Aleksandra Evanguelidi, CPM

My wife and I have been working with Aleks for almost three years now and there are no words that could fully capture how much her care and knowledge have impacted us. We reached out to her a year before we wanted to try to get pregnant for her conscious pre-conception work. As a same sex couple, we knew the road ahead of us could be long and costly, so I wanted to prepare my body and life to be at its most optimal health before trying to conceive. I remember in our first meeting, I was so struck by her ability to listen and ask questions to get to know us - individually and as a couple. She then provided us with a comprehensive plan addressing my physical and emotional health - from hormone balancing, to restoring my gut health, to nutrition support, nervous system regulation, and more. Implementing her guidance over the next year changed our lives, and when we felt ready to conceive, I quickly got pregnant - without needing any synthetic hormones or fertility treatments!! Now, Aleks is our beloved midwife guiding us through the journey of pregnancy. My wife and I count down the days until our prenatal appointments with her every month, and we have been completely blown away by the level of her attention and support. Aleks is a true gem of a human being and midwife. Her and Meaghan Snider are a dream team. We couldn’t feel like we are in better hands!

Aleks is like the wise magical grandmother midwife, except she’s far too young to be a grandmother - but she has that level of wisdom and magic. She makes you feel comfortable and at home. She gives great advice about how you should proceed, but she always makes sure there is informed consent, and respects your choice even when you go against her advice. Aleks has a passion for gut health, and I truly think this saved my pregnancy from becoming high risk. Each time she suggested I try some supplement or change my diet, when I googled I found there was scientific evidence supporting her suggestion. But I wouldn’t have been able to find these things on my own, her years of experience are key. Ultimately, I had the first-time-mom homebirth of my dreams. Her attitude towards preventative care is what made this possible - plus her calm, confident presence during the last phase of the birth, helping me to get into good positions, control my breathing, push effectively, and stay positive.

Working with Aleks turned into a nightmare experience. Came to her less than a month before my due date, she made us pay her full $7200 fee upfront with the promise that she would refund us if we couldn’t use her for the birth - we only ended up seeing her for a handful of appointments. I Had to be induced at the hospital, and Aleks refunded only $2k of the money we paid her, leaving her with over $1600 of our payment that she justified keeping because she answered my texts and phone calls over a 4 week period. To make things worse, she had her midwife billing company send our $1700 insurance reimbursement to her. We are now considering legal action - the last thing we need while also caring for a newborn.

Aleks is a special human. Whatever force of nature brought her into my life, must have known she was exactly what I needed for my first pregnancy. She created a space where I felt safe to bring anything to the table. She made me feel confident in completely uncharted waters. She saw past the surface and innately knew what I needed to hear. It’s difficult to put into words how important her presence was at my birth. I truly feel lucky to know her.

Admittedly, in the beginning, I was skeptical of "natural childbirth" due to some of the negative noise our medical culture in the US propagates towards a more natural, minimal interventionist approach to something as intimate and precious as the birth of a child. That said, we thought we should explore all options. Aleks and Cat came up in our mid-wife search. And, oh how fortunate-lucky we are to have connected with them. These women won our loyalty and admiration through their whole approach to the birthing-pregnancy process. They were true allies in one of the most intimate, painful and beautiful journeys in life. I trust them with everything and honestly, I lack the words to truly express gratitude + encapsulate how incredible our experience was from start to postpartum. When we are expecting baby #2 (not for a while) Aleks and Cat will be our first call.

Aleks didn’t show up for my family, when we needed her most. Aleks made a personal choice to not only schedule a personal event around a clients due date, but also attend it and stay later than expected, knowing her client was in labor. Aleks also refused to cater to what I felt was creating more equality in the situation by refusing to give us back any of our money. Aleks should be thanking God EVERY day that my baby and I had an uneventful birth.