Tree of Life Birth & Gynecology — Attraction in Altamonte Springs

I had a wonderful low risk pregnancy, I thought I was getting the best care at the tree of life. At all of my appointments I was told that my baby was growing well and had a strong heartbeat. The tree of life staff was nice and welcoming.

At my 37week ultrasound appointment everything looked great, the baby was growing, amniotic fluid was great, it was a wonderful appointment. I went home feeling happy and ready to read my next chapter in my hypnobirthing book.

I was active while pregnant (walked 2-3 miles that was recommended, did stretches that were recommended, etc), ate a balanced diet with plenty of protein, took an organic prenatal, hired a doula, and was getting excited to birth my baby into the world.

I was never offered a BPP ultrasound in my pregnancy until I was well overdue, my son had a congenial heart defect and this may have been detected if this BPP ultrasound or other more frequent ultrasounds were offered to me and I would have delivered my baby with specialists who knew how to take care of him outside of the womb.

Fast forward to my 41week appointment, I was given a 20 min stress test to measure the babies movements and heart rate to make sure that he was still doing ok, the midwife briefly looked over the stress test, felt my belly, let me listen to the babies heart rate, and gave me information on what natural induction methods we were going to try if I didn’t go into labor over the weekend, I was reassured that my baby was doing great and there was no need for an ultrasound, that I would be birthing him any day now.

The problem is, my body was not getting ready for labor, my cervix was not ripening or thinning at all, I shouldn’t have been given the advice to go home and wait for my labor to begin.

I went for an ultrasound after the weekend and my baby was in distress, I was called by my midwife and told that I scored a 2 out of 8 on my BPP scan and that it wasn’t an emergency but that I needed to go to a hospital to be induced immediately (that is all I was told, not what this score meant, not any direction on where to go, not what hospital they recommended, not what doctor they recommended, NOTHING) I was panicking and didn’t know where to turn. I had to figure out where I was going to deliver my baby on my own and then they wanted me to check back in with them. This was extremely scary and I was thankful my friend was a nurse practitioner and directed me to a great doctor who performed an emergency C-Section. I was informed by the OB doctor that my babies amniotic fluid was very low. My baby had complications at birth and I was immediately separated from my baby, he was taken to a NICU at another hospital and I was left behind to recover from my surgery. The two days I spent longing to hold my baby, the baby that was a part of me for 10 months were the worst two days of my life.

My first birth experience six years ago was magical, I delivered my baby completely natural at Halifax hospital with an extremely knowledgeable OB, natural birth can happen in a hospital, your needs can be respected, it is not an intrusive way to deliver your baby.

I wish my cervix would have been checked, I wish I was offered a BPP ultrasound sooner, I wish I would have had more routine ultrasounds to check on my baby, I wish I would have been offered induction measures, I wish I knew my baby was in distress. More than anything I wish I was given guidance and support when my birth experience took a turn for the worse, I wish the midwife would have called a hospital / doctor that they knew would have taken excellent care of me and my unborn baby. A panicking mother should not be left to find a doctor at a moments notice to deliver her baby, I deserved guidance and a caring person to ease my stress and anxiety at this very difficult time. I would have done anything to have a better birth experience, I would have done anything to hold my baby when he was born, I would have done anything to avoid his health complications, unfortunately I am not able to change who I trusted with my care and the...

My prenatal care went great. No complaints there. It’s the labor & delivery process that turned into a nightmare that traumatized me.they did a lot of lying during my labor process. had me start pushing at 7 cm.... your supposed to be at a 10. They told the hospital they assisted but more than half the time I was unassisted which made my cervix swollen. Baby’s head was also very swollen on the left side from the unassisted pushing. They saw meconium hours before even mentioning going to a hospital. There was so much meconium that the hospital said it was as much as an adults bowel movement. They had to suction her lungs like 3-4x to get it all out. When they finally mentioned going to a hospital they said it as an option to get me help for the pain. They didn’t tell me my baby had shown signs of distress w/her heart rate dropping or that they Saw meconium. Had I of known I would’ve gone to the hospital as soon as they mentioned baby’s heart rate had dropped. I was not told that info despite constantly asking for updates. They got tired of me asking &eventually told me to stop asking that it wasn’t helping me to ask. I told them it did because I like to know what’s going on. They told me her position was +1 and then said they could see her head coming out... blatant lie. She never got past zero. She was still up very high. They even tried to place blame on me saying I wasn’t pushing right and that’s why she wasn’t coming out. I went through 15 hours of labor before they mentioned transferring. They even made it sound all nonchalant... saying I could go now or we could give it another hour. I decided to go right then. When I did they said I could go with my husband in our vehicle since it wasn’t an emergency.I asked for an ambulance because my contractions were 3 min apart and no way was my husband going to be able to concentrate on driving with me screaming in pain like I was. At the hospital they measured my contractions and turns out my contractions were half the strength of what a MINIMUM contraction should be. They weighed the options of pitocin to strengthen them but after running some tests csection became the safest option because baby’s heart rate was dropping with every contraction. I hate to even think about what could’ve happened if we waited another hour like the midwives said I could’ve done. They never sent the hospital my prenatal records. My husband had to go into my online portal to find my records to show medical personnel info they needed. I never saw them again. One midwife showed up after I got to the hospital and spoke to the nurse for maybe 5-10 min then she said she would come back to check on me. Never did. Crickets from everyone. No one asked how baby was doing. How I was doing and if we were okay.I got one phone call from an office staff member a week later saying to call back to schedule my postpartum appointment. No way was I ever going back there and clearly she wasn’t informed of the situation. Ultimately I had to have a csection which for me was like living one of my worst nightmares. I’m already not someone who likes having my blood drawn so to have to be cut open for a csection had me literally trembling. I knew it was what was best due to the circumstances so I didn’t argue the doctor when he mentioned going that route. The staff at this hospital were seriously the best I’ve ever encountered. They all did what they could to calm me, reassure me and make me feel comfortable. I have never had such a great experience at a hospital like I did here. What has had me torn up since it all happened is the fact that I don’t even remember the first time I held my baby. We struggled to get pregnant for over 5 years. We dreamt of this day. I have looked forward to this moment for so long but because of the meds I had to be given due to the anxiety &stress of the situation I was in & out of sleep after the baby was taken out. I was awake enough to do some skin to skin in the recovery room but I don’t remember it. My husband has been filling in the gaps for me trying to...

I honestly can’t believe I am writing this review but I see that I am not the only one who has a problem with the billing department at TOL. This would’ve been my second birth with TOL, since my first experience in 2019 was nowhere near what I’m currently experiencing. But apparently a lot has changed since Covid. As a new patient back in 2019, I was given a consultation that thoroughly explained everything including the billing process. As a returning patient, I was not given a consultation even though a few things changed with the center as far as their location and their current midwives. I also had a change with my insurance provider (I have both commercial insurance through Aetna and secondary insurance through Medicaid Sunshine Health) previously in 2019 I only had Medicaid. My first appointment on 04/11/2023 I was completely blindsided by the receptionist when she asked if I was going to pay the full $850 registration fee upfront. I could not afford the full amount and did not expect to be required to pay it that day so I was allowed to split the payments and made a $200 payment at my first visit. They gathered my proof of insurance and also informed me then that they didn’t take Medicaid which was ok because I also have Aetna, but I knew it was false information because I used Medicaid prior and it covered everything. They also told me they didn’t know what the cost of services would be because billing was no longer in office (working remotely) and that they would get back to me with my cost of services. When billing finally got back with me the next day, they advised me that my “estimated” cost of service would be $2750 including the registration fee . This was way more than I expected to be responsible for. I asked them why it would cost that much and they told me because I didn’t meet my deductible yet with Aetna and that Medicaid only covers what my insurance denies. My insurance denied the first visit yet there was no change to the “estimated” amount that I owed even though I was told that whatever my insurance didn’t pay Medicaid would. I was told that I would have to make 4 payments of $687.50 with first payment being due this week at my next appointment (tomorrow 05/11/2023). I asked why wasn’t the billing process thoroughly explained to me prior to starting my prenatal care, and was told that it was explained in the financial agreement that I signed (which I never signed or reviewed with anyone). The financial agreement does not state what insurances are accepted there. Nothing or no one can tell you what insurance is accepted there or how the billing works. I asked for a refund of the $200 registration fee deposit I made because had I known my estimated cost of services at my first appointment I would have chosen a different midwife. Billing told me that it is non refundable however had I been told at my first appointment that services would be as expensive as they are now “estimating” I would have NEVER scheduled an appointment with them! The reviews are all saying the same thing, the billing team is a disaster and they don’t know their laws or the way insurance works. The owner responded to another review stating that other birthing centers would be more expensive and that “most midwives and providers” wont accept insurance “due to the timely payment and reimbursement process”. However she was clearly only speaking for herself because the first midwife I found on google thoroughly explains the billing process and takes both my primacy and secondary insurance. They are misleading people to be able to get their money upfront and I can’t believe this center has turned into a money hungry center. I am extremely disappointed and would...