Clients' Stories & Testimonials
From Berkeley Parents Network:
I want to let everyone know about my great home birth midwife for my first baby, now eight weeks old. Judy Luce, Womancare Home Midwifery, is a relatively recent transplant from Vermont (and Boston before that) with over 30 years of midwifery experience. She has a warm, caring demeanor, and is incredibly knowledgeable. Our prenatal appointments (always at least an hour) were thorough, informative, and FUN! Judy is a great story-teller.
I chose homebirth partially because I feel that the hospitalization of birth is robbing women of confidence in their abilities to give birth, and making the whole process of birth an ordeal to be suffered through, rather than an empowering experience of great spiritual potential. I felt that Judy shared my confidence that my body was capable of giving birth naturally, and was a tremendous ally in preparing me for the physical and emotional challenges of a long labor.
Even when my faith in myself faltered, Judy was right there to tell me I could do it, and she often made me laugh in the process. She was a wonderful coach for the birth itself, too, helping me push the baby out in under an hour with very little tearing. Judy was also a great help postpartum, checking up on us frequently, and offering great advice. With 30+ years of experience, Judy's medical knowledge is very solid, and I always knew I was in good hands. Delighted with my home birth!
I chose homebirth partially because I feel that the hospitalization of birth is robbing women of confidence in their abilities to give birth, and making the whole process of birth an ordeal to be suffered through, rather than an empowering experience of great spiritual potential. I felt that Judy shared my confidence that my body was capable of giving birth naturally, and was a tremendous ally in preparing me for the physical and emotional challenges of a long labor.
Even when my faith in myself faltered, Judy was right there to tell me I could do it, and she often made me laugh in the process. She was a wonderful coach for the birth itself, too, helping me push the baby out in under an hour with very little tearing. Judy was also a great help postpartum, checking up on us frequently, and offering great advice. With 30+ years of experience, Judy's medical knowledge is very solid, and I always knew I was in good hands. Delighted with my home birth!
Berkeley Parents Network:We've just had our second with Judy Luce and love her. She has decades of experience, encyclopedic knowledge of birthing, and really understood the intangible / spiritual / personal side of being a midwife. When we were interviewing, we found her to be the least interventionist (there is a range, even with homebirth midwives), and I suspect her statistics would back that up. We paid her out of pocket the second time around because we wanted to have her as a midwife so much. She also had a great assistant, Lael Stimming. They're a perfect balance.
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From Sara:I just had a wonderful experience with my home birth midwife, Judy Luce. She has been a midwife for over 30 years and has delivered thousands of babies. She was great at calming any fears I had about birth and she was excellent at informing me about how to take good care of myself during pregnancy. Given her depth of experience, I felt very comfortable going through the process of pregnancy and birth with her. She has a nice balance of warmth and straightforwardness that I like. Best wishes to you in your birth process!
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From Sri:
It would be impossible to overstate how magical the birth experience is. Transformational in every way, it is a process as natural as every breath. And yet, natural though it is, I'm not sure how I would have found my way without the loving assistance of my midwife, Judy Luce. There is no 'how' to birth. It is an experience that is so close in that it cannot be touched by words. How then, did Judy always know when and what to say and do? Yielding at some points and firm at others (yes! there is a time for firm!), Judy was always, always gently flowing with the unique, but ordinary current of the birth.
Simply put, Judy is all woman. That's why my husband and I selected her from the many homebirth midwives we met and our hunch about her was validated over time. The confidence and sweetness with which she meets her personal and professional life comes right into the birthing room. While laboring, Judy encouraged me to tap my internal resources. She guided my focus away from distractions and deeply into the unfolding rushes. This allowed the nuanced rhythm of labor to progress organically and therefore, I was able to find such joy in the work that a deeply personal approach to each moment revealed itself with it's own impetus. It was something no book or childbirth class could ever have given me and had Judy not been there to skillfully undermine my panic, I doubt if I would have found it on my own.
Afterwards, in the glow of the brand new, rawness of motherhood, I remember enthusiastically describing Judy as having superpowers (that goes for Lis, too.), but upon reflection, I see now that she simply and unapologetically shines the virtues of woman. It feels like she's family now and I'm so happy to have had her by my side at our son's birth and I'm very proud that she serves our community with this most precious work.
Simply put, Judy is all woman. That's why my husband and I selected her from the many homebirth midwives we met and our hunch about her was validated over time. The confidence and sweetness with which she meets her personal and professional life comes right into the birthing room. While laboring, Judy encouraged me to tap my internal resources. She guided my focus away from distractions and deeply into the unfolding rushes. This allowed the nuanced rhythm of labor to progress organically and therefore, I was able to find such joy in the work that a deeply personal approach to each moment revealed itself with it's own impetus. It was something no book or childbirth class could ever have given me and had Judy not been there to skillfully undermine my panic, I doubt if I would have found it on my own.
Afterwards, in the glow of the brand new, rawness of motherhood, I remember enthusiastically describing Judy as having superpowers (that goes for Lis, too.), but upon reflection, I see now that she simply and unapologetically shines the virtues of woman. It feels like she's family now and I'm so happy to have had her by my side at our son's birth and I'm very proud that she serves our community with this most precious work.
From Jisun:
Judy and her assistant, Lael Stimming, attended the birth of our second daughter (Judy was also our midwife for our first). Judy combines decades of experience, encyclopedic knowledge, and reverence for the spiritual in a way we haven't seen anywhere else. Lael has a terrific ability to intuit what you need during birthing, and to bring the right amount of energy to the room. Both were a calming, positive, and fun presence for our older daughter before, during, and after her sister's birth.
As we've watched friends have kids, we've come to realize that not all midwives are equal, and we feel very lucky to have found Judy and Lael!
As we've watched friends have kids, we've come to realize that not all midwives are equal, and we feel very lucky to have found Judy and Lael!
From Julian:
Judy was the midwife for the birth of my daughter, Sylvie, in September '07, and I would recommend her for anyone planning a home birth. The prenatal visits were long and relaxed, as much about getting to know one another as anything. Judy was very straightforward and practical, and always had good suggestions when problems arose (though they were few). I always appreciated her trust in a mother's instinct and in the body's ability to take care of itself, and that was a quality that really came through in the birth.
She was calm and reassuring through more than five hours of pushing, and in the end did an amazing job of helping out a baby that was not in the best position. With a less confident and experienced midwife I might not have been able to stay at home for the birth. Afterward, she came over much more often than she was obligated to, and really helped both me and my husband tap into our parenting instincts. Judy is a wonderful midwife and a warm and loving person, and has become a good friend to my family.
She was calm and reassuring through more than five hours of pushing, and in the end did an amazing job of helping out a baby that was not in the best position. With a less confident and experienced midwife I might not have been able to stay at home for the birth. Afterward, she came over much more often than she was obligated to, and really helped both me and my husband tap into our parenting instincts. Judy is a wonderful midwife and a warm and loving person, and has become a good friend to my family.
From Aidan & Jenny:
I don’t know where to start in telling the story about how awesome our birth experience was with Judy and Lael. I’ll try to boil it down to the highlights: the baby was two weeks and one day overdue, we were deeply committed to having a home birth, and suddenly found ourselves in need of a midwife who was comfortable with a post-date home birth. It was a very stressful moment. When we first spoke to Judy on the phone, she was immediately reassuring, calm and confident. Not for a minute did a potential 43-week gestation faze her. She asked the relevant history questions (AFI? NST? etc.) to make sure the pregnancy and the baby were safe, and then said that she was too busy with on-call births to take us on as clients but that she’d see what she could do. Our hearts sank.
Judy called us back within an hour saying she and Lael would take us on and that she had put a team together for us of two other midwives who, unquestioningly, would attend a post dates birth were she and Lael unavailable. At this point we had yet to even meet her, but she was already deeply engaged in our process. Our hopes lifted! We met with her and Lael later that day, and after meeting them we knew absolutely that we were in solid hands.
As it turned out, when labor began at 42 weeks and 6 days, both Judy and Lael were available. They came over to our house at 6:00 pm on a Tuesday and seamlessly became part of our comfortable home environment, knitting, telling stories and eating with us. This is how it should be for every woman in labor. Labor was active all through the evening; no one slept much, but still no baby by the morning. By 4:00 pm Wednesday, labor had lagged and exhaustion was a factor. They determined that the baby seemed to be occiput posterior (“sunny side up”) and through positioning, persistence and total magic, were able to spin the baby to the proper face down position. That was an amazing moment.
Things happened quickly after that: the baby descended, dilation was complete and Lael offered expert coaching, helping us deliver our baby girl. Sapphire Grace was born into Lael’s hands at 1:00 am Thursday morning after 43 weeks and 1 day of gestation, and 30 hours of labor. The birth was beautiful, profound, and just as we had hoped.
In a traditional medical setting any one of the factors we encountered — being post dates, the baby being face up, or the 30-hour labor — would have surely led to a C-Section. Our baby is happy, the calmest infant among any of our friends’ babies who had medical interventions; she sleeps well, feeds well and we attribute all of that to her entry into this world with Judy and Lael. They are fearless while being vigilant and know how to reassure and empower a woman to trust her body and her baby. They are advocates of the highest order, and our experience with them left us inspired and grateful beyond words.
Judy called us back within an hour saying she and Lael would take us on and that she had put a team together for us of two other midwives who, unquestioningly, would attend a post dates birth were she and Lael unavailable. At this point we had yet to even meet her, but she was already deeply engaged in our process. Our hopes lifted! We met with her and Lael later that day, and after meeting them we knew absolutely that we were in solid hands.
As it turned out, when labor began at 42 weeks and 6 days, both Judy and Lael were available. They came over to our house at 6:00 pm on a Tuesday and seamlessly became part of our comfortable home environment, knitting, telling stories and eating with us. This is how it should be for every woman in labor. Labor was active all through the evening; no one slept much, but still no baby by the morning. By 4:00 pm Wednesday, labor had lagged and exhaustion was a factor. They determined that the baby seemed to be occiput posterior (“sunny side up”) and through positioning, persistence and total magic, were able to spin the baby to the proper face down position. That was an amazing moment.
Things happened quickly after that: the baby descended, dilation was complete and Lael offered expert coaching, helping us deliver our baby girl. Sapphire Grace was born into Lael’s hands at 1:00 am Thursday morning after 43 weeks and 1 day of gestation, and 30 hours of labor. The birth was beautiful, profound, and just as we had hoped.
In a traditional medical setting any one of the factors we encountered — being post dates, the baby being face up, or the 30-hour labor — would have surely led to a C-Section. Our baby is happy, the calmest infant among any of our friends’ babies who had medical interventions; she sleeps well, feeds well and we attribute all of that to her entry into this world with Judy and Lael. They are fearless while being vigilant and know how to reassure and empower a woman to trust her body and her baby. They are advocates of the highest order, and our experience with them left us inspired and grateful beyond words.
Two Great Midwives in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Resting w/ client's dog during long labor!
Client's blog post, July 24, 2006:
I’ve got to plug my midwives. I’m sure if you’ve read my birth story you understand why. I can say with confidence that if it wasn’t for my birth team I would have never made it through my CRAZY-LONG labor. Without question, Smoochy was my emotional rock. Because of how deep a bond we share he was able to say the exact things I needed to hear (or not to hear) at any given moment.
But it was my midwives who gave confidence in my body. Because they educated me on the birth process, and taught me to trust myself and my baby that I was able to recognize the major sign posts of labor and work with them. For example, when I felt like I had to poop, I knew that the baby was low and it gave me hope that things were progressing. I sure needed hope that second day of labor!
Read full post.
I’ve got to plug my midwives. I’m sure if you’ve read my birth story you understand why. I can say with confidence that if it wasn’t for my birth team I would have never made it through my CRAZY-LONG labor. Without question, Smoochy was my emotional rock. Because of how deep a bond we share he was able to say the exact things I needed to hear (or not to hear) at any given moment.
But it was my midwives who gave confidence in my body. Because they educated me on the birth process, and taught me to trust myself and my baby that I was able to recognize the major sign posts of labor and work with them. For example, when I felt like I had to poop, I knew that the baby was low and it gave me hope that things were progressing. I sure needed hope that second day of labor!
Read full post.
