“Who is the best OB/midwife/birth center in the area?” is a question I see frequently. Sometimes it’s my own clients asking, friends, or strangers in a local Facebook group. The answer is not as simple as you may hope, since it depends on the person asking (and answering I suppose). What are you birth preferences and goals? What is the biggest priority in a provider, such as birth experiences, location, insurance, etc. In my opinion, the biggest factor or priority for the provider you choose should be how much experience that provider has in supporting the type of birth you want. If your goal is a physiological or undisturbed birth, it’s importance to find a provider who trusts the birth process and has plenty of experiencing supporting a physiological birth. The same would apply for any birth goals you have: a VBAC, vaginal twin birth, mother-center cesarean birth, vaginal breech birth, water birth, etc. It’s also important to note this isn’t an exhaustive list. There are other hospitals and providers where I’ve witnessed exceptional care, and other midwives with amazing reputations that I haven’t had the privilege to work with yet.

I’ll start by sharing birth centers that I’ve worked with and love, along with strengths or specialties each has. However, I want to share that just because I don’t list a specific “strength” or “pro” of one birth center doesn’t mean they don’t possess it; for the sake of keeping this quick, I will just highlight a few of their biggest strengths in my opinion.

Joyful Beginnings: in addition to exceptional midwifery care, Joyful Beginnings has always been amazing support first-time moms, and their proximity to a hospital (literally across the street) is a big plus for some families.
Family Birth Center: their beautiful birth center feels like the cutest airBNB, and the smaller practice can have a more personalized/individual feel
San Antonio Nurse Midwife: the only CNM-owned birth center which is a plus for Tricare families hoping for reimbursement. This birth center is also beautiful and tranquil.
Birth Center San Antonio: while a new birth center to the area, the midwives are well established and have always provided exceptional care. I also love their policy for transferring with families to the hospital if a transfer is necessary.

Hydrotherapy at Joyful Beginnings Birth Center

A Birth at San Antonio Nurse Midwife Birth Center

Joyful Beginnings Midwife, Claire, at a Home Birth

Nikki Brown, CNM, at a Home Birth

Next up I’ll share midwives I’ve worked with and love. We have so many amazing midwives in our area, but the ones I’ll share below will be those of had the pleasure to support at least 3-4+ births with. It’s also worth noting that all birth centers mentioned above have midwives who also provide home birth care.

Jenna with San Antonio Nurse Midwife: one of the few CNM home birth midwives in our area and a safe provider for LGBTQ+ families.
Monica with Mosaic Midwifery: supports birth in a very maternal, gentle way and takes on a smaller client load.
Living Water Birth: very Christian-based practice located out of the Boerne area; great if you like the idea of midwives who will pray over your birth

CNM Jenna and Student Midwife Waiting for Baby

Monica Doing Newborn Exams After a Home Birth

Heather from Living Water Snuggling Baby While Mom has a Tear Repaired

Jenna Supporting a Patient with Hip Squeezes

Next up I’ll share hospitals/on-hospital providers I’ve had positive experiences with. This section is a little trickier because there are so many factors that can impact your experience with a hospital, and hospitals/providers I like are always changing based off new policies implemented by practices/hospitals and new providers at practices. I’ve found that each hospital and provider can have such a wide, unpredictable range of birth experiences based on factors like the time of day you go into labor, which OB is on-call when you go into labor, what nurses you have while there, etc. So with that being said, this section will probably be continually revised throughout the months/years.

University Hospital: a surprising change over the last 2 years, University has been great lately with unmedicated births, VBACs/VBA2Cs, partner-catching births, laboring in their birth tubs (if you meet their requirements), alternative pushing positions, and avoiding unnecessary inductions. I especially like the midwives with University Health, such as Amy Bible.
Peterson Regional: while all the way in Kerrville, it’s worth mentioning that this hospital has midwives, inflates birth pools in-room, and also offers Nitrous Oxide
Methodist in the Medical Center: the two groups I like here are Seven Oaks and Willow OBGYN. However, Seven Oaks has a few providers that you may get who I really don’t feel aligns with the rest of the practice (although I do love Dr. Cox, both Dr. De la Garzas, and Dr. Mastro). In addition, Dr. Morales with Willow OBGYN is amazing, but if she’s not on-call when you go into labor, the providers who may attend your birth are not supportive of the things Morales may have agreed to (partner catching, intermittent monitoring, hands-off pushing, alternate pushing positions). Overall, I like the nurses here and certain providers if you’re lucky enough to get them, but it is a little more unpredictable compared to the above mentioned.
North Central Baptist: this hospital would not be my first pick for those wanting an unmedicated or low-intervention birth. However it’s worth an honorable mention for Women’s Partners, specifically Dr. Cuen and Dr. Brannen. The facility is nice and some of the nurses are great, but you still run into the unpredictability of which provider will actually attend your birth.
CHRISTUS New Braunfels: for those wanting a provider who truly supports birth the way an out-of-hospital midwife does, Tammy Huff is definitely your midwife! The facility is older and nothing fancy, but Tammy Huff makes up for it with her exceptional care and the fact that she makes an effort to attend all of her patients’ births.