Lin Lee, CNM

This review is long over due. It is fitting that I am just coming back from a birth with both Lin and Maria. Without any doubt, this practice is by far one of the best in maternal care in the Bay Area. Both Lin and Maria provide both excellence and elegance when supporting women through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. They believe and trust in the power of a woman’s body and support her to achieve her dream birth. They are diligent and caring and if you are looking for a great birth experience, this is where you should go!!!

I was very happy and lucky to have Lin as my midwife during my first child birth in August 2015. She was very professional and calm. She knew what she was doing, hence my daughter was born natural way as we planned. It was amazing experience. Thank you Lin:)

I have had the honor of working with Lin for many years now, & she is absolutely wonderful. I am a birth doula, so I’ve worked with countless providers (Dr’s & midwives) & see quite a range of how they can be. Lin & Maria are both absolutely wonderful at what they do, both prenatally & during births.
I recently attended a birth in which Lin luckily & astutely caught that there was a piece missing in my client’s placenta after it was delivered. She handled the situation very calmly & quickly. She is always cheerful, & is excellent at what she does.
I wish all of my birth clients delivered with Lin & Maria, as I see the clients with BAM getting better care (& more time spent both prenatally & at births) than from most of the other providers out there. Thank you for being so skilled & kind!

I was a patient of Maria’s with my first pregnancy, but it was Lin who ended up delivering my daughter. I’d had one really fantastic prenatal visit with Lin, and when I went over my birth plan with Maria, she told me that everything in it, from being allowed to labor and deliver in whatever position I chose to avoiding forced pushing, was the standard of care in their joint practice.
Sadly, that was not my eventual experience with Lin. My baby was born healthy and without unwanted interventions, but the labor and delivery experience with her felt stressful and disrespectful and my stated wishes were ignored on multiple occasions. I will say as a major caveat that there were significant contributing circumstances on the part of the hospital nursing staff at El Camino Los Gatos. Apparently, Lin was still new to this hospital having previously worked at El Camino Mountain View, and the nurses were openly hostile toward her, which made the birthing process more stressful for me and I’m sure more stressful for Lin as well. Also, due to a plumbing emergency at home, I was later arriving to the hospital than I would have liked, which also made the nurses unhappy and flustered, thereby creating more chaos for everyone involved.
Suffice it to say, though, that the very pleasant and patient midwife I saw in her office was replaced by a midwife who ignored my birth plan, got up in my face during a contraction, 9.5 cm and pushing, to tell me that I could labor on the birth stool but when it was time to deliver I was going to do as I was told and get into the position in which she was trained to deliver. As I was pushing my daughter out, she yelled at me to be quiet and tried to insist that I do longer, forced pushing. After I delivered and Lin rushed me through delivering the placenta for no apparent reason, one of the nurses was being weird about quadruple checking if I was SURE I was okay taking ibuprofen for afterpains, and I didn’t understand why and thought maybe I was forgetting some risk of ibuprofen. I turned to my doula to confirm my belief that ibuprofen was fine, and Lin snapped at me that no one was trying to poison me.
Again, some of this was surely motivated by the extremely unprofessional behavior of the hospital nurses, which will be the topic of another review, but I was disappointed that the very low risk and straightforward birth of my first child, which should have been a joyful experience, was made so unnecessarily stressful and strange by Lin’s behavior, among others. I felt as though she had really broken the trust I’d put in her to guide me both safely AND respectfully through the birthing process. That was not at all what I expected when I signed on with Lin and Maria’s practice.

I received my prenatal care from both Lin and Maria at BAM and was lucky enough to have Lin deliver my baby as well. She is so warm and nurturing, has a great sense of humor and makes you feel at ease. She sat in my room at El Camino listening to my contractions continually checking in without making me feel rushed or like I was keeping her from something more important. I felt so supported and well cared for which was quite the contrast from my first delivery. If you are looking for supportive, consistent and attentive care during your pregnancy, then you should really consider a midwife, especially Lin at BAM.

I was extremely lucky to have Lin as my midwife during my first childbirth (September 2013) at El Camino Hospital in Los Gatos. She was absolutely AMAZING! Lin has this unique mix of kindness, calmness, confidence and professionalism — everything that I really needed during my labor.
I wanted a natural, unmedicated birth, and even though there were some slight complications, Lin made sure it was possible (and eventually I delivered the baby naturally). When baby’s heartbeat dropped down really low towards the end of labor, she acted calm to not discourage me from pushing. I didn’t even suspect that there’s something wrong, only later my husband told me what really was going on.
With Lin’s constant reassurance that I was doing good job, and her very confident guidance, I had the best birth experience I could have ever imagined. I really highly recommend Lin and whole Bay Area Maternity midwife practice. Switching to them in my 36^th week from a regular OB at PAMF was the best decision I could make.

This is the 2^nd time I delivered with Lin. I followed her all the way from Mt. View El Camino hospital to the Los Gatos one.
What I value are:
1. Her thirty plus years of experiences delivering over 6000 healthy babies.
2. Her amazing confidence comes with that experiences.
3. Her delightful personality. One can find instant connection with Lin.
While I was in labor I felt totally worry free knowing she’s there to respond to any scenario possible. And that pace of mind is something money can not buy! Sure enough, without getting into lengthy details, the baby arrived exactly the time she said would arrive. And remind you, this is a vaginal delivery. Wow… she knows her «business»!
Mommy is healthy, baby is healthy and daddy is relaxed. What more can you ask for? :)
A side note about our doula Caren —She is wonderful to have. She really strikes me as someone in tune with this line of work. Feels to me, she’s here not because she «needs» this job, but she «likes» this job. She’s reliable, sensitive to my needs, great knowledge… the list goes on. So yeah, I’d recommend her if you are considering a doula. (Caren Hespeler
)
Thanks Lin, for another «as good as it gets» birthing experience. The photo of you and baby is going into my baby book for keep sake for ever.

I can attest to the wonderful being Lin is! We were so blessed to have her with us during our pregnancy years ago (when she was still at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View). Looked forward to every visit and hearing her reassurance, guidance, and laugh. They were each such a joy.
Unfortunately, as she was a part of a group of midwives, I didn’t have the chance to experience birth with her and went through that life-​changing process in the hands of another. It’s been a feat trying to own that very difficult birth experience, and find myself wondering how different it would have been with Lin.
I’m crossing fingers she’ll be available the next time I’m on that journey! I’m so happy she stayed in the South Bay!

Lin AMAZES me. From my routine visits to the delivery room… she really was a partner through it all. I didn’t have an easy labor but Lin was there for the 15+ hours with me coaching me through the whole process. Will your OB/​GYN be with you for that long and soothe you with not only her voice, techniques but also LAVENDER OIL? I don’t think so. She’s like a super midwife… not only did she deliver me a healthy baby boy but 7 other babies that same day!!!
Today I had my post appointment and I didn’t have anyone to watch my little one. I took him to the appointment and being the incredible lady that she is… she carried and soothed him while attending to me. I just love her and would recommend her to everyone out there!

I have so many wonderful things to say about Lin– I honestly don’t know where to start…
I have always been someone who is skeptical of doctors and hospital care in general– I feel that often the practitioner has an agenda and the wishes of the patient are not necessarily their top priority, but my experience with Lin couldn’t be more different.
I very much wanted to have a natural birth without any medication. I considered a home birth but decided that the risks involved were too high. My Doula, Felissa Hay, after discussing and helping me create my birth plan recommended Lin and Maria at Bay Area Maternity. And I really feel like having Lin deliver my baby was an answer to prayer!
Lin has a very calming and reassuring presence, which was a huge comfort to me during labor. She was able to follow my birth plan completely… I was able to move around throughout my labor and I didn’t have to be hooked up to beeping monitors the entire time or given an IV. I also really appreciated that she worked with everyone else on my «birthing team” — she had past experience with my Doula and didn’t feel the need to come in and take over– instead when she arrived she waited until I was through a contraction and calmly came over to make sure I knew she was there. She worked with my boyfriend and everyone else who was there to support me but when I was nearing the end of my labor she stepped in and began coaching me– I really can’t explain how invaluable her words of encouragement and communication was through each of my contraction and finally when it was time to push. I can’t imagine a better birth experience and could not imagine having anyone else deliver my baby.
I feel like what was equally as impressive was her continued care after delivery. She came and visited me both days I was in the hospital to check on me and my baby– both times she was willing to stay and visit with my family, as well as take the time to listen to my questions and concerns. In addition, it was so reassuring during my pregnancy and after birth that I could call at anytime and speak to her (or Maria if she wasn’t on call) about possible contraction pains (as a first time Mom it was hard for me to know what was and wasn’t true labor) and also know that if I had any post-​pregnancy scares she would be there to help.
I wish there was more I could say to explain how grateful I am to have Lin as my midwife… but I feel like there aren’t the words to express the quality of care and how kind and encouraging she is. It’s truly obvious that caring for mothers and delivering babies is her passion, not just her profession.

I started seeing Lin in my sixth month after searching for a midwifery service that would be covered by my insurance.
How lucky I feel now to have found her! My second child’s delivery was supposed to be a breeze, we expected a fast delivery but after getting an epidural (my first was natural but I was willing to try meds this time) my labor stalled. Baby just would not go down on her own. Lin spend hours by my side trying to make sure I delivered without a C-​section as the clock was ticking and we were approaching 20 hours after my water had broken. She held my hand, she talked to me, she made me feel confident that this baby would come on her own. And we did it, my daughter was born after 22 hours of labor. I am positive that having a regular OB, I would have ended up in the OR with a C-​section.
Lin is a darling and I strongly recommend her to you, if you are seeking a different experience that the one with your regular OB, go for it with B.A.M.

There are no words to describe how blessed I was to have Lin during the delivery of my now beautiful, healthy, bouncing, baby boy (6 months old today, yay). The whole clinic is amazing, no complaints. From Maria, to Dr. Byrne, and of course Lin, to the financial handling by Greg (three cheers for Greg, yay!); absolutely fantastic team!
My husband and I had to change location soon before the arrival of our son, causing us to have to look for an experienced midwife, who was going to agree with our views on a natural labor and delivery, and be willing to take on a new patient 4 weeks before her due date; Bay Area Maternity to the rescue.
I fell in love with Lin from the moment she introduced herself with her most proper British accent. Loved it. She had as pleasant a personality as her smile, and after our first consultation meeting, I knew she was the one I wanted to help with the labor and delivery of my first baby.
Lin was an AMAZING coach, she knew exactly when to be gentle, and understanding during my entire delivery (I had been on Pitocin for a few hours, because of a sudden leakage during my long pre-​labor, and on the natural method, no painkillers or epidural was administered, so needless to say I was exhausted by the time it was time to push). Lin was soft-​spoken, and encouraging in between contractions, and a lioness during 2^nd stage labor (pushing contractions). I was not entirely «there“during the last few pushes (just extremely fatigued, Lin knew exactly how to take care of that as well), but one of the most memorable, and outstanding moments was right before my final push, I remember seeing Lin almost jumping on the hospital bed, like a cheerleader, yelling „Push!“ (and this was after she had been up for over 24 hours, and had just finished delivering another baby just down the hall). It was one of the most motivating moments of the whole delivery. In the most immense, and necessary pain of labor, Lin was not only my guide in getting through it, but my most enthusiastic cheerleader.
I hope that I will be able to ‘work» with Lin again in the near future :).
Two thumbs way-​up for the whole team at Bay Area Maternity clinic; I don’t know what I would have done without them.

I wish I could write this info without giving a star rating since I did not even see her, but I wanted other women out there to be aware that at this time, in her Bay Area Maternity practice, Lin Lee is not doing any VBACs.

I can’t imagine having a baby without Lin after having my first daughter with her. Prenatal visits with her was always so fun and resourceful. If you have been to both OBGYN and midwife practice, you will definitely feel the difference. Although my pregnancy went really smooth, my labor was not. I prepared so much for undisturbed/​unmedicated birth with Lin, but my labor did not progress smoothly. However, Lin was next to me for 8+ hours, encouraged me every step of the process. When I ended up having epidural, she soothed me by reassuring it’s okay and it was needed. She is so skillful, compassionate, and so cute^^ I just love her british accent. She is very culturally-​sensitive, and very open-​minded to any culture. After difficult birth, all the nurses were amazed by Lin’s skills and they told me my case definitely would have been emergency C-​sec case when baby descended awkwardly. I thank her sooooo much for saving me from C-​section and not even forcep.
I will definitely come back to her (Bay Area Maternity) when I will have my second child.

We switched from a traditional OB practice to Lin around the start of the third trimester, and we never looked back. Lin has a wealth of experience caring for moms and delivering babies. Her skill and knowledge meets or exceeds that of any doctor I’ve met. But unlike most doctors, Lin takes the time to get to know every patient, listen to every concern, and provide all the wisdom and comfort you could want. She has a tireless passion for her work, and it shows in everything she does.
We found the experience to be:
— Safe and secure, without feeling clinical
— Professional, without feeling rushed
— Comfortable, warm, and friendly
…and we felt like we got better care than we could have gotten any other way. If we decide to have another baby, I hope Lin can be our midwife again. In the mean time, we are recommending her to all of our friends who are on their way towards making a family.

Lin is fantastic! My husband says she is like the Mary Poppins of midwives and it’s true! She delivered our son three weeks ago and I can’t rave enough about the care I received from prenatal to labor/​deliver to postpartum followup. Had I been going anywhere else, I likely would have been induced (due to hypertension I developed at full term) and that would have led to the cascade of interventions we so wanted to avoid. Also, due to a very long labor, I likely would have been given an epidural in any other care setting. Under Lin’s expert, soothing guidance, we were able to have the natural birth we wanted. She was so supportive and excellent during the pushing part and knew all kinds of tricks to prevent tearing and keep me as calm as possible. And, at the end, we have a healthy, beautiful baby boy! I will definitely go to her again for our next child and would highly recommend her without any reservations for anyone seeking a natural birth in a hospital!

Lin is amazing. Although I was unable to deliver with her, she took care of me for more than half of my pregnancy and you can not ask for a more thoughtful, caring, knowledgeable midwife. She really listens and takes care of you… not as a patient, but as a person. Almost from my first visit, she remembered my name, which is amazing to me because I often see my family practitioner and, everytime, she has to look at my chart to recall my name and asks me if I have seen her before.
Not only that, but when she could no longer provide midwifery services, she took extra steps to make sure her patients had options. This is typical of her… she goes above and beyond.
Although i am not totally excited about getting pregnant again anytime soon (I had morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy), when I am ready, i find comfort in knowing that I will go to see Lin.

My husband and I switched over from the OBs to the midwives, Lin, Bethany, and Olga at Altos Oaks towards the tail end of our second trimester because we heard about the high c-​section rate and medication usage of hospitals. We found out about the midwives at their informational tea session and immediately decided to switch our care to them. Throughout the remainder of my pregnancy, we saw them regularly and they were extremely thorough and attentive. They worked as a team, which we found refreshing and they are easily accessible through their Yahoo group forum. We felt that we were under competent care as they took the time to answer all of our questions. Unlike the OB that we transferred from where we felt like we were part of a factory line (in and out), there were a couple of visits with each of them where the visit was over an hour long and we never felt like we were being rushed out the door. When the day of my delivery arrived, Lin was on call and met us punctually at the hospital when it was time for me to go in. She was so calming yet funny which comforted me even though I was in pain. She walked me through each labor pain with her soothing voice and directions. She was very knowledgeable in the different techniques/​positions that would alleviate my pain so I wouldn’t need to have medications. My delivery went smoothly without complications and the need for any medications. My baby arrived healthy and alert. We would highly recommend Lin Lee, Bethany Monte, and Olga Libova to anyone that’s interested in a natural, healthy delivery!!! They are indeed experts in the natural birth!
They should get 10 stars!

Lin is an incredible midwife. I delivered my son with her help few months ago. As a result of her commitment to our wishes, I was able to deliver naturally — without any drugs-.
Her childirth classes were very useful as well. I’d love to write more but my hands are full with my newborn. :)
In sum, I recommend every pregnant lady to get in under Lin Lee’s care and her team members Olga and Bethany. They are wonderful!

I received my prenatal care from Lin and was lucky enough to have her deliver my baby as well. She was an absolute joy to work with and has the sweetest personality. She does have a great sense of humor also and makes you feel at ease around her. I also took her childbirth prep classes which were incredibly informative and really great and helping to prepare you and know the whole process and options you have. I had a friend take the classes at Palo Alto Medical Foundation and didn’t know half of the stuff we learned.
I had a great delivery and Lin was a godsend and helping me get through it. It was natural (because I didn’t have time to get anything) and I am glad it worked out that way.
I am so glad I found the midwives for my pregnancy & labor! I can’t recommend them enough.