Louise Racine Bastarache, CNM

To put it simply - if you care more about having a “natural birth” than the health and safety of your baby - Louise is your person. But if you care about your baby being SAFELY delivered, avoid her at all costs.

The prenatal visits were easy to schedule and went reasonably well, but she dismissed many of my concerns. As my first pregnancy it was easy to convince myself that I was maybe overreacting. One of my biggest concerns was her unwillingness to keep my medical records updated in the online patient portal. As my due date approached I found myself wishing I'd gone else where for care. Her behavior during my labor and delivery was awful. She attempted to pressure me into things I had previously discussed as being against. She kept insisting on pain medications, which I am adamantly against, then forced me on my back to deliver, something I found incredibly hard to do due to an old hip injury. Those are only two examples of many. Now after the transfer of my postpartum care and despite requesting a copy of my records on 5 documented occasions my patient portal account has been deleted, with zero transfer of my medical record while in her care.

Louise delivered all five of my babies. She IS amazing. I will not birth anywhere else and I drive over 35 minutes to see her and receive care that is unparalleled. I appreciate her attentiveness, kindness, & her listening to me. She is amazing. I am truly thankful tp have had her deliver my kids.. She put me at ease and made sure I was in control of what I wanted. I havent found care anywhere in a 100 mile radius close to what Louise and her staff offer. Thank you Louise and staff!

Louise has a great reputation which is why we selected her. I will start with positives. Scheduling appointments was easy/convenient with availability of late office hours. Her reception staff is friendly. Prenatal care from Louise was fairly good, although she seemed dismissive of concerns. However, I absolutely would NOT recommend her based on L&D experience. She didn't provide frequent one-on-one support that was promised and didn't communicate issues. Very disappointed given her reputation.

Prenatal visits were fine. However I was highly disappointed by her during my labor and birth. I felt dismissed and not supported, quite contrary to what is expressed as her approach on her web page. When things went wrong she was not the person to notify me. I experienced very poor bedside manner.

Had all of my prenatal appointments with Louise and she was my midwife when I gave birth to my daughter at Tobey. Highly recommend!