Kirstin Soares LM

This review is a long time coming. As my baby’s first birthday approaches I’m reflecting on my birth experience and realized I needed to tell other to be mama’s out there about Kirstin! She’s 5 stars, she’s amazing. From the moment we met Kirstin to our last postpartum visit, every time she came to our home felt like an exciting visit from a loving friend and important professional. Her background as an ER nurse is what initially attracted us to her as first time home birthers.
The knowledge she shared with us throughout the process was sooo helpful in navigating the medical world. She always was clear that while she presented us with different options we had the right to advocate for ourselves and make choices we felt comfortable with. In my due date week I had a medical issue that gave me pause about having a home birth. Kirstin handled it with grace and professionalism. She impressed me with her effort to dive into the matter and present me with all the facts and evidence she could gather. In the end, she made me feel safe and comfortable about my choice to continue planning a home birth. My baby was born in our bedroom and she is a thriving happy child today! Thank you Kirstin for helping bring her into this world and contributing to the loving space she entered when she got here! We will never forget you!
If you are a Bay Area resident considering a home birth… call Kirstin now!!!

If you’re thinking of a home birth, definitely make time to meet Kirstin.
It’s hard to know where to start. I feel so lucky to have met Kirstin and to have chosen her to be our midwife. I guess I knew right away that she was «the one.» Her background as an ER nurse, and her training as a midwife is impressive, but mostly importantly it is her strong and calming nature that resonated with me. My husband and I still pinch ourselves with how well it all went. Fear never entered my mind, and I credit a lot of that to knowing I was in the best, most experienced hands.
The other BEST part, in my opinion, of having a midwife — esp. Kirstin? The prenatal care you receive in unparalleled. To have that kind of attention and care leading up to our daughter’s birth was INVALUABLE. You simply don’t get that kind of care from a hospital (I tried that route for the first few months of pregnancy). Not only did we get to talk about physical questions during those meetings, and have all of our important testing done at home, we got to discuss emotional hang-​ups, as well as family dynamics that may have come into play during the birth. It was so calming to know that my care provider knew all of these things ahead of time — and I got to know so much about Kirstin and my baby ahead of time. For example, we knew my daughter needed to make a ¼ turn during labor, and that she might make a ¾ turn in the other direction. Kirstin was prepared for that and knew what to do. My baby did make the ¾ turn (the long route) and Kirstin had all of the positions ready for me to execute during my labor. By all means, I don’t look down upon women who choose to give birth in a hospital. However, by having prenatal care with the exact person who was going to deliver my baby (which is not guaranteed in a hospital), I was able to get the exact care I needed at that time. I don’t think it would have gone as smoothly had I been in a hospital.
One last thing to mention — the post-​natal care is also amazing. To have Kirstin come to your home for 6 weeks postpartum is priceless. Thank you, Kirstin!

I delivered my baby 4 months ago at home with Kirstin as my midwife. My partner and I felt we were in experienced, reliable hands and had the best possible experience and outcome. I wouldn’t claim that I had ‘orgasmic’ birth, probably few women do. It’s hard to predict and be completely prepared for such a momentous event as childbirth, but we managed to have a natural, not too long, and not too difficult birth. I would highly recommend her as a home birth midwife, and would use her services again. My son is healthy and breastfeeding, and my body is completely recovered from the birth.
We had regular check ups with Kirstin before and after the birth. It’s so convenient and nice to have her visit us, instead of going to a hospital while pregnant or with a newborn. Not being exposed to sick people at the hospital is a bonus. Since I’m a Kaiser member, occasionally I used to have checkups with my Kaiser obgyn, but these checkups seemed useless and impersonal. What’s the point if that doctor is not going to handle the delivery anyway?
I liked Kirstin’s practical, calm demeanor. I couldn’t have dealt with someone who’s strongly opinionated, impassioned, or too hippie. I felt comfortable expressing my preferences without being judged. I received plenty of information, and reference materials to make informed decisions.

With expert advice, and a wide range of knowledge, Kirstin soars through the birthing experience like a bird on its wing… She honored our requests for the entire birth of our son, and helped make it special. Her dedication and service throughout the pregnancy and after, was completely perfect. We feel very blessed to have had her as our midwife, and would highly recommend her to anyone who wants a safe, authentic birth!

I don’t really know where to begin, so I’ll start at the end… the birth of my breech daughter! Towards to the end of my pregnancy Kirstin could tell my baby was breech when palpating my belly. She found the resources to where I could choose to do a vaginal birth (if I wanted, and I did) since home breech births are illegal in CA. Throughout the whole process of visits I could see Kirstin had a wealth of knowledge, and anything she was not sure about she would research and give me the information. She always left the decisions up to us and never made us feel judged. She has a great sense of humor which made me feel at ease. Even though I was not able to birth at home, she drove very far out to the birth center where I was at for my appointment and the birth of my daughter. She stayed with me from the start of my labor, asked the staff questions I didn’t think of, and captured my daughters precious birth on video! I was so sad when it was time for her to stop coming for the well baby check-​ups. She made me feel very reassured and took the time to talk to me on the phone for any questions I had, and she still does! This is really only part of the story, I could write so much more (and I did) but my husband, other members of my family who met Kirstin, and I all agree we are so happy we had Kirstin as our midwife.

Kirstin was our midwife this past year (2014) and we couldn’t be more thrilled. We had a few other appointments with other midwives, and our first appointment was with Kirstin, and as we were shutting the door after meeting her, my husband and I looked at each other and said, «do we need to see anyone else?»
With Kirstin we felt so at peace, comfortable, and secure. She is abundantly professional and also feels like a good friend. The prenatal checkups felt like a fun tea time, with much laughter and wonderful information. I felt so safe in her hands during our son’s birth, and the postnatal checkup were a delight as she got to know our little guy and helped up in the beginning stages of new parenthood.
I couldn’t imagine a better person to care for us during this transformative experience.

My wife and I LOVED working with Kirstin. I wasn’t familiar with midwifery but my wife was born at home and always dreamed to do the same. After reading more about home births, I was convinced and excited about a natural experience at home. My wife knew that I would prefer a midwife who was grounded, practical and also had some formal medical training. Kirstin is all of these and more.
She is a great source of information and always listens with an attentive ear. She graciously searches for answers to our sometimes uncommon questions and concerns. I appreciate her gentle style of guidance and how she provides information and allows us to make pressure-​free decisions. I agree with a previous reviewer when she describes Kirstin like an old friend, especially during the labor process. It was very comfortable having her around and she was as involved or not involved as we wished and instinctively knew when she needed to be present. She’s very responsive to text/​phone calls/​email.
We just had our last post-​birth visit and we miss her already! We definitely plan to work with Kirstin for our second child.

Kirstin is amazing. She maintains just the right blend of nurturing care and professional competence. During prenatal checkups she took the time not just to answer my questions, but also to chat and really get to know me and my family. By the time I went into labor she was like an old friend and it was wonderful to have someone I could trust so well taking care of me. The postpartum checkups were great fun, but then it’s hard not to enjoy watching someone else dote over your baby. :)
Also, I loved hearing about her experiences with birth and babies in other cultures. So cool!