Kelly is awesome. She really is. I don't think you can say badass on Yelp but it is an apt word to…read moredescribe her. My wife and I both felt strongly about having a midwife that was compassionate but also assertive. We met with maybe 6 total midwives and Kelly was the only one who seemed extremely confident, not too lackadaisical, but also felt there was a right time to have humility and ask for help from elsewhere. This was the perfect balance for us. I believe my wife was one of Kelly's most difficult cases (sick both of her entire pregnancies 24/7), but Kelly went so far out of her way to help us and make us feel like we had support, I can't say enough about how much that means to us. And much as we had expected when hiring her, she was very helpful in seeking treatment for my wife's sickness and helping us navigate what could have been an otherwise very difficult path of doctors and specialists. Kelly is super energetic and fun, being that she has 3 kids of her own. She really has a great personality for her chosen profession. The only knock is that she did not laugh when I told her I was going to check the surf mid-labor. That was actually a very good joke.

Kelly was my midwife for the birth of my first child. I decided to switch to home birth halfway…read morethrough my pregnancy because of a past traumatic hospitalization; I hoped that being at home would prevent any unnecessary anxiety and fear during the delivery. I had initially been worried about the expense of a home birth because my insurance explicitly excludes them and we needed to pay out of pocket. It was a stretch for us, but we were able to make it work, and looking back on it all, it is literally the best money we've ever spent. We met with a few midwives in town and ultimately felt most at ease with Kelly. She is extremely competent and confident in her knowledge and skills, but also showed that she knows when to seek additional support or outside help. I trusted that I could relax and she would keep me safe and take action if necessary. Kelly guided me through pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding complications later on, with the utmost grace, skill and respect. She answered any and all questions and was always up to date on the latest research and recommendations. She listened to my fears and made sure I was mentally prepared for the possibility of a hospital transfer. She is dedicated to the home birth community in Santa Cruz and even reached out to offer educational feedback to another local physician who expressed skepticism and negativity toward my decision to pursue a home birth. Kelly was a steady guide throughout my delivery and struck a balance between assisting when it was necessary and otherwise hanging back to allow me to trust my own body and the birth process. I experienced significant complications with breastfeeding in the days following the birth and Kelly held my hand through this too. She made sure we were connected to the necessary resources and a network of incredible mothers who shared donor milk while we figured out what to do long-term. We are forever grateful to Kelly!

I wonder about that last review that if you were kept at the mental health unit, those are outside…read morepeople that Ms St. Clair-a midwife has nothing to do with. My experience was terrific, she helped me with the birth of my first baby in Santa Cruz and I thought she was just amazing. She was compassionate, took the time to listen to my concerns and truly cared about me and my baby. She was there to hold my hand during such a difficult time, I thought she was the essence of a midwife. Thank you!

I have to say, my experience with Ms. St. Clair was terrible. I was treated badly, misdiagnosed,…read moreand as a result gained massive amounts of weight in a record time after I went to see her for postpartum depression. I think since it's such a stigma for women, and since there is not one criteria for diagnosis, a lot of misinformation gets disseminated. Mostly what women need is loving support, a good antidepressant and help with insomnia. Once a depressed woman with a new baby starts getting all these things, she can almost always cope. I would recommend a good support group (Sutter has a great one) and a good therapist along with a good primary care doctor.

How can a GYN appointment get 5 stars you may ask? Well, when your doctor listens to your concerns,…read moreasks thoughtful questions, offers solutions you didn't even know were options and goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable, THAT is how a GYN appointment gets 5 stars! Dr Ayer was personable, competent and clearly genuinely cares about her patients. I didn't feel rushed, had time to ask all my questions and left feeling very satisfied with the whole experience. The entire staff was welcoming, from the receptionists who patiently helped me fill out the paperwork to the nurses who offered me blankets while I was waiting. Very happy to have picked this office for all my "female needs"!

Although I saw Kris with all 4 of my last babies she was only on call at the time to deliver my…read morelast. She is very sweet and has a great personality. Is very knowledgable and it was nice to finally get to have her deliver 1 of my babies. Shes great. I highly reccomend her

My family and I were so honored to work with Partera midwifery. Andrea took such good care of us…read morefrom start to present (they will always be apart of our lives). Each visit throughout our pregnancy was educational, in depth and caring. This was our first child and from the moment we met Andrea, we knew we were in good hands. Every prenatal visit we checked glucose levels, health check on me and then baby, we talked on what to expect during labor, planning for after labor, she gave me time to ask any questions I had. We even had deeper conversations like what it meant to me to do a home birth. And the importance of connecting with our ancestors. Andrea always encouraged me to listen to my intuition with my body if I ever felt like something wasn't right. One instance, she helped me identify I had a UTI when the Dr said it was just pregnancy pain. Labor was magical with everyone there. We didn't have a big space, but Andrea and Diana made it feel so roomy and worked with us. During labor, when I felt like I couldn't do it any more, Andrea reminded me of my strength. Diana grounded me when my mind was not there and was so patient with me. She did some light grocery shopping for us, cooked and cleaned. I could go on and on how much I loved our labor. The support didn't stop after labor! After baby was born. We didn't have to leave our space for a few weeks since she came to us to check up on baby AND US! She gave us articles and resources for things babies experience their first few months. We did a cupping session, I got tips on nursing, and the best of all was my cerrada at the closing of my 6weeks postpartum. The amazing community Andrea has built and the amount of lives shes helped, I am so honored to be one of the many happy persons to have worked with them.

I am forever thankful for Andrea and the love and care my family received before, during, and after…read morethe birth of my youngest. Andrea is an extremely qualified and experienced midwife. With her you will receive holistic care, your loved ones are part of the process, you are seen, heard, and safe! If you choose Partera Midwifery you will be happy!

Sunshine and her team are incredible at what they do, truly gifted. My partner and I are practical…read morepeople, I just have an irrational fear of hospitals and so since the day I got pregnant, we knew we were going to try for a homebirth. I looked at a few different options and ended up choosing to work with Sunshine as she came really well spoken for and we both immediately liked her. Sunshine is intuitive and gifted but also very practical and straightforward and oh so experienced. She is open to all possible outcomes and was careful to let us know that there are certain situations where we would have to go to the hospital. Which I really appreciated. The night of Lou's birth was a dream, and still brings me to tears. Sunshine and Cristián were supportive in all the ways we needed. Never thought it could be this beautiful

This post brings a major smile to my face and warms my heart…read more From the first moment my wife and I met Sunshine, we knew we were in the right place. An immediate sense of calm, love and empathy filled the room and our decision was made. Sunshine - you are simply amazing. Thank you for guiding us through this transformative journey which has resulted in our miracle named Jazmyn. Special shoutout to Christiane who also provided gracious wisdom and love throughout this journey. We love you both and thank God for connecting us. We will be seeing you both again

Sherrie helped me deliver my baby several years ago and I will never forgot the care I received…read more She was caring, thoughtful and extremely knowledgeable in her care. I was so sorry to see her move to San Diego where she was going to be teaching medical students and residents! She is truly missed.

After having our first son in 2016, I promised myself that our next baby would be born at home. In…read morea space that I created, with no one around except for my husband and my tribe of midwives empowering me and showering me with admiration for the bad ass that I am! And my vision came to fruition with SCMW. I was truly able to be present in my body and embrace every minute of my birthing celebration. There were plenty of times where I felt that I couldn't do it and they knew just what to say, or not to say to give me the encouragement to keep pushing--LITERALLY lol! Im already talking about our next baby and how I cannot wait and our sons only two months old! Cannot say thank you enough to SCMW! With our first son I was the typical hospital story of water breaking and then being pumped full of pitocin. It. Was. HORRIBLE!! I diligently searched for a midwife team who would suggest alternative options if it came down to that. Emily, Stephanie and Sharon were like my three guardian angels. Shooting me a txt every now and then asking me about my back pain and suggesting I go see their acupuncturist who is absolutely the best, and severely reduced my back pain. I ran outta prenatals and they had some in the office. I was having some issues with yeast and they had something for that. Since my pregnancy was through pandemic sometimes I used my appointments just to talk and cry and they were totally ok with that. By the end of the 9 months it felt like they were my aunts and sisters. It was such a different feeling and experience than at the hospital, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! We love the SC midwives!

Sharon, Emily, Stephanie and their team gave me and my partner amazing support through our first…read morepregnancy and home birth. I am so grateful to them We first met and decided to work with them last August. I had a miscarriage during the CZU Complex fires. Emily and Samaya (Arrow Acupuncture) supported me through the miscarriage with massage, acupuncture & herbs and I got pregnant again right away in September. My partner and I loved our visits with the midwives. They always started by asking what questions we had. We felt totally comfortable asking them anything that came to mind from logistics to spiritual and emotional questions. We really wanted my partner to see the ultrasound and they recommended an awesome tech in Los Gatos (Scan Babies) where he and my mom & dad got to see our little guy with me. I gave birth at home and the birth was amazing! I felt as prepared as I could have been for my first birth. We had the support of a doula (Gretchen Retka) for the early stages of labor, so Emily and the rest of the team arrived closer to the end of labor. After the birth the care was wonderful. I had a tear that Sharon stitched right on my bed. Our son was born with Tachypnea and the midwives recommended we transfer to the NICU at Dominican. As sad as we were to leave the house and go to the hospital, the transfer was very efficient and professional. The midwives gave us great support through the hospital stay and once we returned home. I love that they host gatherings for their clients at the park so we can get to know each other and get to see the babies grow. I wholeheartedly recommend this amazing team!

Meredith is amazing! She is warm, professional, compassionate, and skilled. If you're looking for a…read morehospital-based midwife in Santa Cruz, definitely meet her.

Meredith was so warm and comforting throughout my pregnancy. She reassured me when I felt uneasy…read moreand always put my mind at ease. I rotated between all the midwives at Dignity Health, so although Meredith wasn't my delivery midwife, she made a lasting impression to me during my pregnancy. I could not recommend her any more. Oh and her medical assistant Mara was AMAZING. she's super funny and personable.

What an amazing experience from environment, services and the level of care you receive…read more Dana and her staff genuinely engage with their clients, worth the drive from the San Jose. One stop shop for all your women's health needs!!!

I can't say enough about Nurture and about Dr. Dana. I didn't fall pregnant after 10 years of not…read morepreventing and a few periods of actively trying with ovulation testing, acupuncture, timing, supplements etc. I had had some other more basic testing done in the past and they said I was healthy and nothing wrong. I'm 34 and I wanted to put trying on hold for a year to get out of debt and get our finances in order. I wanted to get some further testing done to make sure I had the time to do that. I wanted someone with the knowledge and experience the primary care doctors couldn't help me with and I didn't want to go to a traditional fertility place because I didn't want to feel forced into IVF/ viewed as a dollar. I live nearly an hour away and made the drive to Dr. Dana a couple of months ago. I cannot say enough good things about her and all the staff. Most doctors make me feel difficult or too much. I have ADHD to top it off so having a conversation with me is hard already because I'm all over the place. Dr. Dana is the warmest, kindest professional I've ever seen. She was positive, empathetic, took the time to listen to me and really explain things in a way I understood. They worked with me and let me do an ultrasound that same visit so it would be less time missed from work and she's very flexible meeting with me virtually in between. I had so many answers from that first visit. She uncovered items other doctors had missed from my blood work. She ran labs that should have been ran before. She made many suggestions that I said no to, and she was so kind about that and didn't try to push me. I eventually listened and she ordered my husbands sperm analysis as well as I've since done an HSG to make sure my tubes are open. I didn't get the peace of mind I wanted, turns out I don't have time to wait and we have some severe male factor to work with, but I wouldn't have wanted to find this information from anyone else. She's also treating my thyroid with medication and gave supplement suggestions based on my labs. My journey to parenthood is not looking like I thought it would but I'm so thankful to be working with her and her staff during this. I just had to share in case anyone else is on the fence about where to go. I cannot recommend her enough. Thank you for making me feel like a person and not a number. If it wasn't for the decision to go to Nurture, I pry would have missed out on my ability to be a biological mom which I'm hopeful will be soon.