Using a Midwife with Kaiser
The Parents Network >
Reviews >
Health & Medical >
Kaiser Doctors >
Using a Midwife with Kaiser
Jan 2008
I would love to hear about recent experiences delivering with the
midwives at Kaiser Walnut Creek. The recent posts in the archives don't
go into great detail about the delivery experience and the ones that do
are from several years ago. I'm specifically looking for moms'
experiences there during labor and delivery. Thanks!
anon
My six-week old baby and I had a fabulous experience with our midwive,
Kate, (as well as all the nurses and all but one of the lactation
consultants) at Kaiser WC. The entire staff was very supportive of my
choice for a natural delivery as well as other choices on my birth plan.
They assisted in every way they could - let me push according to my
body's desires, pushing in any position I chose, kept monitoring down to
a bare minimum and assisted me in the shower. When I was starting to give
up in middle of the birth, they were very respectful of saying I was
doing a great job, but 100% non-judgmental about pain medication if I had
wanted it.
The midwive and the nurse helped massage me as appropriate and acted as
second labor partners throughout the birthing process. When the baby was
in distress during the pushing phase, she calmly got me oxygen, called an
OB to be on standby and helped direct my breathing and pushing. Kate
calmly managed to avoid any medical interventions by directing my pushing
and ensuring the baby crowned as soon as possible.
We felt very respected and that our birth was based on our choices and
desires. Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming birth!
Well, I had my sons two and four years ago, but I cannot recommend the
midwives at Kaiser WC highly enough. After witnessing my nephew's birth
at Alta Bates w/an OB who blew in the door for the last 10 min., I was
adament that I wanted a midwife. The only downside was the first midwife
I saw after my water broke w/my second. She wanted to put me on Pitocin
since I was strep B positive and hadn't started regularly contracting. I
did NOT want that since I was planning to do it naturally again. So she,
very reluctantly, suggested nipple stimulation which BAM! got the
contractions going regularly and strongly. My son was born 2 hours later
w/the help of a lovely midwife and my doula. I am convinced that the
only reason I didn't tear w/my 8-9 and 7-9 babies is that during both
labors the midwives massaged and oiled ''down there.'' They were both so
nurturing and positive. It was really a great experience! Also during
both pregnancies, I only saw nurse practitioners who !
were fantastic. I saw one OB who recommended that I take an
antidepressant to help w/my migraines. No way! Acupuncture was a
lifesaver, but that's another story. Good luck!
Been There
I delivered twice at Kaiser WC. The first midwife was
Rose-Lerman I believe and she was great. Granted, we didn't
actually decide we were going to deliver at WC until I went
into labor but she was fantastic nonetheless. The second time
around, we did it the ''right'' way, and I took a class at WC
for folks hoping to deliver at WC but who normally go to
another Kaiser facility. The midwife leading the group (Laura
I believe her name was) turned out to be the midwife on duty
when I delivered and she was fantastic too. There was a crazy
moment where I actually thought I'd try to deliver standing up
and the whole team was amenable to that too.
happy with WC Kaiser
February 2007
Hello,
I am wondering if anyone has had recent experience with Kaiser
Walnut Creek midwives and can recommend any or discuss your
experiences generally. I am trying to transfer from Oakland
Kaiser so as to have more of a midwife experience, but it has not
been easy to gather information. I am due (first-time mom) July 30.
I am also considering a home-birth midwife option, which is not
available through Kaiser.
Thanks for any information you can share.
Anon
We recently had our first kid at Walnut Creek Kaiser. I have to
say the switch from Oakland was well worth it. I'm sure Oakland
would have been fine but the atmosphere of caring created by the
staff at Walnut Creek is just exceptional. Oakland needs to get
on the ball and copy the program. We had our own Doula but the
nurses and midwives during the birth were all very supportive and
helpful. Didn't see a Dr the whole time and my wife was happy
with that. I think my wife just started booking her appointments
at Walnut Creek with the midwives half way through her pregnancy.
You shouldn't need to ask their permission, just be firm and
make it clear that you are going to give birth at Walnut Creek
because of the midwife program.
I would recommend Laura Warren, who is one of the two midwives
at Kaiser Walnut Creek. I switched from Kaiser Oakland about 2
months and have been very happy with my decision. I have
found Midwife Warren attentive, kind, and knowledgeable.
Be aware that you may not be able to see Warren for every
visit. Both Walnut Creek midwives seem to be quite busy - so
you may see one or the other, or even one of the nurse
practitioners. I saw NP Seipel, yesterday and liked her as
well.
I haven't seen the other midwife, but would like to, since at
Kaiser any of their midwives could end up delivering your baby.
Kimberly
Aug 2005
Hi,
I'm looking for a recommendation for a midwife at Kaiser Walnut
Creek. Two names that were mentioned by Kaiser were Kathryn
King and Julie Hanes. Does anybody have experience with either
of these midwives?
Thanks!
Anne
Kat King at Kaiser is awesome. I only had one appt with her and
she visited me during my birth but actually had to tend to
another woman's birth, but she was just so great. I wish that I
could have had more time with her. My husband and I just hit it
off with her instantly. She has a great bedside manner, is on
your side, very supportive and knowledgeable.
Anon
June 2004
I just moved to Oakland and am 18 weeks pregnant with my
first baby. I started prenatal care with a great midwife,
however, our insurance will be changing to Kaiser HMO as
of July 1st. I am looking for a midwife/OB that supports low
tech births and will support me in my effort to have a natural
childbirth. I have referred to previous postings on the
website, however, am looking for something more current. I
would appreciate your expertise! And is it true that if you
deliver at Oakland Kaiser that a resident will be the one
delivering?
Christy
If you want to have a midwife within the Kaiser system, you'll
need to travel to Kaiser Walnut Creek. A staff of a dozen or
so midwives complemeted by OBs perform prenatal care there, as
well as deliver babies (unless an emergency happens, when an OB
will be called in.) Yes, it is true that if you deliver at
Kaiser Oakland (or Kaiser contracted with Alta Bates until the
fall of this year), you will most likely be delivered by a
resident. That didn't appeal to me at all! So when I was
pregnant with my son 3 years ago, I had my routine care at my
usual Kaiser (Richmond in my case), but I delivered at Walnut
Creek. It was a wonderful experience! My labor was so long
that I had three midwives, and each of them was excellent--
especially the last one, midwife Loraine (I think?) Rose-
Lerman, who coached me through 3+ hours of pushing. She did a
fantastic job of coaching, and she did a medically superior job
sewing up me up afterwards, with what was a pretty huge tear.
She and the whole staff there were extremely respectful of my
wishes to have a natural birth, to try to avoid episiotomy,
etc., and even though it didn't work out that way, I thought
they remained respectful and non-judgmental when my wishes
changed. I am pregnant again with my second and am planning to
have this baby at W.C. too. You can take the birthing room
tour at the hospital and they will give you some materials
about the midwives and their system to help you decide. Good
luck!
Cheri
You won't get a doctor for prenatal care at Kaiser Oakland
unless you're risk or need special care. That said, I highly
recommend nurse practitioner Rebecca Avery for your prenatal
care. No fuss, no muss. Check her out. She'll explain the
attending physicial policy - I know it will be changing when
they move back to Oakland for deliveries.
Happy w/Rebecca
If you want to continue with midwife care, Kaiser-Walnut Creek
has a nurse-midwife program. The midwives work with the OBs and
if you prefer a midwife delivery they will try to honor your
preference, although in the end it depends somewhat on who is
available when you deliver and the type of delivery you have.
Although we received pre-natal care from an OB (Francis Wright
who was fantastic), our baby was delivered by a midwife who was
great. Although I opted for an epidural, I have friends who
have had natural births there. There are no OB residents at
Kaiser-Walnut Creek, if that makes a difference. Good luck with
your decision.
Happy new mom
March 2004
I was hoping to find any recommendations or comments regarding
the Midwifery Service at Kaiser Walnut Creek. I am interested in
delivering with a Midwife and found that Kaiser WC offered this
service. Otherwise I was considering to stay with Alta Bates
which is the closest hospital. If anyone has any comments or
recommendations my husband and I would greatly appreciate it :)
My wife and I had a great experience at Kaiser WC during the
birth of our daughter last year. The nurse midwife and the
nurse who assisted her were excellent. Prior to the birth we
had taken the Bradley birth classes and wanted a natural birth.
We had a birth plan on file at the hospital and these two were
aware of that, and they did a great job helping my wife through
a long labor and natural birth.
They have tours of the L&D and recovery rooms for expecting
parents.
I don't know anything about Alta Bates personally, but I highly
recommend Kaiser WC.
Dean
Kaiser Walnut Creeks offers midwives for delivery only. You
don't pick a midwife. You get who is on call when you come in.
They are certified nurse midwives. I did 90% of my prenatal
care at Kaiser Oakland, then switched to WC for the last few
visits. They actually asked, when I checked in if I wanted the
midwife or preferred obgyn. My midwife was Raewyn Glasgow and
she was terrific. A great presence. I feel you get the best of
both worlds out there, minus the prenatal care w/a midwife. We
had a l&d nurse much of the labor, w/ the midwife there to
check in now and again, and then once pushing began she was
there til the end. When things slowed down, the obgyn was
fetched, but by the time she was tracked down I was back in
action. It was nice to know there was obgyn back up. I did
bring a doula to labor who was also useful. The rooms are
larger at KWC. You have a decent shot at a private room. The
prebirth class/tour is excellent and includes some refresher
child birth info, esp. re: anesthesia options. I told the cnm I
wasn't a martyr/hero, but not to offer anesthesia. They
respected my wish and I did manage without. Lactation support
was great, but I was lucky and vocal in requests for help.
After birth change back to Oakland immediately for this reason:
the first week visit at kwc is like a cattle call. it's a group
visit. You get a personal visit one on one at Kaiser Oakland,
and they send a social worker to the house 24-48 hours after
you get home. This switch confused the heck out of the appts.
person on the phone and she ended up canceling all appointments
rather than just the KWC cattle call. so be very clear and call
to confirm. And, my trip to KWC was at like 7:15 pm and we
sailed through the tunnel and were there in no time flat.
Good Luck
I delivered last year at Kaiser Walnut Creek, and absolutely
loved our midwife there, Julie Hymes (not sure I got the last
name right). She was warm and personable, spent lots of time in
our room, and taught me some great techniques for natural
childbirth. We had a great experience over-all there, and I
would highly recommend it. At Kaiser, you get whomever is on
that day/night, though, so you can't really chose your
provider. They do have midwives available around the clock.
Kris
I have had two opportunities to be a labor assistant at Kaiser
Walnut Creek. They were very different, but there were several
things about the picture that were the same. If you are looking
for real midwife care and delivery, you will not get it at Kaiser
Walnut Creek.
1.) at your regular appointments you will almost always see a
doctor and not a midwife. The doctors are good, kind and caring,
but they are not midwives. Chances are very high that you will
not have met your midwife when you deliver.
2.) Kaiser midwives act like OB/GYNs and run from room to room
catching babies, while LDNs handle the labor. If you are there
for a long time, as was the case for both the deliveries I
attended, you will see a number of LDNs and midwives come and go.
In fact, you may not even meet some of the midwives because they
only show up at the last 20 minutes of pushing unless there are
problems. Both times we saw a variety of LDNs come and go, some
we liked, some we didn't, one was terrific, one was horrible.
If you want a midwife you have met before who will come when
labor is under way and stay until you are done, you do not want
Kaiser Walnut Creek.
The two experiences I had at KWC, one awful, one terrific, were,
respectively, awful and terrific, because the LDNs who we
happened to get at the crucial time were, respectively, awful and
terrific. If you decide to go the Kaiser Walnut Creek way, be
sure to promise yourself that you will ask for a different LDN if
the one you get is not working for you.
Best of luck
susan
November 2001
Re: Choosing a health plan for donor insemination
I'm a nurse-midwife in SF and therefore will address
this part of your question -
Kaiser has midwives at their Walnut Creek facility but
not at Oakland - you have the option of delivering at
WC with the midwives if you get care prenatally in
Oakland.
With Blue Cross you can see most private midwives in
the East Bay, though it may vary by practice - you
should call around. You can get a listing of Bay Area
nurse-midwives by going to the website
www.bayareamidwives.org. The advantage of the private
practice midwives over Kaiser is that you can
establish a relationship with your midwife and then
have her be on call to attend your birth, as opposed
to at Kaiser getting whoever's on call (though the
group of midwives at Kaiser Walnut Creek is very
good).
As to coverage for fertility stuff - I think all
companies are the same about this (limited coverage),
though I'm not sure.
I assume you're aware of Maia Midwifery and
Preconception Services, a provider of services for
lesbians who are trying to get pregnant?
Good luck.
Margy
You should check which Kaiser you would be delivering
with, Some have midwives on staff, like Walnut Creek.
Others, like AltaBates, use residents. I would
hesitate to get myself in a position where the doctor
taking care of me was inexperienced.
Katie
My advice would be to not go with Kaiser if you want a midwife.
Kaiser has a lot of midwives, but they don't work like midwives. A
good midwife stays with you for the duration of your active labor. At
Kaiser they come and go and just check on you like a doctor would.
They say all the right things at the appointments, but they just don't
provide the labor support that a midwife is supposed to.
Susan
Home |
Reviews |
Advice |
Members |
Post a Message
Join BPN |
Help |
What's New |
Search |
Contact Us
Last updated: Feb 17, 2008
Copyright © 1996-2008 Berkeley Parents Network
The opinions and statements expressed on this website
are those of parents who subscribe to the
Berkeley Parents Network. Please see
Disclaimer & Usage for
information about using content on this website.