Bay Area Midwifery Center

For my first pregnancy I was seen by a midwife practice in another state and loved the caring environment. I wanted to repeat the experience so I choose this practice. However, my experience here has been terrible. First, one of the two receptionists is about as rude and gruff as possible. I had an appointment for 9 weeks and when I started spotting at 7 she told me no one there could help me or talk to me as I wasn’t even a patient yet. So basically I was on my own!
My first appointment I was never told the paperwork time was built into the appointment so I ended up waiting over an hour to even get into a room– and I was the first patient of the day! Neither receptionist bothered to say anything as I sat there waiting forever either.
The first midwife I saw was nice, but I felt like she pushed her views on me. She told me I needed to do this and this even though I said I was not comfortable with it. She also made me feel bad for not agreeing to all the different tests– as if I might have STDs without knowing it.
I thought I would be seeing the same midwife each time only to find out you get whoever is there that day. Why do I want to see 7 different midwives? How is one supposed to develop a caring and confidential relationship with 7 different midwives?
This has been a tough pregnancy and every time I call with an issue whoever I finally speak with seems so unconcerned. It’s always a wait and see line they give you no matter what. I was also misdiagnosed with an infection and put on antibiotics for something I didn’t have. And this was after I kept calling to see if my test results were in to see what was really wrong. If I hadn’t called I don’t think they would have ever called to say stop taking the medicine.
Another appointment I was left waiting in an exam room for 15 minutes alone after the midwife couldn’t find the heartbeat on the Doppler. She wanted to take me to the ultrasound but as they only have 1 machine for the whole practice I had to wait for it to be free. She never even came back in to reassure me during that whole time!
I’m finally switching to a regular practice but they couldn’t fax my records without a release form. When I asked for it to be emailed to me the receptionist informed me they don’t have an email address. Who doesn’t have an email address in almost 2016!!!
This place is slow, old fashioned, and difficult to make an appointment or speak with someone. I would never recommend this place to anyone under any circumstances. I wish I had switched after my first appointment, but I falsely hoped it would get better.

My experience with this center was 10x horrible than my OBGYN practice. Not only was I misinformed when I initially scheduled my tour of the center to have my child there, my appointment was cancelled twice, putting me over the time frame to actually have the option of giving birth at the center.
When I did go to my tour the midwife was some what cold and spoke to me like I knew nothing. I felt like she was prejudging me and being very impersonal (fake) which my doctors at my OBGYN practice have never done.
Bottom line when you want a natural birth experience or even natural care during pregnancy, you want to feel like your provider (s) actually care about you and my experience was totally not the case.

I am glad to have a midwife instead of just showing up at the hospital or having an OBGYN which is a surgical doctor not a birthing doctor. Thanks god midwives are making a come back in this country!
People used to deliver babies for thousands of years without the hospital establishment which has stolen the power from families to determine their own birth plans. Furthermore 90% of the world’s population gives birth without even a mention of Cesarian section which is the reason people in the US seem to produce less offspring since the medical establishment stole the ability to give birth from women and parents!
When you go to a birth center you want to escape the trap of the medical establishment which will have you drugged, on a table with 2 – 3 people making the calls on what to do with you without even consulting you or your partner. People in third world nations know how to deliver babies in breech, yet an advanced medical hospital cannot deliver a baby under 37 weeks without a C-​section? Something is seriously wrong with the medical establishment in this nation, It is very impersonal and makes me feel like nobody has empathy or a bond with their own patients.
You go to a nurse, she will analyze your suspected symptoms or problems does several tests. A doctor (who you usually never see) decides without meeting you shaking your hand based on a test what your treatment should be, the nurse administers the treatment (just following orders) and makes the system unaccountable for anything that has been done to the patient. How can you blame a doctor whom you never met, or a nurse just following orders? Like a perfectly unaccountable medical system, protected by their own ability to deflect any personal contact from the healthcare system.
Give me an african medicine man with a cloth covering his junk and a smoking stick chanting and dancing around a fire, because it feels more personal than the American medical establishment today!

This place is wonderful and I would go back for any subsequent pregnancies! All of the midwives, nurses and front office staff were nothing but kind and helpful.

I’ve been a patient at Bay Area for 2 of my 3 births, and if I have any more, this is where I will go. The midwives are caring are professional. My last pregnancy was particularly difficult and I felt like these ladies got me through it. Once I called in to speak to a midwife on duty because of some symptoms I was having – and when the midwife on duty was someone I hadn’t seen in months, I started to explain some of what was going on. She gently told me she already knew about my symptoms because they had discussed my condition and care plan in a team meeting the day before. I was so tired and uncomfortable that I started sobbing on the phone with her. But rather than making me feel small, she was gentle and worked with me to come up with a solution. These ladies are characterized by compassion and respect for women’s pregnancy choices.
I’ve had my two births with Bay Area in the birth center in the birthing tub and I wouldn’t go back to hospital birthing unless my condition demanded it! And even then, I’d insist on having these midwives with me.
I’ve sent several friends to Bay Area since writing this review and they’ve all received the same wonderful care. I don’t know why my review has been «filtered» but I hope anyone who takes the time to read the censored good reviews can see that actual patients of these midwives are satisfied.

Successful VBAC. For those ladies who desire that outcome, I highly recommend. The midwives are fabulous. Other posters mentioned some coldness of the front desk staff. I can see what you might be hearing over the phone but it is much warmer in person. I would encourage you not to let that deter you from working with this great practice.

I concur with the previous reviewer about the coldness. I haven’t had a chance to visit the center and I won’t because just from speaking to the receptionist I know it’s not the right place for me. I called and asked to schedule a new patient appointment. first, the receptionist didn’t even ask what kind of appointment I wanted she asked me if I could come in on the 18^th of the month for a pre-​conception appointment. Wait, what? You don’t even know what I need! And what, exactly is a preconception appointment? Then she says that I will need to come in for an appointment for intake for 20 minutes first and then I can schedule for a one hour appointment. No questions asked re: whether what I needed was an emergency or how quickly I needed it. no concern for me at all she just clinically explained their process and expected me to agree with it. That’s no way to treat a patient. I’d expect more from a midwifery practice. Stay far away.

When emailing and talking to those who set appointments they were very short and it felt like you were in a doctors office. Even the receptionists ignored you and waited for 20 minutes to give our paperwork to the midwives to see us, just like in a doctors office. I could tell she forgot because I started talking about the extended wait, then the receptionist jumped. Another issue I had was they wanted all of our insurance before the tour, then acted surprised we wanted a tour before making a commitment to be a «patient.»
This place was nice, but a little dated, and everyone looked depressed working there. This place is commonly referred to as med-​wifery because of the way they conduct business. You feel like your in the doctors basement, no windows, natural light and had the dampness of a forgotten basement.
I truly have no idea how they are in «practice» because the vibe they gave us couldn’t get us to the next level of considering them for our birth.
Sorry but I’m not a huge fan. I hope they check these comments and take some initiative. We would have done the survey but it’s at the front desk where they watch you write your answers and they have a counter right next to the iPad to see how many people do it. I just wanted to get out of there.

These ladies are just absoluetly wonderful. I came to them during my second pregnancy looking to have a VBAC. Not only were they willing, they were so supportive and helpful. They were as determined as I was to get the birth that I wanted. I highly doubt that I would have been able to have my VBAC without the wonderful ladies at this midwifery.