Center For Midwifery At University of Colorado Hospital

Love these ladies. I had my son with them in ⁹⁄₁₃ and I will be having my daughter with them next month. I am still a little nervous about the changes in midwifes. I will miss Jessica B. and Leah a lot, but knowing that Jessica A, Ann and Nikki are still there gives me total confidence in them.
I was that psychotic first time mother with the 9 page birth plan (I am still so sorry about that), but they actually read it! And followed every word that they medically could. This time my theory is «Whatever as long as she is healthy».
I could never imagine getting care anywhere else. I interviewed midwifes at Rose this time on my Mom’s request, but it just wasn’t the same.
Oh also the nurse for the midwives is AMAZING!

I am attracted to a midwifery practice by the low rate of c-​section and patient, supportive environment. I wanted to have our baby at home in a tub, but my husband is a physician and he knows what can go wrong. Giving birth with a midwife next to Children’s Hospital was a good compromise, and in my insurance network. The literal majority of my friends who went to Mountain Midwifery ended up delivering at Swedish, so I wanted to have the baby in one place if things got tough.
I purposely saw all six midwives during my check-​ups since any one can be on call when you deliver (which is the same with most OBs). They obviously love what they do. Obamacare requires all medical care givers to conduct appointments while simultaneously ticking boxes on a computer. It compromises care, but the midwives seemed deliberate about listening to me when I brought questions, not just staring at the computer.
They were very progressive for my birth without complications, I could eat/​drink, opt out of an IV, had intermittent fetal monitoring, delayed cord clamping, «Golden Hour,» supported a water birth (which isn’t allowed at beautiful Exempla Lutheran with the midwives there), and have nitrous oxide available. Leigh delivered my baby in the bathtub, with my wonderful doula Barbara who normally works at Rose, and my husband. We were very pleased with the 48-​hr aftercare. Nurses were amazing, we got good advice from the pediatrician, and good help from the lactation specialist.
This is a reflection on University Hospital, under whose umbrella the Center for Midwifery falls: they charged me $ 39,000 for a normal unmedicated vaginal delivery (four hours of labor) and two days of care for my son and I. My insurance allowed/​paid $ 23,500, not including the seven months of appointments. That is outrageous. It is not a reflection on the midwives at all, they try to stay clear of that side, though they were advocates for me at times. But despite my being so, so pleased with my medical care and access, be prepared for a broken insurance system, at whatever hospital you deliver.

I searched high and low for a wonderful midwife. I went to another birth center and was denied to give birth because of a issue.
I went to the Center for Midwifery, they were more then wonderful there!
I had my son 2.5 weeks ago, it was a natural water birth. I had great care from all the midwifes, my nurse was wonderful. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them.
we will be back if we have another child.

I kept meaning to write a fabulous review after delivering my first child via all-​natural water birth with them in May 2012 but clearly I’ve had my hands full. And here I am again at 38 weeks ready to deliver my second baby with them again.
After reading the many great reviews, I had fired my traditional OB at 8 weeks during the first pregnancy and never regretted it. There’s a wonderful liberty when delivering with a midwife and knowing how much more understanding, patient, and open they will be when the time comes. This is such a huge experience and decision and I would recommend the center for midwifery to anyone planning to have a baby.
Because of them I was able to have my perfect birth experience and they even accept Medicaid if you need it.
ALL the midwives were so kind and knowledgable. I also never received any conflicting info which you may expect when you have a group of six professionals.
I also can’t say enough about the birthing center at university. It’s clean, cozy to where you don’t feel like you’re in a hospital but yet you have the comfort if knowing Drs are right there if needed. And the snacks and food were yummy! I’m looking forward to going back to deliver my second baby.
I was also fortunate enough to receive some great help and guidance from their lactation consultants. One of whom went above and beyond the call of duty and I believe saved my daughter’s life. Her name is Donna and I will never forget her.
Anyway, I can’t say enough nice things about my amazing delivery experience at UHC with the midwives and am glad I’m going back soon.

Because these ladies are so awesome, I’ll write another review for my birth in 2012. I had an unmedicated vbac with some pitocin thrown in there and Jessica (I can never remember which one) and my doula helped me achieve my goal even though it was rough going. They were all so great about answering my million questions leading up to the birth about my past history, interventions… anything. They set me up with a high risk consult to rule out any complications stemming from my previous birth…
I ended up with some bad tears which required MD intervention and actually a 3-​hour OR repair, but as always, the midwifery team checked on me and was there for me. I just had my annual with Anne and I love how thorough she is and never brushes off any concern or question. These are fantastic women and care providers, and I love referring them to anyone who will listen to me :)

This Practice is wonderful. I wanted to have the care of a certified nurse midwife for the birth of my son a year ago and it was a wonderful experience! I love ALL of the women in this practice and trust them to give me the best care possible.

When I became pregnant, I wanted the care of a midwife who supported natural birth without judgement. I almost didn’t choose this practice in Lowry, however, due to the negative reviews I had read about the receptionists. I had dealt with rude office staff before at a previous doctor and made each visit so unpleasant, that I dreaded going. The negative reviews are accurate. Go to the receptionist on the far left (she is by far the nicest and most professional). The one in the 3^rd desk (I think her name is Deanna or something like that), is complete rude and unprofessional. In fact, during my last visit there, I was sitting in the waiting room while she went on and on to her co-​worker about a negative review that was written about her. (It talked about how unprofessional and unfriendly she was.)
Once you get past the unpleasant «welcome» to the Lowry office, you will love the midwives. We love all but one, really. Most will listen to you, spend lots of time answering your questions, and make you feel comfortable and relaxed. However, when we met with the midwife Anne, we had a completely different experience. We felt like she was a bit condescending and didn’t listen to us at all. She told me to lay down so she could listen to the baby’s heartbeat and then proceeded to lecture me about how I shouldn’t lay on my back because of the vena cava, etc. etc. All the while, I was laying on my back, waiting for her to use the doppler. I tried telling her several times that I know this (I’m far enough into my pregnancy to know this and have read A LOT) that when I had my ultrasound at the hospital, I almost threw up because they had me on my back too long. Unfortunately, she was too involved in her lecture to let me tell her this. We hope that when we deliver, we get one of the other midwives who make us feel calm, listened to and cared for!

I was excited to work with CFM for my VBAC since I had heard such glowing things about them. However, our visits were one red flag after another. The appointments are short and rushed. I was repeatedly told to «just trust us» while they did not earn my trust. It was impossible to get consistent answers between midwives and our requests that they discuss our concerns and come up with a consensus answer were ignored. My most important issue was that, after not being able to see my first baby be born, I asked that if another c-​section were necessary, could we work with the Dr. to lower the curtain as the baby came out. The responses varied from «I can’t see why this would be a problem. We do this all the time.» to «I’ve NEVER seen one of our doctors willing to do that.» I emphasized that this was really important to me and, instead of reasurring me that they would advocate for me, they just told me that I was a difficult patient and that I was trying to be too controlling.
My care started with a list of things you MUST do at the hospital (immediate IV, continuous fetal monitoring, immediate consent to c-​section). When I said that the opportunity for a natural birth was important to me and asked if I had the right to deny any of these unless there was a medical indication, I was told that I did, but that even thinking such a thing meant that I’d probably wind up with another c-​section because I had the wrong frame of mind. They work with 30 doctors and repeatedly state that if you need an OB, you are no longer their patient and they cannot guarantee anything about the doctor or quality of care. When I asked if I could request another doctor if the one I got was not respectful of my wishes, Anne asked me «would you really put your baby’s health at risk if you didn’t have the perfect doctor?» I was APPALLED. That’s something I would expect to hear from a bad OB!
I got the impression that something is going on between them and the hospital so that hospital «policy» and making the doctors happy trump patient welfare and informed consent. Another woman I talked to had an eerily similar story. I went on to find another practitioner who responded the same fears and questions with openness, honesty, and patience. She put my fears to rest in one visit and I had a wonderful, unmedicated VBAC.

I had an amazing experience with this group of midwives. They were very caring and took a lot of time to get to know me. Anne, in particular was so helpful and supportive. Their front desk staff was also helpful when it came to scheduling, appointments, and insurance mumbo-​jumbo.
What a great group of women!

I cannot say enough about the wonderful women at this practice. I switched over from the midwives at Rose and was so thankful that I did. The women here are all very very kind and you are not just another number or patient in their office. While I am proud to say that I was able to have my natural childbirth in water, I can honestly say that without Ann pushing me (but not too pushy, she stated it was my birth but knew what I was hoping for!) to hang in there just a little bit longer, I would have received an epidural.
They have two offices, one in Lowry and one at the U of CO hospital. Both are nice and I’ve had good experiences at both. The U of CO hospital is very supportive of the Center for Midwifery group and you’d think they are the only providers there. They offer waterbirths (I believe the only hospital with midwives or OBs that do).
I received a great amount of support and care from each and every woman at this office. If I live in Denver during my second pregnancy, no doubt about it, I will be choosing this office.