were exactly what I had hoped for. I am so grateful to have had her help throughout both of my pregnancies and deliveries. Lindy is kind, patient, thorough, and knowledgeable. During my appointments, she was never rushed, answered every question I had, and had great advice on everything from morning sickness to sore joints. She completely prepared me for the birth process, both mentally and physically. I wanted to try natural childbirth, with the option of calling for drugs if necessary, and she was totally supportive of my birth plan. The birth itself was great. Lindy was terrific - calm and solid as a rock. I felt confident and well taken care of. During both births, Alta Bates nurses talked about how great Lindy was, and how much they liked working with her. One nurse made a point of saying that she had much less to do during Lindy's births because the mothers were always so calm and well prepared. Because of the preparation I had done at Lindy's direction, I had a natural childbirth with no tearing! Having Lindy as my advocate made all the difference. And after the birth, Lindy was attentive and sweet, and had terrific advice for us, including recovery tips, and how to handle introducing the baby to our older child. I am so very grateful to have found Lindy, and give her my very highest recommendation. read more

Count me in as a mom who had the most positive experience with Lindy Johnson. Lindy is incredibly calm, perceptive, knowledgeable and experienced. Two weeks after giving birth, my husband and I can't stop talking about how amazing she was. First, no matter how odd or silly you might think your questions are, Lindy is always there to answer them. Her office visits were invaluable. (And what a gift to develop a relationship with the person who's going to help you birth your baby!) During my 10 days of "promrodral labor" before going into actual labor, Lindy patiently took my phone calls to talk me through the contractions. The night the contractions came for real, my husband called Lindy. Twenty minutes later, she was waiting -- calm and ready -- for us at Alta Bates. The two nurses who helped in the delivery room also clearly respected Lindy. Lindy was such a grounded, steady coach when I got to Labor and Delivery, and everything quickly progressed (I birthed my baby about one hour after arriving.) Even when I hit a wall of fear (because I didn't want to tear), Lindy picked up on this and talked me through my apprehension (and thanks to Lindy, I did not tear and was quickly up on my feet, walking around). I want to add how supportive Lindy is with fathers: including their role in the birth, and as new dads. My husband had wanted to "catch" our baby -- and Lindy made this possible. She also encouraged him to have a very proactive role post-birth. We feel so lucky to have had the support of Lindy. read more

I can not say enough wonderful things about Lindy Johnson as a midwife. I was seeking a hospital midwife at Alta Bates who was covered by my insurance (Anthem Blue Cross HMO). I was filled with anxiety about birth, as I had had a fast but excruciating unmedicated first birth four years ago. I wanted a very experienced midwife who was warm, supportive, encouraging, understanding of my emotional state, and able to coach me through birth with a lot of positive energy. After months of meeting with Lindy for prenatal care, not only was I prepared, I was confident. She answered my every question with respect, warmth, and humor. She welcomed my husband as birth coach, and made him feel comfortable and empowered. She taught us how to do perineal massage that greatly reduced tearing and made delivery much easier. The birth was great-- Lindy had a birth room prepared (with flameless candles!) so we could skip triage; she allowed me to push on my side rather than my back, hallelujah! I delivered an 8lb 13oz baby naturally and without problems. My recovery has been much more rapid than I expected. Not only did Lindy exceed all my expectations before and during delivery, but she was a source of excellent advice after birth (breastfeeding, recovery, sleeping, family dynamics). I'm so grateful to her! read more

Thank goodness for Lindy! A perfect mix of women's wisdom and western medicine. I loved that she asked about my emotional state and relationship during prenatal appointments. I loved that she asked my husband the same thing. I love that she was on top of my medical condition. It was very much whole person medical care. As for birth: I had an unconventional labor (prodromal) which is basically spurts of mild painless contractions in the week leading up to birth - similar to braxton hicks in sensation, except these contractions occur at regular intervals and last several hours at a time and are effective at dilating the cervix. My 3rd round of these contractions was so convincing that we ended up at the hospital where the contractions dilated me to 8 cm before ceasing. Rather than encouraging rupturing the water bag (as my doctor did with my first child in this situation- leading to epidural and difficult 24 hour labor), Lindy suggested I go home and rest. I spent a lovely restful day at home with my husband and toddler and 36 hours later, my water broke, contractions came fast and furious and I had my baby girl about 2 hours later. Lindy was the best cheerleader. She convinced me to trust that my body knew what it was doing and to enjoy the process. Three cheers. read more

Lindy was our midwife for both of our children. I would give her ten stars if yelp would let me. Both births presented some challenges and surprises. Lindy had invested the time to get to know both my husband and I during our pre-natal visits, so when it came time to deliver these babies, we trusted her completely. This allowed us to relax and follow her wise lead. As a consequence, we had two overwhelmingly positive natural birth experiences at Alta Bates. Lindy has magical powers when it comes to making both mom and dad feel calm and empowered, even in the midst of an intense birth experience. In sum, I cannot say enough about Lindy. And my husband feels the same. Lindy very thoughtfully involved my husband every step of the way. She gently encouraged him to play a role in "catching" our second child...an experience he will never forget! read more

I can also highly recommend Lindy after my experience having my first child in June 2011. Switching to Lindy from an ob/gyn was a wonderful choice - the whole pregnancy became much more joyful and less medicalized. Lindy always made my husband and I feel at ease and eased our anxieties about the pregnancy and delivery. Her attitude is that birth is a natural process that your body knows how to do, but I did feel that she was cautious and careful as well. Like the previous post, I arrived at the hospital 8 cm dilated (after 24 hours of labor at home) and Lindy met us at the delivery room. She stayed with me for the whole time I was in the delivery room, helping me to relax and then coaching me, the nurse, our doula, and my husband throughout the pushing to make everything go smoothly. Unlike an ob, who would have arrived when the baby was crowning, Lindy was there the whole time. I had a very large baby, but thanks to Lindy, no tearing or complications. If you are hoping to have a natural birth in a hospital, I cannot recommend Lindy enough. Without her coaching and encouragement, I would no doubt have opted for pain medication, and with a large baby and long labor, its likely I would have had other interventions as well. Thanks to Lindy, I had an amazing and wonderful birth experience and no regrets. read more

Lindy was my midwife for my pregnancy and the birth of my son in March. She was truly amazingl. I switched to her from an ob practice, so began seeing her when I was 4-5 months pregnant. Throughout our appointments, she listened to all of my questions/concerns and took the time to answer and reassure me. She also had practical recommendations for different issues that came up during my pregnancy. When labor time came, I thoroughly trusted her and she coached my husband and I through a smooth, non medicated (and pretty amazing) birth! Additionally, she helped my husband catch the baby and cut the cord! She is very experienced and skillful and I trust her with my and my baby's lives. She also has really good rapport with the L and D nurses and is supportive of doula help (if you choose that). She was great through the post-partum period, as well. She involves the mom, baby and dad, which I think is essential...especially for first time parents. I am so thankful that we chose Lindy as our midwife and provider! read more

Lindy and I worked together through my second pregnancy. After a less than positive experience with a (well-reviewed, highly respected) OB during my first pregnancy, I loved Lindy more and more each time we met. She is calm, supportive, loving, honest, and expert in her profession. Even the vibe of her office makes a mom-to-be feel brave, safe, healthy, and relaxed. Lindy helped us bring our little guy into the world with such grace and skill. She had authentic confidence in me and my ability to deliver our baby the way I wanted. She, and two the midwives she works with, are just incredible. I can hardly imagine why any mama would deliver her baby any other way. Lindy has touched my life in a special way, and will have a special place in my heart forever. I absolutely recommend Lindy to any mama looking for a natural, healthy, calm delivery experience. read more

Lindy Johnson almost killed my daughter and granddaugther. She ingored all signs that anything was wrong. She constanly assurred my daughter that everything was normal. My daughter was in the ICU for 6 days and in the hospital for 23 days. My granddaugther was in the hopsital for over 2 months. Linday was more focused on keeping her payment instead of refering my daughter to a doctor. Thanks to the great Doctors and Nurses at Alta Bates that they are alive today. If you think Lindy is great then you probably could have given birth at home with no assistance. My research has shown that there are over six other women recently that had the same or similar experience as my family. I just want to make sure that no other young women have to go through a life/death situation such as we experienced. read more

I had Lindy for both of my births. I am convinced without her I would have had two C-sections, instead of the two natural births I had with no negative side effects. I was 42 weeks when I finally went into labor with my first child. I was being checked with ultrasound at Alta Bates after 41 weeks and while everything was still normal, I knew the hospital staff was surprised I was being "allowed" to go so long. One nurse even called Lindy and expected me to be admitted for induction but Lindy told her it was ok, since all levels were normal. Lindy and I were in constant communication and she was willing to let me go to 42 weeks. Once I hit 42 weeks she then recommended taking castor oil to induce labor naturally. I had been having sporadic contractions for days but nothing was progressing. Lindy has a "magic omelet" way of taking castor oil that didn't have any negative side effects. Two hours later after taking the castor oil I was in strong labor and delivered 7 hours later! Lindy was amazing through the entire birth and calm and helpful. I had no stitches and like some other reviewers said, I didn't even need any pain medication afterwards. I took same Advil just so the nurses would stop asking me. After delivery, one nurse looked at my chart and said "oh, you had Lindy, well that explains it, another perfect Lindy birth." My second birth was harder and had several complications. The baby's heart rate kept falling and Lindey and the nurses couldn't get it back up. I was rushed to the OR for a C-section. I was devastated but obviously most worried about the baby. Once in the OR and prepped, the baby's heart rate was fine and stayed that way for several minutes. All the doctors and staff were there, ready to go. However, Lindy conferred with the doctor and they agreed as long as the heart rate stayed ok, we would hold off on the C-section. I ended up having a normal delivery (again no with no stitches), but in the OR. Later Lindy stressed how unusual it was for a hospital to back down from a C-section when everyone was ready to go forward. It speaks to Alta Bates and the Lindy's back-up doctors and their commitment to having a natural birth when ever possible. I was so incredibly fortunate to have Lindy for both of my births. I can't recommend her highly enough. read more

Lindy is wonderful. We felt nurtured and safe. Not only was Lindy loving and kind, she is so knowledgeable and skilled. We felt confident and at ease at every juncture with her. And she was almost like having a doula. We had her with our second baby, and chose to be at the hospital for a good chunk of time. Lindy stayed present with us the entire time, attending to us while also letting us connect with one another. She knew exactly when to step in and when to step back. I almost want to have another baby just to work with Lindy again! We recommend her wholeheartedly! read more

I switched to Lindy Johnson mid-way through my pregnancy when my OB was not very encouraging about my prospects for a VBAC (I had a c-section with my first). Lindy was instantly supportive, helpful and encouraging. I managed to have the drug-free birth I had hoped for, and I don't think that would have happened without her. She also gave us good advice about coming home with the baby, how to handle the first few days and weeks with our older child, the role of my husband, etc. I definitely would recommend her, especially to anyone who is contemplating a VBAC. She made me feel confident going into the birth, and gave me lots of stats and info to help me understand the risks and benefits of the choices I faced. Overall, I found her to be incredibly wise, warm and caring. read more

I can't write enough about how much I love Lindy! She is amazing, amazing, amazing!!!! Thanks to her, I had the most awesome birth experience. She helped me believe in myself and my body. I started seeing her at the end of my 2nd trimester because the OB at CPMC wanted to run WAY to many tests. Lindy made me feel at ease, gave me a lot of reassurance and told me I could do it. She always answered her phone when I called with a question or concern and if she couldn't answer she usually called me back within 5 hours or so. She is so sweet and nurturing, knowledgeable and positive. I trusted her right away. She had a lot of tips for my husband as well! I am so grateful we found her! read more

Lindy is calm, insightful, professional, kind and deeply knowledgable- everything I wanted in a midwife. I had a home birth with my first child and because of my age and and mild pregnancy hypertension with the first pregnancy, decided to have my second at Alta Bates with a midwife. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I originally was with an OBGYN practice- one of the practitioners became very panicky when my blood pressure began to go up. I switched to Lindy and never looked back- her calm reassuring presence I'm sure was a factor in keeping my bp in a very mild zone- I knew she was covering the bases and ordering reasonable tests to be sure there was no impact on the baby. She is very responsive and reliable and her many years of experience made me feel like I was in the best of hands-- and I was. read more

I delivered with Lindy Johnson in November 2014. She is AMAZING....she is informed, experienced, careful when the situation merits it - and extremely warm and relaxed at the same time. I enjoyed our meetings before the birth - I learned a lot, and felt listened to. She took the time needed to make sure I felt comfortable and answered all my questions. And when we went to the hospital I felt confident and safe knowing she would be there. I think that trust is invaluable in having a positive birth experience. I really don't think it can get better than the experience I had - I wish everyone could have a midwife like Lindy. I also met with her partner Ellie Griffinger several times when Lindy was at a birth - Ellie is also great; really warm, attentive, and relaxed. read more

Lindy Johnson is terrible as a midwife. She ignored all of the signs of danger in my daughter. When my daughter called her at 3:00 am in the morning and stated that sge was bleeding heavily, Lindy, directed her to drive to the hospital. My daughter lost over 6 pints of blood, coded blue, was in the hospital for over a month My grandchild was in the NICU for over 2 months, and Lindy even pushed for the termination of the my grandchild. To my knowledge, Lindy has at least four other incidents of a similar nature. To all those whom gave glowing recommendations, "Thank God", you probably would have had a great delivery even if you had done it at home alone. read more

I wholeheartedly recommend Lindy. If you choose her as your midwife you will have wonderful support and a very strong advocate at your side when you are most vulnerable, i.e. during labor and delivery. I believe her support was critical for the success of my VBAC. After a disappointing first birth that ended in a C-section, I decided to go with a midwife for my second birth. It was important for me to have a caregiver during birth who knew me and how I wished to give birth - communication is really hard when you are in labor. We ended up with a very similar scenario as the first time: my baby's heart rate on the lower side and I had trouble pushing. But this time I had Lindy to guide me through, giving clear feedback on every push. She also fended off unnecessary actions by the nurses (e.g. asking me questions to fill out their computer record during labor, or reattaching the IV, which we hadn't used, when baby was already crowning). Lindy also double-checked with a doctor to make sure baby's heart rate was not too low. After two very hard hours I gave birth vaginally. I was able to enjoy my baby from the moment she was born. The memory of the first beautiful minutes and days with my baby is incredibly precious to me. For my first birth, the experience was very different. I had gone to an OB at Sutter Health and chose to give birth at Alta Bates. I was hopeful to have a vaginal birth and particularly optimistic given all the talk (e.g. in the birth preparation classes) about how much the hospital tried to avoid unnecessary C-sections. I mostly labored at home and when we finally went to the hospital I was fully dilated. I was rushed in a delivery room and told to push. There were concerns about a slightly low heart rate of my baby. I spent the next miserable three hours trying to get my baby out. The OB in charge was overseeing three births at the same time. She came by several times telling me I was not making any progress. I was left with an unmotivated or overwhelmed nurse whose eyes were glued to the screen monitoring my baby's heart beat. The strength of my contractions also went down. The OB then decided to perform a C-section. I was devastated after the C-section and too weak to hold / or otherwise enjoy my baby. It took a few days to realize I was lucky to have a healthy child. On the positive side, the C-section incision healed very well, but I was never fully convinced we had tried everything to avoid the surgery. I wish every woman had a midwife to support her during labor. If Alta Bates is serious about reducing unnecessary C-sections they should push midwife-led care. It is the best combination of personalized support in a setting in which there is easy access to all medical interventions should they be needed. In keeping with my experience midwife-led care was also found to lead to better outcomes by this Cochrane study: http://www.cochrane.org/news/cochrane-making-difference-midwifery read more

I was grateful to have Lindy's support during both of my sons' births, one in 2006 and one in 2009. She is generous, nurturing, clear, and strong as a woman and as a midwife. With my first son, I don't think I realized how unusual our care with her was until I met more mothers in prenatal yoga or our birthing class who shared that they weren't certain who their provider would be at birth, or that they had been rushed in prenatal visits with their doctors. I started to see how amazing it was that she had been so highly recommended by a dancer friend, and that she was such a great match for my husband and my needs. I had a really easy pregnancy and labor until I was in final labor - for 4 hours. Lindy's expertise, coaching, and love helped me recover quickly from that intense labor. Her postnatal care was amazing. I went on to highly recommend her to other friends, all of whom had positive and empowering care with her. With my second pregnancy, I would have considered a homebirth, but knew I wanted to work directly with Lindy and that was the determining factor. My toddler came to many of our prenatal appointments, as did my husband. I had a beautiful labor in a warm, wide tub in a dark, flashlight-lit bathroom in my suite at Alta Bates. My husband poured water over me as my little one descended further and got ready to arrive. Lindy and our amazing L&D nurse, Emily, were a dream team. When I came out of the water to give birth, they coached me through a really easy birth, and left the room for a bit to give my husband and son and I some time to bond. The ease and peace of that experience was a direct tribute to her care. read more

Lindy was the midwife for one of my recent doula clients. She was amazing! She met them at the hospital and offered calm reassurance to my client and who was working toward a VBAC. Lindy checked in frequently and offered encouragement all along the way of this longer labor. I truly believe she was one of the most important reasons my client achieved the birth she so desired! read more

There is no reason not to give Lindy 5 stars! As I grow to understand a bit more about insurances, hospitals etc, the more I believe it's all about the money and not care...unfortunately. So, that's why I decided halfway through my pregnancy to switch to a midwife. The main reason was that I wanted to not be pressured into medications, procedures and especially a time frame that was not set by my body and the baby. There is an out of pocket expense, but it is worth it, and poor Lindy didn't get a dime from our terrible insurance company... blue something or another... :( We felt terrible because my birth experience was amazing! I have many friends giving birth this year along with me and only the ones with midwives thought positively about their experience. This was my first child and I was nervous about reading too much, unsure of what to expect, expecting the worst, but hoping for a miracle. Those couple of days were a miracle! So, this was the one night...that 5% chance I might not see Lindy as my delivering midwife because she had one night off. Welps... guess what, that's the day my baby decides he wants to start his journey. I arrived at the hospital 10cm dilated at 2am and resolved that this whole experience was going to be had with a stranger....but to our surprise, Lindy sneaked out of the house, while having guests over, rushed over to my bedside, was a warm and gentle presence as she guided me through transition and the birth of my son! We were so grateful though she intended to take the whole night off, she was willing to sneak out in the middle of the night to still meet our son. I love her kind presence, wisdom and ability to calm any nerves. She even predicted that the baby was coming soon, just by looking at my face! :) That's not all, her appointments are informative and she lets you take your time asking questions as well as 2 post partum appointments and a sounding board if you need it for the rest of the time your child is...still a child. Births have been taken places for centuries without all the interventions, Lindy knows so much about how the woman's body works and how nature is amazing to transition both the mother and baby into this next phase. I hope midwifery takes over the majority of deliveries in the future like it is in the UK. Lindy is a Godsend! read more

Lindy was my midwife in 2006-7 and my husband and I had a terrible experience with her. She was often late to our prenatal appointments. Once she spent more than half of our appointment calling in for a lab result. We sat there mortified while she was incredibly rude and yelled at the poor person on the phone. Turned out they didn't have the lab results because she had called the wrong lab. She discounted my concern that my baby had flipped and was no longer head down ready for a natural birth. [I felt the baby flip, threw-up, and then called Lindy who did not take me seriously.] I showed up at Alta Bates at 9.5cm and the nurses discovered that my baby was in fact breech. I needed an emergency c-section, not one of the scenarios we had talked about. Lindy apologized profusely that she had missed this, described all the things she could have tried to turn the baby if she had caught it etc. What we really needed at that moment was help dealing with the reality of an emergency c-section and the room full of medical staff. Instead she was having a breakdown and treated the medical staff like the poor person at the lab on the phone. She was embarrassed and didn't handle it well. Furthermore, she did not do any of the things I expected a mid-wife to do in an operating room. Rather than explain to my terrified husband why I was taken into the operating room while he had to wait in the hallway away from me, he found himself comforting Lindy who was still dealing with her missing the breech baby. In the operating room, she did not explain to me what the doctors were doing or what was happening. She held my hand but it seemed to be more for her comfort than for mine. When they pulled my baby out, my husband asked the doctor and nurses to take the baby to me right away since he knew that was what I wanted and the baby was fine. There is no reason why the baby must be bathed before the mother sees her. He asked Lindy to help him and she sided with the nurses! By the time I saw my baby, she had been washed, swaddled and put in a hat so that when I saw just the little part of face still showing my first words were to my husband, "Are you sure she's ours?" Heartbreaking. Lindy then pretended during my follow up care at the hospital that everything went according to plan and besides saying, "You seem more angry than most women who have a c-section" did nothing to address my anger and deep sorrow for how things went nor did she even bother to try to explain what happened. A simple statement of the facts as she understood them, an I am so sorry things went this way rather than the defensiveness she cloaked herself in, would have gone a long way to helping me heal. I was supposed to be her patient after all. I did my follow up care once I left the hospital with my primary care physician who was an angel and thank you also to the amazing nurses at Alta Bates who did my follow up care while I was at the hospital. This small blurb doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how disappointed I am with Lindy's services even 3 years later. read more

Lindy is truly a Berkeley legend and an expert midwife. Her 30 years of experience are irreplaceable and really show. She has delivered our two babies, each labor/delivery with its own joys and challenges. Having wanted a homebirth but being worried about the potential for risk to the baby, we opted for Lindy's "best of both worlds" model, or what I call a "home-spital birth". Lindy even brought her own mood lighting (electric candles) to the recent birth of our youngest. She is compassionate, a good communicator, encouraging, loving, and tough. She processed our feelings about the birth with us afterward, and was receptive to positive and negative feedback about the experience. She trusts and believes in laboring people, and helped us through the roughest patches of two births. She says each child comes with an 18 year warrantee, and offers a childhood full of parenting advice if you get in touch. Lindy is more than a healthcare provider, she has become part of our family. We love you, Lindy! read more

I can't give Lindy and Ellie enough stars. They were fantastic, compassionate and provided us with the best care and experience we could have hoped for. My first son was breech and was born via c-section, so for baby #2, I had my heart set on having a VBAC- something many providers are not comfortable with. I was dreading the thought of another c-section and decided to work with them upon learning that their VBAC success rate was high. All of our visits were thorough and thoughtful. Ample time was spent discussing all of my concerns surrounding a VBAC birth as well as other birth trauma issues I had lingering from the c-section I had with baby#1. I especially appreciated the fact I was seeing the same team at each visit, rather than the rotation of docs I was used to seeing at my regular OB practice. I had an uneventful pregnancy, but ended up being induced at 41 weeks as a result of low fluids. The induction from start to finish was a very long 60 hours. Lindy was there every step of the way and kept me confident that my VBAC would work-even when I was very doubtful. She was calm and confident during my marathon of a labor and rallied as my biggest cheerleader when I didn't think I could go any further. Lindy and Ellie were also a wonderful support for my husband and kept him laughing when things were tough. I had the birth I had hoped for and was left feeling empowered and wonderful, more so that I could have ever imagined. I am sure that the birth of my second son would have resulted in a c-section had I been with any other provider. Three months later, I am still in awe at what I was able to accomplish because of the fabulous care I received with Lindy and Ellie. They are a fantastic duo and are among a small group of midwives with priviledges at Alta Bates. If you or anyone you know are looking for exemplary midwifery care in a hospital setting, look no further. You will be well taken care of! read more