Atlanta Birth Center — Local services in Atlanta

I am a Black Woman on medicaid. I came in at 17 wks with hyperemeis which is known to cause glucose issues bc what you can eat is very limited through this pregnancy complication. They said that was fine it may be controlled with diet and exercise. I didn't get tested for gestational diabetes until 28 wks. My fasting and 1 and 2 and 3 hrs were all slightly elevated as my hyperemesis has been making my sugars. The tech who threw my blood made me wait an extra 30 minutes while she talked about patients the first time I did the 1 hr test and so I thought it was inaccurate cause of that. They still made me do the 3 hr then diagnosed me with gestational diabetes. They referred me to PeaPod Nutrition which works in the same office for dietitian services. They were not able to consult with me or teach me how to alter my diet for this until about 3 weeks later. By that time I had sent in blood glucose levels that were high over 15 percent of the time when most offices accept less than 30 percent so they referred me to Atlanta PERINATAL ASSOCIATES FOR 15 PERCENT. I ASKED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT AND WAS TOLD IT WAS JUST IN CASE DIET ALONE COULDN'T GET MY NUMBERS DOWN. THEY NEVER GAVE ME A FIGHTING CHANCE TO GET MY NUMBERS DOWN WITH DIET ALONE. THE DR AT THE PERINATAL ASSOCIATES SAID HE WANTS TO PUT ME ON METFORMIN NOT INUSLIN JUST IN CASE EVEN THOUGH MY NUMBERS LOOKED GOOD AND HAD IMPROVED IN THE WEEK SINCE I met the dietitian. He said the baby was healthy. He told them he recommended me metofromin so midwife Zoe called me and was quite short and cold did not listen to me say that I had only met with the dietian to change my diet the week before and the dr said my numbers were good and baby was healthy and kept saying when I referred to PeaPod Nutrition I was referring to Piedmont as my new hospital because I need to birth at a hospital regardless now for less than a hand full of slightly high glucose reads. She was rude. Didn't offer an apology or any empathy. Tried to demand I call another hospital today and they only told me after 1 pm and I was at work. I was getting tired of them any way bc while usually friendly the front desk was rude to me and my interracial partner by being short and cold with us and giving us strange looks. Also they had me waiting 3 hrs each at both my last appointments. I have a doula that is a midwife who said this is crazy. The numbers can't be perfect and are not even affecting the baby being so low and rare. They never even told me how to take my glucose and in fact sent the the wrong prescriptions in for me to do so to my pharmacy. Even the first dietitian I met with at the office they referred me too rushed through my first consult and didn't show me how. She asked if I saw how on YouTube. She had even canceled on me an hr before our evening appointment and lied and said it was that morning due to me not doing paperwork which I did do that day. She did not apologize and came off as stoic in the appointment. This all happened my first consult with them after waiting about a month to get in and having to figure out testing and balancing my blood sugar alone that whole time. Now at 33 weeks I have to find a new place to give birth. Read all bad reviews here. Their transfer rate is 40 percent and highest with Black Women on medicaid but also high with people on insurance and they have a monthly limit so that explains things. Not to mention most other patients at the orientation or in the waiting room were stuck up. Also, most of the teachers doing the birth classes are rude in their communication in class and outside it if you have questions via text. To make matters worse the Dr. who misdiagnosed me as needing Metformin for 3 slightly high glucose reads is known to have 2 star reviews and misdiagnose mom's and babies. I knew I would have trouble out of being referred to this place for ultrasounds and am not sure why ABC would refer to them given all the 2 star reviews they...

I struggled to write this review for 2 years. I was a patient at Atlanta Birth Center in 2023 and excited to deliver my first baby in a natural birthing facility. I began prenatal care at a hospital, and the experience at the birth center was a stark contrast. The appointments were slower—no big deal. The rooms showed visible wear and tear compared to Emory—still not a big deal. The real red flags were with the midwives-in-training.

At the time, Cat Dymond was a Midwife Fellow, which I later learned meant she was still in training. During one prenatal visit, she recommended I take baby aspirin daily to “reduce swelling.” I thought this was an odd recommendation for a natural-focused facility. I declined, saying I wasn’t comfortable taking OTC meds daily for a non-threatening symptom. She responded by making a comment about people “my age,” and said her son also didn’t like taking meds. The interaction felt dismissive and uncomfortable, but I continued care.

At another visit, a nurse-in-training took my blood pressure with the cuff way too tight and incorrectly placed. The reading was high, and I was asked to monitor it at home. At-home and subsequent professional readings were normal.

The most traumatic experience was labor. Cat Dymond was on-call when I went into labor. She checked me and admitted me. I labored for hours in the room and shower. After a while, she said it was time to push. The team prepped the birthing pool, and I pushed for over an hour. Cat made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough. She said, “If this is the best you can do, you’ll need to get out of the pool.” I said okay—I was exhausted. I had been laboring under Cat’s direction for over 12 hours.

Finally, a senior midwife, Anjli Hinman, came in to help. She checked me and said I was not 10 cm—only 6 to 7 cm at best. I was crushed. Anjli offered to break my water to help things progress. I agreed. But there was meconium in the water, and they said I needed to transfer to the hospital. I was relieved to go. The birth center experience was traumatic. My husband has videos of me pushing to the point of hemorrhoids, only to learn I was nowhere near ready to push.

At Grady, I received phenomenal care. The staff was attentive and experienced. Any trainees were clearly supervised. It was night and day from the birth center. I couldn’t understand why an apprentice midwife was allowed to guide me through labor unsupervised. The experience was so concerning that my doula filed a complaint within days of delivery.

I ended up with Chorioamnionitis (infection of the placenta and amniotic fluid), which may have been caused by the early water breaking or repeated cervical checks. It was treatable, but I couldn’t encapsulate my placenta as planned. I mention this because I’ve since read similar stories in other reviews—just something to be aware of.

I’m grateful I delivered a healthy baby at Grady. I didn’t return to the birth center and completed my postpartum care at Grady as well. Like many others, I didn’t receive a refund for prepaid services. I called once or twice for updates, then gave up.

Now, when I receive newsletters from ABC asking for donations and touting plans to expand, I feel compelled to share my story. I hope this review informs expecting mothers and adds to the growing list of voices calling for Atlanta Birth Center to improve quality before expanding further. There’s important work to be done—especially with staffing, training, and...

Time and time again we are disappointed with this place. We have reached out continuously with NO reply. Radio silence. It’s really sad that the only way to get any communication from a business that provides such an intimate service is to negatively impact their public image. We get replies almost immediately when making public complaints, but when we inquired again, and again the nice way? Nothing at all. You would think that the business would make at least some attempt to minimize the impact that negative public reviews would have.

Make no mistake, this place may be a non-profit business, but it is a business nonetheless. A poorly run business. Some background: we enrolled here early in my wife’s pregnancy. Everything seemed great. We had some hesitation because we were in between enrollment periods with insurance after a new job. We were going to have to pay up front, and out of pocket (that’s how they do things, they want a lump sum for the set ice up front for our of pocket). I wanted my wife to have the best birth experience possible, as safe as possible, how she wanted it (great sales pitch btw when you run the only game in town, or state). We were told that they would bill insurance once we got coverage and we would receive a full refund minus the portion insurance didn’t cover. That worked for us. Fast forward a few months and my wife was transferred to Grady for the birth due to complications. So we didn’t actually use any services and were supposed to get the majority back. We’ll over 90 days after birth and past the limit they told us, we had not only NOT been refunded, but heard nothing in response to our numerous emails. We make some public complaints however, and get an email within an hour. That was the first time. The second time we were told by the CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER that we would have a refund transfer confirmation within a week. It is now more than two weeks later, and we have gotten nothing but radio silence. Again.

The information we were given was that ABC had “problems” with their previous accounting vendor, and they were in the middle of a vendor change which was causing the delays. We’ll, it’s been 6 months and I’m not sure what mom and pop accounting firm they are using, but it’s very clear that if you are not a current patient, or potential patient (potential income), they don’t care enough to even communicate. They got their money from us, now we are disposable. The problem is, they are holding $5,600.00 hostage. I CANNOT stress this enough: if you do not have money to burn, be very careful giving any of your own money to this place. The care, and understanding, and ability to have a birthing experience you choose are wonderful options to have, but the thing most people, including us, don’t consider is the “after.” It’s been a pure nightmare dealing with this place. The price we paid out of pocket would more than cover a Doula, licensed midwife, home birth setup, and backup planning, etc. if we had of done it that way, we wouldn’t have had to waste time and money with ABC.

The craziest part is that they did actually bill our insurance, so they took the money from us AND insurance. Sounds FRAUDULENT to me. Make your own choices, but be informed PLEASE. Be careful with this place. They are the only provider of this particular service, because they do all the organizing for you. You can save yourself a lot of time, headache, and heartache by sourcing the services yourself. It’s not...