My wife and I hired Kate to be the doula for the birth of our daughter in March of 2013, and I…read morecannot recommend her enough. We first met with Kate during my wife's second trimester, still unsure if we wanted to hire a doula (and, for my part, unsure of what exactly a doula did!). Our doubts were completely put to rest from the very first meeting. Kate exudes a sense of calm and competence, and answered all of our (probably lame) questions respectfully and intelligently. From the beginning, Kate was most interested in helping us to have the kind of birth experience that we wanted, rather than imposing her views or preferences on us. From our experience, her approach is as hands-off or hands-on as the parents or partners want, though she was constantly supportive and encouraging, and full of resources. We took Kate's Healthy Childbirth classes as well, and I would highly recommend these. Over three weeks, Kate gave us a great sense of what to expect from the birth experience, as well as strategies for coping with unexpected contingencies. By the end, I felt I knew what we could ask of each other and the baby, as well as what to expect from the hospital birth experience. She helped us negotiate the fraught politics of childbirth in a non-judgmental, accepting, and highly-knowedgable way. As we approached the birth, I knew that Kate would be supportive no matter what we decided to do, and prepared to guide us through any crisis. My wife's labor and birth experience were difficult. She labored for over forty hours, and at the end the baby was delivered via emergency C-section. Although because of the surgery Kate wasn't able to be with us during the birth itself, she was a great source of support and calm during the labor and afterward, as my wife recovered from the surgery. It was immensely reassuring to know that we had someone present who could be our advocate, should we need it. Although we never needed Kate to act on our behalf, it was immensely calming to know that she was there, and to trust that our best interests were in good hands. If we have another baby, we will definitely hire Kate again.

I think it's safe to say that I (or my husband) wouldn't have made it through a natural labor…read morewithout Kate's calming presence. If and when baby #2 comes along, I will definitely give Kate a call.

I wish I could rate Erin Kershaw 10 stars! I have been a client of Erin's for 4 births now and I…read morecan say that her quality of care, professionalism and knowledge is excellent! Erin has always been encouraging and supportive as we have had 4 home births with her as well as a few miscarriages. She has always taken the time to answer questions, reassure me throughout the pregnancies (this most recent birth I was 46 years old and nervous about my age). I would highly recommend Erin to anyone desiring a highly educated, skilled and caring midwife to deliver their baby. Erin is the best! -Chrissie Lockman

I had a traumatic time working with Erin in 2021. It was my first pregnancy and things were going…read morewell at first. In the second trimester, she started mentioning that my blood pressure was elevated. I looked up standards online and it was not yet elevated, so this seemed more precautionary at this point. She kept mentioning that every single appointment. I started to feel extremely anxious going into her office. I was terrified of being risked out and I felt very helpless because I had already paid the majority of the agreed upon payment, so I couldn't transfer to someone else. Around 30 weeks is when things took a turn for the worse. I was panicking about appointments at this point, which of course would give an elevated reading. However, it was when she checked my fundal height and implied that I have gestational diabetes, without doing any testing, that really drew the line. At that point, the only testing I've had was A1C at the beginning and it was borderline pre-diabetes, so based off of that and her checking fundal height, she was asking for a growth scan with no other testing. I was not offered to check my sugars with a glucose monitor, no fasting sugar test, no 1 or 3 hour test, nothing, but her hunch. This also happened at the appointment after I made my final payment to her. At this point I stopped going to her because the anxiety I had was causing me too much stress. Feeling like you will be risked every single appointment based off of hunches made me feel so helpless. She never offered for me to check my blood pressure at home. She never offered anything except what I suspect is discrimination towards my weight. She assumed my higher weight meant health issues, and I guess it was too much liability for her. But, she had no problem keeping everything I paid her. I've worked with other midwives since and they know about this situation and to this day I am measuring BP at home because doing it in office brings up a lot of this for me anxious. That's why I called this experience traumatic, it truly was for me. To make things even worse, when I was giving birth at the hospital, she transferred records and in her records had but that I have hypertension and gestational diabetes, which led to extra testing to my baby. The hospital was shocked by both of those records because my BP was perfect during birth and my and my babies sugars were perfect as well. They wondered after the fact why it even said that. So not only did she risk me out for refusing a growth scan, she then sent false records based off of her hunches to a medical facility. The hypertension part I can understand bc of the readings in office (they never actually reached 140, which is the diagnosis for hypertension), but to say I have GD with zero testing to a hospital, as a "natural" midwife, is just beyond anything imaginable. I've gone on to have a successful home birth with wonderful midwives who actually cared about me and my wellbeing. They never assumed anything about my weight, they gave me tons of options for testing to make sure we have a full picture of my health. They never made me feel like I would get risked out. If anything was every wrong, we talked about it extensively, including what to do to help the situation (iron). If you look at Erin's website, you will find zero photos of anyone who is at a higher weight. She did not have to agree to work with me. I chose her because she claimed to be inclusive. This was a lie that cost me emotionally, financially and ruined my first birth being a home birth. I'm happy to provide proof of working together through email correspondence and receipts.

I delivered my son naturally at the BirthCenter and I could not have done it…read morewithout care and attention of my nurse and midwife. I had a very intense and fast labor and they were with me every step of the way. My first birth experience was very long and horrible in a hospital setting. However, this time around I felt in control and empowered to deliver without medical intervention. I delivered my son on the toilet and into a room full of love. Thanks Lifecycle!

I transferred my care from an ob to Lifecycle because I knew people who had delivered here. I…read moredidn't want to feel like my pregnancy/birth was just something that happened to me. Throughout my journey I appreciated their patient education, empowerment, and support so I could make informed decisions about my care. I like that my prenatal visits were longer than I could expect with an ob and that they provided a binder for me to bring with assigned homework each visit. Rather than having a "birth plan" (because they usually don't go as planned anyway) we were encouraged to think about our hopes and dreams. Everyone I've met here from the nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, lactation consultants, the clinical director, etc. have all been wonderful to me and if I could do it all over again I would have become a patient here sooner. I had many questions along the way so I'm going to be detailed here so others may know what to expect. Before you can become a patient here you have to attend a seminar to learn more about their midwifery model of care, the differences between a birth in their suites vs. at Bryn Mawr Hospital nearby (you can plan to deliver there or there may be reasons you are transferred there the day of, the nurse midwife on call has the clearance to deliver there), postpartum care, and next steps to become a patient. After attending the seminar, I had to sign a medical release forms to have my records transferred from my previous provider before I could schedule any appointments. They have two locations (Bryn Mawr and South Philly) and prenatal visits could be with the same provider or different providers. The first prenatal visit is longer and billed separately while the rest of the appointments are billed to insurance together under their global plan after delivery (not after each appointment). During my regular prenatal visits they measured my fundal height and would feel my bump for the baby's position while estimating weight (they were pretty good at that)! I had to pay for lab tests and non-stress tests separately. While I had to do my formal ultrasounds elsewhere, they had the equipment to do informal ultrasounds just to check on the health of the baby and seemed to be training their staff to do these more. I was required to schedule several classes to prepare for childbirth (series of 4 classes), about lactation essentials, and about navigating your first days at home after birth. The instructors really encourage asking questions and participation, so it was helpful to have this intimate space for that. The dates and cost of these classes are available on their site but you can't schedule them until you're confirmed as a patient. After your delivery they will follow up with you (home visit if you delivered at the birth center or phone call if you delivered at the hospital). There will be a 6-weeks postpartum visit to examine you and make sure your body is recovering but also to check on your mental health (so necessary and important)! They also have weekly lactation support and new parent support groups that were happening on Zoom, I think they are also now offering in-person options too. I could tell from the session I went to that the other families really found this space helpful and were wanting to offer encouragement to newer parents like me while sharing about their knowledge/experience. Cara, one of the lactation consultants, facilitates the virtual groups and is amazing! I hope all this information helps anyone who is considering becoming a Lifecycle patient because the last thing a pregnant woman should have to worry about is the quality of care she is receiving.

Kathy Hindle delivered my last two children. She is extremely nice, gentle and patient. She…read moreunderstood that I wanted to have my kids naturally, but still at the hospital and she didn't push for a homebirth. Although she definitely believes less is more, in regards to tests and medication, she did not push her beliefs on me. Luckily, we both agreed on this. During the 1st delivery, she was there 100% and helped me through a terribly painful backlabor without the use of drugs. Her follow up care was great. All my kids found her to be nice and felt comfortable with her, as did I. If I were to have another child, I'd definitely go back to Kathy.

I asked Kathy how many babies she has delivered in her 30+ years practicing as a nurse midwife…read more Her answer is thousands. That's enough to populate my entire town That experience was very obvious in her care of my wife. She made my wife very comfortable during the home birth and throughout our periodic visits to her office. The level of care and encouragement through labor was exceptional. We have the utmost confidence in her midwife skills and will use her again if we have more kids. Her nursing assistant, Allison, was equally as exceptional during labor. If anyone wants more feedback on Kathy, please message me through Yelp.

I found the birth center when I was around 32 weeks pregnant with my first child and was worried it…read morewould be too late for them to take me and luckily they got me right in! They took their time with my appointments and made sure i was good. I ended up giving birth in July of 2023 and it went sooo smoothly. I had a water birth in the blue room and i couldn't have asked for a better birthing experience. Would definitely recommend!

Absolutely recommended the birth center for unmedicated physiological labor and delivery…read more Appointments were easy to schedule and thorough. Staff were all friendly and it felt like family by the time i went into labor. I had a beautiful and peaceful hands-off labor in which midwives followed my lead and allowed me to birth my baby how i felt best. They still do routine tests, write ultrasound scripts, offer pitocin if needed, they do the newborn screening and eye ointment if wanted. Theyre holistic and believe in every woman but also rooted in modern medicine. They did all my labwork onsite. The day of labor they received me with warm smiles and i went home 5 hours after delivery. Absolutely wonderful crew who know how amazing and empowering birth can be

Katie is amazing! I wish every mother had access to her. She helped me with both my sons and also…read morecountless other women I know found her as indispensable as I have. Even if you think things are going fine she is a great resource. And if they are not contact her ASAP! There are so many things about Breastfeeding that you may not know and there are also a lot of myths. Most importantly she will help you do what's best for you and your baby no matter what your situation may be.

I recommend Katie to all of my pregnant friends, they usually don't know that a lactation…read moreconsultant is a thing. Her breastfeeding class and pre-natal consultation were super helpful, I took the pumping mamas blueprint e-course she offers and honestly, that knowledge gained was the key to my success. Katie is really intense in her support and you can tell she has been a force for good for women during their breastfeeding low-points. If you're a new mom check out her breastfeeding support group at the Birth Center.

Finding suitable midwifery isn't an easy task and we quickly learned this while searching for…read moresomeone locally that met our needs. While we won't bore you with those details, we'll just say Asasiya more than exceeded our expectations! In our case (nearly 40yrs old; considered a "geriatric high-risk pregnancy") we had the luxury of truly comparing the care of traditional practices (follow-ups with an OBGYN) with Asasiya at Inner Circle Midwifery. Asasiya's clearly surpassed them by leaps and bounds! The contrast between the two were completely "night and day". Meetings with Asasiya were personable, relatable and educational. You can tell she cared. She listened and acknowledged our wants and needs. She is very attentive and calculated in her approach but not at all stuffy. She is extremely relaxed and down to earth but overall, a complete professional! Office visits, for us, lasted nearly an hour minimum and we appreciated every minute of it. Office visits at the OBGYN were rushed and we felt like just another number. On the other hand, Asasiya was interested in getting to know us! She studied our vibe! In fact, our first consult was a meeting to not only learn if she was right for us but for her to deduct if we were the kind of clients she wanted to take on. It was tactfully done. We appreciated her honesty; letting us know that she had to ensure we were right for her. At that point we knew it wasn't about the money! Midwifery more than an job for Asasiya. She takes it very seriously. During our 6-month journey she was in constant seminars to learn more about midwifery as things are constantly being updated in that field. We also learned she doesn't overbook herself! She's able to provide and almost guarantee the proper individualized care you'd need on your due date. With that said, she was always on time and adhered to the plans and schedules we agreed upon. The one time she was "late"; she wasn't lol. She was attending to the needs of a mother who called her frantically. At the time we were walking in as she was running out. In passing she said, "I have to help a mother who needs me! Have a seat, I'll be right back!" Seeing her do this was comforting because if we were in that same position we trusted she would come running for us too. In the interim, she called to ensure we were okay and had someone from her team stop by to keep us company (who arrived in 10 mins) which just so happened to later become our Doula. It's safe to say Asasiya has a huge network of resources. Doulas, Photographers and even support groups who also house birthing classes and support groups if needed. She suggests a lot for you but none of it is forced upon you. She asks nothing of you that isn't beneficial to the baby and parents. She believes the well-being of the baby has everything to do with the ones caring for the baby. She suggested some amazing tips that really helped us along on our journey. On our day of birth, we called her at 3:30AM and she answered on the second ring. Before we knew it she was at our front door with an oxygen tank, blood pressure cuff and all the birthing necessities on hand. Prior to that, for months, we'd meet weekly and by this time, she and her team had become "family". They already knew our home and immediately sprang into action. Everything was perfect! Having a college student and comparing this 2019 birth to the one in 2000, we only wished we were open to midwifery as an option (only problem is we would've needed Asasiya lol). We truly believe it was her who made ALL the difference. During birthing class, we learned it's unnatural to lie on you back to give birth. That position contributes to a lot of the pain and hospitals demand you lay down and not eat/drink. Their methods are contradictory to natural child birth. They have more restrictions than being at home would ever have. Imagine being home in the vibe you create; eating what you want, walking if you need to, enjoy YOUR OWN BED (watching a little "Martin" lol) and comforted knowing your baby isn't taken out of your sight. Women's bodies naturally tell you how to position yourself. It knows what's most comfortable, and it will literally contract to allow your baby to birth itself. We followed everything we learned, and it made birthing a breeze. Labor was 2hrs for us! It began with being mentally right, proper eating, managing blood pressures and then practicing the proper techniques to get the child in place for their big arrival. All the suggested birthing necessities were gathered and ready to go and so were we! If God allows, we would do this all over again, the same exact way! Asasiya is now our family, our friend and midwife - FOR LIFE! Like we said, Asasiya and her team MORE THAN EXCEEDED our expectations! We 100% recommend her services.

From the owner: Inner Circle is proud to be the first and only community-based midwifery practice in Greater…read morePhiladelphia to have its own in-house network of trusted doulas! As labor coaches, doulas help to ensure that you have the comfort and support that you need to deal with the intensity of the birthing process. There are many wonderful doulas in our area but we have helped narrow down your options by choosing a few that we find to be among the most qualified. We deeply value the role and skills that doulas bring to the birth team, therefore we have integrated this service into our practice as a measure of quality care and convenience.

Ann-Marie delivered my second child and she allowed me to assist. Best experiance of my life.read more