Golden Oak Midwives
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.Golden Oak Midwives has a fourth trimester support group led by a nurse and lactation consultant. highly recommend! The next group starts in January.
GoldenOak Midwives are fantastic and I believe accept your insurance but you pay a flat fee that I believe they offer financial assistance (around $5000). They have a great model where they’re your primary care provider for the whole pregnancy and you give birth with them at Alta Bates
Golden Oak came highly recommended from a doula and former client. Hiring Gwen & Ellie as our midwives was by far the best decision we made during my pregnancy, I was so pleased by the individualized care and support I received. Being pregnant for the first time during a pandemic wasn’t easy but was comforted by their care. Each time I contacted them with a question, I had a response in less than an hour. Additionally they really got to know me and my husband so when it was time to deliver the baby they were able to fully advocate for me. I trusted all of their recommendations because I was confident each one was in my best interest. This made my delivery very memorable. During labor, I was treated like royalty based on the sheer fact I was a GO patient. The nurses and staff at Alta Bates respect Gwen & Ellie so much which was reflected in the care I received while I was there. Ellie delivered our little princess after 24+ hours of labor at the hospital. She stayed with us the entire time & made sure I had everything I needed during my labor. Lastly, they also built a network within their client base that is a wonderful community of other like minded women/moms. I am so thankful I found Golden Oak and hope others find the same comfort in choosing them as a prenatal provider.
Golden Oak Midwives takes on VBAC patients and delivers at Alta Bates. They're great and could tell me in advance which practice of doctors would do a second c-section if necessary, though I think the specific doctor would be based on who was on call at the time. https://www.gomidwives.com/
I am not sure if my mid-wives support VBAC, but if they do, I highly reccomend them.I assume they would, as they are very supportive of what the parents want and don't have a cookie cutter agenda for each patient. Check out Gwen and Ellie at Gold Oak Midwives at gomidwives.com
-Jenn
I had a wonderful experience with Ellie and Gwen at Golden Oak Midwives! I definitely recommend them. They are located in Oakland and I know they help mothers with VBACs. https://www.gomidwives.com/
You must go to Golden Oaks midwifes over the Sutter Group. I had birth experiences with both of them and I can't stress how much better my experience was with Ellie and Gwen. I saw the Sutter group for (#1) and Golden Oaks for (#3). Golden Oaks is amazing and the provide excellent pre and post natal care. One of them will be there for your birth. In addition, they helped me deal with trauma from birth #1 with the Sutter Group. One of my strongest memories of birth #3 is knowing that Ellie has my back and really knew what I was capable of.
If nothing else, the Golden Oaks group was more efficient, you don't spend 45 minutes waiting for late appointments.
I worked with the golden oak midwifes with a delivery at Alta Bates. They were wonderful.
I delivered with Golden Oak Midwives this year and the two ladies are fantastic! Got a completely unmedicated birth that went very smoothly. If I ever want a second kid I would go with them again.
Ellie and Gwen with Golden Oak Midwives. Amazing pre and post natal care that was very personalized. I feel like I got the VIP treatment at Alta Bates and was treated like the goddess a birthing woman is! Really incredible ladies who care deeply about their work.
I cannot recommend my midwives Ellie Griffinger and Gwen Haynes enough (private practice partners at Golden Oak Midwives). They spend ample time on appointments to address any and all concerns, and really take the time to build a trusting relationship with clients. They also have a beautiful space where they hold visits, and offer a number of extra resources through people in their community (workshops on lactation, acupuncture in pregnancy, choosing a doula, pelvic floor health, support groups for breastfeeding, etc). They also have practitioners working in their space who offer massage and pelvic floor physical therapy. I have not had my baby yet so I do not know what it will be like to work with them at Alta Bates, but they have a lot of reviews on their website and on Yelp that you can read.
Hi,
I delivered my daughter last September at Alta Bates with Golden Oaks midwives and had an incredible experience. I will absolutely seek their care for my next child. My HMO did not cover it but I’ve heard other insurance companies might.
Gwen Haynes! Now Golden Oak Midwives. My insurance (which was a PPO) didn't cover it in full unfortunately but they covered the hospital part. I received superb prenatal care and my birthing experience was exceptional. I also had an amazing doula which I feel contributed to it being as amazing as it was but for sure Gwen was a huge part of that as well.
You want to head over to Golden Oak Midwives (https://www.gomidwives.com/). Ellie and Gwen are amazing.
They are in some HMO networks. They weren't in my network but my HMO still ended up paying for a good portion of it with my husband working with the insurance. They have a billing company that can help you with insurance.
You want to see Gwen and Ellie at Golden Oak Midwifes (https://www.gomidwives.com/). They are amazing. They deliver at Alta Bates. So open, caring and knowledgable. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for an appointment. You'll have appointments with both of them as they share all their patients.
Hi! I can only give you my experience with Sutter/Alta Bates because I just delivered with them (baby born 4/6). My OBGYN was Dr. Cohen with OBGYN partners and my whole prenatal experience was wonderful (I had a very easy and normal pregnancy). The office is organized and professional, the app (MyHealth) is useful, and longer wait times were rare. My doctor never seemed in a rush and was always very reassuring. I, too, wanted an unmedicated birth and while that did not happen for me (41 week induction, epidural, vacuum assist) I always knew what my options/choices were and I felt in charge. I never felt like I wasn't actively participating in my birth experience. I want to say I did a TON of my own self-education through reading, podcasts, etc. so I felt comfortable advocating for myself and my baby. The nurses at Alta Bates Berkeley in both Labor & Delivery and Postpartum are all incredibly kind and competent. There's one nurse in particular who was so reassuring and motivating that I think her encouragement actually prevented me from needing a c-section. Of course, you'll run into nurses you LOVE and some you feel lukewarm about but all the nurses/doctors are highly skilled. I hope that helps!
Working with Golden Oak will be the best thing you do! They are amazing.
I used Sutter for my 1st pregnancy (ended in induction, c-section) and then a midwife for my other two pregnancies. I used Golden Oak for my 3rd kid. Everything about it was night and day from Sutter. Sutter you see a rotation of doctors through pre-natal care and while you are the hospital. I almost always had to wait for my appointments because they were behind schedule. Some doctors were okay and others I didn't like, but you don't get a choice who is there when you deliver.
Golden Oaks is very personal, you know who will be there, you don't have to wait for appointments to start. They were able to help me with getting the maximum reimbursement from my healthcare possible. I think if you want to try an unmedicated birth than going with a midwife practice is a good option and they are a great practice.
Hi there! I had my first baby last June with Golden Oak, and had an absolutely wonderful experience: I felt understood and cared for throughout my pregnancy, and went from being someone who was afraid of childbirth to that annoying lady at the party who won't shut up about her empowering birth. I think you could have a very positive experience with Golden Oak, Sutter, or any other provider, so long as you trust whatever provider you have and feel safe with them. One way I do imagine my experience would have been different with an OB, however, is that I went to 42 weeks and Gwen and Ellie had me try inducing with castor oil a few days before my scheduled induction at the hospital. It worked, and I am beyond grateful that I was able to labor at home and have the calm, intervention-free birth I wanted. If I was with an OB practice I'm skeptical castor oil would have been suggested to me (not sure about that, of course) and I would have ended up on a pitocin drip and my story could have turned out very differently. Happy to exchange further private messages if you have any questions!
Congratulations! We worked with Golden Oak, and they were wonderful, including dealing with several complications and ultimately a c-section. We appreciated their thoughtful approach, having more frequent visits, knowing who would be at the birth, and connecting with their community of families. Feel free to get in touch with me if you’d like to chat more about our experience.
Hi - I'm working with Golden Oak and Sutter concurrently until after the anatomy scan and then I'll make the choice about who to go with for birth. GO was supportive of the concurrent care. I'm not set on any type of birth but I was attracted to the community aspect of GO and to know exactly who would be in the delivery room. I like my Sutter OB but I'm thinking that I will want more personal care towards the last few weeks. Not sure I can answer your question since I'm in the exact same spot but I do find it's a lot easier to get in touch with GO than with Sutter.