Really a 3.5, but I'll round up…read more I had been under the care of an OB for the first 7 months of my pregnancy. When I moved back to Salem I had no idea that doctors are hesitant to pick up a patient that has been under the care of another physician for the majority of a pregnancy or whatever else. My primary care physician (no longer involved in OB care) referred me to Salem Hospital OB. I called and was informed that the OB's were not accepting new patients, so I could have a midwife. The inner hippy in me told me that this was a fine alternative, and so I headed in to sign a release for my previous physicians file. While there, I learned that I would not have one mid-wife assigned to me and instead would see whoever was working on whatever day I had my apppointment. As for delivery, whoever was on call would do it. As it turned out, the mid-wives were off on the day that I delivered so a Salem Hospital doctor delivered my baby anyway. Ugh. The mid-wives are very, um, "spiritual". Maybe that's not the right word, but they don't suscribe to the "rush" mentality that you will find in regular OB's. They do believe that babies come in time and that your body is perfectly capable of doing the job in most cases. I appreciate this aspect, as birthing is scary enough as is without the insertion of a doctor with an impending tee time. If you're scared of the idea of a mid-wife, know that many are real doctors and they treat you like a human instead of a medical case. Like the nurses the mid-wives vary in personality and temperment. I found it to be very uncomfortable that they treated me like it was my first time there at each visit, forgetting that I had seem them the last time. The one HUGE upside to a mid-wife is the amount of time spent talking to you about your pregnancy. Unlike regular OB's who might spend 5 min of each appointment with you, these ladies will talk to you for as long as you want and answer question after question. They won't be walking backwards toward the door while you're on your 9th question. While this may make for longer appointment times, appreciate the time and concern they have.

My experience at Salem health was okay. The staff was nice but as I was pregnant with twins I was…read moretold that there was only one dr who would accept me as a new patient. My experience with that dr was less than great. The high risk doctors and others within salem health that I worked with were awesome but he was not kind or thoughtful and I left most appointments feeling very stressed. I stuck with this dr for the duration of my pregnancy and now a year later I asked to be switched to a different doctor within the practice, as I was unwilling to continue seeing him at this point, and I was told that it is against policy. So apparently if you don't like the 1st doctor you see you have to leave and go somewhere else or put up with a doctor that isn't a good fit. This does not seem like best practice to me.

WHERE DO I begin?! Molly is amazingggggg. Molly is great at what she does and I'm so happy she…read moredelivered my baby! I LOVED my experience with all the midwifes. They offer a class once a month for expecting parents which is awesome. I had a natural birth thanks to all of the midwives. My labor and delivery was fast and I had no complications! Molly is inspiring honestly. I love that they are there for you postpartum. This is the best support you can have and they are with you every step of the way. They support any decision you make as far as your birth plan. My whole pregnancy and labor was so positive and I can't thank them enough!

When I found out that our insurance was going to cover 70% of doula coverage, we knew we wanted to…read morefind our doula through Doula Love and that was how we met our amazing doula, Patty. I can write a whole essay about how grateful I am for Patty and maybe it's the hormones but reflecting to the day I gave birth to my son and the support I received from Patty makes me want to cry. On the day of my induction, Patty was with another client who was also going through an induction as well (this is a super rare case). Even though I know she was 100% present with her other client, she constantly checked in with me and reminded me I can reach out to her at any point during my induction process if I have questions or need support. She also set up a backup doula for "just in case" if I needed it. I was already laboring for 14 hours when Patty arrived, and she brought so much energy to the room and got me up and moving so I can dilate more. Patty was super supportive of my plans to do a natural birth but when I told her I was too tired and really wanted to sleep, she was fully supportive of my decision to get the epidural. I had Patty in the room with me during the epidural process and she guided me through the whole process and kept me calm. Once I got the epidural, I was able to rest but the whole time, Patty would help position my body differently so I can continue to open. She was by my side the rest of the night as I contract so my husband can also rest. As labor progress, we were told my son's heart rate was dropping when I contract and the word "c-section" was mentioned since I was only at 6cm dilated. I never mentally prepared for this so of course I started to spiral but Patty advocated for me and requested to our OBGYN team to give me more time to see if I can dilate more. Patty continues to position me differently but, in the end, c-section was the only way to ensure my son's safety. We only had a short time from the time I said "yes" to C-Section to going into the OR and the whole time, Patty was next to me, reassuring me, reminding me that no matter what the outcome will be that I get to meet my son very soon. My husband and I are extremely grateful for Patty. We strongly believe our birth story wouldn't have been so positive if it wasn't for Patty's presence, support, and guidance.

As first time parents, we found the support offered by our doula, Lori, to be exceptional! She met…read morewith us prior to birth, was available leading up to labor and delivery to answer questions, and guided us through one of the most challenging and rewarding times of our lives. She met with us post-partum, listened to the challenges we were navigating, and offered support. We also looked forward to her weekly emails with helpful information to guide us along the way! Additionally, we attended a class on massage and comfort technqiues through Doula Love that we used as we labored at home. We are grateful for Lori and our exceptional experience with Doula Love.

Elizabeth was the midwife present at my delivery. She was awful. She violated my consent and…read moreautonomy. Horrible bedside manner. Felt coerced and violated. I specifically chose midwife care to try to avoid this. As someone with an SA history giving birth with Elizabeth was incredibly re-traumatizing. Pregnant again and hoping for such a different experience, definitely not with DHMC. Any mom reading this should avoid her.

Liz is amazing! At every appointment I had with her she explained everything so well to me and made…read moreme feel super confident and comfortable. I highly recommend seeing a midwife it's incredible! I'm a first time mom and seeing the Legacy midwifes was the best decision my PCP made for me. They took amazing care of me all the way from the beginning to the end. Such a positive experience I had with each and every one of the midwives. Liz has a great personality and very easy to talk to. I saw her from the beginning of my pregnancy up until I got discharged from the hospital after delivering. She informed me of so much. Thank you Liz!