New Life Midwifery Services

Her knowledge, her strength, her wisdom, all came together for me and I’m so grateful to her. Because of risk factors, I was unable to have a home birth, but Sarah agreed to assist at Evanston Hospital. This is unusual. The reason I share this is to say that I was attended by a different midwife from 2pm until 10pm when I asked Sarah to come and help. As soon as she arrived, she told me that to do if I wanted things to go better and it worked! I really saw how she’s at another level from regular midwives. She is amazing.
If you are considering Sarah, don’t be put off by any of the other reviews. I know quite a bit about Sarah’s practice because I know many of her clients. To weigh a bad review from someone who had one appointment verses someone who had a whole pregnancy and birth with Sarah is not useful. One person complains that Sarah had to reschedule an appointment due to a birth. Really? Would you rather she attended to you instead?
If you are looking for one of the very best midwives in Chicago, you’ve found her.

I had a great experience with Sarah. I started seeing her in December of 2012 and delivered my baby at home in July 2013. She was great with prenatal appointments, always thoroughly answered all of my questions and was very flexible when I had to reschedule due to work conflicts. She attended my birth along with a student midwife and her assistant Meghan. They were an amazing team and I knew I was in good hands throughout the labor. I unfortunately had to go to the hospital after the delivery because I had retained placenta (not related to the home birth — would have happened if I had delivered in a hospital) and Sarah was very calm and supportive during the transfer. She came to the hospital with me while her assistant and the student stayed behind to help tend to the baby and clean up. I also saw her multiple times after the birth and got some much needed help with breastfeeding.
Overall it was a great experience and I highly recommend Sarah and her team.

My experience with Sarah Simmons/​New Life Midwifery was incredibly disappointing. I had heard, even from people who have used and love Sarah, that she does not return calls in a timely manner and can be flaky, so when I didn’t hear from her until almost 2 weeks after I made the initial contact, it didn’t upset or deter me. My partner and I booked an appointment, and again, when she cancelled several hours beforehand due to a birth, I was not upset or put off. On the second attempt at getting together, the initial consult went well; she seemed smart, hands-​off in her style, and seemed to be able to provide the home birth experience my husband and I were looking for. We didn’t love her, but at the same time there are not exactly a lot of home birth options in Chicago, so we hired her.
I was 11 weeks at the time of our scheduled 2^nd meeting, and had not heard the fetal heartbeat, so was very excited the whole hour and a half CTA trip to her home office. I was about 15 minutes early for the appointment, so I decided to take a walk around the block. I then received a phone call from Sarah cancelling, saying she was on her way out the door to a birth. I was understandably bummed, especially because I had already explained to her that my family was car-​less, and taking an 1.5 CTA ride for no reason with morning sickness is not my idea of fun. Still, we scheduled an appointment for a few days later.
A few days later, again, I took the 1.5 hour CTA commute to her house, this time along with my daughter, who wanted to hear the fetal heart tones. We rang the doorbell, stood on the porch for ten minutes, and no one came to the door. After a while, I realized she left a voice mail message while I was trying to call her. She claimed to have left a message earlier in the morning on my other number… only I don’t have another number. After the no-​show, I started looking elsewhere. I didn’t hear from Sarah for another two weeks until she left me a voice mail message, never apologized, and told me to call her *if* I wanted to reschedule, but she understood if I didn’t want to.
I have since reached out to the women I know who did recommend her… apparently what I experienced was normal behavior for Sarah, and I guess something you accept if you decide to be her patient. (I have heard she is phenomenal in the labor/​birth room, though.) For me, trust is key for my relationship with a midwife and I just could not continue on not knowing if she would be there when I needed her.

Sarah cared for me through the pregnancy and birth of my second child. I felt extremely well cared for, the care was tailored well to meet my individual needs. I had a fantastic birth and postpartum experience with Sarah, who wanted to be sure that I would be well cared for after my birth. I hope to use Sarah for all other pregnancy care in the future!
p. s. I wanted to address other people’s concerns that Sarah is sometimes hard to get a hold of — the reason for this is that she very busy! Call again, and you can get a hold of her.

It’s true that Sarah doesn’t always return calls in a timely manner, on her main line. However, she always answered her cell or returned the cell calls within minutes.
I spent my whole pregnancy with Sarah. She was open to my comfort level as far as the screenings I wanted to get. She was always gentle and asked before doing anything, and clearly explained what she was doing and why.
Unfortunately, my baby was breech and would not turn. Sarah got me in contact with doctors who deliver breech babies, gave me info about how to help get the baby to turn, and helped me explore all my options. I ended up having a c-​section, and she came to the hospital with me for that. She also had several checkups with the newborn both in our home and at her office.
I felt completely cared for, and never rushed. She was fine taking questions from my mother-​in-​law who was scared of home birth. Most of my appointments went for at least an hour. She was extremely patient with my multitudes of questions and helped to ease all my fears. She also provided excellent support with breastfeeding, as I had trouble initially.
I would definitely recommend her to anyone wanting a home birth. She definitely knows her stuff!

I’m saddened to see the other reviews so poor. I’m truly sorry they had bad experiences.
Take mine with a grain of salt, because I’ve only been there for the initial consult.
From that consult, Sarah seems like a competent, worthwhile, caring midwife who is definitely worth her salt. Getting ahold of her was tricky– as she isn’t always in office and doesn’t return the 588‑6262 calls right away. When she called me to schedule the consult appt (about two weeks after my initial call), she gave me her cell phone number and told me to call her there, as that’s where she is more easily reached.
We made the appointment, and met in her house, which is where she does the visits. She had baskets of toys out for my girls (2 and 4) and they were pleased with that! She had a phone call from a mama in early labor, so while she attended to that, she let us look through photo albums of births that had happened in her practice.
After that, we talked, talked about my history, what I want for this birth. She pretty much lets you choose what tests and such you want (there are a few I might refuse) but since I’m a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) she does ask that I have an ultrasound to check placental position in relation to my scar– basically to make sure placenta accreta isn’t occuring.
For those wondering, she does her testing and such out of UIC, and collabs with the midwives and OBs there. I have medicaid, which Sarah doesn’t take, but her UIC counterparts do– so in case of transfer, I’m covered, as are my prenatal tests. She uses the nearest hospital for transfer if it is dire, and if not, she encourages patients to endure the bumpy uncomfy car ride to UIC, because they work with her and are less likely to push for an emergency c-​section.
So all in all– it went well.
I’m looking forward to giving her a call and seeing her for the rest of this pregnancy :)
And FYI– she didn’t seem spacey of distracted or distant at all.

I read a few reviews on other sites from women who were happy with Sarah, but said «she can be hard to get a hold of.» I called her for an initial consultation. A little over a week later she returned my call and we set up an appointment. My husband and I adjusted our work schedules and went to her home for the appointment. No one was there. We called– no answer. We stood on the porch and waited a while, and then left a voicemail asking if we should try to reschedule for another time. (We assumed maybe she had a birth or some other pressing matter.) She never even called us back. Meanwhile, I found someone else who has been completely lovely and professional.

I absolutely LOVE Sarah. She’s so warm and caring. I love how she spends her time with you. We never felt rushed. Such a relaxed atmosphere. Her midwife assistants are also wonderful. Mandy gave me a massage while I was in labor to help relax me. They even went into my kitchen to concoct something I could drink and eat to keep up my strenght while in labor. I LOVED that the midwives visited my son at home the first two weeks post-partum…we didn’t have to go to a pediatrician’s office where there might have been sickly children in the waiting room. Sarah gave our son check ups his first couple of months, so we still didn’t have to go see a pediatrician. I personally went to nursing school and feel that nurses are just as capable if not more capable of assessing a baby. When my husband and I expect baby number 2, we will most definitely go to Sarah for our prenatal and birthing care. I would also like to add that I love communicating via text and that Sarah will do so if you like that sort of thing.

I personally had a bad experience, only attended one prenatal meeting, never received a copy of my contract, or cost of services and amazingly my only visit cost $ 249 (I have no insurance and could have seen an ob/​gyn in my town for far less). Not to mention that in a previous interview I mentioned I do not like students to work on me/​learn on me and at my first true visit was greeted by an unknown student. When I mentioned my discomfort I was told «I think you should keep in mind this is a wonderful learning opportunity for her». Then without asking or permission said student used a doppler on me to listen to our baby’s HB, and wound up pressing so hard prior looking for the fundus and during the listening that I Unilocaled, and later had bruising.
I was very disappointed too with the unknown (what I guess were teenage family members) walking through during our meeting, the lack of professionalism (no paperwork/​medical forms prior to our first meeting — during our initial consult were given to fill out which later led to a problem since I am latex sensitive, and a mix up in scheduled appointments), took 2.5 weeks to get my bloodwork after we left her care — all in all I found a far better midwife who from minute one showed a profound and marked improvement in professionalism and listening skills.
I may have just caught this midwife at a bad time in life, I chose her partly from other’s reviews online, but I honestly would not recommend her based on my experience.