Kansas City? Crunchy Midwife?

[PaulaJoAnne]

Looking for a friend who lives in Kansas City. Are there any mw that are crunchy, and into whole real foods for health and healing, possibly into Weston A Price type stuff?
TIA
Paula

[CrunchyChristianMama]

:

I'm looking for a good one too. There's one in Lee's Summit that I've heard really good things about, but don't have her contact info yet and don't know if she's into WAP or not.

[lorijds]

I am not in KC, but in Lawrence. I know of three homebirth midwives that work in KC.

One is a CNM, Suzanne Ryan. There are those on here who would recommend you do not use her. I am not in that camp, though she probably would not be my first choice, either. She has attended the births of a couple of my friends/coworkers, and they were happy with her. Since there aren't that many homebirth midwives in the area, I think you should have her information as well. I know that she can bill some insurances.

There are two lay midwives that I know in Lawrence, Fran Beier and Brenda Frankenfeld. Both of these midwives are fantastic; I highly recommend them. I would have either of them at my birth any day. Brenda is a member of some sort of midwifery group in the area, and could probably recommend several others to you, including ones located more in your area.

Good luck; hope that helps.

[sweetsensation]

Please tell me what is wrong with Suzanne Ryan?
Fran Beier is the best!!!! but I heard she is not actively attending births at the moment....

[lovesoup]

I would love to hear more about peoples' experiences with Suzanne Ryan. I just had a preliminary appointment with her a week ago and am considering using her.

[lorijds]

Just FYI, Fran is still attending births.

[allaiter]

I had Suzanne and I really liked her.
She is not super crunchy but she was great for me. She does have an assistant Sara who is uber crunchy and awesome!!!

There are actually many midwives who practice in the KC metro area.
How crunchy do you want?
What do you want, CNM or CPM?

[lovesoup]

Ah, allaiter, I didn't see your response until today.

I've met with Suzanne twice now, and have pretty much decided to go with her. I like Sarah (the doula she works with) a lot, so that was a bonus. They both seem "crunchy" in the sense of being stringently low to no intervention, both recommend herbal/homeopathic medicine, etc.

Personality-wise, I find Suzanne to be a little ...cold? Not really cold, but just a little aloof. Very professional, but not very warm and friendly. For instance, I had some spotting over the weekend that I emailed her about. She called me back within a few hours despite being out of town (nice!) but sounded kind of annoyed to have to do so, and very eager to get off the phone fast. Basically rattled off that I could have an ultrasound or tests but she thought I should just "wait and see."

I'm pretty easygoing and aware there isn't much to be done in such a situation, so I was kind of okay with that, but I can see where more sensitive women might really want a little more TLC in that moment!

Anyway, she seems very capable, and I appreciate that. It also seems like she probably gets more friendly as she gets to know you over the course of pregnancy? Was that true for you?

[CrunchyChristianMama]

We're using Suzanne right now and I have been very happy with her. She isn't warm and fuzzy (she was originally trained in the military, so I think that may be part of it), but she is very nice and extremely knowlegeable and capable. Her background and training have led me to really trust and enjoy her. She does seem warmer as you get further along in your pregnancy and get to know her better.

[allaiter]

Yes she is not super warm at first. Sarah is a midwife in training and has been a Doula forever. I am really happy with her and would do it again if there was to be a 5th child.
She always gets back to you.
Her background was the number one reason we went with her. It made my husband comfortable with a homebirth. I have friends who have used her and had no problems.

[Momof4Boyz]

I've used Fran Beier twice. Love her. I'd also highly recommend Anita Woods in Leavenworth. Both of my homebirths were VBACs.

Eva

[naturalsbetter]

Suzanne Ryan

Suzanne was our midwife and she was wonderful. I saw a post that said she was not warm and fuzzy as if that is important. Well, she is a professional and her background made me feel very much at ease during the birth. She is experienced in trauma and emergencies. She knows her business and is very competent and I can not sing her praises enough. If you want warm and fuzzy then turn on Oprah.

[KaylaD]

Ok. Suzanne has a strong medical background and was in the military culture for a very long time. She might seem "cold," but she is NOT. I promise you that. She is so attentive and objective during the birth. She and Sarah are actually very complimentary, because they both work their own magic.

I would recommend Suz and Sarah for your home birth. You WANT objective. You WANT experience. You WANT preparedness. You can't get any better than these ladies in this area.

Plus, because Suzanne still has privilege with OPRMC, she can bill your insurance. My HB was almost entirely covered by Aetna.

I had a problem the day after Evan was born, because his breathing seemed more shallow and rapid that I was used to with my newborns. She was shopping with her kids at the time, but she zipped right over within 15 minutes, checked him out for a good long time, and left me with the blow-by oxygen to help him transition more easily. He was fine, and she was fantastic in reassuring me. I, then, had a little mastitis problem a week or so later. She answered my call at 9pm to call in my antibiotics.

I'd also like to comment on Sarah's education in nutrition and breastfeeding. She is a well-trained pregnancy, birth, and postpartum doula. She is also training to be a CPM.  

[lorijds]

Unless things have recently changed, Suzanne does not have hospital privileges any longer.  My friends who have gone to her liked that she was a "background" kind of midwife.  She is not always very hands on, which a lot of people like.  She seems very committed to homebirth.

The complaints I have heard about her is that she is extremely disorganized and has poor communication skills.  She does not have a warm, fuzzy, friendly personality, which does not bother some people, but personality is important for others, particularly if you want a lot of emotional support from your midwife. 

I would recommend Fran or Brenda.  Of all the midwives in the area, they are the most competent and experienced.  They have very different personalities, which is good, I think, because if you don't bond with one, you probably will with the other.  Suzanne, I would not personally recommend, simply because of what I have heard from other professionals who have worked closely with her.  I don't really question her birthing skills;  I have concerns about her personality, reliability, and her business skills.  Definitely we do not bond, personality-wise.  I will say, though, that she is very dedicated to home birth and has done a lot of births here in the area.  Her former assistant, Sarah, I think will start attending births soon (maybe within the next year?  I'm not sure how far she is in her education, but she has got to be close).  It seems like a lot of people really like her.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Brenda (and I think Anita) are part of a loosely knit midwifery group.  They could probably supply you with many names of area midwives.  It's nice to have so many options in this area.

Edited by lorijds - 12/4/10 at 6:59am

[rluna]

It was interesting to read these posts, I had a very negative experience with Suzanne. Visits with her left me disheartened and terrified. I agree, she comes across "cold".  Maybe she would be great in an emergency, but I don't think childbirth should be treated as one. 

[abcsyup]

I had a terrible experience with her as well. Prenatal visits were fine,. . .and when it came time for labor- she was totally different than what she claimed to be.  Nervous that things were wrong- when they weren't.   She over-reacted to non-medical things- as if they were medical, and then when there were actually medical things, that needed to be addressed with some speed, she was unusually slow. To say the least I was very dissatisfied with her care. . . . Her medical care was atrocious, and her midwifery care was emotionally insensitive and at times physically cruel.

[gogo]

I unfortunately had a similar experience with Suzanne as the previous poster (above). The prenatal visits she never remembered me or my husbands names. NEVER. She basically didn't have a clue who we were the whole time, and we came to all our appointments. When I would call her with a problem, she usually seemed irritated and rushed me on the phone. The last eight weeks....she would tell me I was 100% effaced and dilated to a 2, and then the next appt she would say I was not effaced or dilated, then at the appointment after that she said I was dilated to a 4, then during labor she said I wasnt dilated at all. WTF?!?!? When it was time for labor, she didn't believe I was in labor and suggested I go to the hospital for induction and an epidural because she said I didnt have a high enough pain tolerance. We stayed at home because we really wanted a home birth, and about two minutes after she told me I didnt have a high pain tolerance and wasnt in labor my water broke. After that, I wanted to go to the hospital, because why would I want someone who didn't believe in me AT ALL delivering my baby? But of course, then she didn't want me to go to the hospital. It took me two hours just to get my pants on and march my butt out the door because my contractions were so close together. When we got to the hospital, she said she had to leave before the birth because her daughter and her had an appointment at 8am and she didn't want to miss it, then billed my insurance anyhow. I would not reccommend her. I think she was better in the past, and I heard something was going on in her life transition wise and maybe that contributed to all of these problems...but it still felt pretty inexcusable.

[wanderlust12]

She might want to check out Norla Todd at the Birth Center of Topeka. Fablous experience delivering my rather large son in 2008. Suzanna accepts Tricare or did in 2008. So she is a wonderful option for military families. Not warm and friendly during the interview. I also believe Lawerence KS had a midwife or two. They are very few and far between in Kansas. I think there was one on the missouri side. All my information is from 2007/2008

[beatp]

Fran Beier is a practicing midwife. very active.  Great woman.  In lawrence and area. her number is 785 7497598

I recommend her.