After reading Shannon's beautiful and transformative book Born Far From Home, I felt so drawn to…read morehaving a homebirth. I loved reading about Shannon's journey to Islam and birth work, and how her faith and spirituality intertwined with her midwifery care. I also enjoyed reading the compelling birth stories and the beautiful way in which she writes about birth. I especially felt connected to her book as a Muslim woman who was curious about homebirth, but wasn't sure if it was for me. Once I finished the book and had my first appointment with Shannon I felt confident, reassured, and excited about having a homebirth for my first baby. Since the start of my prenatal care with Shannon, I felt so comforted by the amount of time and personalized care she dedicated to us by listening to our concerns, answering our many questions, and providing the guidance we needed during this special time in our life. Her level of knowledge and expertise combined with her warm and comforting presence brought us ease during such a delicate time. I also have the same great things to say about Tara who was the second midwife to be present at the birth and meet with us for the postpartum appointments. Tara also has such a warm, beautiful, and comforting spirit and has been such a pleasure to meet with. When expressing the troubles I have with breast feeding, she has been so sweet and reassuring and I really appreciate the level of care she not only provides for our baby, but to me. I feel so fortunate and blessed to have had a successful and empowering homebirth with the utmost care and support from Shannon and Tara and I highly recommend them. I am so grateful to have been in their care.

I don't have enough good things to say about Shannon and her business. She was absolutely…read moreincredible from start to finish. From the very first phone call I felt so comfortable and genuinely heard. She took the time to answer every question and listen to my previous birth story and never made me feel rushed. She listened with understanding and compassion and for the first time I truly felt like a care provider was really listening to me. For my first birth, I had a typical hospital birth with a typical OB. Although I did not have a traumatic experience, I wanted something different for my second time around. I found Shannon and it truly was a blessing. The level of care and attention to detail was above and beyond anything I had experienced before. When the day came to give birth, having her there made me feel so safe supported and empowered. If I was ever to do this again, I would not hesitate to use Shannon and her team and have another home birth. It truly was a defining experience and something that I believe that all women should be able to experience. If you're looking for a quality Midwife service that treats you like family and truly listens to you look no further. I cannot recommend Shannon enough!

Had my second baby at Pacifica recently, and want to double down on my review from 2023. It's still…read morean amazing place run by wonderful, caring people. I feel grateful to have had access to it. I wish for this model of perinatal care to become widespread some day. Looking forward to bringing my bebes here when they grow up so they can meet Cindy and see the room (and magical tub!) where they were born.

I loved my experience with Pacifica, and I can't thank the midwives enough for their deep level of…read morecare throughout my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I felt supported, safe, and connected throughout, and my baby and I had a beautiful birth surrounded and held by their team. When I first got pregnant, I started out seeing an OB. In the medical system, the visits were short and perfunctory. I felt like I was checking off boxes on their end, and not getting any value or support. When we switched to Pacifica care, the difference was immediate and apparent to both myself and my partner. They cared about how my partner and I were doing mentally, emotionally, and physically, and provided holistic advice whenever we had to make decisions for the baby. Having a natural birth was challenging but such an amazing experience, and I can't imagine having done it without the midwives or in an environment that felt super familiar, homey, and safe. Thank you Cindy, Audrey, Tracy, Evaly, Esther for your love and care bringing our baby into this world.

I'm currently 7 weeks postpartum and I miss our visits with Michelle and her team so very much. My…read morepartner and I were undecided about where we'd give birth. We had an uncomplicated home birth with my daughter and another midwife 4 years before. Now, at the age of 43, I felt it might make more sense to have our second child in a hospital. I feared I'd have more complications. After sitting with it for some time, my chiropractor gave me the referral for Michelle Borok's midwifery services. When I met Michelle I went from being unsure about where we'd give birth to an absolute whole body yes to a home birth. My husband felt the same. We're so glad we chose Michelle as our midwife. I've worked in health care throughout the Bay Area for over 15 years, Michelle is a unique blend of warmth and professionalism. She is direct, transparent, honest, clear, wise, and knowledgeable. She's truly a gem! We would work with Michelle again if we were ever to have another child. Michelle was a grounding force that guided me through my fears. Every prenatal appointment we left her home feeling secure, loving, and afloat on that pink pregnancy cloud every person and partnership deserves to tap in to. Thank you from the depths of our hearts, Michelle, for ushering our sweet child Earth side.

I received prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care from Michelle for my homebirth…read moreexperience in 2014. I continue to see her for annual exams because she'll come to my home and I can wear my own clothes. This provides me a whole other level of comfort that I didn't get during my anxiety-inducing check-ups at traditional medical offices. I had a hospital experience with my first child that was without complications, but wasn't the culture or environment that I truly wanted. My second pregnancy was low-risk and I was much more confident about birth that I sought out a midwife. Michelle taught me so much about pregnancy, my body, nutrition, and beyond. She helped me make better, more authentic decisions for myself and new baby. I still benefit from her lessons to this day. She is warm, takes her time, and considers my whole self (holistically) when giving advice. I cannot recommend her enough. She's someone you'll want on your team for the rest of your life.

I don't think words can truly describe how amazing this woman is. Charlee is such an amazing person…read morefirst and foremost. I had the pleasure and honor to get to work with her for not one of my babies, but two of them. I had given birth January 2023, she came to our house for every appointment. She listened to all of our concerns. She was so thorough and in depth. Never missing a single thing during any appointment. We Explained to her that we wanted something to where we could be the most hands-on during our birth, and that is exactly what we got. Throughout the entire pregnancy, she educated us. Answering all of my questions. She is so funny, but also extremely professional and truly just a joy to get to work with. When I went into labor, she was there a heartbeat more ready than we were we were taking our time we had two other kids lol. She always asked for permission before doing anything. I felt like I was being treated like a queen. After giving birth, she was so accommodating so attentive. She came to do checks on myself and the baby she always asked before even touching the baby. She respects everybody boundaries. I got the honor to become her friend and kept in contact giving her updates on our baby that she helped bring into this world. Then we got pregnant again and knew that we wanted to have a free birth. But we still knew that we wanted prenatal care and we only knew of one place we wanted to go to get that.. Charlee helped guide us to make sure that we got our blood work done during pregnancy, our anatomy scan, and even made sure that baby was headed down a few weeks before giving birth. Unfortunately, we were moving to Texas to give birth, so there was no way for her to be our midwife. But she helped us by making sure we had a healthy pregnancy the entire way. We made it to full-term and gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. After giving birth, though my placenta was being a little stubborn. I gave Charlee a call on FaceTime and she picked up it was a little late into the evening and she still answered! (That's because she's truly that awesome) she helped by simply telling me to stand up and cough and sure enough that did the trick! Talk about being such an amazing midwife over the phone in a whole other state. The financial aspect of it all she works with you. Some people are concerned that they want to have a homebirth with the midwife, but they can't afford it. She can come up with a payment plan for you and let me tell you 100% worth it with Charlee , if you were to invest your money anywhere for the birth of your baby every single time I would put my money into Charlee. The medical aspect of it all let me tell you when you see the bag that she brings to every appointment. She is ready for the impossible. I swear she's got like a mini hospital in that bag. The all natural aspect if you are somebody who is trying to avoid as much medical stuff as possible, she's also your go to woman. She will give you different stretches and things you can do to avoid medication pain relief etc The overall aspect of Charlee as a midwife is, she's the woman you want to go to . She's the one you want on your team. I'm so lucky that I get to share this intimate photo of my most recent birth just to show how amazing she is and how much she cares about her past, current, and future clients. Thank you so much, Charlee for everything you've done for me and my family . Words truly just don't express how amazing you are not only as a midwife, but as a person.

This is my second birth, but my first being a home birth. I didn't know what to expect but felt…read moresupport since the beginning to the end. Charlee is nothing but incredible in the care she provides and lets natural really take its course, very through, nurturing, trusting, and takes her time with you through the whole journey. I do have to pay out of pocket, but it's worth every penny for the experience. My toddler who was 23 months at the time was able to witness her little sister being born, and i strongly believe to this day, it's the reason why she's so in love with her sister. My husband even got to catch our baby with his hands, that's something you can't always say happen. The whole experience is what made it worth it, Charlee is the experience. My pregnancy, labor, and delivery were all smooth and calm, not once did i feel stressed. I even had a scare with some bleeding, but Charlee made sure i got all i needed for piece of mind, and getting checked out. I keep telling everyone how amazing it all was and i will be doing my next birth with Charlee, she's family. I highly recommend, if you can do a home birth, it is a must do, & Charlee & her team are the ones to do it with. Thank you for the amazing care, journey, and the experience you gave to my family and i, there aren't words to express how grateful we are, all great things to feel and say.

I sought out Lindy for my second pregnancy because of a less-than-ideal birth experience with our…read morefirst baby (at a different hospital in the Bay Area, not at Alta Bates). With our first, I had a long labor and the OB, midwife, and L&D nurse were not in agreement about how to manage it. The OB was pushing for a C-section, which I ended up not needing. The experience of being caught between providers was stressful and made me wonder if I might have ended up with an unnecessary surgery had I not happened to have that midwife and nurse advocating for me. With baby #2 I felt so much better being in Lindy's care. She is passionate about the mother's wellbeing alongside the health of the baby, so I felt genuinely cared for in every prenatal visit, during labor & delivery, and throughout my hospital stay. She provided holistic care at every check-up, focused not just on physical health but also on mental and emotional wellbeing. In between our visits, if issues came up I could (and did) call or email her with a whole range of questions -- from how to handle shortness of breath to medication safety during pregnancy, to how to think about postpartum support systems. As I approached my due date she also gave me a bunch of practical tips on how to get better sleep with a newborn and insisted that my partner join some of our visits so that we would all be on the same page. The labor and delivery experience with Lindy was in stark contrast to my first one. When I went into labor Lindy met us at the hospital and already had a room ready for us so we didn't have to wait around in triage. There was no back and forth between providers because it was clear that Lindy was in charge, which gave us a lot of comfort. The process was also a lot less restrictive and invasive -- no continuous monitoring, no dilation checks (which of course may vary depending on your situation). Lindy is a legend in the East Bay midwife world. She pioneered the model of private practice midwifery with hospital-based delivery in the East Bay, and she personally trained many of the private midwives in the area. I loved my experience as a patient in her care and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity.

Lindy delivered our baby this past August and we are extremely happy to have had her throughout the…read morewhole process. Being our first child we were very nervous about the whole process, but Lindy made us feel reassured with her knowledge and experience. She took the time to explain everything we needed/wanted to know and gave us tools we needed to be confident in delivery and postpartum. Our baby is happy and healthy and we are extremely grateful for Lindy's guidance through it all. Thanks Lindy!! - Mitchell and Kim

Amanda was our midwife for our second child and we had a better experience than we could have…read moreimagined. We used east bay midwives for prenatal care, home birth and post natal care. Amanda brought both experienced midwifery care (our son was her 314th birth!) and a strong level of personal care. She is a birth worker that truly loves what she does, is incredibly skilled in her work, and has a deep sense of care for the mothers, families, and babies she works with. We were so impressed by how supported we felt during the entire pregnancy, birth, and post partum period. I truly wish every mother could receive midwifery care as exceptional as east bay midwives. We also had excellent experience with Grace and Sophia- the team that Amanda works with are also amazing birth workers. I highly recommend east bay midwives to someone that wants a safe, supported home birth with experienced and loving help!

Had the home birth of my dreams; Amanda was with me starting 10 weeks gestation. She helped me…read moreovercome my worries, carried my troubles and showed up for me even during her own maternity leave. She was committed, confident and graceful. Amanda was excited for my birth and respected what I needed. From pregnancy, labor and delivery to postpartum; she showed me how the right care can make the world of a difference in one of the most powerful, challenging and vulnerable times. What an amazing way to bring life into the world.

Being under the care of Collective Birth was one of the highlights of my pregnancy and birth. Aimée…read moreand Jas walked beside us with so much care, humor, and respect through every physical and emotional shift. They listened deeply, answered every question, made space for all feelings--from "I hate being pregnant" to "I feel like a goddess"! Appointments were unhurried, thoughtful, and deeply personal. They were always available by text, email, or phone, and quickly understood how best to support me. They cared not only about my physical well-being, but also about the emotional journey my partner and I were on. No matter what your intentions or hopes are for your birth, they will meet you there and support you fully, without judgment. On the day of our daughter Aurora's birth, Aimée and Jas brought an incredible combination of patience, expertise, and calm. They turned every possible stone to support a vaginal birth and saved me and my baby from a C-section. My partner was able to receive our baby himself, an experience we will cherish forever. I will never forget their genuine joy when Aurora finally arrived after a long and challenging labor. In one of the most vulnerable moments of our lives, they made us feel safe, supported, and deeply cared for. By the end of our journey, they felt like family. We left every appointment grateful we had chosen them, and we miss our visits dearly. I cannot imagine having gone through pregnancy and birth with anyone else, and I would choose them again without hesitation. I would wholeheartedly recommend Collective Birth to first-time parents, seasoned parents, and anyone looking for deeply personalized, compassionate, and empowering care. --Cami, Zach, and Aurora

We welcomed our third child 6 weeks ago and could not have asked for a better prenatal and birthing…read moreexperience than we had. We credit so much of that to the care we received from Flo, Jasmine, and Aimée. I can not recommend them highly enough. For context, I delivered at 44 years old with an IVF pregnancy. From the get go we felt in such good hands. In approaching the care of mom, they make space for the whole person (and the the partner/family experience). At each appointment my husband and I felt heard and seen as we moved through the process. They ask questions and listen deeply. They tend to not just your physical state but your emotions - your head, heart, and soul. This was critical in healing from the trauma of our second birthing experience and making space for a different kind of experience. Their care is based in expertise, research, data, and professional experience and they also leave room for our primal knowledge and intuition. This allowed us to trust my body while also having medical experts alongside us. A month before our child was due, my father died. This was an unexpected emotional wave at an already emotional time, and they held space for me to process and integrate this grief into the final weeks of pregnancy and labor. Our delivery experience was exactly what we hoped for - and I know how rare that is having had two previous experiences that did no go as we had hoped. Flo, Jasmine, and Aimée are an incredible team who helped us manifest a safe and healing delivery. (Some background: Our second child was born during the depths of the pandemic. We had a stressful pregnancy and a traumatic birthing and immediate postnatal experience, during which we received subpar care from a team of doctors. Coming into this third pregnancy we were intent on having a different experience, hence choosing midwifery care. After interviewing two different teams of midwifes we chose Collective Birth.)

Gingi supported my prenatal and postpartum healing journey -- helping both myself and my 8 week old…read morebaby. I attended her womb movement class while pregnant and absolutely love it! She was also incredibly knowledgeable about breastfeeding and newborn care to reduce gassiness and offered the most amazing body massage afterwards! She validated my experiences as a new mother and created a very comfortable and safe space for me. I look forward to working with her again and highly recommend her services!

VBAC/HBAC success story!…read more As a second-time mom, I knew I wanted my birth experience to be drastically different than my first. I lived in New Jersey when we found out we were pregnant, so I started looking for midwives and OBs out there. I could not find someone who felt right for me. Some wouldn't listen/validate my concerns, others were asking over $10K out-of-pocket up front. As a result, I didn't feel comfortable having any prenatal care at all for the first 30 weeks. Fast forward, my husband got a job in the Bay Area. We were eager to find prenatal care that I felt right about upon moving here. I researched midwives and found Gingi's website. I reached out. We chatted on the phone so she could get an idea of my previous birth and I could ask her some initial questions, and we agreed to meet. I kept researching other midwives, but as soon as I met Gingi, I knew she was the one. The search was over and I had finally found a care provider that I felt confident with. This is so key for an expecting mother. Confidence and trust in your care provider is crucial to obtaining the birth you desire. I could not have had the natural home birth I desired if Gingi Allen wasn't my midwife. God led me to her. She was attentive, caring, and so wise. When my labs showed low iron, she recommended natural ways of increasing my levels. It worked. When we found out my son was breech at 36 weeks, she recommended ways we could flip him. He flipped naturally. My husband was working nights 80 hours a week, I was chasing my 18-month old toddler around, working from home full-time, and unpacking from the move. She reminded me to slow down, reflect, meditate, pause. She really looked at my health from a holistic perspective. Because of her recommendations, I have a fantastic acupuncturist, osteopath and massage therapist. The team she assembled for me was amazing. She was approaching maternity leave herself, and made sure that Grace Bender, her fellow CNM, was there to attend to me postpartum. She was amazing and also at my birth. Kai, her apprentice, was fantastic, and conducted my bone closing ceremony postpartum. During my birth, Gingi really encouraged me to listen to my body. I asked her questions, like "should I push now?" LOL and she would say, "What is your body telling you to do?" She was so patient with me. Listen, my birth, from prodromal labor in the beginning to pushing at the end, was literally a total of 48 hours. She never wavered. She never said, "Well, if x, y or z doesn't happen in this timeframe, then we'll have to.....blah blah blah" That's usually what a woman hears before their care provider deviates from the birth plan. That never happened with Gingi. I loved that she didn't tell me how dilated I was. That was something triggering for me, since I stalled at 9 cm with my first son before I had the C-section. That's not even something I asked Gingi to refrain from doing. She just KNEW that dilating to 10cm was something I was concerned wouldn't happen, so she didn't allow me to worry about it during birth. I'm telling you, this woman's instincts are SUPERB. Trust me when I say, Gingi is the midwife YOU WANT AND NEED. I could not have birthed my beautiful 9lb, 11 oz son at home , after a previous C-section, if I didn't have Gingi. A comment my last midwife made (with my first son), was that my son was "big" which is why I stalled. He was 8 lbs, 12 oz. So literally my second son was almost a FULL POUND LARGER, and I had him at home, COMPLETELY NATURAL. I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT WITHOUT GINGI! She is amazing. Just hire her already. You'll be thrilled you did. I was only under her care from weeks 30-40 and still had the most amazing prenatal care experience. My postpartum care, first with her and then, Grace, was crucial to my recovery. I had PPD the first time, but not this time! Gingi Allen will do everything she can to ensure all women in her care have an amazing prenatal care and birth experience. As you can tell, I highly recommend.

Eva, amazing, Eva! I am a midwife myself and my husband is a Nurse Practitioner - we chose Eva as…read moreour midwife because she not just listens but also hears what you are saying, she is very informed and professional and up to date on the latest research and guidelines regarding birth, and we felt we could completely trust her in an emergency (my husband used to work in the Emergency Department so this was a very big deal to him of course)! She also speaks fluent Spanish which is great! Throughout our prenatal care Eva was competent, available and understanding. She was a source of great resources (chiropractics, homebirth classes, birth tub etc). She also helped me tremendously with nutrition and supplements. Even as a midwife, she taught me many things I did not know myself. My water released a LONG 66 hours before my baby was born and Eva came over every morning and evening with not only a plan, but herbs and homeopathy and a bunch of tricks in her bag to get things going. Anytime I needed to reach her she was available. And when things finally got going everything went SO quickly my labor was probably 2-3 hours total and between contractions I definitely was impressed with how quickly she set up all of her equipment, including her emergency gear, but also attended to me with her lovely calm and caring manner that I so admire. The birth was the most amazing experience, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. I truly felt my protected, attended to, and respected in the deepest sense. We all had such a wonderful time complete with champagne toast to the birthday boy! We didn't anticipate that we would also come to love Eva for her amazing postpartum care. Compared to the birth breastfeeding was extremely challenging for me. Eva helped me so much through this and the postpartum process. Compared to the one 6 week visit you have with a hospital based clinic, you have many many visits postpartum with Eva. This was amazing, because as new parents, we truly trusted her advice and guidance and really NEEDED support more than ever at this time. I also had the wonderful opportunity to watch Eva attend a good friend's homebirth and again she was calm and collected, knowledgeable and caring, quick and steady, alert yet sensitive - all qualities very important for her work! Eva pours her heart and soul into her work which shines through in the caring and committed relationships she forms with her clients. She is one of the most positive people I've ever met and was definitely "called" to the field of midwifery.

Absolutely the best birthing experience I've witnessed with the best genuine care a professional…read moreand experienced midwife can offer. Please note that my review is based not as a mother laboring for the birth of her child, but as a support person, guiding the laboring mother. Eva demonstrated the most gentle, comprehensive, and trusting care you need in order to trust a midwife with the delivery of your baby. Throughout the entire birthing process, way before the delivery date, Eva continued to prepare and mentor both my friend, her husband, and I on what to expect. During delivery, Eva was calm and proved to be one of the driving forces for my friend's perfect delivery. She is absoultely what I envision an excellent midwife to be.