Saco River Midwifery

Ariel was so helpful to me after my first baby was born. She encapsulated my placenta quickly and professionally and provided helpful breastfeeding support. She was so knowledgable and supportive. She is beyond professional and practices the ultimate level of care for her clients and their families. Our community is lucky to have her!

As a midwife myself I feel a clear judge of Ariel’s midwifery skills and bed side manor. I have known her for years and could not recommend a more competent capable midwife. She is bright, compassionate, and pours herself into her client’s care in a way that serves families and the community at large with the greatest of care. She is on a very short list of midwives whom I would trust to birth my own child and any family would be lucky to have her to care for them. I would give 6 stars if I could. Highly recommend.

We are so thankful that we found Ariel for the birth of our second child. Ariel will be a good match for you if you are looking for extremely professional, thoughtful care during your pregnancy and postpartum. She is a direct communicator and will help you to trust your intuition as a mother and as a birth partner. She also helped us to prepare and include our older daughter in the birth process. We wish we could give her six stars!

Ariel handled my placenta encapsulation with Grace and professionalism. Despite contacting her fairly last minute she explained everything and jumped right in to take care of us. Since she has handled my body care ordering tests and ultrasound as needed and always acting with kindness and thoroughness. I’m so grateful to have Ariel as part of my healthcare team!

Upon moving to Maine at the end of my 2nd trimester, I was very fortunate to have multiple options for a midwife for my first homebirth, with my second child. After interviewing 3 midwifes, I am grateful my intuition led me to choosing Ariel and her team. Ariel has always shown compassion and respect to me and the little being I was growing inside. We looked forward to our prenatal visits, because it was such a personal interaction that built trust and friendship between us, visit after visit. Each time my partner and I were provided with resources to make informed decisions for my wellbeing and for our child. After her in-home pre-natal visits, we always felt more knowledgeable, well-supported and in "good hands." Ariel made the experience meaningful for our 8 yo daughter while looking for the heartbeats and measuring, and responded to her curious mind with thoughtful answers to her many, many questions. It was a family experience.
Then in January 2021, Ariel and her team provided us the opportunity to birth safely in the comforts of our tiny home, as a family. They added a beautiful energy to our small circle, where I felt supported and empowered to birth naturally. They came well prepared for a variety of scenarios, should they had arisen. When action was needed during the birth, Ariel and her team were knowledgeable on how to respond, and were prepared to. Meanwhile they exuded a sense of calm, which allowed me to remain centered and relaxed, allowing me to have a positive and beautiful birth experience.
The high level of personal care continued postpartum for me and my baby. Ariel always shows respect to our little one and their body during check ups.
I was empowered to unleash my inner wisdom and tap into my sacred self to reclaim my rights as a woman and mother, to birth freely and naturally, with no judgement. All this with the full support of knowledgeable and caring women. With Ariel's midwifery services, I had an experience I wish for all other women, and for my own daughter who was able to witness and be apart of it all.

When I found out that I would need to have a preterm surgical birth I knew that I needed someone with a strong mind, will, and heart to accompany me during my birth. My husband was clear that that couldn’t be him. To safeguard both of our experiences of becoming parents we made the plan to hire a doula to support me in the OR. As a fellow birth worker I knew just who I wanted for that strong presence, Ariel Bernstein. It was a great comfort to me to know that I could draw from her strength and wisdom during my vulnerability. I knew she could help me feel brave when I welcomed my daughter into the world. Luckily I didn’t end up needing a surgical birth and so we didn’t end up using Ariels birth services, but her comfort to me prenatally was immeasurable.

I used Ariel as a doula for the birth of my second child. Her care and knowledge were invaluable during my delivery and I’m so glad to have found her. She was attentive, supportive with all my needs, and took the best care of me. She was available to me both before and after birth for any support needed. Highly recommend her services!

Ariel was a life saver after we were having second thoughts about our pregnancy and birthing plan. She was compassionate and understanding when we voiced our concerns and really made us feel like home birth was the best fit for our family. Throughout our pregnancy Ariel was informative and answered all our questions. She was able to make our appointments around my husband's rotating work schedule so he could be at all of them. We heard our baby at each appointment and Ariel referred us for our ultrasounds and lab work locally. I would definately recommend Ariel in all pregnancy and birth related areas. Without her we wouldnt have our baby girl! Ariel came for several post partum appointments to make su

Ariel was a very attentive and intuitive doula for our pregnancy and the birth of my son, and did an amazing job of balancing holding space not just for the birth itself, but also for our transformation into new parents. Wonderful bedside manner, as calming a presence as having your hair brushed by your grandmother.. Five stars :) <3

I hired Ariel as a CLC after giving birth as a surrogate. She supported me while I was pumping breastmilk as a milk donor. She was very informative and provided compassionate care. If she didn’t have the answer to a question she promptly was able to help me research to find out. Her tool box is filled to the brim with resources and skills to promote better breastfeeding outcomes for new parents. She also provided emotional support during my very unique rocky circumstances. I felt prepared to be able to go back to work and pump which was important to me. She is able to promote the care lactating parents need to better fulfill their breastfeeding/chestfeeding goals. I was able to donate milk to 10 local babies in the community.

As a doula myself she has inspired me to take my CLC course this November to support other lactating parents the way she supported me.

She also has supported me as a doula by providing insight, guidance and resources to support my full spectrum doula clients.

We are lucky to have her apart of our birth community. I am lucky to call her my friend.

Very happy with my placenta encapsulation! Ariel was accommodating, professional, and thorough. If/when I need a placenta encapsulated, I definitely will use Saco River again!

I can confidently refer my own patients to Ariel and know they are in good hands with someone who will help them have their birth their way as much as is possible.

Best of the best. Caring, thoughtful and made sure all our needs were met. Went above and beyond to make everything as perfect as possible. We’d have a thousand babies with her as our midwife if it was possible

Ariel is a thoughtful caring professional. Highly recommend her to any expecting parents.

Loving, patient, gentle, knowledgeable. Everything you could possibly ask for with a midwife!

My partner and I had a wonderful experience, would highly recommend.

Contacting Ariel was the biggest mistake I made during my pregnancy. She brought nothing but stress and negativity into a vulnerable time. Her intentions are purely self serving and she brings her own agenda to birthing families. She is unprofessional and unethical with zero awareness of trauma reactivity. I strongly advise anyone considering hiring her to look into many of the other options in the area.

EDITED TO ADD MY RESPONSE:

Careful risk assessment is absolutely an important skill midwives should possess. I could not agree more! The unfortunate part is Ariel completely lacks that skill. Another huge skill she lacks: compassionate holistic care that focuses on the person. Not to mention she is apparently unaware or chooses to ignore HIPPA guidelines. She is not skilled, competent or conscionable enough to acknowledge when she is not equipped to handle a particular level of care. She proceeded to violate HIPPA and privacy laws by transferring my records without my consent. She also falsified my records, which I am pursuing legal recourse for.

After just 12 hours of contacting Ariel I knew she was not the right choice for my birth or my family and she continued to torment us well into my postpartum period and refused to refund me for services she did not deliver.