Review from the Spring 2022 Birthing Survey
I cannot speak highly enough of Risa Klein. She is warm, enthusiastic, kind, and so so experienced. From the second I met her, I felt connected and knew that I could trust her. She is very big on nutrition, and will help you first with nutritional suggestions, instead of just prescribing you medication, which was very important to me. She was always so genuinely curious about how I was doing both physically and mentally. I am someone who is prone to anxiety and has some difficulty letting people take care of me. I think she sensed this right away, and was always mindful of giving me support and care in a way that felt comfortable to me. For every fear I had, she always had a story or an experience to share about when similar things had come up in her practice. She would walk me through how she handled it and I always left her office feeling at ease. Her experience comes in handy in a lot of ways. For example, I've heard that for glucose testing most women have to drink a big bottle of terrible tasting glucose water. Risa knew that I could come in after having had some orange juice, and the test would still work. After I found out that my baby was breech, I leaned on Risa to help me through the disappointment, grief, fear and resistance. She with my and my partner in her office and held space for us to cry and share our feelings. At some points she even shared some tears with us. She told me exactly what I needed to hear, and helped me to frame a c-section not as a sterile surgery, but as a birth experience like any other, that had the potential to be magical and connective for me and my family. She helped connect me to healers that would support me in my attempts to turn my baby, but also who supported me in letting go of my attachment to the outcome of my birth. Honestly, I think I walked away from my birth experience with a better understanding of myself and my body and don't think I would have accomplished this if I had had a vaginal birth. I am very proud of myself for my work throughout that birth experience, but I do not think I could've done it without Risa's guidance. During the birth, Risa held my hand as I was panicking in the waiting room and helped me tolerate and feel my worries. She brought calming oils for me to smell during the birth, and made sure my husband was there with me for support. She had each of the people who were going to be in the operating room personally come up to me and introduce themselves, which was just so above and beyond and made me feel so happy and connected. She encouraged me to bring my own music which really helped to calm me down as the process started. She also really advocated for my baby to be put on me in order to bond while I was getting stiched back up. Those first moments with my baby are ones that I will remember forever. After the birth, she came to visit me in the hospital and helped with breastfeeding and after care. She was the most calming and stable presence before, during and after my birth experience. I cannot thank her enough, and I cannot recommend her enough. Also I want to mention - towards the end of our relationship, Risa was growing the midwife program at Lenox hill and had hired another midwife named Joy. I only met her a couple of times, but I loved working with her as well. She was super smart and compassionate, and also came to visit me at the hospital even though we had only met once or twice.
