Cheng Hsiu-Li, RN CMN

Hsiu-​Li delivered my baby girl on 7÷20÷15. After being told that I would need to switch to a doctor at 38 weeks pregnant because of politics and a new company stonewalling the midwives at Alta Bates, she decided shortly after to extend her services even though She wasn’t sure how she was going to get paid for her services. Her work is now a dying art, and I am so happy and very lucky that I was one of her last deliveries before she retired. To anyone who complained about her Not showing up for the delivery: she specifically tells you in the beginning that she may not be there for the birth. OB’s Have the same policy. As far as having a natural birth at Alta Bates, they are way overrated. I had nurse rachet who was very rude to me because I wanted it naturally. Luckily she was done with her shift. I had a wonderful nurse Elena who was beyond amazing. I will always be forever grateful to her and Hsiu-​Li for giving me my natural birth as I always wanted it.

This is an overdue review, and although it sounds like Hsiu-​Li has retired, we had a wonderful experience with her and wanted to leave this review for her. Hsiu-​li is one of those rare doctors who trusts her hands and doesn’t necessarily need all the modern diagnostic equipment to tell what’s going on with the baby in the labor/​delivery room. She was absolutely amazing and genius during the birth of our baby, and I credit her with being able to have a vaginal delivery (and with no tears!) despite being induced. I believe she saved me from multiple interventions by using her hands, amazing intuition, and remarkable obstetric skills. I am so sad to hear from another Unilocaler that she retired, as we hoped she would be there to deliver #2 if one comes along. But I am happy she will have more time to enjoy life and travel and get some rest after a LONG and brilliant career. She is truly a special and kind lady and we wish her much happiness in retirement.

NOTE: Hsiu-​Li (Sho Li) has retired and closed her practice as of July 2015!
I was lucky to have Sho Li present for the birth of my daughter in Sept 2014 (between absences for vacation and scientific conferences) and she did exactly what I was hoping: took charge in the delivery room and used her baby-​whispering skills to help my daughter be born safely and without medical intervention. Disappointed that she won’t be an option if I decide to have more children, but thankful to have had her present for the first.

Read the review by Amy D.
Hsiu-​Li should retire. Although she was nice enough and had lots of useful tips, ultimately we expected her to be present for the birth.
She misrepresented her services to us and we honestly have no idea what value she provided during the labor as she failed to visit us at the hospital until AFTER the baby was born! (Note: We arrived at 2pm)
She’s the midwife that only acts as a midwife when it’s convenient for her schedule.
When we asked Hsiu-​Li what would happen if she was unavailable (9pm-​3am) to deliver our baby, she informed us that another midwife from the East Bay Perinatal group would be on duty to cover her shift.
Much to our surprise, there were no other midwives as they all had «recently quit»! Guess that fact wasn’t important enough to pass on to us. We were informed that «the doctors are acting as midwives». Good luck figuring out how that works.
Wish we read this beforehand:

It’s 2014 and anyone considering Hsui-​Li should understand that she deserves her legendary «cervix whisperer» reputation, but there is a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance she may not be available when you are in labor.
First of all, I wanted to try a VBAC for my second pregnancy and was looking to do everything I could to help increase my chances for success. After a heavily medicalized intervention-​heavy OB-​GYN first birth ending in a failure to progress C-​section, I wanted midwife, doula and no pain meds/​epidural for my VBAC attempt. Therefore, I had to go with the best midwife and that was Hsui-​Li.
During my first prenatal appointment, she told me she no longer gets up in the middle of the night to attend to births, so I was prepared that she might not make it to mine. But I figured, that was still better than going with my previous doctor and that I would trust Hsui-Li’s back-​up midwives if the time came.
Fast forward 7 months, and I was shocked when her medical assistant (not her), told me TWO WEEKS before my due date that Hsui-​Li was going on vacation starting 1 week before my due date and wouldn’t be back until 1 week AFTER my due date.
However, I ended up making it to the end of the 41^st week and saw Hsui-​Li on the first day when she returned. We started talking about having to induce, which made me nervous as a VBAC. But later that day, I started feeling cramping. It turns out that Hsui-​Li had stripped my membranes «a little» (she told me later) to help get things started. Well, it worked and I went into full on labor later that night.
At the end of (the next) day, I fully credit Hsui-​Li for helping me to avoid a repeat C-​section. She came in to see me when I was in labor (note of comparison, with my first labor, I never once saw an OB-​GYN until one I never met came in to tell me I needed a C-​section). And when the baby was coming down «crooked,» Hsui-​Li was extremely hands on, trying to turn the baby, helping my cervix to dilate, etc. I had the same problems as the first time (posterior-​facing baby, anterior cervical lip issue) but with Hsui-Li’s support she helped me to deliver vaginally and it was awesome. She was awesome.
I would absolutely recommend going with a midwife over a OB-​GYN. I took my chances with Hsui-​Li and it worked out. But I understand that others may want more certainty that their medical practitioner would try their best to be there.

Amazing and a master at what she does!!! Hsui Li not only delivererd my two children but also delivered my younger sisters in the 80’s so I will say she’s somewhat apart of a family tradition. Her tips, techniques and overall natural approach to childbirth helped me to have natural, safe deliveries. Not to mention she runs Alta Bates lol!!! Definitely a must for your prenatal experience!!!

We moved to the bay area when I was 8 months pregnant and I really wanted a VBAC so I chose Hsiu-​Li. I went to see her once a week and no one else, except to fill out disclosures. Our baby was born at the end of January, by VBAC, at Alta Bates. I had some PTSD from my last birth so I got an epidural at midnight to calm down, Hsiu-​Li arrived at 4am, and our baby was born at 4:40am. I credit Hsiu-​Li completely. She’s a master midwife.

After being referred by another midwife who could not be with us at delivery date due to vacation time and reading reviews on Unilocal we were already excited to meet our future midwife for interview. Considering the fact that I am medical qigong practitioner and acupuncturist myself I was very intrigued by the fact that Ms. Hsiu-​Li is using acupressure techniques and breathing techniques to help others to deliver babies. It was important for me that my wife have good first impression at the interview. From those we met before: it was the best spiritual match. She showed at the very beginning high level of professionalism and experience along with great energy and optimistic, supportive attitude.
At Alta Bates Medical Center which we chose second time for delivery we had another good experience and Hsiu-​Li was the best part of it. I would like to mention that I was impressed by her skills and alternative approach in delivery. Beside the fact that she has great skills as a midwife, which I did not see first time with another midwife, she used acupressure techniques and teaching my wife how to breath and relax through the labor which made process going much faster and less painful. She delivered second time without any epidural (although second birth is usually faster but way more painful). We had great experience without any complications for baby or mother. I appreciate the fact that I was given a chance to be involved practically in helping my wife together with Hsiu Li managing me and my wife’s actions (when and how to breath, when to relax, when to push etc.) It was first time I was given a chance to catch with my own hands our baby-​boy on his way out (unforgettable experience!!!) along with cutting the cord. At 7 am we came to hospital and at 8:20 am we heard the voice of our boy. When she said to my wife: «listen to me and you will have your baby in 15 minutes», — my wife could not believe it. I admit that Hsiu Li was mistaken by a minute or two! I can agree with others with good experience: we consider ourselves lucky to have this great master-​midwife and great person to deliver our baby boy!!! If God will give us more kids we will definitely try to have Hsiu-​Li as our midwife again!
Thank you so much Hsiu-​Li!

Hsiu-​Li is the «cervix whisperer». Seriously. Without sharing my whole story, I’ll just say that I spoke with several doulas in the Berkeley birth community during my pregnancy and they all did flips when I said Hsiu-​Li was covered by my insurance. I switched to her from my OB at about 7 months, and am so glad I did. She is amazing, truly gifted, and so special. Before she left our birthing room, she told my newborn baby and I that she loves us. How sweet is that.

If you are considering your midwifery options, I commend you. I think you will benefit from reading about my experience with Hsiu-​Li.
I interviewed her in my last trimester, and she seemed awesome. She gave me a lot of information on her philosophy of delivering babies, her expectations, and the hours she worked. What she did not tell me is that she was going to be on vacation two weeks before my due date!
My OB was wonderful, but I had hesitations about using an OB, and my pregnancy to that point was free of any complications. So I switched to Hsiu-​Li. At my 36 week appointment, my blood pressure was suddenly high. Hsiu-​Li sent me to L&D triage, alone. I heard her on the phone with the hospital telling them I was coming. Hsiu-​Li said, «I am going on vacation tomorrow and I haven’t done any of my packing.» She wasn’t coming with me. Unreal.
At the hospital, all the nurses said wonderful things about Hsiu-​Li. «Oh, you have Hsiu-​Li? It’s a shame she isn’t here — she would have you out of here in three hours.» «Hsiu-​Li is amazing. She makes magic happen.» So unhelpful to a woman on a ton of pitocin and magnesium and no epidural. Dr. Marinoff (nice guy) who decided to induce me said, «we can all get mad at Hsiu-​Li when she gets back for leaving you to go on vacation.»
A random midwife from East Bay Perinatal named Natalie delivered our daughter. We were alone until it was time to push. The midwife rolled her eyes at our birth plan and was making chatter with the nurses about when her shift would be done between my contractions. As my angel of a husband so eloquently put it, «I am sorry she does this everyday.»
At my postpartum visit, she gave me a hug. I told her I picked her because I had wanted her to deliver my baby. She said that she knows and feels badly about what happened, but had no explanation as to why she did not tell me she was going to go on vacation so close to my due date. I don’t doubt that she is a wonderful midwife with a lot of experience, but I think that I was robbed by signing up with her.

Well, it has been 18 years since Hsui-​Li helped me deliver my daughter and 20 since my son came into the world with her assistance. I was doing some research tonight (I’m a postpartum RN now) and her name popped up. I saw the Unilocal review and had to leave my own endorsement.
At the time I was having my kids I don’t think I was fully appreciative of how lucky I was. Now that I work in the perinatal area I know how truly exceptional she was. I had long labors and she spent a lot of time with me. I chose to have my older daughter with me at my third delivery and Hsui-​li really involved her even during my pregnancy. She came with me to my checkups and Hsui-​Li was very patient about explaining everything she was doing and why. Even at the delivery and after Hsui-​Li made the experience educational.
She was calming, reassuring, and I felt safe with her. I had the births I wanted to have, the way I wanted them to be. After my first delivery, the RN who took care of me told me that if a doctor had been taking care of me I would have had a CS. I progressed slowly and Hsui-​Li spent a lot of time with me actually hands on.
I haven’t seen Hsui-Li’s face in 18 years. When I looked at her picture on her website tonight I was so pleased to see that women and babys’ are still blessed to have her help them at such an important moment in their lives. You couldn’t be in better hands.

Sho li is truly amazing. She delivered both of my children. The first would have surely been a C-​section is it hadn’t been for Sho-​li. I still see her for my annual exam; I wouldn’t trust anyoen else!

Hsiu-​Li Cheng is a midwife shero goddess. Seriously. You are lucky to find a midwife with her experience and exptertise combined with compassion and grounding.
She has delivered 2 of my children with no complaints, truly a gem of gems.