Your best birth experience
Millie is a modern maternity clinic providing evidence-based, holistic pregnancy care. Conveniently located in Berkeley, with births at Alta Bates Hospital.
We accept most major insurance plans - including Medicaid
A new standard for maternity care
conception through postpartum & beyond
Millie in the press
Start your maternity care with Millie
Virtual Pregnancy Consult
In-Person Pregnancy Visit
Meet our Millie parents
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“Our first experiences at a traditional OB practice felt cold and sterile. After starting at our 12th week, Millie brought the warmth and care we had always hoped for to ensure we have the best birthing experience possible.”
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"At Millie you’re treated with respect and empathy that you’d show to family and friends. We switched over from a large medical group where we had 10 minute visits, never saw the same provider, and pulled our hair out trying to schedule appointments. At Millie scheduling was easy, visits felt spacious, and we really got to know our care team who was with us the whole way.”
Better birth experiences - and outcomes - with collaborative care
Research shows that when midwives are involved in providing pregnancy care, clinical outcomes and patient experiences are better:
Meet our clinicians
Amy Kane
Medical Director & OB-GYN
Amy is a board certified OB/GYN with 15+ years of experience including prior roles at Sutter Health and Kaiser. She was born at Alta Bates Hospital, raised in Berkeley, and loves this community! She is passionate about health equity. Amy received her MD from University of Pittsburgh and completed her residency at University of California, San Diego in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Talia Borgo
Clinical Director & Nurse-Midwife
Talia is a board-certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) with 12+ years experience including most recently on the faculty of UCSF training OB-GYN residents. She loves to holistically support patients to help them affirm the innate wisdom and power in their bodies and minds. Talia holds a nursing degree from Columbia University and CNM and WHNP degrees from UCSF.
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Vanessa Garcia
Nurse-Midwife
Vanessa has 20+ years of maternal health experience including work as a labor and delivery nurse and a doula. Originally from the Southwest and mom of two, Vanessa loves empowering her patient’s birth experience with holistic support. Vanessa received her Master’s degree from UCSF to become a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.
Aqueelah Tillman
Nurse-Midwife
Aqueelah has 10 years of clinical experience including care for most vulnerable newborns in a Level IV NICU. She was previously at UCLA, UCSF, and Stanford Children’s Health. She was born in Oakland and is passionate about maternity care for marginalized individuals. Aqueelah received her BSN from Drexel University, and her Masters in Midwifery and Women’s Health from Georgetown University.
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Rachel Willey
Nurse-Midwife
Rachel has 10+ years of clinical experience spanning birth work, postpartum, and fertility. Born and raised in California’s Central Valley, they are passionate about queer and trans health and believe we all have a right to quality care, no matter our gender, presentation, or sexuality. Rachel received their BSN at New York University, and got their Masters in Nurse Midwifery at University of California San Francisco (UCSF).
Cynthia Banks
Nurse-Midwife
Cynthia has 20+ years of birth experience and has delivered more than 1200 babies in a wide range of settings, including busy hospitals in San Francisco and Chicago, and a birth center in Texas. Her trauma-informed approach centers the birthing person, so that they can feel safe, seen, and supported. Cynthia received her Masters degree in Nursing and Midwifery from the Yale University School of Nursing.
Johanna Jetton
Nurse-Midwife
Johanna is a Berkeley native who has been part of the Bay Area birth world for over a decade, as a doula and childbirth educator and then midwife. She is honored to serve families during these intense transitional periods when so much of how we relate to ourselves, our partners, our families, and communities is brought to the fore. She strives to provide care that is both thorough and evidence-based, that places great trust in the knowledge each individual possesses about their own body, and that holds space for the sacred nature of this time.
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Madeleine Belizaire
Nurse-Midwife
Madeleine has 10+ years of experience in maternal health including work at Kaiser, Marin Health, Planned Parenthood, and, as a doula and birth instructor. Originally from NYC, she now happily calls the East Bay home and loves helping families give birth and transition into parenthood. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University and her Master’s Degree in Midwifery from Yale University.
Shalini Shah
Millie Guide
Shalini has 13+ years of experience as a reproductive wellness practitioner. They have supported over 2,000 families in navigating their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience as a full spectrum doula and perinatal educator. Originally from Queens, New York, and now happily living in the Bay Area for the past 8 years, they are down-to-earth and compassionate, bringing a steady sense of peace, joy, and humor to the process.
Your comprehensive support team
Millie goes
beyond typical care
(as soon as you’re pregnant)
(3 visits, including one at home – plus weekly drop-in office hours)
Welcome to the Millie Clinic
A warm, modern maternity clinic designed for your comfort and conveniently located on Regent Street in Berkeley. All Millie births take place next door at Alta Bates Hospital with your care team present.
Frequently asked questions
Learn more about maternity care with Millie.
Certified Nurse Midwife
There are many types of midwives, but at Millie, we only have Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs). CNMs are medical experts who are trained and licensed as both Registered Nurses and Midwives. They are known for their intimate knowledge of pregnancy and the labor process, and their minimal-intervention approach that promotes physiological birth.
Extensive clinical research shows that CNMs are the ideal care provider for low-to-moderate risk pregnancies in terms of positive birth outcomes. They are trained to meet 80% of the clinical needs that come up during pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, they are the primary frontline care providers for maternity care in countries like the UK, Canada, Germany, and Israel. In the United States, CNMs are often seen working alongside OB GYN care for low-to-moderate risk pregnancies in progressive hospitals around the country.
OB-GYN
OB-GYNs are medical doctors and surgeons who are extensively trained to perform medical interventions like cesarean sections, inductions, VBACs, and other scenarios. They are the ideal clinician when the pregnancy requires more care. Some OBGYNs go on to further specialize in the treatment of medical complications associated with high risk pregnancies, and are called Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialists.
Why both matter
OB-GYNs and midwives bring different skills and perspectives to the table, but they have the same overarching goal: healthy pregnancies, safe births, and healthy babies. How much of which type of care provider you need really depends on what your pregnancy needs.
The vast majority of pregnancies (an estimated 80-85%) are considered “low risk”, with Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) as the ideal care provider for the best outcomes. CNMs specialize in holistic pregnancy care and physiologic birth.
At Millie, we therefore believe that: 1) everyone needs a midwife, 2) some people need an OB-GYN too, and 3) everyone should have access to both.
What does this look like in practice? When you establish care at Millie, you will meet with one of our CNMs. You can choose who to work with, and they will be your primary clinician over the course of your pregnancy care.
If your pregnancy is considered higher risk, your Millie midwife will co-manage your care with our OB-GYN via consultations and work alongside the hospitalist OB-GYNs at Alta Bates to deliver your baby. The Alta Bates Campus Birth Center located across the street from the Millie clinic is our labor & delivery facility, and we share patient records and clinical protocols for a seamless experience.
At Millie, you can rest assured that you will receive complete, continuous, and compassionate care with all the benefits of both OB-GYN and Midwifery approaches.
The vast majority of pregnancies are considered “low risk” (an estimated 80-85%) and an additional 10% are considered “moderate-risk.” Millie care is designed for this population and is therefore a good fit for most pregnancies.
We are not currently accepting “high risk” pregnancies, but we would be happy to make a referral.
We define “high risk” pregnancies as:
- preexisting health conditions (for example, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders like lupus or multiple sclerosis), or
- pregnancy-related health conditions (for example, fetal birth defects or fetal genetic conditions, severe preeclampsia, twins or triplets, or gestational diabetes managed with insulin).
Please note that being over 35 years of age does not constitute a “high risk” pregnancy by itself unless there are other conditions at play.
All Millie births take place at Alta Bates Campus Birth Center in Berkeley with one of our Millie midwives. If your delivery needs a c-section, VBAC or another type of intervention, the hospitalist OB-GYNs at Alta Bates will perform the procedure in collaboration with the Millie midwives.
The Millie midwives and OB-GYNs at Alta Bates work together to ensure that you and your baby are surrounded by a team of experts who are ready to meet your care needs in every scenario. We share clinical protocols and a common patient record, facilitating a seamless transition from pregnancy to delivery and postpartum care.
All your clinical appointments at Millie, lab tests, ultrasounds, and labor & delivery experience at Alta Bates are covered by insurance. We also offer in-network lactation services. We accept most major insurance plans, including Medicaid. Learn more about what plans we accept on our FAQs page.
We do not charge anything extra for the Millie app, remote monitoring devices (e.g. BP cuff), or 1:1 sessions and messaging with your Millie Guide – a practice-embedded doula who supports Millie patients with birth & postpartum planning, helpful local resources (e.g. birth doulas, acupuncture, pelvic floor physical therapy), and the many questions that come up as you navigate pregnancy.
Consultations for supportive care like therapy and nutrition are not typically covered by insurance and are paid out of pocket (they’re also HSA/FSA plan eligible).
Need more help? We’ve got you covered.
Start your care with Millie
Maternity Info Call
During this call you’ll:
- Learn more about pregnancy care at Millie
- Get your questions answered
- Schedule your first appointment (if you’re ready)
