Swiss Avenue Birth Center || Your Dallas Midwife — Local services in Dallas

The other day I opened the door into Swiss Avenue, coming for a follow-up visit after nearly a full year of care. As the cool, sunlit calm of the place hit me, my thought was, "This might just be the best place in life right now."

Certainly an unusual thought to have about a medical provider's office, but Swiss Avenue is so much more than that. I found this birth center a year ago after finding out I was pregnant and scrutinizing local Google reviews for prenatal care options. I wouldn't describe myself as particularly "crunchy" or "holistic", but I was looking for a place where both I could trust in my providers' medical knowledge, and I felt they trusted me to know myself. I found so, so much more than that.

THE PHILOSOPHY One sentence sticks out to me from when I came for a come-and-see visit last summer. Amy said something along the lines of, "Unless it becomes one, birth isn't a medical event. It's a physiological one." This totally turned around my view of the pregnancy I had just begun, and stays with me today. I was reassured both by the birth center's proximity to Baylor Hospital (you can see it out the window!) and by their low emergent transfer rate. I also appreciate the midwives' comprehensive and current medical knowledge and approach to information and decision-making - throughout my care, every decision was my own, and I felt educated, informed, and supported rather than confused or coerced...the latter unfortunately being the norm to how I've felt after visits to other OBs.

THE MIDWIVES There are a lot of adjectives to describe unicorn-level care providers, and Amy Tate deserves all of them. Knowledgeable, joyful, tireless, experienced, endlessly patient, gentle, resolved, loving, unflappable, competent, kind...but most of all, this woman is WISE. It makes sense, having witnessed that much birth and both the suffering and joy that goes with it, that she should be this wise...but I just feel lucky to have been in her care. All three midwives (Amy, Brittney, and Andrea) work beautifully together. I also feel particularly lucky to have received care from Andrea during her student midwife certification - she is an incredible carer. All three of them have an insane skill - they'll be at your appointment at 10am on a Tuesday, full of care, kindness, attention, and just a few yawns, having attended three consecutive births over the weekend and not slept since Friday. I am in awe of them and so grateful for their calling to this profession.

THE SPACE A few weeks ago I walked back into the room where I'd given birth and the thought flashed through my head, "Gosh, I've gotta have another baby just so I can hang out in here again." 😂 Definitely preemptive, but the feeling was well-grounded: Swiss Avenue is in a renovated old home in downtown Dallas. Impeccably restored and decorated, it feels like visiting a homey spa. It is beautiful. It's exactly the most wonderful kind of space to bring a little person into the world in. During my 3rd trimester, I spent a weekend in a L&D room in the maternity ward of Baylor hospital (thanks, unexpected gallstone surgery!), and my constant thought was, "I can't believe people have to give birth here!" The hospital - even just the physical environment - is such a far cry from the welcoming, soothing, sunlit, life-filled birth center.

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This review truly could be 5x the length that it is now...I didn't even talk about the incredible and magical experience that birth itself was under the midwives' care. TO SUM UP: If you're even thinking about changing your perinatal care provider, do yourself a favor and attend an informational afternoon at Swiss Avenue. It's an hour drive one way for me, and worth every second. This place truly is special, and I feel so lucky to have these midwives here in Dallas.

Thank you Amy, Andrea, Brittney, and the Swiss Avenue community for doing what you do and being who you are. Looking forward to many more...

This was the BEST birth experience by far, from the exceptional prenatal care, the birth plan driven by me with the support of the most amazing midwife team, to excellent postpartum support (including a space for a weekly support group that I will continue to go to for the first year of this little nugget's existence)!

The birth center is a home-away-from-home vibe, it's a place you WANT to be and I eagerly looked forward to every appointment in the process. It's a warm, welcoming environment and all the midwives are amazing and treat you like family. Given that this was my first child and I was the first to go the midwife route, I was constantly supported throughout my pregnancy and always felt like I was getting the best care possible, nothing like a hospital setting could have provided. Any time I had a question or concern, I had direct access to my midwives and always received answers that reassured me that I was in the best hands possible. In addition, they have a 'little library' with books available for check-out as an excellent resource instead of having to turn to the internet.

The birth experience was unbelievable-- felt like I was giving birth in a spa and staying at a chic AirBNB more than anything. Warm and hospitable, compared to the generic and sterile environment of a hospital, to say the absolute least.

And the resources offered by the center -- it is truly a collaborative center that offers other on-site services like massage therapy, pelvic floor therapy, breastfeeding counselors all conveniently available. I absolutely loved the fact that I could coordinate multiple appointments like meeting with one of the breastfeeding counselors in addition to my newborn check-in or the Postpartum Mom's Meetup group followed by a PVT session all under the same roof, made 'doing errands' with a newborn very easy and convenient!

If you have visions of 'writing your own birth story' and spearheading your own birth plan with the support of a care-giving team that truly puts YOU and your baby first, I highly recommend the Swiss Avenue Birth Center -- tour it for yourself to see what it's like because it's truly indescribable how empowering it is to feel in CONTROL of your birth experience and to go about it all naturally because it truly is the most amazing and natural thing to bring life into this world, especially in a place that supports that philosophy as much as they...

I've had 4 babies in the last 7.5 years, all with midwives in different parts of the US. Being a client of Swiss Avenue definitely ranks at the top of my best midwifery experiences, and that's saying a lot because I've loved every midwife I've ever had! I can't say enough good things about Swiss Avenue, the midwives who served me, and my overall experience here!

Swiss Avenue is the birth place of my 4th and most recent baby - who is a year old already! When preparing for pregnancy, labor and delivery, I very carefully choose my prenatal care provider. I was initally very impressed by the number of positive reviews from women around the DFW area, singing praises of Swiss Avenue, and mentioning Amy Tate specifically as their midwife of choice. She is widely and highly recommended!

Based on the multiple positive reviews, Swiss Avenue is who my husband and I chose for my 4th pregnancy. Having already delivered 3 times with a midwife, I knew during and after the first group tour and interview that Swiss Avenue definitely aligned with my expectations of and preferences in midwivery care!

All of the midwives here are incredibly caring, patient, reassuring, and supportive. Amy, Andrea and Brittney were the three we saw during this most recent pregnancy. They TRULY want for you what YOU want for you in your birth experience and choices! I was particuarly and unnecessarily nervous towards the end of 4th pregnancy, fearing a hospital transfer for a csection (mainly because this most pregnancy lasted far longer than any of my others) and Amy especially assured me that she would do everything she could to aid me towards the birth experience I was hoping to have. And in the end, I had the most empowering birth at the birth center, as planned and desired, with Amy by my side.

If you are looking for this kind of experience - supportive of your needs, supportive of your birth preferences, well-informed, empowering - then you must come to Swiss Avenue and meet the midwives!

Amy and the Swiss Avenue Team is who we'll be returning to - LORD WILLING! - should we...