Marin Family Birth Center's Online Review Report Card

Seems kind of sketchy at this point... Admin is nonexistent. They do not return voicemails or requests placed through their website- I've been at it for several weeks. So bummed because this looks like a wonderful place to be when you are giving birth. Maybe they are closed due to the pandemic? Their lack of professional etiquette is disappointing either way.

Marin Birthing Center - Is one of the best Birthing Centers in Northern California.The staff are very friendly, understanding, professional, skilled and honest. Every prenatal visit my partner and I were treated well and felt confident that our decision to give birth at Marin Birthing Center is the right decision for us.The Center is very well kept, odor free, beautiful , comforting and updated.My birthing experience was on June 17th and I was in extreme pain. Leah checked my vitals, contractions and my progress right away however I didn't feel rushed at all. Leah was the midwive that admitted me when I came in and she never skipped a beat with making sure I was comfortable and okay.Kiki my midwive showed up within 20 minutes of my arrival and Midwife Leah briefed Kiki on my condition.Kiki never left my side throughout my labor that lasted for less than 2 hours. Yes very fast labor - Kiki told me during my prenatal visits that some women who have multiple children have shorter labors. ( she was so right). The contractions felt like they only stopped for 10 seconds at a time therefore the pain was intense. Kiki massaged my lower back during each contration and it felt like heaven literally. I almost didn't get the okay to push because I begged Kiki to " please dont stop the massage." She promised me that she wanted to check my progress and if the baby wasnt crowning she would continue helping me with the contrations. All I know is Kiki gave me the ok to push and the rest was history.We gave birth to our child in the best setting I could ever ask for. Just want to Thank Kiki, Leah and Oney ( sorry for misspelling your name).These 3 women helped me achieve the birthing experience of my dreams...yep I dreamed of that day and my expectations were exceeded.

I wanted to love this place but to get a call randomly mid pregnancy that your Midwife is no longer there is beyond irritating. Especially when this is the only place that would take my insurance and my pregnancy has been rough, I seriously cried because I had high hopes for my first birth. I wanted everything to be relaxing and natural without the additional stresses hospital's put on you. I was also gracious to find a place that catered to black health, but my trust is broken with them. I am now feeling much better however and will be doing highland, they have a all midwife team which is lovely to see. I do not reccommend this place at all. Kiki is lovely she really is and I hope all is well but this place is toxic. Rude receptionist, unanswered messages for weeks glad I took my prenatal care elsewhere as they had the nerves to ask me if I wanted to continue care there. I think not. Save yourself the additional stress ladies, this place is unprofessional. On the plus side there dental team and behavioral services deserve 5 stars. Wonderful people.

Kiki is no longer here she is "taking a break from the organization" so mamas please do not plan your birth here! I was informed that there was no other midwife to deliver my baby after Kiki randomly stopped working here( I suspect they were over working her because it was always a new midwife shadowing her but if I were kiki I would of just finished the moms I was working with then quit professionally). Try going to your 36 week appointment and them being unapologetic about not having another midwife but want you to finish prenatal care there? A woman names Lisa emailed me a list of other providers(she just copied and pasted random providers, poor customer service). Also the receptionist are unprofessional I spoke with them a few times before kiki quit, they let me reschedule my appointment and everything then claimed they could not contact me to deliver the news about kiki? HOW If I called several times or they could have EMAILED me! They  also just chat it up on the phone while your on hold about personal business or things that are irrelevant. Mamas save yourself the headache. The sad part is the mission is so important especially for communities of color and to have this type of experience it changes the way you trust certain organizations.Be good to yourself mamas.

Second birth, first birth at the Marin Family Birth Center. This birth redeemed my first birth experience by far. I would include the prenatal care in why this birth experience was so favorable. My OB from the first birth was cold and self-proclaimed having control issues. Needless to say she never intended to allow me to have the birth I imagined if it didn't fit into her timetable or her way of practice. This birth, on the other hand, I felt empowered, cared for, that I was leading the team that would help me birth our baby. Kiki and Desiree are amazing midwives with a wealth of knowledge and caring personalities that holistically care for the mother AND father to be. Key memories: 1) hugs when I chopped off my extra long locs 2) hugs when I had a prenatal visit after returning from burying my father in law (a very traumatic loss) 3) encouragement to daily reflect on me being pregnant, to acknowledge the life being formed in my womb 4) encouragement to look at birth not as an emergency but I was created to birth naturally 5) shoulders to lean on during contractions 6) trust in my attendants even with heart decels of my daughter during labor that leant itself to me not panicking or worrying just trusting 7) day 1 post delivery home visit 8) enjoying my post natal visits: feeling loved and that my daughter is loved 9) writing this post. Highly recommended! 👍🏽👍🏽

Summary: Absolute fantastic experience that we would definitely do again. The method of “trust your baby, trust your body, trust your birth” rings true and we felt more in control than our previous hospital-birth. There were no unnecessary checkups or protocols - I felt like everyone was looking at me as the mother to figure out what was coming next rather than at their checklists and charts. Kiki (midwife) truly supported and embraced our birth plan - setting a relaxing and calming atmosphere: from pre=natal, to delivery, to post-natal care, it was excellent, continuous, and seamless. Details: Listed at the end is why we chose the birth center, but there was so much more we didn’t anticipate but appreciated and I’ll list them now:  Kiki (midwife): Kiki is AMAZING! She was extremely supportive and well informed of any decisions we wanted to make. She is very experienced and calming, making you feel confident you’re in good hands. At the same time she’s very passive and observant, wanting to make sure at the end of the day you have as close as possible of the birth experience you want.  Multiple deliveries on one day: We ended up being the first multiple-delivery at the birth center. I was the second mom - the first mom had delivered about 30 minutes before we got there. Although it was their first double-delivery-same-day, it was done professionally and seamlessly. I labored outside (by choice) for a little bit until they could move the first mom into the backup delivery room to recover. They then turned over the main delivery room and got it ready for us to deliver in. Even though it may seem scary from a Mom’s perspective, they’ve thought these things out and are prepared!  Continuous care: from pre-natal, to delivery, to post-natal care, we saw Kiki the entire time and never had to wonder who was on call and whether or not they knew our birth plan.  Leaving after 4 hours of delivery: most people are scared by this, and we were a little nervous as well. However, what was great about it is that it inspired confidence in us as parents that we were fully capable of caring for ourselves and the baby. It also allowed us to immediately begin living and adjusting to our newly expanded family and not wait a few days in anticipation of what it would be like. Also with our toddler, we minimized the time we were away or split up as a family. We also got to do the maximum recovery in the comfort of our home.  Atmosphere of the room: The delivery room had a warmth and welcoming feeling to it (as opposed to the cold sterile hospital environment). There was a queen size bed that although I didn’t labor in it, we recovered in it as a family. With our first delivery, I (as the mom) was always in the single hospital bed while my husband was in an uncomfortable chair and only one of us could hold the baby at a time. With the huge bed, we got to spend the first few hours of the baby’s life cuddling as a family all together.  Delivery options: Although I tend to find one position and labor there for most of the delivery, there were plenty of options in a very large room so you never feel claustrophobic. My husband definitely got to play a larger role in this birth and could have caught the baby if he wanted to (but he didn’t, so I reached down and “caught” it!). There’s also a birthing tub which is only of the only places you can actually deliver in the water. Why we chose the birth center: With my first son I had an uneventful hospital birth - it wasn’t a bad experience at all, but the main factor I never anticipated was the effect of the atmosphere. Surprisingly to even myself, I ended up needing total silence in the room. With that said, the hourly check-ins from the nurses would completely stress me out. Finally my doula asked the nurses if they left the continuous monitoring on me, if they could just monitor me from the nurses station and stop coming in for checkups. Thankfully they agreed and the last 3 or 4 hours of my labor it was just me, my husband, and my doula. When planning for this birth, we had recently moved to Marin and heard about the birth center which had recently opened. We decided that at a birth center we’d have more control over the birth experience than at the hospital, so if I needed a quiet room again, we didn’t have to worry whether or not the hospital would agree. Kiki asked us in our first conversation why we wouldn’t want a home birth as she pointed out that a birth-center birth is basically a home birth, just not in your home. Which is exactly what we wanted. Additionally, we wanted to keep our doula from our first birth who lived in DC and FaceTime her for the birth (something that none of us had done before). Kiki not only allowed for it but truly embraced and supported the idea. I am in complete support of this birth center experience and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Summary: Absolute fantastic experience that we would definitely do again. The method of "trust your baby, trust your body, trust your birth" rings true and we felt more in control than our previous hospital-birth. There were no unnecessary checkups or protocols - I felt like everyone was looking at me as the mother to figure out what was coming next rather than at their checklists and charts. Kiki (midwife) truly supported and embraced our birth plan - setting a relaxing and calming atmosphere: from pre=natal, to delivery, to post-natal care, it was excellent, continuous, and seamless.Details: Listed at the end is why we chose the birth center, but there was so much more we didn't anticipate but appreciated and I'll list them now: Kiki (midwife): Kiki is AMAZING! She was extremely supportive and well informed of any decisions we wanted to make. She is very experienced and calming, making you feel confident you're in good hands. At the same time she's very passive and observant, wanting to make sure at the end of the day you have as close as possible of the birth experience you want. She even supported us in wanting to FaceTime our doula from DC, something that none of us had done before. Multiple deliveries on one day: We ended up being the first multiple-delivery at the birth center. I was the second mom - the first mom had delivered about 30 minutes before we got there. Although it was their first double-delivery-same-day, it was done professionally and seamlessly. I labored outside (by choice) for a little bit until they could move the first mom into the backup delivery room to recover. They then turned over the main delivery room and got it ready for us to deliver in. Even though it may seem scary from a Mom's perspective, they've thought these things out and are prepared! Continuous care: from pre-natal, to delivery, to post-natal care, we saw Kiki the entire time and never had to wonder who was on call and whether or not they knew our birth plan. Leaving after 4 hours of delivery: most people are scared by this, and we were a little nervous as well. However, what was great about it is that it inspired confidence in us as parents that we were fully capable of caring for ourselves and the baby. It also allowed us to immediately begin living and adjusting to our newly expanded family and not wait a few days in anticipation of what it would be like. Also with our toddler, we minimized the time we were away or split up as a family. We also got to do the maximum recovery in the comfort of our home. Atmosphere of the room: The delivery room had a warmth and welcoming feeling to it (as opposed to the cold sterile hospital environment). There was a queen size bed that although I didn't labor in it, we recovered in it as a family. With our first delivery, I (as the mom) was always in the single hospital bed while my husband was in an uncomfortable chair and only one of us could hold the baby at a time. With the huge bed, we got to spend the first few hours of the baby's life cuddling as a family all together. Delivery options: Although I tend to find one position and labor there for most of the delivery, there were plenty of options in a very large room so you never feel claustrophobic. My husband definitely got to play a larger role in this birth and could have caught the baby if he wanted to (but he didn't, so I reached down and "caught" it!). There's also a birthing tub which is only of the only places you can actually deliver in the water. Why we chose the birth center: With my first son I had an uneventful hospital birth - it wasn't a bad experience at all, but the main factor I never anticipated was the effect of the atmosphere. Surprisingly to even myself, I ended up needing total silence in the room. With that said, the hourly check-ins from the nurses would completely stress me out. Finally my doula asked the nurses if they left the continuous monitoring on me, if they could just monitor me from the nurses station and stop coming in for checkups. Thankfully they agreed and the last 3 or 4 hours of my labor it was just me, my husband, and my doula. When planning for this birth, we had recently moved to Marin and heard about the birth center which had recently opened. We decided that at a birth center we'd have more control over the birth experience than at the hospital, so if I needed a quiet room again, we didn't have to worry whether or not the hospital would agree. Kiki asked us in our first conversation why we wouldn't want a home birth as she pointed out that a birth-center birth is basically a home birth, just not in your home. Which is exactly what we wanted.Additionally, we wanted to keep our doula from our first birth who lived in DC and FaceTime her for the birth (something that none of us had done before). Kiki not only allowed for it but truly embraced and supported the idea. If you have any questions feel free to contact me: <a href="mailto:devereaux.jacqueline@gmail.com">devereaux.jacqueline@gma…</a>.

Loved my experience here! Definitely recommend everyone to check them out! Inspiring, strong women helped bring my princess into this world! I love seeing these ladies when I come in for my daughters visits! Would def. Have all my babies here if i decide to have more. I have sooo much love &amp; respect for all of them. Thank you again!

Kiki, Yolanda, and Jovann were amazing! I filled out their form for a tour on their website and they responded promptly. I was able to visit the center within the week. It is beautiful and very homey. My birth experience was worth it. The midwives let me do what I needed to have a a very successful and peaceful birth. I found myself asking them many times could I do this or that and their replies were always "this is your birth experience!" I needed my back rubbed and my parter was sleeping a lot of the time. Jovann and Kiki happily rubbed my back when labor was its hardest. After my daughter was born my partner was able to be involved. He was able to give her her first bath, and even cut the umbilical cord. We enjoyed this experience and highly recommend this group of ladies!

Ki Ki Jordan is the warmest person I've met in a long time, She gives me the feeling that I am in great hands. I started receiving care from Ki Ki when I found out I was pregnant in 2016 (first and third trimester, due to distance from my home I went somewhere else my 2nd trimester). KiKi nurtured not only my baby inside my belly but myself also. I don't have much family but she quickly touched my heart and became like family to me.From appointments to birthing classes, this woman is phenomenal and so are the two other women who work beside her, Ms. Jayvon & Ms. Yolanda.These woman are exactly what I needed to make it through my pregnancy. I would say that they were definitely heaven sent.I can not wait to have another baby and be in the care of these beautiful strong women.Every appointment was up close and personal.I appreciate everything the staff of the birthing center has done for me.My son is now 6months old and they love on him every time we stop by to visit.