The name is ironic Emma offers anything but a beautiful beginning. There were so many red flags with her (she's constantly busy and overbooks herself, she doesn't always answer her phone, she is the only midwife at the practice, she doesn't like doulas, she told me babies born bald tend to die prematurely in life, at my 36wk appt she told me that she was having a weird "trend" happening where she had to cut the umbilical cord BEFORE baby was out of the birthing canal, etc.) but as a first time mom I let them slide. Now looking back, I should've switched providers. My water broke on thanksgiving day and I called Emma to let her know, she argued with me saying it was probably my mucus plug still coming out. I wanted her to check, so I went to the birthing center. She was rude and said "since you were ADAMANT that your waters broke, you're now on a timer to be in active labor in X hours and I don't have any herbs to get you there because I just had a birth this morning" this caused an anxiety attack because this timer was never mentioned until now. Instead of checking my waters, she wanted to check my blood pressure. Since she caused my anxiety to spike, my bp was high. She rechecked it 2 more times after continuing to spike my anxiety with random comments. Then sent me to the hospital with my paperwork. She did not come to the hospital with me and after I got settled and realized what had happened, I didn't want her there. She wouldn't answer the hospitals phone calls. Looking back, I'm happy she didn't deliver my son. read more

Emma is the reason why we chose beautiful beginnings. We toured several birth centers in the area and without question found this to be the best choice for us. Why? 1. Emma...she conveyed professionalism, poise, compassion, and is also a breast feeding expert! This was particularly important to us. 2. Facilities are extremely clean and tidy. 3. Transparency. We had all our questions answered immediately and if there was an unknown we were quickly notified and not lead astray. Additionally we were given a follow up to our unanswered questions in a timely manner. ....Come game time for our sons birth we were met with a fully prepared staff and Emma lead my wife to an "enjoyable and comfortable" birth giving experience. As a Dad I felt my wife and child were in great hands! I could not stress how much we enjoyed our experience here, it was simply amazing! Do your self a favor and check them out!!!!! read more

Beautiful Beginning Birth & Wellness Center - Baby Jake 3-2019 - Midwives Near Me - Austin, Texas

I don't want to write this but I'm compelled to protect the emotional well being of other mothers. Where to start...I was a transfer patient to Emma's for a period of time and made the decision to switch out of her practice after witnessing concerning behavior. First and foremost, her treatment of the midwives in training. In one of my first appointments on Monday, Nov 3rd she demeaned a student for being unable to detect the heartbeat. In this same appointment, she grabbed the Doppler out of her hand and aggressively placed it on my stomach to show her how to do it. I was not harmed. My mind was blown and I was in shock for a bit processing what occurred. In this same appointment she slammed the door on the student midwife when she (Emma) was doing an ultrasound for me because she (Emma) was upset with the student. If I'm honest, any one of these interactions would have made me uncomfortable. Secondly, it was confusing on how to get ahold of her. On one occasion she sent me a text from a number about an upcoming appointment, then I responded to that text thread stating that I had COVID and my concerns and she didn't reply until a day later stating that she doesn't always see the messages because they go to a land line and that's why she didn't respond. Then, when I CALLED that same number (the "land line") one evening to leave a voicemail regarding an email I sent her about the snow storm she answered sooooo angrily. My husband and I were so floored. I was 30 weeks and it could have been an emergency. This was the final straw for me in what I felt comfortable with. After I switched to another midwife she sent me a bill with no explanation of what it was for. I called twice to get details and sent her an email to which she eventually responded stating that it was for calling her "after hours." I then came to find out she sent the bill to a collections agency. This was the call surrounding bloodwork. She asked me to call her in the morning when I would go to the lab (outside of business hours) so she could tell the lab the orders directly. Instead of her writing them out. This miscommunication and her behavior surrounding it was the last straw for me and what I could comfortably tolerate. I would also like to add that conversations once you switch out of her practice move to email only. She will not answer your call or call you back. Just helpful for anyone else to know considering her services or transferring out to get details cleared up before transferring. My husband called her twice so we could explain our experience before transfer but after she didn't return our call we ultimately decided we deserved better communication and reliability from a midwife at such a vulnerable time in pregnancy. Overall, it was a pretty distressing few months and I wouldn't recommend her services. read more

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this is very long but PLEASE take the time to read it all. i transferred over to emma halfway through my pregnancy. at first she was very friendly and helpful and accommodating. she required a $1,000 refundable deposit which would be paid back to me once my insurance paid her after my child was born. she signed a contract with my insurance company stating she would file a claim with them for payment after i delivered, she would then get paid and then give my deposit back. very standard. rewinding back to the middle of my pregnancy and especially towards the end she became very impatient, negligent and aggressive. on multiple occasions she was preoccupied during our appointments, or was late all together. that is something i could easily look past. towards the very end of my pregnancy i ended up having a hypertension issue which i had never experienced before and was obviously concerned about. being that she is a "medical professional" i tried talking to her about it multiple times in which she responded in frustration and annoyance and told me to stop freaking out and just get over it. clearly didn't calm me down or ease my worries. i had to be my own advocate and vocalize my feelings and concerns as best i could. i ended up paying out of pocket for a second blood test to make sure everything was okay against her judgement and she again assured me that i was just being "paranoid" and to calm down. which, even if that is what i should've done, the delivery and the tone was completely unprofessional. you should never speak to a pregnant mom who is worried about something being wrong in that way. one night at around 9:30pm (40w+) i called her expressing that i was in a lot of pain but that it WASNT contractions. i have another child so i know what contractions felt like. this was NOT it. i asked her if i could come in and get monitored and she told me there was nothing she could do for me. i kept asking and she told me to wait it out to see how it would progress and i told her i didn't want to do that. i was in pain and i knew something was wrong and i wanted to be checked. she then instructed me to go to the hospital instead of coming in to see her. which i was upset about because that was a $400 ER fee when SHE'S my care provider who should've taken care of me. anyways, against her call to stay home i did end up going to the ER. i was admitted, monitored and it was ruled i had to be medically induced right away because my placenta was dying. in hindsight i'm SO glad i ended up listening to my own body and being my own advocate. after my baby was born i had my mother contact emma to inform her that i had given birth. she never contacted my mother back. no check ups, no calls or texts or emails. never even called me to congratulate me. we finally got in contact with her after birth and she assured us that she filed what she needed with our insurance and that we should hear back in a couple months. fast forward, turns out she NEVER FILED ANYTHING and instead illegally pocketed my $1,000 REFUNDABLE deposit. i tried to contact her again only to find out she had blocked my phone number as well as my husbands. i've since battled with my insurance, her billing company, and her to get this resolved. i spoke with her once about 6 months ago. it was a 5 minutes long phone call where she screamed at me, called me names and so much worse. i have given her so many chances to contact me back to refund me my money and she refuses. we have filed a police report, reported her to the board, reported her to the TDLR and we will be taking her to court. beware and do NOT do business with this woman. it's a blessing i ended up going to the hospital when i did. who's know what would've happened if i stayed with emma. since my birth in 8/2019 i have spoken to her only 4 times. all in which she yelled and interrupted me and wouldn't let me speak. she is refusing to do anything. there is SO much more i could say but this is already so long. i will continue to fight. EDIT: i was just handed court papers. this woman is sueing me for trying to get in contact with her after my child was born and trying to get my money back. she breached her contract and suddenly me calling her is harassment? absolutely not. she's also sueing me for posting my review and sharing my story so i guess people beware, don't speak out against bad medical professionals unless you want to get sued. ridiculous. read more

I cannot recommend Emma enough. She cared for me from prenatal visits to birth to postnatal visits. I learned an incredible amount in her classes. She was very generous with her time, answering every little question my husband and I had and doing postpartum home visits. I had a fantastic birth and will miss seeing Emma regularly now that my little one is over 6 weeks old. read more

I used beautiful beginnings for a biophysical at 41weeks pregnant. The facility was very nicely done, calm and clean. The women who ran the tests was extremely nice and the total charge for the whole appointment ultrasound and all was $122. You can't beat laying in a plush bed surrounded by beautiful things watching your soon to be born baby. read more

I first met Emma when I thought I was pregnant. I went to her office to have an ultrasound sounds done and Emma and her staff were so understanding and sensitive to my feelings at the time that I knew I had to go back when I found out I was actually pregnant almost 2 years later. The office was always clean and the staff was always professional. She explained absolutely everything in great detail. When I started having terrible back pains during my pregnancy that would prevent me from even being able to walk, she help me find solutions that didn't require medication including referring me to a chiropractor. With her help I was able to carry my baby to full term although when we reached 40 weeks he was still breech. Needless to say this was an extremely stressful time for me, but Emma stayed calm and collected knowing exactly what had to be done. I did have to be referred to her consulting physician, Katherine Browne, who was also amazing, and despite the low odds, was able to successfully do a manual inversion so my baby could be delivered naturally, without requiring a C-section. Emma was there the entire time. She was there to introduce us to Dr Browne​ when we met her for the first time. She walked us to the hospital and helped us during the check-in process, something we never expected to have to do. After all we had been planning to give birth in her office. She even was able to be present during the procedure and stayed with us throughout the delivery. Having her come to my home for our Post delivery follow-up appointments was amazing. She was able to check our babies vitals and weigh him. As for the bill, she was quite reasonable. I expected the bill to be expensive because Midwife was not covered by my insurance, but she explained every detail of the billing process during our initial visit and then gave me updated itemized bill anytime I requested them. Emma gave me all of the forms required for me to submit an out-of-network claim to my insurance company without me requesting it. She even refunded a portion have the money I had paid since I was not able to deliver my baby and her office as we had planned. My absolute favorite thing about Emma was her responsiveness. There was never a time where I could not reach her. Her office phone actually rings to her cell phone and she is always willing to listen and answer any questions I have. She is the most knowledgeable Midwife that I've ever met with. I'm not surprised that she has opened the first Midwifery School in the Austin area. If you choose to have her deliver your baby you could not have made a better choice. My baby is 10 months old and I am so thankful to have had Emma by my side throughout my pregnancy and delivery. read more

I have grown up around midwives because my mother was a midwife assistant and Emma is by far the worse I've experienced. She talked a big talk but when it came time to deliver she failed miserably. First off when I was in labor she offered no coaching or guidance, and was vague when questions were asked. She sat in the corner silently watching me. It was extremely awkward. While I was having contractions she also unprofessionally talked to her assistant (a student of hers with little experience) about how this was taking too long and she was probably going to have to rearrange her schedule for the next day. Not something you want to hear especially when in labor and after already paying her $4600 for a service which in the end she didn't deliver my baby but pawned me off to a hospital so she could attend another birth. She even left in the middle of the night while I was contracting because she said she had to go get more supplies. So apparently she came unprepared. After all-night of contractions and her staring at me, about 4 am when I was beginning to transition she told me to lay down and go to sleep. Wth! I was having major contractions and feeling an urge to push and she told me to go to sleep for 2 hours while she went to sleep in her car?? I know she did this because my labor was taking to long and she wanted to slow things down so she could transfer me to the hospital so I wouldn't be her problem anymore or interrupt her next day schedule. Those 2 hours were the worse 2 hours of my life. She then transferred me to the hospital telling me I was only 1cm dilated but I found out when I got there I was 6cm dilated. She can't even tell how dilated a pregnant woman is. She said she would see me at the hospital but never showed. My son was born 9 pm the next day and all I got from her was a text asking if he was born because she was at another birth. So apparently I paid her a lot of money to be at someone else's birth. I never received any postpartum care which was a breach of her contract. It's been 22 weeks since my son was born and she has never seen or met him. On top of the horrible experience with Emma because I was transferred to the hospital that was another $6000 on top of the $4600 I paid her. Beware if your birth doesn't fit into her schedule she will transfer you and cost you a lot of money. I would never recommend Beautiful Beginnings to anyone. read more

The team at Beautiful Beginning Birth Center is fantastic. Emma and Alyssa provided thorough prenatal care and emotional support throughout my 3rd pregnancy and delivered a healthy beautiful boy. It was the birth experience I wanted and every mother deserves. I only wish I could have more babies :)Thank you again! read more

Emma talks the talk like an army certified midwife with her green beret father so you know she means business.. after this, it's apparent that all she meant is business for my fiance and I. All of the lectures and teaching sessions were great and inspirational but when my fiance, Neoma was going into labor, Emma was anything but helpful and wouldn't even answer questions that I asked her whIle Neoma was in pain in between her contractions. She just stared and watched for hours while we did everything we could to make this birth happen. I told Emma that laying down for a short period could benifit the contractions (because Neoma's mom said it was beneficial and she had 3 natural births and has a masters in child development) and she said "no" so we listened and after another hour she told Neoma to lay down to where her contractions lessened while she and her assistant slept for 2 hours in their car. I even heard Emma say, "This is going to keep going on and we have another birth to attend too." Insinuating that she was done with us (after paying 4k for her service) just so she could rush us and go to another money paying customer. All in all, we ended up going to St. Davids who was completely helpful and we had the best vaginal birth ever with a party of loving people that celebrated our sons birth as he was coming out. Best experience ever at St. Davids and their team!! Emma, was the worst and most stressful and dreadful experience ever, especially when Neoma and my son's life was on the line, she gave us the cold shoulder like we were dollar signs instead of individuals. Stay away from beautiful beggening if you want a rememberable child birth! read more

This was the most horrible, unprofessional experience with a health professional I could have ever imagined. I saw Emma until 40 weeks. I previously had a C-section 8 years prior but it went well and I was given the go ahead to have a natural birth.For the most part things went well until then. I had planned on having my baby at the birth center. From the beginning I was told that I could go up to 42 weeks before she wouldn't deliver for me. I had a very healthy pregnancy with the exception of semi low platelets showing up in only ONE of my blood tests during the middle of the pregnancy. We got those under control and through the remainder they stayed where they needed to be. At our 40 week appointment we had a non stress test to check on the baby and she passed with all 8 points. During the appointment Emma started talking about how I needed to hurry and have the baby because she wasn't going to deliver after 41 weeks and gave me a page of statistics that she printed off right then and there telling me about mortality rates in babies of mothers who had C-Section. While going over the paper she had me believe that if I waited even one more week there would be a 10% chance my baby could be stillborn. She convinced me to make an appointment with her go-to OBGYN for the following day, which was Friday. I went home pretty upset about the whole ordeal. Later in the evening I reread the paper she had read off of, which she sent me home with, and it didn't not say 10% but in fact .01%. I thought maybe I had misunderstood her so I asked my boyfriend about it since he was there and he confirmed she did say that. So I did some research of my own online and thought about it all night. On Friday morning I decided I didn't want to see the doctor until Monday because I knew if I went it she would probably try to convince me to get a C-Section, as well. So I called Emma and tried to explain to her where I was at and how I was really uncomfortable going and talking to some doctor that I had never even met, especially since I was barely full term. That's when everything changed. As soon as I said that she proceeded to raise her voice and tell me how disrespectful I was being to that doctor and her. I tried to explain that all I wanted to do was wait over the weekend before I saw her but by this time she was yelling so loud there was no way. I had to hang up because I couldn't get a word in. I panicked after that. I didn't know what I was going to do. I could have the baby any day. My boyfriend and I got on the phone calling every midwife we could find. Luckily we found quite a few that were willing to take me in. However, twin of them did not have great things to say about Emma's work ethic. One of them, after I explained what happened and told them who she was answered with, "Oh no, not again". Apparently she had helped another woman who Emma dropped at 41 weeks as well. Please call around before you decide. She is not very respected in her profession and unfortunately, I didn't do my checking on her as well as I should have. And whatever you do, do not disagree with her. Of course I didn't see a dime of my $4,300 back. I believe she may have been in cahoots with the OBGYN. There were some things I had questioned throughout that seemed fishy, like her vaguely answered question, her lack of nutritional knowledge even though she has a degree is holistic nutrition, and also the way she spoke badly about other midwives and patience. For instance, her telling us that she told one of her patience whatever they wanted to hear so she could "get that Starbucks gift card." Please save yourself the heartache and find someone else. There are plenty of wonderful midwives in the area. She will brag all day about how she is the "only" midwifery school in Texas but even if this is true, it does not make up for her lack of respect and knowledge. Don't just take my advice. Go ask other midwives and you will get the answer you need. read more

I would not recommend Emma here at beautiful beginnings. She is and does seem knowledgeable . But I never had a real connection with her which I wanted. But, I continue to try to see her because I wanted a water birth. I stop seeing her at 17 weeks, because of 2 reasons one money, but major one was also wanting to go see a doctor. anyways long story short. I was told Flat rate for everything including all pointments Birth and postnatal care then got a bill where she charge me for every appointment. Calling some special appointments so she had to charge me more for these which she did not tell me. Now getting a bill for $1,600 for 6 appointments. But it was only supposed to be $2500 for all appointments birth and postnatal care which does not make any sense. Also, our last appointment she was a no call no show. Never, apologized or even called to say goodbye. Now, she is charging me way more then I should have been charged. Feel very decived by her. read more

We recently welcomed our baby girl at Beautiful Beginnings with Emma and Alisa. Compared to the natural hospital birth with my son a few years ago this experience was much warmer and more welcoming. I was encouraged and supported at each prenatal visit on aspects of my pregnancy that I needed to manage closely. I transferred to this practice at almost 34 weeks because of a discouraging, cold approach I was experiencing at another ob/midwife practice in town. Emma always wanted to know what questions I had and took time to answer them. It was so refreshing. Her and Alisa are an amazing team. Early in my labor they popped in and out of the birth suite, often without me knowing. Later when things really got going they were reassuring and very present in the room. They read our needs and it was the perfect balance to keep things moving, keeping me calm and informed. Every decision made was based on my specific situation with all factors being considered and communicated. I have never felt more respected and really cared for at a medical facility. read more

The first word that comes to mind for Emma and Alisa is AMAZING! They are both kind, compassionate, knowledgeable, caring, educated, and friendly! They made the pregnancy as well as the labor experience so special. This was my 3rd birth (my 1st 2 children were born in the hospital with epidurals). I decided to try the 3rd one naturally and I am so glad I did. What a night and day different experience I had then with my other 2. Emma is very thorough and I felt more informed then I ever did before about the process of being pregnant, the effects on me, as well as my baby. She actually takes the time to explain everything and my appointments were never short of an hour. I love that by the end of the 9 months, I felt so close to them and it made the birth even better. I had some bloodwork issues near the end of the pregnancy and Emma did everything possible so I could stay in her care and have the birth that I wanted, she is fantastic! I felt that my health and well being were just as important to her as the babies was. I wasn't just a number that she was rushing out the door to get to her next appointment. She has a true passion and God given gift for midwifery. As an added bonus, I felt SO much better after the birth then I did with the other pregnancies. The labor process and the recovery went so much faster and I was elated that Emma took the time to come to my home for the 1st 2 weeks, so I didn't have to take my baby out and about. I would certainly recommend Emma and Alisa and the whole experience :) !!!! read more

I have had the most amazing experience with Emma and Alyssa. I can't sing their praises high enough. I am seeing them for well woman visits since I'm not currently pregnant and you'd expect a 30 minute well woman visit, right? Absolutely wrong with these wonderful ladies. They let me hang out and ask questions until I truly felt I had the best understanding of everything. They were helping other women too that day. I felt so special and like my health was their #1 priority. I am a doula and have worked with many care providers before but I have never met anyone so passionate, caring, and knowledgeable. I am excited to continue seeing them for my care and hope they deliver my future little ones. I will recommend them to any woman I know needing care feeling confident I'm sharing the names of the very best in the business. Also, the birth center is just beautiful! I liked how the practice was so intimate. I highly suggest seeing them for well woman care, prenatal visits, and all of your birth needs. You will not be disappointed. -Kate Moses read more

Compassionate, dedicated, supportive and completely knowledgeable. I have totally put my trust in this practice and my family will forever be grateful for their care! Thank you! read more