Michele Fitzgerald, CPM

Michele was fantastic as my midwife for my first baby boy, born August 2014. She constantly empowered and educated, but never pressured me one way or another. My birth did NOT go the way that I wanted it to go, but without Michele I know that it would have been a much more terrifying experience.
She drove all the way from Lockhart as soon as my contractions were coming quickly, which was pretty immediately after my water broke. I labored overnight with the help of her, her apprentice, my mom and my husband. At about 7am, a sign of fetal distress appeared — meconium in the waters. At this point my labor had slowed a LOT and I had been around 7 cm dilated for hours. Michele informed us that she thought transfer to a hospital at that point was what was best, so we went to St. David’s central. She and her apprentice accompanied us. Michele became my doula upon stepping into the hospital. She helped us to understand our options. She rubbed my ridiculously swollen feet while I labored in the unfamiliar hospital room. She encouraged and helped us a tremendous amount. At one point, my baby’s heart rate started dipping with each contraction. There was a dramatic moment during which my baby’s heart rate stopped. It felt like time stopped. The nurses stared blankly at the monitors, frozen up, unsure of what to do. Michele boxed them out of the way in order to get to me, and pressed baby’s head upward (towards my head) to relieve the contraction-​induced pressure on his head, and his heart rate resumed and we all breathed a sigh of relief, and I was shortly after wheeled away into the OR for my near-​emergency C-​section. Michele also campaigned for us so that my mom AND my husband could be in the OR for my C-​section. When I tell people that, they’re like… what??? that’s allowed?
Michele is a badass. We felt so fortunate to have her in our corner from start to finish. She stayed until baby was safely born, and she even came back once or twice while we were in the hospital to check on us, and did the home post-​partum visits and gave me an honorary homebirth birth certificate for my healthy baby boy. I recommend her to anyone considering home birth. She is knowledgeable, caring, and understanding. Thank you for everything, Michele!

Michele Fitzgerald was wonderful to have as our midwife for our first son, born at home during the first week of April, 2015. From the get-​go she supplied us with a binder of information on home birth and her practice, and answered all of our questions in detail. Throughout the pregnancy she listened to our typical new parent paranoias, and while she took our concerns seriously, she had a wonderful manner of setting us at ease by arming us with information and encouraging us to trust our instincts. Her apprentices, Ellie and Jolene were also excellent. Ellie conducted a great birthing class and did our placenta encapsulation and tincture, and Jolene was present for the birth and did a great job assisting Michele, taking pictures, offering encouragement, and giving fantastic foot massage while pressing pressure points that helped alleviate the pain.
The birth itself was exactly what we’d hoped for, largely thanks to the relaxed but alert service of Michele and her team. We were able to enjoy the first stage of labor at home just the two of us, and Michele made herself available the very moment that we requested her presence. She was thorough in her check ups whenever she monitored the baby’s heart rate and the couple of times that she checked my dilation. She also coached me through different breathing techniques and gave positive reinforcement whenever I had a dip in energy. One of the best aspects of the experience was the fact that it was led by my body and my baby– when I felt I had to walk, I was encouraged to do so, and when I felt I needed a warm bath, she made sure I was comfortable. She made helpful suggestions for positions to labor in to help my dilation progress, but at no time did I feel like she was trying to take over or coerce me to do anything that I didn’t consent to. She was able to pinpoint when I went into transition, and immediately help us perform some techniques to help the contractions come closer together, such as nipple stimulation by breast pump and breaking my waters, so that I could get to the pushing stage with as much energy as possible.
Michele was also very inclusive of my husband and mother in the experience, and incorporated them by suggesting ways that my husband could help me through contractions, instructing him on how to catch the baby, having him cut the cord, and asking my mother to time when the head and baby were born.
The aftercare was just as great as the birth. Michele and Jolene did excellent work detailing the event in their paperwork, cleaning the house and starting the laundry, and making sure we were taken care of and had our instructions before leaving. The follow up house calls were also very helpful, positive experiences.
One of the reasons I chose Michele was because of her years of experience, and her trust in the human body. My mother gave birth to all five of us at home and had a very good impression of Michele’s ability, and now having had a successful home birth, I can attest to that as well. I highly recommend Michele and her team!

Unfortunately, we had a negative experience with Michele and I would like to put this story out for anyone considering using her just to be able to make an informed decision.
I came to Michele when I was already 20 weeks pregnant because I found out that I was having twins. We had planned to use the birthing center, but they are unable to do twin births. Michele had experience doing twin homebirths, so we went with her. I only saw her for 3 visits, all were uneventful. She was a fine midwife, knowledgable, compitent and friendly.
She incentivised me to pay her full birth fee in advance, offerning me a small discount if I did. Being the budget-​concious Mama that I am, I agreed and paid the full fee when I was about 25 weeks along. At 31 weeks I went into premature labor. I delivered my twins at the hospital, Michele did not attend the birth. She happened to be on vacation the day I went into labor. As a side note. even if she had been in town I wouldn’t have felt it was necessary for her to attend my birth, for a variety of reasons. This was my 3d birth, so I felt comfortable with my ability to have a baby (or 2!), I had only been in her care a short while so we didn’t have a close bond and lastly, I didn’t want to pay her fee and hospital fees. I was now in the hospital and I was happy that my boys had a level 4 NICU to receive the highest care when they arrived.
My bright white lights OR birth was not at all the birth that I had hoped for, but it was natural/​vaginal and it was incredible in its own way. My boys are beatufil! It was just a very difficult reality to face, hard weeks of traveling to and from the NICU and then finally welcoming them home when they were about 37 weeks old. Whew!
I only give those details to provide a backdrop to what my life was like while I was trying to recover the money I had paid Michele in advance for the birth she had no part in. I was in personal turmoil, hands down the most difficult and emotionally draining season of my life and Michele was telling me that she was unable to refund me in a timely manner because of personal issues.
About 35 days after the birth I received a check from Michele which was in an amount far less than what I felt would be a fair price for the few visists I had with her. I repeatedly asked her to provide me with an itemized bill for the charges I incurred, but she would either ignore my request or flat out tell me that she couldn’t create a bill. I asked for a statement about 15 times, through email, text, voicemail, to no avail. Feeling like she was cheating me out of about $ 550, I decided not to cash her check and I went to Visa to see if they could dispute the charge. They attempted to recover the money, but did not have success because Michele had closed her bank account and claimed that she had already refunded me. To be clear, she had refunded me, but her number seemed arbitrary and inflated. Since I had no bill to understand how I racked up alsmot $ 1000 worth of charges, I was not comfortable accepting her «refund».
I will spare you the details and rush to the happy ending! Michele did refund me, just this week I received the remaining portion of what she owed me. Again, this was the amount that she decided I owed. I still feel like it is not an accurate number, but my boys are now 6 months old and I can’t continue on arguing with her over $ 550. It’s just not worth it.
She also finally provided me with a «bill». It was hand written… in the computer age?!? The most ridiculous charge on there was one for $ 65 for coming to the hospital to see me after my boys were born. Really? I would rather she not have stopped by. I thought she was just being nice. And for the amount of persoal information she divulged about her struggling relationship that day, I think she should have paid me $ 65!
So, I hope that you can hear the details of my story and make a more informed decision about your health care than I was able to. I think that if you decide to use Michele my biggest encouragment would be not to pay well in advance! Unless you are comfortable with giving her an interest free loan on your money for 6 months.

Birth happens. In lots of different ways. Sometimes you are able to have that amazing birth you had always dreamed about. And sometimes you end up in the hospital with a repeat c section that you were hoping to avoid. In no way is Michele responsible for your c section. And in the same way she did nothing but assist YOU in having that amazing birth that you always wanted and everything went smooth and your baby was fine… She was amazing at helping YOU. She did not push your baby out for you. So an outcome where you had to go to the hospital and did not plan it to go a certain way was not her fault. She is a professional and from my experience does everything that she can do before making a call to go to the hospital. I have worked with her at a lot of births and have also had my own experience with a pregnancy with her as well as a loss of that pregnancy. She also trained the midwives who assisted me in the birth of my three beautiful children. Those are my births. Not my midwives. That is what Michele does for her clients. She does not birth your children. She helps you find the courage and the power for you to do it yourself! She reassures you that YES! you can continue to do this intense and sometimes overwhelming thing that is happening and that maybe you can decide what is best for your body and baby during your pregnancy. She has assisted women for years and years while they take this amazing journey into parenthood and has gone above and beyond in trying to make sure that the mother and her partner are able to bond over the birth of their child. She unselfishly stands back and insures that your partner is involved in every way that they can be. Because you made this baby together. This is your baby, not hers and she is there to help you all hopefully to have an amazing experience. I would also like to add that Michele also recently had major back surgery and was in no way ever on «hard drugs» like one of the comment below had tried to say. She was in fact in very sever pain and is now doing much better, thank you for asking! :) Midwives are at births for sometimes days at a time and to assume that your midwife is not human and does not get tired is just idiotic. She eats, sleeps and poops just like the rest of you and you being in labor does not mean that she will not be present for you, while doing all those things. Especially if like she said there was an apprentices and another midwife there. She is allowed to close her eyes for a few minuets after she makes sure you and your baby are okay. Birth is a long process!
I found out I was pregnant when I first started working with her. She was very happy for me and was amazing to me in every aspect of my work and my pregnancy. After the results that there was something wrong with my baby, Michele was there for me every step of the way. From abnormal ultrasounds to referring me to see a specialist she offered her support to me. She called to check up on me and was always very kind making sure I had the support I needed. The person that the negative comments talk about is not the woman I know. She not once asked me for money, and has never spoken out of line to a client. I could never even imagine her acting like what that comment claims. What I find horrible is that she cannot defend herself about this review because there are always two sides of every story and because she is a professional she cannot tell what actually happened MEDICALLY at your birth. What I can say is that I do not believe that the reason you ended up back at the hospital is in way her fault. I am sure she did everything she knew to help you but she cannot have your baby for you. I thought that transfers to a hospital resulted in a doctor trying everything they can to get the baby out as well… Why were they unsuccessful as well? If she was trying all that stuff and it didnt work and then a doctor tried everything they could, obviously you were going to end up with a c section from the start! I for one think you should be very grateful that she told you your baby was going to be big. My first baby ended up being 9 and a half pounds and I had a horrible labor with back pain and none of my midwifes told me why!
The united states has an overall c section rate of 50%. Michele’s rate is 3% I believe. She knows when the water is too cold for a baby to be born into it or if a position that is «comfortable» is only that way because it is causing your baby to be moved up off of your cervix and is causing your pain to go away but is also slowing down the progress of your labor. She knows that if your iron level is too low that you will bleed out too much after delivery. She does not do what she does to be mean. She says it because she cares about you and about the health of your baby.

Michele is kind, knowledgeable, warm, and a wonderful midwife. She champions the women she cares for and gives them the support they need to actualize the births they seek. I’m grateful for her assistance in creating the birth experience I wanted and honoring me as a pregnant and birthing woman. I would recommend her to anyone seeking great and gentle prenatal care.

Michele is a gem. Amazingly supportive, experienced and always learning, improving, teaching, caring. She was the assistant midwife to the midwife we chose back in 1992, but guess who stayed with me 20+ hours through intense back labor (baby turned around back of head to my spine, very painful) and helped me find better positions for comfort and to try to turn the baby? Michele! Not the lead midwife (who showed up half an hour before birth and «delivered» the baby!) We knew who to stick with, and when we found out Michele had left the previous midwife’s company, and opened her own practice, we were thrilled to stick with her for child #2 (1996)and #3 (1999). She gives excellent advice, is seriously professional and knowledgeable, and also just happens to be one of the coolest ladies I know. I hate reading the bad review, and am so sorry that that woman had a bad experience. I am sure Michele is too. I can’t imagine that person she describes though– it is nothing like the Michele I know and trust. I meet lots of women who have birthed their children with Michele, and it always feels like a bond between us. I agree with Jen that she is almost otherworldy. I recently met a woman who didn’t birth with Michele, but she said she had wanted to, after having her life saved by Michele & her oxygen tank. The lady was biking across Lamar Bridge when a car hit her and left the scene. Michele was driving by, stopped and gave her emergency care (stopping bleeding from the head and administering oxygen) until the ambulance arrived. I know this story has nothing to do with birthing, but it will tell you how Michele will go out on a limb to save lives and deliver you and your little one to safety.

We worked with Michele for the third time this summer with our third pregnancy and baby, who was born at home in June 2013. Another wonderful experience with this incredible midwife. We have been through so much with her, including the unexpected transport to St. David’s and death there of our first child — an awful, life-​changing experience that Michele has helped us through for all the years since — and then our second child, who was born successfully at home, unexpectedly having Down syndrome (and THANK GOODNESS she was born at home!). I have been incredibly impressed over and over with Michele’s intuition. Our first child died of a very rare birth defect that we hadn’t known about until his birth; Michele is the one who figured out what was going on, though she had never encountered anything like it before, and told the doctors at St. David’s, so they wouldn’t do a C section. That’s the biggest example, but her intuition came through for us countless other times and in other ways throughout my three pregnancies and births. I love her so much and am so grateful we found her back in the beginning. Can’t believe this is our last child and last time to work with her. She is SO capable, smart, strong and cool.

Michele is an amazing person and as a midwife I consider her almost otherwordly and I’m no New-​Agey-​Hippie-​dippy person.
She truly is amazing, as are her current apprentices. I am actually really looking forward to this birth. How many people can say that? People that have birthed with Michele can
I’m honestly shocked by the bad review. I also went through a miscarriage with Michele and received supreme support and guidance through it and beyond. I find Michele to be on the more conservative side than other midwives I’ve known. She encouraged me to take the path I felt I needed to take in regard to how to medically handle my loss.
I’ve had one home birth and am about to have another with her. So I feel like an authority on the level of care you receive from her. You can’t blame the midwife for a miscarriage.
I noticed Alyssa went on to review Kristen Elliot, an apprentice of Michele who was at my first home birth, and gave her 5 stars. I preferred Michele’s bedside manner to Kristen’s which leads me to think there was a personality conflict. It happens and this is why you really need to interview more than one person when looking for your birth caregiver.
Home birth is not for every person but should you choose this path you should consider interviewing Michele.

Michele delivered our baby last March. The whole experience was wonderful. Midwives in the US have a large cultural barrier to overcome and Michele did so without going on the offense or defense. She sold us on her overall competence, experience and common sense.
All through the process she was an advocate for overall health. She used all of her medical resources and connections to provide us with the best monitoring, both traditional western as well as alternative. At one point when my wife was having severe back pain, Michele diagnosed the issue and recommended a chiropractor. I poo-poo’d the decision and had my wife see my doctor, who recommended acupuncture. 2 weeks and about 1000 punctures later, I finally swallowed my pride and sent my wife to the chiropractor who fixed the issue in about 30 seconds. I am exactly the kind of BS Midwives have to put up with: The Scientist-​Husband.
I think the reason Michele has assisted in so many successful births is that she is very thorough in her screening. She assesses risk the whole way through and is ready to make the «this is a hospital case not a home birth case» call if she needs to.
Herbs, herbs, homeopathic, homeocrapic. I still don’t know what to make of all of that. But a midwife will be somewhat alternative. Just ask yourself: why is any of that crap any worse than the crap you’d get from a doctor??? It’s just part of the package.
She’s also got really good hands as Robert noted.
No ones going to tell you what to do for the most important experience of your life. That’s your burden. But, while I feel for Alyssa’s loss, I, too, am duty bound to share my story and 5 stars. The proof is in all of the wonderful adventures I’ve had with my beautiful 6 month old girl, many of which are documented right here on Unilocal

Still five stars!
We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat today!!! It’s funny, her assistants tried for like 15 minutes to find it… Michelle walks in and grabs the little wand and BAM 30 seconds later we hear that little heart beating away at 160 beats per minute. She’s got the gift I tell ya

She was unprepared, uninformed and unprofessional. It was hard to get a word in edgewise when we talked, she just assumed she knew the problem when I started speaking, and was mostly wrong. She didn’t have my information at hand, and I repeated myself over and over each time we met. When we didn’t hear the hearttones, she wanted me to wait two weeks for an ultrasound, I begged for one. It showed that I had lost the pregnancy. During the week and a half of waiting to miscarry, she gave me next to no support. I heard from her once and then never again until I started calling every day. She then gave me horrible advice about herbs that would have landed me in the ER had I taken it. When I wrote to her about her lack of support during this time, she wrote back scathingly mean emails questioning my mental health, my family’s stability and chalking her incompetence up to my state of mind. To top it off, she spelled my name wrong in the email. Awesome. There are too many midwives in Austin to waste your money and time on this one. She ruined my dream of a homebirth, and what I thought a midwife was like.