My wife and I had our baby with Judy and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Highly…read morerecommend

Best choice you can ever make. I am so glad I found her and called her first. I felt an instant…read moreconnection and knew this is who I wanted to stay with. She truly cares about both mom and baby. She supports you both physically and emotionally and puts your health first. Due to having twins I have to do a hospital birth which I wasn't expecting but I know it's for their safety which is more important. I would be an emotional wreck if it wasn't for knowing i have her by my side. Almost forgot to mention she's 30 minutes away from me and I'm more than happy to drive every minute of it because she's worth it. If you have insurance they should cover midwives as well.

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.

You could not hope to meet a kinder human being, and you could not hope for a more experienced…read moredoctor in the burgeoning specialty of vaginal pain. A maiden aunt of mine had pain that no one understood, and it was bad enough to make her almost holler. There were repeated guesses from several doctors that it was from a bad urinary infection. Ultimately it was found to be of a different cause- severe spasming of the inside muscles, very often right after a bowel movement. This doctor was extremely thorough and sweet, and found a regimen that worked for her that involved very small doses of an anti-anxiety medication and Valium vaginal suppositories. I know, who knew they made them? Who knew that it could be used topically? But they are made and they work, and this doctor and his understanding of what was going on hugely improved the quality of my aunt's life. So often it is hard to appreciate what doctors do for you, but what Dr. Echenberg did was so very obvious and helpful, it was clear. We are very thankful our paths crossed with his.

I had seen doctor after doctor about ten years for a terrible pain I described as a sharp pinch…read more No one had a clue what to do for me. It would come on randomly and keep me off my feet for days. Dr. Echenberg was a Godsend in my life. Suspecting a diverticulum of the urethra after our consult and exam, he sent me for ultrasounds that confirmed the large diverticulum tugging and causing unbearable pain. He highly recommended a urologist who did the delicate surgery and I have been pain free since 2006. Cannot thank him enough.

There is such a need for organizations like this - an organization that serves women and babies in…read moreneed and lives up to its name. I personally know a woman who was helped a lot by this program. Because of their support, she did not have to abort her baby. In addition to great counseling, she received practical items such as diapers and formula. She was able to go on and get her RN. This program gives women a real choice because it offers help not only during the pregnancy but in the whole first year afterward. The counselors help women face their fears. Most women don't want to have to have an abortion, and this organization offers them real alternatives. I am glad my tax monies are helping women this way.

From the owner: Real Alternatives exists to provide life-affirming pregnancy and parenting support services…read morethroughout the nation. Goto 1888LifeAid.com for services near you! Real Alternatives is a national non-profit, charitable organization that administers the Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Programs for the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana. As of August 2022, the Pennsylvania program has over 339,400 women; the Indiana program has served over 93,600 women; and the Michigan program has served 8,715 women. Real Alternatives was awarded three Seals of Excellence by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit organization in 2004, 2007, and 2013. From PANO: "Standards for Excellence Accredited organizations are committed to advancing ethics and accountability of operations, as well as that of the nonprofit sector, and have opened themselves to an extensive review process that includes a jury of experienced peers. These organizations have built additional improvements into already well-run organizations throughout the accreditation process." Real Alternatives also earned the "Gold Seal of Transparency" from GuideStar. GuideStar.org is the world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations.