Had SUCH a bad birth experience with Beth Hardiman. Loved the midwife i was with Thru her but dr…read morehardiman was on call so did not have midwife at birth. She was SO judgemental and arrogant and it really turned the situation sour for me. Even networking with the anesthesiologist while performing the C section as if I was invisible and not even there. So unprofessional , I can't even believe it happened. After the birth, nurses on the maternity floor came in and shared information that was private with me that Dr Hardiman had absolutely no medical reason to share. I did complain to social service nurse but probably should have followed up with HIPPA filing. With infant there's too much going on, so never did, but I regret having to experience baby's birth with her. I

Super smart, skilled, thorough and, above all, a kind & caring human being. What more could you…read moreask for in a doctor?

I took the "birth doula 3 day course " this weekend and at first I admit I was scared because I…read moreassume this class should be taking in person vs virtual however after three days working and receiving information and being taught by Tara and Lorie. I left this class tonight feeling , confident and prepare to take the next step to becoming certified! so thank you both for making this class , fun yet informing us with so much!

Highly recommend Birthing Gently! I used them for my first pregnancy and delivery at Brigham and…read moreWomen's and could not have done it with out Mary! Tara was great to work with and had me virtually meet as many doulas as I needed to in order to find a match. Once I chose Mary she brought so much peace of mind to my pregnancy and was a constant presence throughout the pregnancy and labor and delivery experience. Plan to use them again for baby #2!

My husband and I hired Tara and Susanna as doulas ahead of our first child's birth in 2017, and…read morespecifically worked with Tara. We had a phenomenal experience, which resulted in working with them again for the birth of our second child in March 2021. In both cases, Tara and Susanna were tremendously helpful resources leading up to the delivery date. We always appreciated their candor and insights about what to expect and importantly, what our choices were (which was especially good to know during our first pregnancy). Tara and Susanna were always very responsive and detailed in their communication with us, and importantly, right ahead of the birth. For both births, I had a relatively quick active labor and Tara was there exactly when we needed her. She did an excellent job of ensuring my husband was involved in the labor process and provided us very helpful guidance on managing pain/new positions/breathing techniques. During my first birth, she proved to be a trusted advocate for me in a stressful situation (that almost resulted in an episiotomy), and although my second birth was relatively "uneventful", the quick nature of it made it very intense so we were grateful to have Tara's guidance and calm presence to help us through the birth. We feel very fortunate to have worked with Tara for both births, as her presence was extremely helpful in both cases!

My husband and I hired Susanna and Tara first as doulas, and later as midwives, to support us…read morethrough the pregnancy and birth of our first child. I simply cannot overstate how integral their care, compassion, expertise, and knowledge have been to the entire process of having our son. From the first prenatal visits with Susanna and Tara, they were open, non-judgmental, caring, and insightful. They worked with us to create a birth plan, sent us helpful information to assist us in making informed, evidence-based decisions for our son's care, and were always available for follow-up questions and discussions. Not only are Susanna and Tara both unmatched in their professionalism, but they are also kind, funny, brilliant, and the type of people who just make you feel comfortable and safe. When Covid began to surge as our due date approached, we reached out to them to consider a home birth and ended up contracting them to be our midwives instead of only contracting for doula care. It was the best decision we ever made during our birth and pregnancy process and I wish we had done it from the beginning. As midwives, Susanna and Tara provided the same level of care and insight as before, with an added level of expert care that we were impressed by time and time again. At the actual birth of our son, Susanna and Tara guided and comforted me through 10 hours of labor at home. I quite simply could not have done it without them. When I eventually needed to transfer to Mount Auburn for an epidural and what turned out to be a more complicated birth than anticipated, they accompanied me as far as they could to the doors of the labor ward (they were not allowed inside due to Covid), keeping me as calm as possible and helping me through every contraction with compassion and kindness all the way from our home to the hospital. Our son was born healthy and happy, and we came home to face the ups and downs of life as new parents with the knowledge that we were fully supported by Susanna and Tara. Their help became instrumental once again as I struggled with postpartum anxiety and breastfeeding issues--coming to my house at the drop of a dime when I was desperate for help, and only a phone call away to talk us through our challenges as they arose over the first few weeks. I cannot more highly recommend Susanna and Tara as doulas and midwives. In many ways, I feel like they saved me during my most vulnerable time and made me feel stronger and more empowered when I could have so easily felt defeated instead. Hire them. It will be the best decision you make for your entire pregnancy and birth!

I had the most amazing experience with Tova Health. My baby was born this winter during a brutal…read morecold snap. I was so grateful to have Dr. Z come to my apartment to care for my newborn and me. Dr. Z is knowledgeable, kind, and flexible. The model of having the first two months of my child's care from home was so comforting- it allowed me and my baby to stay in the home and rest and heal after delivery. Meg from Tova health handled all the admin stuff. She made scheduling, paperwork, and setting-up the patient portal super simple. When it was time to transition beyond the first two months of care, Dr. Z and Meg helped us find the best pediatrician and make sure they had all our records. Awesome experience! Tova Health is the best!

I experienced a traumatic birth. One of the better things to come out of it (besides my daughter)…read morewas meeting Dr. Z. I was not able to get out of bed for over a week after the birth, so our first meeting was with her sitting at the foot of my bed. Thank goodness we chose her for my daughter's pediatrician because there was no way I would have been able to take her to an office. I really needed the fourth trimester care to help me process the trauma from birth, and Dr. Z let me cry and repeat the story over and over again. I'll never forget the time she hugged me and promised me something good would come out of it. She was also provided excellent care to my daughter. I will never forget our crazy first meeting and her kindness. She listened and provided me care when my own OB/GYN's office failed to do so. It is absolutely ludicrous the postpartum care we receive. This fourth trimester care model should be mandatory everywhere.

Had an absolutely horrible birthing experience here in 2013. Something I can never live with…read morepeacefully. They are not an all natural birthing center, they heavily push vaccines while pregnant and groom you to come to terms that you will most likely end up in the hospital giving birth. I ended up in the hospital after a small leak (not a water break, the leak stopped immediately). Was given cytotek and then was given pitocen when labor did not start within 48 hours of my leak. After two days of induced labor a nurse exclaimed that my water had not even broken yet. It was absolutely a terrible experience and the bedside manner of the staff was even more terrible. After my eventual birth (leak on Thursday, birth on Monday- 5 days, ended in cesarean) my midwife (Kat) told me, and I quote, "most of the midwives that work here end up giving birth in the hospital." I also want to add that I was on fluids for 4 days while being induced. My son was obviously born with extra fluid on him, and subsequently lost it the day after he was born. Because of the weight difference, I was forced by the staff to give him formula while I was waiting for my milk to come in (it came in in the normal two days). Do NOT go here. There are better options out there. I had a vback at MgH of all places and the natural experience there was a completely different, amazing experience.

I adore this Birth Center. The care here is amazing and what a beautiful environment to experience…read morea birth. (water births are an option!!) The staff is top notch and compassionate - words just can not speak enough about this hidden gem for families that want to experience a natural birthing experience!~ If you are interested in having the potential to have a natural birth with some say in what you want then this is the place for your experience!~ Great Midwives and nursing staff, and the center is right across the culdesac from the hospital where there is a great OB/ CNM team as well. Worth your time to check it out if out of hospital birthing is something you would like to experience!~

I delivered with the Midwives at Mt. Auburn Hospital just over a week ago and can't say enough…read morepositive things about labor and delivery as well as the recovery period. I had read rave reviews about Mt. Auburn (including multiple people claiming to have had a "wonderful" labor there), all the while wondering how wonderful labor really could be. I now understand completely. From the moment that we called the hospital after contractions started to the arrival and long delivery process, each nurse and midwife that took care of me provided the utmost care, professionalism, and explanation of what was happening next and why. Amidst the inevitable anxiety of a first labor, I felt fully cared for and at ease. I can't thank the nurses enough for their tremendous care during both the labor and delivery process, as well as postpartum care for myself and baby. Postpartum, the nurses and a wonderful lactation consultant provided guidance on everything from what to expect during the first few days of our newborns' life to feeding techniques to giving the baby a first bath. Recovery was peaceful and allowed us time to bond as a family of three. By the time we left the hospital, we felt prepared enough to care for our newborn and with the opportunity to call with any questions that we might have. Thank you, Mt. Auburn!

I'm very disappointed by my recent experience with the Midwives at Mt. Auburn Hospital. My prenatal…read morecare was pretty standard, nothing exceptional. I had a low-risk pregnancy and everything went according to plan. The midwife I saw continually pushed for induction through castor oil, membrane sweeps, and evening primrose oil - these are not proven to be effective and are not positively backed by scientific research. I cannot believe that they don't follow evidence-based research when making medical recommendations. I went into labor spontaneously and progressed well. However, during my entire active labor, the midwife was in the room for no more than 5 minutes total. She basically did a quick pelvic exam and then left me on my own. I had no one in the room with me other than my husband. There was no nurse and no midwife - I felt so unsupported. After about 6 hours of labor, the midwife came back in and suggested a peanut ball and a warm bath, but she disappeared without setting me up with either. I guess my husband was supposed to figure this out? She returned a few hours later and I requested nitrous oxide - She said I needed a form for this (which was already in my file) and disappeared again. I never received anything to manage my pain and never saw the midwife again. I would have hoped that the midwife would have suggested labor positions to ease pain, pressed on my back/hips, showed my husband some ways to help (we took Bradley classes, but some extra direction in that moment would have been appreciated), provided encouragement, shown care, and simply been present. I feel like I was ignored and neglected. No one even brought me water. It wasn't until an OBGYN arrived that I felt like I was validated and heard - she got an anesthesiologist and I received an epidural. The OBGYN delivered my baby via c-section after failure to progress. My after-care at Mt. Auburn was pretty good. I felt all the nurses were caring and competent. I had to self-advocate to get time with the lactation consultants, but they were helpful. Takeaways: If you want support of any kind during labor, you'll need to hire your own doula. If you plan to breastfeed, arrange for your own postpartum doula or seek support from a non-hospital affiliated IBCLC. I am exclusively breastfeeding in spite of the care I received and not because of it. Just find a good OBGYN and forget about all the midwife nonsense - they're basically useless.

If your situation is "typical", then perhaps your experience will be different and this will be a…read morefine provider of services. The testing itself, once you get it, appears to be done well, with competent and friendly doctors and the suggestions that result can be helpful. However, if you have any kind of unique situation, either in the symptomatology of your child, or if the parents disagree about the causes or presentation of the issues present, their approach and systems here are utterly incapable, by design, to handle that. They struggled to handle our bespoke situation and the outcomes of that were harmful for my child. These issues were also frustrating, caused extra costs, and ultimately required external intervention to get the very basic testing required for things beyond the academic testing which was all they initially sought to do. I wish to also second the review that found their billing practices questionable. I strongly disliked dealing with this organization and found the outcomes sub-optimal, more expensive with insurance coverage than simply going to an out-of-network provider would have been and required immense efforts to get issues resolved, some of which never were and that led to further conflict and harm for my child. It felt like my observations or issues were either ignored or disregarded. I regret using this organization.

Update: well they were so good for their own part, I can ignore the referral to a less-stellar…read moreservice provider, and figured in retrospect to change these guys to 5 stars. They deserve it.

We had Danni come help us when our son was 6 weeks old and she was a lifesaver. She helped us…read morefigure out what was causing our son to be so fussy and within a week of having her he was a different baby. She was not only great at caring for Chase, but also being a sounding board for us. As a first time mom i had so many questions, I had no idea if what i was doing was right and she was there to answer questions, give advice and guidance. I am so thankful to have had her and recommend her to anyone having a baby!

I am a first time mom and it was evident upon arriving home from the hospital that I would need…read morehelp when my husband went back to work the next week. I don't have much of a support system aside from him and as a first time mom, support is what you need! Danni was a lifesaver. She did chores (laundry, dishes, organizing obscene amounts of hand me downs) but was also someone I felt 100% comfortable with to take care of my daughter when I went to doctor's appointments or just to get out and get a breather. (Babies are HARD!) Danni was a great sounding board and never judged. I thought I had PPD but Danni, having experience with many Moms, explained to me how to determine whether it was truly PPD or baby blues and the overwhelmed feeling that comes with being a new Mom (to your first or 30th child!) but she never shrugged my feelings off and let me talk through my feelings/concerns, she heard me and made me feel confident and successful as a mother. I would 100% recommend her to anyone looking for support and have told my husband time and again to consider her as he takes over full time parenting for the remainder of the year when I go back to work.