It took me 18 months to write this review, thinking that perhaps with postpartum hormones my feelings might change, but they haven't. I transferred to Breath of Life closer to the end of my pregnancy. I lived 2 hours away but this was the closest birthing center to us that accepted our health insurance. Before giving prenatal bloodwork at one appointment I let the nurse (?) know that I sometimes vomit or pass out during blood draws. Instead of going to get someone more competent after hearing that, she proceeded to perform the worst blood draw of my life. Her hands were shaking and she stuck the needle straight into my arm instead of at an angle. There was blood everywhere. I continued to bleed profusely from my arm for hours. At another visit I saw a new midwife who had just started working there who informed me that she had dementia (not joking, she was dead serious), which didn't exactly instill a lot of confidence. I lost my mucus plug and started having contractions at 3 PM two weeks before my due date. I called and was told it still could be days until I gave birth and to hold tight. I had contractions all night and my water broke at 5 AM. That's when I woke up my husband and had him call Breath of Life and drive me to Largo. I labored for 2 hours in a very tiny compact car, so needless to say I was stressed and uncomfortable when we arrived. The nurse met us at the door but didn't offer to help me out of the car. When we got inside I had a difficult time finding a comfortable position because I'd just been cramped up in a tiny car for 2 hours. The nurse just stared at me uncomfortably like she didn't know what to do. She took my blood pressure and told me it was high then left the room. She came back and took my blood pressure again and informed me that I would need to be transferred to the hospital. The entire time she was incredibly awkward and acted like she was uncomfortable and didn't know what to do with me, which made me even more stressed and scared. When the paramedics arrived they helped me on a stretcher. They talked to me in soothing voices and asked me questions and immediately put me at ease. They took control of the situation, which is what the nurse at Breath of Life should have done when I arrived. They took my blood pressure twice on the ambulance and multiple times at the hospital and it was normal every single time. To this day I often wonder if my blood pressure wasn't also normal at Breath of Life and she just didn't know what she was doing or didn't want to deal with me, because that was certainly how she acted. When I arrived at the hospital I heard one of the nurses say, "we have another one from Breath of Life" and rolled her eyes. I thought this was interesting, especially considering my suspicions about whether or not my blood pressure was ever high to begin with. Everyone at Morton Plant was kind, confident, and in control. I am grateful I got transferred because that was such a drastic contrast to the nurse at Breath of Life who was timid and acted like she was scared of me. I also never received a refund on the $300 deposit I put down for the gas that I never got to use, but I had a new baby, I felt traumatized by Breath of Life, I saw reviews here from other women who said they had to fight to get that deposit back, so I never had the energy to actually pursue it. Go to Morton Plant. My birth plan didn't go quite like I envisioned, but Morton Plant made it better. They were amazing and their number 1 priority was to put me at ease and make me comfortable, which never happened at Breath of Life.

I've delayed writing this review for months because I wanted to allow my feelings to settle first. For starters, I fully believe in midwifery care and I had an INCREDIBLE experience at a previous birth center for prenatal care, birth and post natal care. This center closed so I decided that breath of life was my only other option to pursue the prenatal care I desired. Unfortunately breath of life fell short for me. The only part of breath of life that was a positive experience for me was with Sarah the sonographer. We had lots of ultrasounds for various reasons and she was so amazing during each visit. Every single visit with the midwives felt like it lacked personal attention and care. At my previous birth center I spent no less than an hour with the midwives at each appointment. My appointments at breath of life were very comparable to an obgyn visit (I've had 2 ob births). Quick in and out, basically another number for the day. Most of us choose midwifery care for a good reason and I would want anyone to experience that level of care if they could. Unfortunately breath of life didn't deliver that to me. Every single blood draw took multiple tries and once even the midwife had to come in after 3, yes 3 other tries. I am an easy stick. I have good veins and I've never had any issues in previous pregnancies with blood draws. This honestly terrified me about giving birth there because I feel like a blood draw is a small medical task so if they fell short there how would major medical procedures or problems be handled? I made it to my 30 week appt at breath of life before going into labor. I Unfortunately experienced a placental abruption at 30 weeks 6 days pregnant. I had an ultrasound a few days prior that showed nothing abnormal and I have doubts about that still to this day. I had an appointment literally the day before my placental abruption and all appeared normal. I get that this was a freak 1% thing that happened during my pregnancy but I still wonder if my ultrasound could have detected my failing placenta. We had to call at 4 am when my abruption occurred because I was stunned and needed advice. My husband left a message and it took what felt like forever to get a response. They finally called back and said to call 911 which we did. When I finally made it to the hospital it took hours for them to send my records over which was frustrating to say the least given the emergent situation. Long story short, I gave birth at 30w6d via emergency c section to say my daughter's life and my life. My follow up care from breath of life has been non existent. They called once the evening of my daughter's birth to apologize for the delay in getting my records sent and to see how things were going. After that no one called. My follow up 6 week appt was canceled last minute. No one called to do a post partum mental health screening, provide a follow up exam, or even just ask how the hell I'm doing after such a traumatic experience. With all of that being said I would never recommend breath of life to anyone. I hope that the quality of care improves for others but mine was severely lacking.

This is my second baby at breath of life. Had such a wonderful experience. The midwives and nurses are so thoughtful and help through every contraction. They have an amazing team to help you through your pregnancy and then birth. The classes are so informative. You really feel at home and comfortable. I also love that it's all women staff. I enjoy that they teach you how to care for your little one and you get to go home after the birth also, especially with already having a three year old. HIGHLY recommend to any pregnant woman. I was able to recommend to family and a niece was born there. My cousin recommended me and she had her daughter there. Truly a powerful experience and how birth is supposed to be.