I had my baby with Kathleen slone in October 2011 and I seriously doubt I will return if/when I have baby #2. Kathleen, herself is a wonderful midwife but unfoutnately you do not visit with Kathleen often nor do I think she delivery babies often. I called about 10 times during my entire pregnancy into their voicemail and never did I call when Kathleen was on shift-meaning she was the one on call to deliever babies. As a another poster stated, I also did not receive great post natal care. Also, besides Kathleen, all the midwives are young and honestly, I only think they became midwives to get paid more not because they care about mothers' or women's health. \t\nI will say that my delivery went well, I wanted a water birth but due my own complications being at first time mother that after pushing for over an hour, I decide to give the water birth a quit. \t\n\t\nAlso , the midwife who attended my birth did a decent job even though me and her did not get along and she knew I did not like her. \t\n\t\nfurthermore, I know when I was searching for midwife group, people commeted that Slone's office is dirty...well its not dirty but it is small. HOwever, this should not be that important because you never have to wait unless you get there really earlier and you won't be delivering there so oh well if its small. \t\n\t\nIn the end, I really hope that by time I get pregnant again, there is some better midwives groups around or my friend has already told me about her experience at University of Maryland so I will probably check them out. ...read more

I was terrified of falling into a system that was likely to lead to a C Section and horrified by the priorities at hopkins. This lead me to an obgyn i was thrilled with, Michelle Morganti at Union, a Dr. willing to give me a natural water birth. But in my 3rd trimester Union gave 30 days notice it was closing down its birthing wing days before I was due and that everyone was to be reassigned elsewhere. Unfortunately my Dr. had no priviledges anywhere but Union and I had to switch again.\t\n\t\nDr. Morganti recommended Kathy Slone. Kathy and Julie were very attentive and kind, while Kathy was clear and firm, a characteristic I learned is extremely important during labor. I was so pleased with my experience that Kathy also delivered my daughter 2 years later. By then she had two partners. I learned how Kathy had been fighting for midwifery in Maryland for decades and that the prevailing laws and medical establishments made it so difficult for midwives to work legitimately that she was the only solo midwifery practice in Maryland (many others worked within Dr's practice or on a casual basis), but Kathy fought the system to exist. This made her extremely popular to almost a cult status among expectant mothers wanting less medical intervention. While the partners were deeply attentive not only to my 24/7 well being (in the 3rd trimester) but to me personally. I felt special.\t\n\t\nIn the end I had two successful water births by Kathy and was grateful that she visibly navigated the system, and when she introduced herself to the nursing staff she'd never worked with she said politely but firmly said "we do things a little different, I think you're going to like it." Afterward I found I had an amazed audience also deeply impressed with my water birth. Afterward my second water birth, and I was no longer an expectant priority, it was even more clear how overworked they were and I learned that the partners left. ...read more

I went to hopkins for the first part of my care and had a horrible experience. None of the doctors read my chart before seeing me and they rarely asked me questions about my life, health, or history. I finally vowed never to return when a nurse started yelling at me and caused me to have a panic attack in front of my older son for putting too much weight on and endangering my baby--long story short, it turned out I hadn't put on more than the normal amount of weight, they had been negligent in recording my weight and used faulty scales when they had. \t\n\t\nI switched to Kathy's midwives and it was worlds apart from the care at Hopkins. The midwives were incredibly attentive to my individual needs and concerns. I started having some signs of preeclampsia towards the end of the pregnancy, and they were incredibly alert and responsive to the potential issue, putting me on preventative bedrest and having me come in for more frequent check-ups. When I gave birth (Mercy was fabulous) Bayla and Kathy were with me the entire time--I would never get that kind of care from a doctor! \t\n\t\nI could not have received better care and would recommend this practice to anyone. ...read more