Hiring Marlene and Kaleem was the best decision I could have made when I found out I was pregnant. They gave us the most incredible and loving care before, during and after our homebirth. They are insanely knowledgeable, calm, reassuring, experienced, loving....I could go on and on! I had an amazing and uncomplicated pregnancy, a powerful birth experience and a happy healthy baby girl and I know I have them to thank for that! Even my husband was thoroughly impressed with their care and he is very hard to impress!! These two wonderful midwives truly offer the best care a woman (and the whole family) could receive and they are worth so much more than what they charge. I could have had my entire birth paid for if I had seen a Dr and delivered at the hospital, but these two are worth every penny. We always felt special and never rushed at our appointments. They always made sure to tell us about all the options and helped us weigh the pros and cons of all the testing and procedures that come along with pregnancy. They always had perfect answers to my questions and their suggestions were always spot on. Everything they ever suggested that I do worked like a charm and you can really see how much they love what they do and how much they love each and every new baby! Please consider these one of a kind ladies to help you along your pregnancy journey!! You will not be disappointed read more

Natural Childbirth 101 - Born at home, in the water - Midwives Near Me

I LOVE these ladies! Before meeting Marlene and Kaleem I had never thought my dream of birthing at home would really come true. I was a little nervous at first but they were very reassuring that my body was meant to do this and as long as I had a normal pregnancy there should be no reason I could not delivery my child at home safely. Every visit with them was great and they always made us feel like we were one of their own children. They were always both very positive and uplifting. The day my daughter was born I don't know how I would have made it without my husband and the midwives help. The after care they provided was exceptional and I couldn't have imagined anything better!! I had some troubles with nursing right after my baby was born and it didn't matter what time of day it was; they were ready to come to me or would make time for me to see them no matter what. I would highly recommend One Heart for any woman who is even considering a home birth. To those of you who think we are all granolas and this would never be something for you, think again. It's one of the most amazing experiences you will ever have. Yes, of course there may be pain, but it's a pain that will end and you will never feel the high of seeing your baby born and knowing that YOU were the one who delivered him/her at any other point in your life. I once thought people like who I have become were crazy nuts, but actually being informed and choosing a safe drug free birth shows strength and courage to make that decision. read more

Marlene and Kaleem are amazing! They make pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum such a great experience. They don't make you feel like you have to do certain procedures, let you make the best decision for your family and are not judgmental about it what so ever. I feel beyond blessed to have had them be my midwives. read more

Natural Childbirth 101 - Marlene and my husband about to weigh our baby boy! - Midwives Near Me

I chose midwifery care for my pregnancy and birth because I wanted the safest and most natural option for for myself and my baby. Marlene and Kaleem provide wonderful, compassionate, knowledgeable care to mothers and babies. read more

Natural Childbirth 101 - Midwives Near Me

Where do I even begin?! We have had 2 home births with Marlene, Kaleem & Christie. We could not have asked for better or more loving care than we received. They each bring their own giftedness to the practice & we always felt loved & heard. They took their time with us at each appointment, listened carefully & were always reassuring. Our first 2 children were born in the hospital & there is just no comparison; our experiences with OneHeart were FAR SUPERIOR. To be seen & known throughout my entire prenatal & postpartum care was such a gift. Our home births went smoothly & were handled with calm professionalism & loving kindness. If you are considering a home birth, or just exploring your options I highly recommend One Heart without reservation!!! read more

Marlene and Kaleem were amazing! I had my daughter with them about 4 years ago. It was the best experience. I previously had a son in a hospital and know there was something better. When I interviewed them they answered all of my questions and made me feel comfortable. They did not ever disregard my feeling or try to force me into something I was not comfortable with. They are always so gentle and kind. Their Midwife in training at the time was Randi and I feel in love with her as well. They absolutely went above and beyond anything I ever expected. I changed as a women in so many ways. They taught so much to carry on in my life I will always be grateful for the experience I had with them. I love them and if I have another little one I will be calling them with out a doubt. read more

I can't say enough positive things about my experience and care with One Heart Midwifery. I absolutely loved my experience Marleen and Kaleem! They both have so much experience that made me and my husband feel so confident with having our first home birth experience with our second child. With my prenatal care and postpartum care, the experience and attention to detail and patience was amazing. I had various needs after my daughter was born and Kaleem was available day and night no matter what, with very fast response time and she never seem bothered, rushed or that she might have other moms to care for as well! I am so thankful for the amount of time/visits she gave me the first two weeks my daughter was born. I would have never experienced that type of care in the hospital. It was such a luxury and restful experience to have our daughter born at home. The home birth was a relatively quick process for us and our daughter was born in less than two hours. She was born a little before 7am and by 10am my husband and I were enjoying coffee and muffins from Whole Foods while cuddling our new baby with new distractions, no hospital setting and in the comfort of our own home. I would highly recommend One Heart Midwifery, you will not be disappointed. Oh yay...They were so fast in processing the insurance claim, that I got reimbursed from my insurance carrier by the time my daughter was two weeks old! Talk about efficient on their part too. I was impressed with that as well. Thank you so much Marleen and Kaleem. I couldn't have been more happy with your care and so thankful that you could help welcome Chole into our family. read more

Marlene and Kaleem helped my wife to deliver our daughter in December, and I cannot express how wonderful they have been before, during, and after the birth. My wife was nervous with this birth because her mother had passed away and we had recently moved to the area. Without the support structure in place she had during her first two pregnancies, she needed to find people who could provide more than simple medical assistance and checkups. Both Marlene and Kaleem have wonderful, different gifts. They have supported our family in many ways and continue to provide a community of mothers for my wife to connect with. In fact, just last week they had a picnic for all the families they have served. It was delightful seeing hundreds of happy families with healthy, active babies and toddlers running around the park. I cannot recommend them more highly. read more

I have worked with these midwives and they are so knowledgeable, professional, welcoming! I can't say enough good things. One of them also does pregnancy and newborn photography, definitely check them out for your pregnancy! read more

Marlene, Kaleem and Christie are wonderful!! I talked to a few midwifes before deciding who to go with and I'm so happy I chose One Heart! Marlene is extremely knowledgeable and they're all very patient and they actually care about their patients. I had a great home birth experience and I felt so comfortable with them there and I will definitely have them as my midwifes again!! read more

I had both my babies at home with 1heartmidwifery, I had a water birth and felt truly supported and cared for, pampered all the way through, loved my prenatal visits which had plenty of time to discuss, learn and ask questions, they have 45 minutes to hour long visits which is completely different from the hospital. They cleaned everything up after the birth, you would have never known there was a birth that just happened in my home, they came to me for all my postpartum's, I never had to leave the comfort of my own home. I felt safe and confident in their care, they have the experience of over 20 years and 1000 births. I would definitely recommend them to my friends and family read more

Marlene & Kaleem are truly the definition of superior care. I have had all three of my children at home with these wonderful women and I could not have asked for more. Everything from education to lactation they are beyond full service. They are friends for life and the connections I've made through them are priceless. read more

I have nothing but positive things to say about Kaleem! I have seen her since about 2 weeks postpartum for breastfeeding issues. Because of Kaleem, I have successfully breastfed my baby who is almost 10 weeks old! This is the first baby I have been able to successfully breastfeed. My other two children were bottle fed, with breast milk, due to breastfeeding issues (Mastitis, Thrush, etc). I haven't had any of those issues, in part due to Kaleem. Because my son was breech, I had to have a c-section. He has just been diagnosed with Torticollis and I will be seeing Kaleen to work on ways to improve his condition and provide him comfort. Thank you, Kaleem, from the bottom of my heart for the excellent care and beautiful spirit you possess. I am forever grateful! read more

Where do I begin? Marlene & Kaleem are angels. They have the most beautiful energy. I always felt my absolute best during and after my prenatal appointments with them. They took their time with me - I never felt rushed and I always felt genuinely cared for. They took notice of my whole person - not just the medical / physical part of me. They cared how I was emotionally, what I needed to talk about, what options I was weighing and would like to discuss. My birth was not what I expected (how can you know what to expect the first time, really?). We ended up transporting to a nearby hospital for my son's delivery. I found myself in a situation I didn't plan for or anticipate. But Marlene was there the whole time. She sat with me on the drive there, eased my transition into L&D, encouraged me during the last moments before delivery and assured me that I could call with any questions we had about the events in the hospital. Their post-natal care was just as exceptional. I very much looked forward to their visits, as I would visits from good friends. In fact, I consider them friends... and mothers. I adore them. They are such blessings to women in this area. Thank you, Marlene & Kaleem. SO MUCH. read more

Marlene, Kaleem and Christie are absolutely amazing. I am so beyond thankful I found them and had them throughout my pregnancy and birth. They made it the experience I dreamed of. Thank you so much. read more

Marlene and Kaleem are the "Michael Jordans" of midwifery! They are a great team, extremely professional, and passionate about home birth. I learned so much about my body and my growing baby and was so excited to have them help me deliver my 3rd child. They are full of wisdom and have seen everything having to do with female care. They teach, support, and embrace everyone and do it with a calm fierce-ness that is one of a kind! They have become my village and I look to them for continuing advice and support. I cannot recommend them enough. Consider yourself lucky if you get to be around these amazing women! They make me want to have more babies just to interact with them! read more

Amazing Ladies! Great Work! Attention to Detail! Homeopathic! Caring! Thoughtful! and the list can keep going.... I never thought i would be the type to want a home birth, but after watching Business of Being Born and meeting with Marlene and Kaleem, I was done with hospitals. I will never do a hospital birth after my wonderful experience at home. The care before my boy arrived and during labor and after labor was exceptional.They are there for you no matter what questions you have, even after your baby is born. The wonderul part is that you have 2 wonderful ladies to take care of you. Double the knowledge, Double the care, and Double the help. They are wonderful at what they do and my boy was their 500th baby. Im prettty sure they know what they do and they are Great at it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Highly Highly Recommend them !!!! read more

We interviewed 3 other midwives in the Sacramento/Roseville area. As soon as we left the interview with Marlene and Kaleem, we knew, they were "the ones." The love and peaceful energy they bring into a room is amazing. Being able to bring my almost 3 year old to my prenatal appointments and having a dedicated playing area which he LOVED was great (we even bought the same play structure he loved it so much). Our first child was born at Sutter Davis with a midwife in the water and while it was a overall good experience with the staff, they got the gender of the baby wrong on the ultrasound, I ended up taking some pain medications, had horrible postpartum depression, could never get the baby the latch/breastfeed etc. I knew I wanted to do everything different with this new baby to avoid feeling like that again. Marlene and Kaleem allowed me to opportunity to do so. As our insurance wouldn't cover home birth (though would cover a hospital birth at $15,000-20,000 more - go figure), we did dual care. I would see Marlene and Kaleem for prenatal care with the plan to home birth, but I also saw the midwives at the hospital based clinic as well, just in case there was a transfer needed. They always took the time to listen to me, my worries and complaints about the issues I was having with the care at the hospital based clinic. I had gestational diabetes and the clinic wanted to put me on medications that could affect the blood sugar of the baby once it was born even though with diet and exercise, I was able to keep my sugars mostly under control, was measuring exactly on target and wasn't gaining excessive weight (only gained about 5 lbs total during pregnancy - once baby was born, found I had actually lost 15 lbs by controlling my diet so well!). They helped calm me down when I would get so frustrated by the medical clinic that I wanted to scream (when the clinic MADE me go to a dietician even though I am a Nurse Practitioner and knew what I needed to do to make changes to my diet - if I didn't go I would be forced to see the "Doctor" or I would not be able to received care at their clinic). We successfully gave birth at home in the water again, with no pain medications and no need for them either. I was much better prepared this time around. Marlene and Kaleem were there to support myself and my husband through the whole process and were wonderful. My husband is someone who worried a lot and since the labor was taking a long time to progress and my water had already broken, he was worried about having to transfer and having a hospital birth and how that would affect me. Kaleem was his own personal therapist that day, reassuring him and talking him through what was normal progression and what to expect if we did have to transfer to the hospital. Marlene was wonderful with preparing us for the actual moment of birth and what we were going to do once the baby arrived. Those 2 ladies are our birthing angels, without a doubt. This birth was the exact opposite of my hospital birth. Our baby came out very calm and relaxed, nursed right away and there was no postpartum depression at all. I attribute this all to being able to birth at home with these 2 marvelous ladies. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to do a home birth! I tease my husband that I want to have another baby just so we can continue to see them on an ongoing basis! read more

I honestly can't say enough good things about Marleen and Kaleem. I had my third baby at home in my bedroom with women who are not only knowledgeable, but caring and kind. My first two births were in hospitals and I was ready to give home birth a try. They were not my first choice, but I wouldn't change my experience for anything. I was apprehensive about their abilities, not for any other reason but that I have a hard time putting full faith into people until I'm totally convinced in them. They were patient and able to easily handle an issue that came up with my son a day after his birth. He was okay, but having a really hard time breathing...I think due to how he was positioned (his little nose was scrunched up making a deep crease between his nose and forehead. I almost took him to the hospital, but called M&K, instead. I was amazed at how gentle they were with him and the simple techniques they used to assist him/us. I know that if I would have taken him to Kaiser, he would have been admitted to the NICU and we probably would have been there for days getting tested for something that was so simple to treat. Great experience and I highly recommend. read more

Everyday I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been led to Marlene & Kaleem of One Heart Midwifery. For years I'd done my homework and knew that the peaceful, respectful, gentle, natural Prenatal Care and Birth experience I wanted for my child, myself, my family, would be at home. Many women come away from birth with unanswered questions and need healing from an experience that was not what they had hoped for. How blessed I was to have found One Heart, and actually had the fortune of experiencing the Pregnancy and Home Birth I had dreamed of. Every woman, child and family deserves to have the Birth Experience that they desire and be able to carry positive memories and wisdom forward to share with the world. Pregnancy and Labor, no matter where or with whom they are shared with, will have its challenges and surprises - mine was not exempt! From Prenatal care, through the rigors of Birth, the highs and lows of Post Partum, Marlene and Kaleem were everything I could have hoped for in a Midwife, a support on my journey into Motherhood: They were kind, understanding, open hearted, wise, intuitive, patient, respectful, gentle, supportive, non-judgmental, warm, uplifting, the list could go on... Their knowledge, strength, confidence, experience and wisdom shines through their sensitive and personal care for each family. Through out my pregnancy and during my labor - which was very long, more painful and difficult than I had imagined it would be, and caused me to doubt my ability to reach the finish line - I never felt fear, I always felt safe and their strength, wisdom and ability to help me through my unique physical and emotional challenges was nothing short of amazing. My experience with them has been such a humbling and inspiring one, the gifts and wisdom it has brought to me continue to multiply daily as I reflect on my labor, my child's birth... as I grow and change as a mother who is raising her child and meeting new challenges every day. Pregnancy and Birth are the most wonderful and precious time of a woman, child, and family's life. My wish is for every woman, child and family to have such a wonderful, positive and inspiring experience as I have and the key to that is finding the right support team to offer guidance and walk with you on this path. I promise you will find such companions in One Heart Midwifery. Best wishes on your journey! read more

When my husband and I found out we were having our first new addition, the first thing on our to do list was to find a way to birth our baby without any damaging ultrasound, unnecessary vaccinations, ridiculous blood draws and numerous needless "mandatory" procedures by some impatient salary physician. After weeks of searching we thought we had found what we were pursuing in a local birthing establishment that will go unnamed. During orientation we were coldly told that an ultrasound was mandatory to determine the age of the fetus or she nor anyone else could take us. We were at wits end, wondering if we had to move out of the state or country to avoid these technologies and procedures rising on par with childhood disease like autism and cancer. I found a testimonial by someone raving about her wonderful experience with One Heart Midwifery. We were absolutely ecstatic when we found out that they are in place to serve those like ourselves who refuse to take unnecessary risks. Not only do they hold a common core medical understanding but they want to give us the personal birth experience we were led to believe impossible. We were sold after the first visit. read more