This is the exact letter I wrote to the CEO of St. Luke’s after my son was born there in 2004.



…………………………..
July 13, 2004

John Williams
CEO
St. Luke’s
3555 Cesar Chavez StreetSan Francisco, CA 94110


Dear Mr. Williams,

I am writing to express our appreciation for the quality of care we received associated with the birth of our son at St. Luke’s on June 29, 2004.

Up until my 7th month of pregnancy I was seeing an obstetrician associated with CPMC. Although the care I received at the practice was satisfactory – I felt there was something lacking in that over half of my prenatal appointments were with a doctor other than my primary physician, and my visits were extremely short in length. As my due date approached, I realized that I may not know who would be delivering my baby and this could very well affect my plan of having a natural birth. I was also becoming more aware of CPMC’s reputation for intervention.

I learned of Yeshi Neumann from two different sources – one of her current patients and from two midwives at Natural Resources. Though it was late in the pregnancy, my husband and I met with Yeshi and decided to switch practices. This was the best decision I made in regards to the birth of my child. Yeshi’s absolute commitment to her patients -- getting to know them, educating them, and digging deep into the personal expectations of birth and then working to achieve these goals, was simply inspiring. My husband attended every prenatal appointment and Yeshi spent all the time necessary to answer questions and provide birthing education. As time went on we realized that this was for our benefit and hers –she had a vested interest in making sure she understood our expectations and capabilities, as she would be the one by my side guiding me through the birth.

Needless to say, through Yeshi’s guidance I was able to have a natural birth. The support in the room was incredible – and the birth tub and futon were well used and greatly appreciated. I can’t stress enough how Yeshi make our birth experience amazing. Women should never receive anything but this hands-on care.

In addition I wanted to comment on the rest of our experience at St. Luke’s. Everyone we had contact with had the same caring passion for birth- Dr. Norrell, Ayumi (delivery nurse), Mary the lactation consultant, and Michael the pediatrician (bearded man with big side burns). We’ve also found this care extends to the pediatric clinic– we’ve seen De. Jaspal and Dr. Gettleman, and both have been wonderful.

From all the pregnant mom’s I’ve been speaking to – St. Luke’s is gaining a reputation as a place where woman are nurtured and natural birth is encouraged – please keep it up!


Best Regards,


Carolyn Wolff,
Kevin Odle & Max Odle
San Francisco, CA 94112



cc: Dr. Norrell
Yeshi Neumann