My dream home birth with my wonderful midwife Mikki!
When I think about my birth, I genuinely feel like I could cry tears of joy. I light up talking about it because, even though my labor was intense and painful, I truly had my dream home birth. It was one of the most beautiful, powerful, peaceful, and empowering experiences of my life, and I know that so much of that is because I chose Mikki as my midwife!
From the beginning, Mikki made me feel completely safe and confident in my body and in the process of birth. During labor, she somehow found the perfect balance between being completely present and giving my husband and me the space to labor freely. There was never a feeling of being rushed, interrupted, or told what I had to do. She allowed me to listen to my body and move through labor in whatever way felt right, while gently offering ideas when she thought something might help, getting into the birth pool, sitting on the toilet, changing positions, or offering homeopathy tailored to what I was experiencing (which was so helpful!). I never even had to ask. Mikki was simply paying attention and anticipating what I might need.
As a first-time mom, I appreciated Mikki's guidance so much. Toward the end, she helped me understand where to direct my pushing - it was gentle guidance that helped me connect with what my body was already doing.
At one point, Mikki recognized that my baby's head was almost, but not quite, in the ideal position. She had me move into puppy pose for three contractions, which was incredibly intense, but it gave my baby the opportunity to reposition to be born in the most optimal position. Shortly afterward, my baby was born, healthy and peacefully, right on our bed in our loving home.
Mikki was so intentional and gentle during crowning and used olive oil throughout that part of the birth. I ended up having zero tearing, which still amazes me. (Pro tip: If your midwife isn't applying olive oil during crowning... find yourself one who does!!)
My recovery has been wonderful, and I am so incredibly grateful for the care she gave my body while helping my baby into the world.
After my baby was born, there was no rush. My baby was immediately placed on me and I had a completely uninterrupted golden hour. My placenta was still inside, my baby was on my chest, and everyone simply allowed us to be together. After about an hour, when we were ready, we cut the umbilical cord. My husband held our baby skin-to-skin while I birthed the placenta. Everything felt calm, peaceful, respectful, and unhurried.
Throughout my entire labor, I never felt uncertainty from Mikki. She was calm and confident while continuously making sure both my baby and I were doing well. She and my second midwife Carolina thought of everything, food, water, electrolytes, a fan, different positions, comfort measures, while still somehow making it feel like they weren't interfering with my birth at all.
That is one of the things I admire most about Mikki. She has such a deep sense of purpose in the work she does. She is incredibly knowledgeable and confident, but also calm, warm, and grounded. She knows when to step in, when to offer something, and when to simply give the space to the body do what it knows how to do.
I truly believe the team you choose shapes the way you experience and remember your birth. Especially as a first-time mom, I could not have asked for a more positive or empowering entrance into motherhood. I am healthy, my baby is healthy, my recovery has been beautiful, and when I look back on his birth, I remember strength, love, peace, and how incredibly powerful I felt.
Mikki helped create the space for my baby to enter this world peacefully, surrounded by people we trusted. I will forever be grateful to her for giving our family that experience.
If you are looking for a midwife who deeply trusts birth and your body, who gives you space and autonomy while also having seemingly endless knowledge and several tricks up her sleeve when you need them, I could not recommend Mikki more wholeheartedly.
What Mikki does truly feels like angel work. I will forever be grateful that she was my midwife, and I will rave about my birth to anyone who will listen for the rest of my life. It was truly magical.
— Vanessa G.
Mikki Bell made my home birth experience absolutely amazing and magical. From the very beginning, I felt supported, safe, and truly cared for every step of the way. Her calm presence, knowledge, and compassion made such a difference during one of the most important moments of my life. She helped create a peaceful and empowering birth experience that I will cherish forever.
If you’re looking for a midwife, you truly don’t need to look any further — Mikki is exceptional at what she does. Her warmth, professionalism, and dedication made all the difference in my experience. I’m so grateful to have had her by my side and would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone considering a home birth/midwife.
— Dana Marie-Esser Bray
Mikki was one of my amazing midwives for the home birth of my son. She's the kind of person you want on your care team for such a vulnerable moment in your life: warm, calm, connected, real, knowledgeable. From the very first appointment with her I felt so connected to her and love her like a friend. This is the kind of care I wish all women had when it came to pregnancy and birth. I trust her with my life and my babies! Need I say more.
— Frances F.
Mikki was one of my midwives for my first baby and she brought all the calm and comfort that I needed. From the very first appointment I knew we would hit it off. Shes so personable and easy to connect to. I’m so grateful she was a part of the birth of my son and I trust her with my life and my babies. Love love love her.
— Frances Freitas
Mikki will forever be woven into the story of our family. Her presence during such a profound and transformative chapter of our lives was nothing short of a gift. We truly cannot imagine having gone through that journey without her by our side.
She's not only deeply compassionate and intuitive, but also incredibly cool, down-to-earth, and genuinely funny -- which, as it turns out, is an absolute superpower in the final stretch of pregnancy and labor!
What truly set Mikki apart was how completely attuned she was to my hopes for my birth. She really spent the time to get to know us and educate us leading up to birth and spending that time with her truly helped us bond.
When things didn't go according to plan (as they rarely do), she was there -- Mikki met every twist with compassion, clarity, and unwavering support. She gently walked me through options, explained everything in a way that helped me feel informed, and held space for every emotion I had along the way. I'm someone who craves details and understanding, and while my medical team was great, you just don't receive that level of step-by-step guidance/understanding without someone like Mikki, who's incredibly knowledgeable and can translate the medical whirlwind into something more digestible.
Because of her, my wife and I were able to face the unexpected with strength and confidence, and we now look back on my birth experience with warmth and joy. We also have a few photos and videos that she was able to capture that we will treasure forever. I honestly don't know how anyone navigates a hospital birth without a doula like Mikki. She didn't just support us -- she empowered us, she comforted us and she met us where we were at any given moment (birth is a rollercoaster!). And for all of that, we will be forever grateful.
— Michela B.
Mikki is absolutely the best!! My husband & I instantly knew after our first meeting that she was the one we wanted to be there for our little one's birth. She is so caring, encouraging, thoughtful & easygoing. Mikki is so calm & collected which is so reassuring during birth. Her presence adds so much to one of the most amazing experiences I've ever gone through in my life. I wholeheartedly recommend her!!!!!
— Victoria N.
Mikki is the absolute best and made my first birth an amazing experience. She was always available to answer questions during my pregnancy and when I went into labor (surprisingly two weeks before my due date), she kept me calm and in a positive headspace despite my fears. My husband and I both felt so comfortable with her -- as a person, she is friendly, cool, and down to earth! At the hospital, Mikki set the vibe with twinkle lights and kept the energy of the room as chill as possible. She had tools to help my contractions feel a bit less painful and just having her as a support to both me AND my husband throughout the whole labor and delivery was so reassuring. She helped me advocate for the natural birth I wanted in a medical environment. I truly don't know how people have their first baby without an awesome doula like Mikki. Two days after my son was born, Mikki came to my house to check on me and give me tools for feeding and sleeping as we had been struggling with the big adjustment of our new baby. We 100% recommend Mikki and can't wait for her to help us with our second birth one day!
— Stephanie W.
Mikki was fantastic! She is so caring, gentle, encouraging, calm, knowledgeable and reliable. We couldn't have done it without her. I gave birth in Oct during covid, she was very understanding of our request to be masked whenever indoors even though we were all fully vaccinated. My husband and I wanted to hypnobirth and Mikki was very flexible, synthesizing the hypnobirthing techniques we learned with her methods and approach. I had an unmedicated birth as planned in a hospital, which would not have been possible if Mikki weren't there! It was so reassuring and calming to have her there with us, when the medical staff kept encouraging medication to speed things along. Mikki is the kind of person you want when you're an amateur going through childbirth for the first time, she had all these little tips and tricks of things to do regardless of what came up. If I choose to have another child, I can only hope Mikki will be by our side again! During the actual birth Mikki took incredible photos and videos while also helping me cope with the pain-incredible multitasking on her part. It is so special to have these photos & videos now and look back on the whole experience. Thank you Mikki!!
— D T.
Michaela was amazing!!!! I had a baby seven months ago and it was terrifying with all of the COVID protocols. She was very knowledgable, super calm and made me feel at ease. We also loved that she was being incredibly careful COVID-wise. My first child was out within 6 hours of the first contraction, so I knew this labor had a chance of being faster (but not a guarantee). It was incredibly helpful that she knew where I was coming from since she also had quick labors (casual walks during laboring were not going to help me!).
When the day came, she came over very quickly (it helped that she lived literally around the corner!)! Thank goodness, because it was a QUICK labor. She helped me with contractions while also getting our toddler to help out (until toddler was picked up by friends) in various ways (get mamma a pillow! massage her back!). COVID made it so that I couldn't have Mikki at the hospital, but she was ready to FaceTime if we needed her (we ended up not having time!). She went as far as should could with me! She wheeled me in the wheelchair while husband parked and grabbed our bags, she went with me through the front doors, up the elevator and even checked me in! With stops for contractions along the way. My husband joined me a few minutes later, and our son was born literally a couple minutes later. One hour and 45 minutes from my first contraction!
Mikki was SO calm under pressure. She later told me that she was even ready to deliver the baby in the car. I'm SO glad that didn't happen, but I know we would have been in good hands if it did. We were happy to see her for our postpartum visit and for me, it was nice get a little recap of that fast birth, as it was all a blur to me, and it was therapeutic to hear her version of what happened. Mikki is an awesome caring person, and I would WHOLE HEARTEDLY recommend her!!!
— S R.
Michaela aka Mikki is the absolute sweetest childbirth educator! All of the classes we we're planning to take had canceled due to COVID and my Doula recommended Michaela to me. I'm so grateful to have found Mikki to help me. If you are looking for a Doula or a childbirth educator in Santa Monica she's great!
— A M.
For my first time experiencing pregnancy, labor, home birth, and breastfeeding, Mikki was a lifesaver. Let's just say that I had zero knowledge of the whole labor experience and Mikki walked me and my husband through everything beforehand. She was super responsive and I was never afraid to call her or ask her questions. For the big day, she was a dream. She came right away and spent the entire time helping to relieve the pain, coached my husband on how to support me (so I came out of labor loving him even more), made everything so easy without me having to worry about telling her what to do. She has great advice without being pushy in any way, but can make decisions when you are being indecisive in labor. She was just all around wonderful and Pivotal to my family experiencing a magical birth experience!
— Chris D.
My husband and I hired Mikki to be our doula for the birth of our first child and I can't imagine having gone through childbirth without her guidance and support. We met Mikki about a month before my due date and knew immediately that she would be a great fit because of her calm, friendly, and easygoing demeanor. My labor ended up being very long and intense but Mikki was by my side (and my husband's!) the entire time and managed to keep me grounded and focused so I could make informed decisions along the way. In addition to being a pillar of physical and emotional support, Mikki also took a lot of great photos and videos that we wouldn't have had the presence of mind to capture, and kept our parents informed of what was going on. Mikki really went above and beyond for us and made childbirth an incredibly positive experience for me and my entire family. I can't recommend her enough.
— Jill D.
I wanted Mikki to be my doula from the moment I met her. I had a c-section for my first child. Mikki knew how much I wanted a natural VBAC for my second. Mikki spent tim helping me process my grief from not having the birth I wanted with my first child and listened to me process my fears about having to have a c-section again. Her ability to hold space to allow me to process my feelings allowed for me to move through my pregnancy from a place of hope. Mikki began meeting with my husband and I to talk about labor, what we needed, pain relief techniques, and more-her sense of humor and knowledge made us so comfortable. When we realized my baby was breech, Mikki helped me research ways to encourage my baby to turn. Mikki continued to remind me that my body was carrying a healthy baby and kept me focused on what was going right. My baby did not turn and I had to have another c-sec. Mikki let me grieve but continued to bring joy each time we met that I had a healthy baby. She came to the c-section and during the prep - she kept my husband and me laughing when needed, used oils and massage to relax me, and even gave space when needed. During the delivery, she held my hand when my husband was with our baby, she took pictures in an appropriate way when I didn't need her by my side, and she calmed my fears by checking in with nurses when I was getting worried about something. I did not have a doula for my first c-section and I can say that I am so glad I had her for the second. Having her there meant I did not have to be alone and reduced my fear and anxiety during the c-section greatly. After my son was born, Mikki stuck around to help him latch, make sure we were comfortable, and had what we needed. Mikki is amazing and I whole-heartedly recommend her to any family looking for a knowledgable, capable, kind support person to support their birth.
— Becky B.
