Ref. for midwife/birthing center near Contra Costa Area?

[StarMama]

Hello everyone! I'm doing some early midwife hunting, and was wondering if anyone had good referals for ones near me? I'd appreciate any help you can pass my way! Thanks so much!!

[tabitha]

hello, lisa

i live in Alameda County, and know of some nice midwives in the vicinity, but i don't know where you live/ how far you are willing to travel.

1st- i don't have much to say in praise about my midwife, as she was really too busy for her own good. her name is Jeri Zukoski, and she does homebirth, birth center birth (at the Birth Home in Pleasanton) and hospital birth.

2nd- a friend of mine was just delivered by Beah Haber, who runs the Birth Home in Pleasanton, and i have heard nothing but raves about this midwife and her team.

If you want to find a listing, try contacting BirthWays in Oakland- they ran my birth classes and have newsletters full of midwife & doula listings!!

I think their # changed recently, so you might wanna call information... sorry

If you are looking for an East Bay doula, i highly recommend MY doula, Makini Duewa, who is trained in massage therapy & hypnobirthing, and was incredible at my birth!! you can call her @ 510 625 1395

I also recommend Deva Wolf Lustig, who is a very experienced doula/ LC. She is very warm and loving and taught my breastfeeding class at BirthWays. You can ask BirthWays for her listing.

I have also heard wonderful things about Janaki Costello, who is a doula & LC, and BirthWays can give you her # as well.

I know these are people in East Bay proper, but they serve all over the Bay Area.

There are 2 other birth class offices that i know of here, besides BirthWays. There is The Birth & Bonding Center, on Solano in Albany; and Waddle & Swaddle in Berkeley on Shattuck. I have personally had negative experiences at Birth & Bonding, and have heard no real good about it, but they can definately help you find more midwives.

Btw, my friend who had Beah Haber had a great doula, named Lior, but i don't know her last name. I think she is located in Alamo. Please let me know if you would like to have her # because i can ask.

good luck to you, and if you are near enough we can go have tea sometime. i have a 4mo ds, and my friend lives in Concord with a 2day dd! She and i also met on the MDC!

love, tabitha

[frogertgrl]

Tabitha has given such a wealth of info here!! You're amazing, Tabitha!

I just wanted to offer that IMO, Beah is able to best serve clients when they do NOT enter the OB practice of the BirthHome in Pleasanton. I would encourage you to birth at home if at all possible and not at the BirthHome....you can PM me with questions, if you want to.

You can take a tour of the BirthHome as well, and I'd recommend that if you are thinking it's a good place to birth. It is an adorable, beautiful home - so quaint and lovely. But again, I'd recommend using Beah's services for an at home birth so you can benefit from her hands being free to serve.

Good luck...

P.S. I birthed unassisted at home in the East Bay, fwiw. Just a thought! :-D Yes, it was my first child.

[StarMama]

Wow! Thanks SO much for all the information tabitha!! I'm willing to travel a bit, but don't know how far a midwife is willing to travel back to me if we choose a homebirth. We live in Concord, if that helps, but it looks like you've already given me SO many resources, I will go a-hunting. And I think I know who you're friend is who lives in Concord too! ;)


frogertgrl thanks for your help too!!! :love

I do feel SO silly hunting for a midwife before I'm even pregnant, but oh well! :P

[tabitha]

she's Veganmamma! do you know Lauren, Lisa?

[StarMama]

Only thru IM's :D I meant to give her a ring, but I didn't want to disturb her with a brand new baby!

[veganmamma]

Beah only helped Robbie catch, she didn't deliver!!!

[abigailvr]

My DS was born at the Birth Home. I really wanted Beah to be the one who attended my birth, but she wasn't. I think I would have been better off with a home birth in retrospect.

If you're interested, here's my birth story: http://www.abigailvr.net/gabby020716.html

Feel free to PM me with questions!

[StarMama]

Thank you Abigail! I am using Motherwell Midwiferty (Jennifer and Beah) for a home water birth now :) I actually haven't met Beah yet! :LOL At our interview she was at a birth, and at my first prenatal she was ill and I saw her leave, but didn't get to be introduced. Oh well, Jennifer is great, and I'm sure Beah is too (from what everyone has said!).

Thanks for the link to your birthing story, I read it, and it was great! :D

[abigailvr]

Oops, I didn't notice how long ago your original post was. Heh.

If I lived closer, I'd totally use them for a home birth. I don't think they'd come all the way here for it though. :)

[frogertgrl]

Since even on a good day, I don't have anything "nice" to say about The Birth Home or anyone affiliated with its origin or continuation, I won't go there.

Abigail, I'm so so sorry you and your DH were treated like that! Your experience is sadly, typical with those personnel. Being sent to a hotel is appalling. And as far as the pressure to induce, the guy is infamous for it, as well as a host of other nightmares.

I'm so sorrry you had to go through that and hope you can have a homebirth someday. ITA with you that you would have been better off at home. Heck, at least a hospital would allow you to stay and not be denied care!

Thanks so much for sharing your birth tale.

[abigailvr]

Thanks for the sympathies, but I actually am very pleased with how my birth went. I think they should have allowed me to stay when I went in the second time, but in the end it meant that DH and I managed my labor all on our own and the only thing that the OB did was catch the baby. I didn't need them in the end! It was kind of empowering.

I'm really glad I didn't go to a hospital around here. It seems like half the moms I meet who birthed at Stanford ended up with a c-section! I don't know about El Camino.

[veganmamma]

I just want to say that most hospitals send you home if you're not at least 5 cm nowadays. At least Kaiser Walnut Creek. They say to call before you come always. I'm sorry your experience wasn't good. Everyone else I've ever talked to had a great experience with them and I love my midwives. I am waiting to have another until my doula is a midwife though. They're great and all, but Lior is my favorite person second to Sephie.
Lauren

[abigailvr]

I actually thought my experience was pretty good, aside from not getting to use the tub. I didn't mean to come accross so negatively.

[veganmamma]

It didn't seem like you were, but I think there are some negative things that happened. I didn't get to birth in my tub either, though I labored in it. I was pushing against my cervix and I could feel it burning and I knew something was wrong and Beah couldn't move it while I was in the tub. After I was out and it was moved I wasn't interested in moving again. I'm still bummed out about it, I can't listen Sinead O'Connor Gospel because I listened to it in my tub. Sometimes I go into what was supposed to be the Birth Room and I swear I can smell the bromine from when the tub was my pregnant jacuzzi and I used to sit and dream about my waterbirth. I don't go in there often and I think one of the reasons I'm anxious to move to get away from it.

Anyway, i love the midwives, I had a 72 hour labor and Jennifer made me food right afterwards and put my bloody laundry in the wash. She brought me this huge glass of OJ because I was saying that I tried to drink it and I got terrible heartburn and so I wasn't drinking it and I craved it. They really hung back and didn't mess with me, but I loved having all women who had birthed and Robbie there. Even my dog had given birth before. I wouldn't want to go to the Birth Home because the idea of driving while in labor was horrific as was thinking of a drive homeafterwards. Homebirth is definitely the way to go.
L

[abigailvr]

I'm sorry you didn't get your waterbirth. I wasn't actually planning a waterbirth. I wanted to labor in the tub and figured that if it happened in the tub, it happened in the tub. My only plan was to try to catch my own baby and be squatting, but when the time came I didn't want to do either. Birth does strange things to us, I guess.

Driving was excruciating when I was in active labor, you're right. Going home afterwards wasn't so bad. But yeah, that's one reason why I want a homebirth next time.