Hello!
I'm new to the area and I'm looking for a midwife. Throughout my first pregnancy in Chicago, I was seeing midwives in an OB/GYN office. I loved the experience and would like the same for my second child. I gave birth in a hospital that had a special unit for natural deliveries, and I was also wondering if such a facility exists here. I would also like to have everything very close to Walnut Creek.
Does anybody have recommendations?
Thank you!
If you have Kaiser by any chance, the Walnut Creek Kaiser has an excellent Midwife program.
If not, I had an excellent doula for my first pregnancy and she works with a great midwife (whose name is escaping me right now....) but the doula's name/ business is:
Symmetry Body Work
Debi Raya
###-###-####
Good luck!
Hi J.,
I'm a mom and a doula. I'd second the recommendations for Kaiser WC. Their midwifery care is awesome! John Muir hospital does not have any midwives on staff. But, there is one OB who started as a midwife - Dr. Margaret Craig.
There are many wonderful midwives in the CC area for home birth, but only Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley has midwives on staff. They don't have a separate unit for natural birth though.
Congratulations on expecting your second!
Hi J. and welcome to California!
The "Nurture Center" in Lafayette has many great midwives that you could interview, get to know. They should be able to let you know which OB/GYN's and/or hospitals will work with you to have this delivery be as close to your first or better!
G. M., DC, FICPA
(Fellow in the International Chiropractic Pediatric Assoc.)
Hi J.,
Congratulations on your pregnancy. Depending on what type of insurance you have, I would suggest contacting either Kaiser Walnut Creek or Alta Bates-Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, as previously mentioned by other respondents. Both of these medical centers utilize midwives on their Labor & Delivery units. John Muir Medical Center, while offering top notch maternity services, unfortunately is not utilizing midwives for deliveries at this time. However many of the OBs and L&D nurses at John Muir perform perineal massage and will offer a "low tech" delivery if that is in your plan. I would suggest making a few phone calls and leaving your options open. You may also want to ask at Alta Bates about any community birthing centers that are within close proximity to the hospital. Best wishes during your exploration. ~T.
Kaiser in Walnut Creek mostly only uses nurse-midwifes, especially if you ask for them, but I'm not sure which insurance you have. If you have another insurance, I would suggest calling John Muir and asking about midwifes.
Good luck!
I delivered in July of this year in Walnut Creek Kaiser, they have midwife's or doctors as long as you have no complications a midwife could do the delivery in the hospital. Hope this helps.
M.
