I love authentic birth center! I'm due with my 4th babe in a couple of weeks. My first two were born in a hospital setting, my third was born at authentic in a birthing tub and was a beautiful memorable experience. I have read a recent review stating that anyone who has left a previous review was only with the staff before it switched over to the new midwives so here I am to chat about both. I had a couple of students caring for me with my last birth that are now midwives for this birth. It's exciting to watch them grow in their confidence and expertise! I live over an hour away from the birth center. With my last babe, I was told I could stay home or come in, whichever I felt was most comforting to me. I delayed and when I came in I had a rather quick birth! For this babe, I asked if I could choose to come in early and they assured me that they would rather me come and spend the night only to have it be false labor and head home in the morning than to spend my night worrying or risk having my baby on the side of the rode haha. That was so sweet! Who offers that?! Certainly not a hospital. I've met a few of the new midwives and they were diligent, sweet, considerate of my last experiences. I feel confident this birth will be great and will try to update you all soon. read more

It's my prayer that this review will be helpful to others. I don't think many people know that any reviews left before about 2024 include care from the Gennisi midwifery; they are no longer there. The current midwives come from different places. When they were brought on, I was told that you couldn't find their licensures. I hope that has changed, and I would recommend checking. My prenatal care seemed mostly good, relaxing and supportive, and the labor experience was dismissive and unethical. In labor, it seems like a standard practice to stay at home for as long as possible. While I understood this, I was surprised to see that to determine my true dilation, they couldn't complete a cervical exam (reportedly due to a contraction coming on), and therefore deemed my dilation as not far along due to my mood. Since I was able to hold a conversation without being mean, or reflecting piercing pain, they were quick to send me home. I found this to be unprofessional and reflective of compromised medical capabilities. I was recommended to take a supplement to rest, as a result, which had the opposite effect due to my cervix likely being more thin/open than they concluded. It might have been the worst pain I've experienced, and it also might have led to higher blood pressure, which I think I've only experienced once in my life. My final visit there was short, as I was told I could not stay due to high blood pressure. From my researching, the numbers in my chart do not meet Wisconsin law for needing to be transferred. (Interestingly, they do charge about $5,000 just for admission, for any sleuths to connect a possible motive). They did not have any wheelchairs to assist me out. While they consulted with doctors via phone, they did not follow to the hospital or follow up with us afterward regarding the actual birth, as was promised in their policy. A midwife called days later to generally check in. Each adult I was with independently had the impression that Authentic was trying to get rid of us, which was an interesting mix of humiliating and disappointing. My parents described the whole situation as traumatic, and they still can't talk about it. On a slightly separate note, I experienced a frustrating logistical process in their relationship with a partnering hospital. The hospital claimed they never received my records, even after a bridge visit to set it all up, and scheduling a specialized ultrasound took multiple calls from me without success, after which I simply told them I couldn't be the middle man anymore. After being told it would take place in 2-3 days, I woke up the next morning to dozens (truly) of voicemails, texts, and emails at the point when it was almost overdue. It was messy and unpleasant. I was refunded $2,500 due to my short admission, and they kept our other $2,500 for no services rendered minus probably a load of laundry and wiping down the bathroom, (as confirmed by other professionals who have partnered with them for numerous births). I have been told that I am not the only one who has had this type of experience, especially since the midwifery team turned over. For anyone on the fence, I would highly recommend seeking services with a hospital that has midwives or approves your birth plan. My husband and I originally thought that all hospitals were stringent/bully-like in their policies, but more hospitals than we thought have patient/woman-empowered options. read more

I can't even begin to explain how thankful I am to have birthed at Authentic. I received exceptional care from my midwife, Jessie Heppner. My only regret is waiting till my third baby to have an out of hospital birth. The environment is so different from a hospital birth, it's the most serene atmosphere, I really can't say enough about how lovely everyone that works there is. I keep on finding excuses to go back and visit just because I had such a great experience! read more

Love Love Love Authentic!! They are the sweetest, most knowledgable professionals in town. They are passionate about their work and gentle with their care. I had my first baby birthing experience with Authentic and I felt prepared and well informed with my choices. I loved the group sessions! It was nice to know that other couples had similar concerns and that we weren't alone wondering about important issues during labor/delivery, health choices, and happy moments like eating, and gaining weight. We are so honored to have delivered our precious baby at the beautiful Authentic Birthing Center!!! read more

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When I became pregnant with my second child, I already knew that I wanted to see a midwife for my prenatal care. I had seen a group of midwives at an Alternative Birthing Center in a hospital for my first child and had been happy with the care I received. However, they were no longer covered under my insurance and I was hoping to find even more personalized care this time. There weren't many options, but one of the midwives at Authentic Birth Center, Alice Phipps CNM, was in my insurance network. Although more than an hour's drive away, Authentic was also the closest free standing birth center to where I live in northern Illinois. I wasn't sure if the long drive would be worth it, but after attending one of their Birth Options classes and receiving a tour, I was optimistic that it would be. And I was right. Ali was wonderful to work with. She was always calm and kind. She took her time with me and our appointments were often close to an hour long. I never felt rushed and I always felt listened to. When discussing evidenced based interventions and tests, Ali was open about what was involved and their pros and cons and let me decide what I wanted to do. She was not pushy and trusted me to make good decisions. I had gestational diabetes and we were able to work together to come up with a diet plan that worked to keep my blood sugar under control and she did not require that I undergo additional interventions as long as my numbers were good. They don't do ultrasounds at Authentic, but Ali set up referrals to a local hospital for them. They have a back-up OB in case they need to transfer care due to a complication. I only saw him once, but he seemed nice and fairly laid back. I didn't see Lanette McQuitty for my prenatal care, but I did have some interactions with her when I was at the birth center and she was always courteous and kind, as were all of the staff members at the birth center. It is very child friendly. I often had to bring my rambunctious toddler to appointments and they were always very patient with him. The birth center is beautiful and very inviting. Each room has a large birthing tub, which I took full advantage of during my labor. I was able to choose which room I wanted to birth in. The staff were great during my labor. Very calm and laid back. They were attentive when I needed attention and were also willing to hang back when I needed some space. They were always very encouraging and really showed that they were confident in my ability to birth my baby with minimal intervention. I was only planning to stay at the birth center for 24 hours but stayed for closer to 36, at their suggestion, so that baby and I could relax a bit before returning home. They will bill your insurance for you and if the birth center is not covered (it was not for me) they only charge you one flat fee no matter how long you stay. My husband was also very happy with the care we received and has even said that he wants us to go back if we ever decide to have a third child. I would highly recommend Ali Phipps and Authentic Birth Center to anyone interested in a low intervention, medication free birth. read more

I can't say enough good things about my experience at Authentic Birth Center. It goes without saying that the birth center is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places to give birth, but the thing that really sets it apart are the people who work there. From the people at the front desk to your midwives, you are a part of the authentic family the moment you walk through the doors. Ali Phipps was my midwife and she was caring, patient, and truly listened to me. She always allowed me as much time as I needed at my appointments and never made me feel like I was just another patient to check off her list of daily appointments. In addition to my time with Ali, I was shown love and care by the other two midwives, LyNette and Katy. Anyone would be blessed to have any of the midwives at Authentic. One of the things I appreciate the most about my care at Authentic is they help take the fear out of birthing. They come alongside you and help support and encourage you to have the best pregnancy and birth possible. Because they believed in me and trusted my body, I felt empowered to bring our little one into the world with strength and confidence. They are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about helping women have healthy pregnancies and deliveries. read more

We love Authentic! We came to an orientation when I was about 10 weeks pregnant, looking for a birth center in the area and we fell in love right away. All 3 of the midwives are so sweet and kind women who have individually made me feel empowered as a woman doing a natural birth. The midwife we chose is Ali Phipps- initially because she is the only ones who takes our specific insurance company. We have grown to love her so much during our prenatal care. She is very knowledgeable and extremely experienced. She has years of hospital as well as birthing center experience. She has given me her own personal books to read and bottles of essential oils to use. I look forward to continuing our prenatal care and birth with her! The center itself is gorgeous and we look forward to our natural birth in the comfort of one of the three suites. I love the idea of a home birth but being that this is my first child and that we are currently living in a residence hall on a university campus, a home birth didn't seem like the best option. The homey feel of the rooms makes me just about as confident and relaxed feeling as my own living room. They do a great job explaining and touring all the different rooms during the orientation so try to make it to one! The desk staff is also very sweet and helpful! We are thankful to be having our first born here. read more

Our experience at Authentic Birth Center was everything we had hoped for! There are so many resources for education and support. From Tammy Thompson Moore at the front desk, to everyone we encountered, Authentic is filled with women who are overjoyed with the process of pregnancy and birth. LaNette McQuitty has built an environment where you are part of a network of moms. The culture is irreplaceable! Midwife Katy Skarlatos (CPM) was our primary midwife and with us every step of the way. She always took the time to address any concerns we had, walk through available options, and quickly provide follow up information. She is extremely knowledgeable, patient, thorough, responsive, and so very kind. We were incredibly thankful to have her by my side during labor. During prenatal appointments, Katy worked with midwifery students (Kayla Curran and Whitney Sanchez). They would first gain consent for any test or procedure and then carry it out with such care and gentleness. I found that everything at Authentic aligned closely with how I envisioned pregnancy and birth - a belief that mothers naturally have the power to do this but giving encouragement throughout the whole process. The birthing suites at Authentic are just beautiful. They have a spa-like feel with gorgeous birthing tubs which I was able to use before and after birth. During birth, I was well-attended to and everyone was working to keep the room clean and keep me comfortable. My birth was attended by both Katy and Ali Phipps (CNM). With Katy's pleasant nature and Ali's calm manner, we knew I was in the best of hands. We will always feel at home at Authentic! read more

I had an experience with Authentic Birth Center in Wauwatosa I feel is important to share.  First, I'd like to say I'm only writing this review in order to possibly spare someone the headache of dealing with this place, especially a growing family. I in no way intend to speak negatively or unfairly about a business.  This truly is my experience, and it wasn't a good one. My husband and I took a natural birth class when we were four months pregnant.  The information led us to the decision that natural birth was the choice for us.  As we educated ourselves, we were drawn to the concept of midwife care.  We attended an open house at Well-Rounded Birth Center in Bayview where we met Lanette.  She informed us of the birth center she was opening in Wauwatosa.  We lived closer in proximity to Authentic versus Well-Rounded, so we were curious about Lanette, her services, and the center. We interviewed with Lanette, and hindsight is 100%, so quite honestly, we were so impressed not with Lanette at the time, but with the contrast in styles of care between a hospital and a midwife, we thought we had found the answer to our desire for a natural, peaceful birth, one with no unnecessary interventions.  At four months pregnant, we switched from a hospital doctor to Lanette. Lanette presented us with the necessary paperwork and then proceeded to explain she was out-of-network but there is a possibility of health insurance coverage for an in-network status if we follow her suggestions which consisted of a few phone calls to her billing service as well as some letters to our health insurance company.  My husband and I were eager to follow up on her suggestions, which we did. A "few phone calls " and "some letters" quickly became more than we bargained for. Lanette explained that she can bill for more items if a patient is considered in-network opposed to out-of-network. It was clear her pushiness for us to pursue this status of in-network was driven by money. Our one-hour visits were spent on 25% talking about pregnancy and medical-related topics, 25% Lanette selling her birth center services to us or talking about her experiences in Africa or whatever else she wanted to talk about that had to do with her, and 50% on billing issues, Larsen Billing, payments and so on. At this point, we both knew we did not like Lanette as a person, but she had experience and the set-up we desired, we were into our third trimester, so we decided to stick it out. The thought of switching to someone else so late in our permanency seemed unsettling. There were several occasions she mistook us for someone else, referring to conversations or medical issues we didn't have. Not only is this extremely unprofessional, but I consider this dangerous. Then when we were 34 weeks pregnant, we finally heard back from our insurance company that Authentic Birth Center and Lanette's services would be considered out-of-network. I relayed this to Lanette and she waited until our next appointment, one week later, at 35 weeks pregnant, to bring us into her office, to tell us that "recent events have given her no choice but to insist we go our separate ways," and she was releasing us from her care. She said we would be "better off in a hospital where we were in-network status with our insurance company." So there I sat, terrified about my now nonexistent birth plan at 35 weeks pregnant. It had been weeks since I had my baby's heartbeat checked, and I was furious she couldn't have handled this a week prior. Luckily, we had a doula who was helpful in finding us a midwife who assisted us in a homebirth and the homebirth was amazing and everything went wonderfully. When I frantically called my doula to tell her what happened and ask her for advice, she said unfortunately this was not the first time she had heard of Lanette doing this. To be in the position of someone you trusted refusing to take your baby's heart beat, that's disgusting. It all comes down to the almighty dollar for this woman. She's obviously not great with money, don't take my word for it, take CCAP's. It's a shame someone so money driven and inauthentic is involved in such an intimate, beautiful business like natural birth. Yes, her birth center is beautiful. Yes, she talks a good game. But don't judge this place or person by the cover. And don't let yourself get sold on something without doing your research. As first-time parents, we didn't know what we were doing. We were unfamiliar with the culture of homebirths, birth centers, doulas... We didn't know if every person was like Lanette or not, but thankfully there are genuine people out there who work in this genre for a living and they care about the people, they enjoy what they do, and they're damn good at it. Lanette it not one of these people. read more

Words cannot adequately convey the gratitude I have for my entire Authentic experience! Not only is the entire space gorgeous (though I am partial to The Nest), but the midwives are the best. I came in late to the game around 27 weeks with my second baby, and was welcomed with such love and support. Everyone I have had the pleasure to encounter has been absolutely wonderful. Katy was my midwife, and while I was a little nervous about switching providers so far along, her warmth and knowledge was evident and I had such peace about it. I love the way she took her time with my appointments, even including my curious daughter, fostering her interest in birth and babies. Her warm demeanor and calm presence showed me that she knew what she was doing. She listened to me, presented me with options, and desired for me to be in control of my birth. My son was born quickly after arriving at Authentic, and LaNette was there to calmly talk me into our room where our birth team was ready for us. I felt out of control, but walked in to a completely peaceful setting, where everyone just did what they needed to do, letting me do what I needed to do. I don't remember much, but my husband talks about how he felt like he didn't even need to be there, they were just taking care of everything! (That was a positive thing, for him!) Though I had experienced natural birth before, this was the most empowering, healing experience I could have dreamed of. Bringing my son into the world supported by the loving hands of Katy, LaNette, Mary Kate and Whitney was incredible. Oh, and what a blessing to be part of a learning experience for future midwives! Each one of the student midwives has such a beautiful heart. It is wonderful to get to know them and witness their learning. It is a beautiful thing to walk into Authentic and hear the ladies greet us all by name, ask about our lives, and genuinely care about us. The community and family atmosphere is something I wish everyone could be a part of! I can't say enough positive things about Authentic and the midwives, and still feel warm fuzzies every time I get the chance to come back. My son is now almost 2 years old, and we still love our Authentic community so very much. Both my husband and I love to recommend Authentic to anyone who is expecting, and share about our experience regularly! My experience has quite literally changed my life, the way I view birth, and has opened me up to a whole new world. For that, I am forever grateful! read more

Everyone here is friendly and knowledgable. Authentic itself is beautiful and serene. My husband and I dreamt of a birth at the center. Unfortunately, the baby had other plans. We worked with our midwife to manage elevated blood pressure at the end of my pregnancy. Unable to lower the blood pressure, we weren't able to go to Authentic as planned and instead went to the hospital to be induced. Our midwife was very supportive during this whole process and even came to the hospital with us to check in. The prenatal and postpartum care we received was beyond compare. Every professional we encountered was wonderful. I'm sure that we'll try for a birth at Authentic when we are ready for our second. read more

I cannot express enough how wonderful our experience with Authentic Birth Center was. After the first informational meeting we were convinced this was where we wanted to receive prenatal care and deliver our baby. First of all, the center is beautiful. Its modern, yet warm and welcoming. The birthing suites just take your breath away; when you walk in you feel like you've stepped into a day spa. From the start they were completely upfront regarding all costs which put us at ease. They make it very affordable even if you don't have health insurance. What makes Authentic Birth Center such a unique blessing to the community is the staff. These women are highly skilled, respectful, knowledgeable, nurturing, patient and dedicated. This was my first baby, and my labor was long, with some challenging hurdles to overcome (slow dilation, back labor, exhaustion). But the team was amazing. They were able to incorporate several natural techniques to bring my daughter safely into the world. And the care didn't stop there. During the day and a half I stayed at the center they were so kind and respectful. They were doing so much to ensure we were comfortable and really let us bond with our baby. I will be forever grateful to them for being my guardians of safety and empowering me to trust my body and believe that I can birth (Ok now I'm crying). If you desire to deliver your baby naturally, you need to surround yourself with a like-minded team, not just in the labor room, but throughout your pregnancy. I hope more and more women are guided by their intuition to choose a more nurturing environment for themselves and their baby. Thank you, ladies of Authentic, for all you do. read more

When my wife was looking for a place where our child could be born naturally and with great caring midwives she knew she wanted to go to Authentic. LaNette was fantastic as was Katy was a fantastic assistant. We went to group prenatals at Authentic learning much from the midwives and other couples. When we toured the facility I wondered if it was a spa or a place to have a baby. In the end it was both: a luxurious, comforting, supportive atmosphere that was perfect to have a baby born in. Our whole experience was fantastic and we look forward to going to back there for check-ups and classes just to see the LaNette, Katy, Ali and the rest of the great staff. read more

My wife and I gave birth to our first 2 kids in Tennessee at an amazing birthing center. This one is not even close. We went to an orientation last week and were completely turned off. The midwives gave a presentation and one acted like she didn't want to be there. They had to force her to talk. It's a shame. My wife canceled 2 appointments because of complications with her employer's insurance company, and these people told her that we would not be allowed to give birth there. They told a 16 week pregnant mother that she could not come for prenatal care because of cancellations that were beyond her control. Now we are scrambling to find someone else. I'm disgusted with these people. Lastly, they require to pay $5,000 up front. Then they bill your insurance for reimbursement. Like most people just have $5,000 to fork over. You can tell that they only want a certain kind of people in their establishment. We are the biggest natural birth advocates, but I would never give birth at a facility like this. Infinity birthing center in Cookeville, TN is a great example of how birthing centers should be run. read more

Authentic has everything you need from prenatal care through birth. I cannot recommend it highly enough. We had the option of receiving our prenatal appointments with our midwife in a group setting with other couples due in the same month as us. I am so glad we took advantage of this! We made so many friends and found so much support from the other couples and midwife staff. We still get together with the other families, 4 months after the birth of our son. Our birth experience was beautiful. Labor is difficult and painful, but at Authentic they made me as comfortable as I could possibly be. I could birth in any position I wanted, I could eat if I wanted. Most importantly, I got to listen to my body and do what I felt was right. I birthed in a beautiful tub with my husband in the tub while I held hands with the midwives (really I was crushing their hands, not holding them). It was difficult and AMAZING! Listening to my body, pushing when I felt I needed to, pushing in the position I felt I needed to (instead of being stuck lying down on a hospital bed). Do yourself a favor and check this place out! Its like a spa! I also received prenatal care from the chiropractor and acupuncturist. And we took a super helpful birthing class at Authentic. My sister had the exact same size baby (even same head size) 2 months after me in a hospital...I saw a chiropractor all through my pregnancy and birthed naturally in a natural position at Authentic...I pushed for about 30 minutes...my sister pushed for 4 hours lying down on a bed. Get educated about the benefits of birthing naturally and check this place out! read more