Maria Rivera Balam - Midwife

About Maria

Hi everyone, I’m a Licensed Midwife (LM), Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), and founder of La Ceiba Midwifery, serving families throughout Los Angeles and surrounding communities. With 16 years of experience, I offer homebirth midwifery, prenatal care, traditional postpartum care, and fertility support. My approach brings together evidence- informed clinical care and ancestral healing traditions. I’m also a doctoral candidate in Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, continuing to deepen my understanding of reproductive health and whole-body wellness. I believe in taking the time to build genuine relationships, answer questions, and support families in making informed decisions about health care. It would be an honor to walk alongside you through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Se habla español.

Availability

Taking new clients

Due Oct 2026 – Jan 2027, May – Sep 2027

Confirmed today

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Midwife services

At La Ceiba Midwifery, I provide comprehensive homebirth care throughout Los Angeles and surrounding communities. My services include prenatal visits, labor and birth support, postpartum and newborn care, and lactation guidance. I also offer traditional postpartum healing sessions and fertility and preconception support. My care begins long before birth, with regular home visits, clinical assessments, prenatal testing, and time to prepare for the arrival of your baby. During labor and birth, I provide attentive monitoring, hands-on support, and the clinical care needed to navigate this experience safely. After birth, I continue caring for both parent and newborn through the early postpartum weeks. I keep my caseload intentionally small so families receive the time, attention, and continuity of care that are central to my practice. My hope is that you feel comfortable asking questions, confident in your decisions, and genuinely supported throughout our time together. Se habla español.

Reviews for Maria Rivera Balam

5.0 5 reviews

5.0

March 28, 2024

Maria is wonderful, professional, thoughtful and an amazing human being. Anyone would be lucky to count her in their birth team. During our pregnancy, we were followed by OB/Gyn at the hospital as I had some complications. I was supposed to be induced and give birth in the hospital, which was giving me anxiety. Maria wasn’t our midwife back then. We had a last minute home birth on Christmas Eve ( our baby arrived very fast). We got very lucky that Maria responded and showed up fast. During birth, she was checking on the baby’s heart rate without being intrusive and worked wonderfully with our doula and my husband. This birth experience ended up being the most transformative experience of our life. From the moment our baby came out to the last day of postpartum care, she was there, caring, reassuring, professional. I felt safe and heard, which was not always the case at the hospital. I will always be grateful to Maria!

— Lucie Nguyen

5.0

January 2, 2024

Maria is a highly skilled midwife in every sense. I started care with her as preconception care. She not only helped me regulate my cycle but also work through emotional and mental blocks I was experiencing. I needed Support mind body and spirit and she is able to help with all components of fertility, pregnancy and birth. Once becoming pregnant I struggled with anxiety, she was an amazing support and gave me true understanding. I didn’t feel ashamed or hide my struggles and through our robust prenatal appointments we were able to address it all and get it out of the way before labor. She provides education classes as well as routine prenatal care. I’m so grateful for her pragmatic, approach that truly blends the art and science of midwifery. In the end my labor was smooth, she was a silent grounding force as I labored. She was gentle yet firm in the moments it was needed. She’s very respectful of your autonomy. I walked away with a deeper understanding of myself, empowered and starting motherhood from a great place. I cannot recommend her enough!

— Kelsey Beni

5.0

December 15, 2023

Maria is an amazing Midwife , She helped my partner and I during the birth of our child . She provided amazing prenatal care and childbirth education . We had an amazing homebirth experience thanks to her . Overall our entire experience was amazing and would highly recommend having a homebirth experience with Maria . Thank La Cieba Midwifery

— Nah-Tez Jackson