The Village by Millie

Nobody needs to tell you that pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood are experiences that come with massive changes.

What type of pregnancy care is best? The two medical practitioners typically involved in pregnancy and birth are obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYN) and midwives, but what’s the difference? And do you have to choose one or the other?

The truth about trying to get pregnant is that it may not happen immediately for most people — and many people in the U.S. experience trouble conceiving and staying pregnant.

When I set out to write this article, I would have loved to have said that as a Black birthing person I selected an all-Black birthing team to meet my needs. But the reality is that there aren’t enough Black reproductive healthcare professionals. So, I selected a team of birth-work and mental health professionals who listened to me, who made me feel seen, and who were not afraid to engage in a discussion about my experience as it pertains to my race and identity.

I am a Black, gay, transgender man, and seahorse dad. I gave birth to my first daughter on January 9, 2014 — four years after beginning my medical transition. Six years later, I gave birth to my second child on July 21, 2020. Neither pregnancy was planned.

Something that’s hard to really understand until you go through it yourself is just how difficult and isolating the postpartum period can be.

With all the planning that goes into getting pregnant, being pregnant, deciding where to give birth, and then settling into life with a baby, coming up with a “birth plan” might feel like just another stress-inducing item on the to-do list.

I am Anu Sharma, the founder and CEO of Millie. Together with Talia Borgo, Millie’s Clinical Director (who was also my midwife), and Sarah Reynolds, our Chief Technology Officer, we’re on a mission to improve the U.S. maternity care system from the inside out.

Millie, a maternity and women's health clinic, announced a partnership with UCSF Health, as the clinic continues to expand access to high-quality pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care in collaboration with leading health systems.

Maia, Millie’s New AI Agent, Delivers Smarter Clinical Insights and Personalized Patient Support

The Hybrid, Midwifery-Led Clinic Broadens Its Services to Include Comprehensive Care For Women Across Life Stages

The Capital Enables the Hybrid Maternity Care Company to Scale Through Tech Advancement and Physical Expansion

The Maternity Clinic Releases Data Exceeding National Benchmarks, Proving the Efficacy of its Future-Forward Care

At the center of Millie's care model are Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), who serve as the primary clinicians for the majority of patients. CNMs are advanced practice clinicians who complete graduate-level nursing programs and are nationally board certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board. They specialize in managing low- to moderate-risk pregnancies, physiologic labor, birth, and non-surgical gynecology.

If you're pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, choosing where to get your care is one of the biggest decisions you'll make. For a lot of people in Berkeley, that decision is leading them somewhere different than a traditional hospital-based OB practice: midwifery-led care.Here's what that actually means, what to look for in a Berkeley clinic, and how Millie approaches it.

Finding out you're pregnant comes with a lot of questions, and one of the first ones is usually: now what? If you're planning your first prenatal visit in Berkeley, here's what actually happens, how to prepare, and what makes the experience different at a midwifery-led clinic like Millie.

The class draws on elements of several different childbirth preparation methods, so you're not locked into one particular philosophy of birth. The goal is to give you a holistic perspective and enough of a foundation to build your own birth preferences, ones that actually fit your family's style and needs rather than a one-size-fits-all script. Registration includes both the birthing person and one support person, so whoever will be with you in the room gets the same information you do.

Millie Guides are experienced doulas who offer personalized sessions tailored to your needs, whether that's talking through your birth preferences, learning comfort techniques for labor, or planning for postpartum recovery. Here's what to expect if you book one.

Maybe your current provider isn't the right fit. Maybe you found Millie after your pregnancy was already underway and wish you'd started here. Whatever the reason, switching maternity care mid-pregnancy is more straightforward than most people expect, and it starts with a single Zoom call.

Most partners want to help during labor and just don't know how. The Empowered Partners workshop at Millie Berkeley is built to change that. It's a comprehensive, interactive class that gives partners real, practical tools for supporting their loved one through late pregnancy, labor, and the early postpartum weeks, not vague encouragement, but actual techniques they can use in the moment. The class is designed for both the pregnant person and their partner to attend together.

Most parents hope they'll never need to use infant CPR or first aid skills. But knowing what to do in those first critical minutes, before help arrives, can make all the difference. Millie's Infant CPR & Safety class is built to give parents and caregivers that knowledge and the confidence to use it.

Bringing a newborn home is a huge shift, and a lot of the anxiety around it comes from simply never having done it before. Millie's Newborn Care Class is built to close that gap, covering both the practical skills of caring for a baby and the planning that makes the transition into postpartum feel more manageable.

Choosing where to have your baby is a big decision, and it's hard to make it well from a website alone. That's what Millie's free info call is for: a low-pressure way to ask real questions and get a feel for the clinic before you commit to anything.

It's one of the phrases you'll see often if you're researching Millie's midwifery-led care. Here's what midwifery-led, OB-supported care looks like at a hospital, step by step.