Testimonials
Birthing during Covid at Kindred Space, was everything I could’ve of wanted and more. It was truly a gift to be surrounded by people, who are like me, who understand & who care to understand me.
I truly felt seen and heard. My concerns actual answered, issue resolved, cared for, protected. not just another number at the hospital, a name they can’t say or care to even remember. The Midwives were loving, & thoughtful. Birthing in the water was soothing, The space was serene. My partner was able to catch the baby, cut the cord, my niece and sister were able to witness the birth as well. I was well taken care of. My concerns were about tearing, and I didn’t tear, though if I had, I knew I’d be taken care of better than at the hospital. I truly felt empowered and felt whole, my voice and what I wanted mattered. This was not like my csection, or my vbac at the hospital. I was embraced, during labor, I don’t think I will forget the hug Allegra gave me when I was in pain, it calmed my soul, and guided my spirit to a place of peace. If I had to describe Kim and Allegra I’d say them and the space made me feel secure, loved, understood.. Even the after care is amazing, sending me a cook, or cooking for me on my appt days.
Aysha-Samon
Where do I begin?! Allegra and Kim are absolutely amazing!! From the time my husband and I met them we knew we’d made THE best decision for our prenatal care.
These ladies went beyond the realm of care which made our experience one we will forever tell others about. It was absolutely necessary for me to have women of color help facilitate this journey with me because of the traumas us women of color face pre and postpartum. They recognized that and provided so many resources to make my journey a lot easier. If you are someone looking to have a natural birth and birth workers who will be patient and gentle with you, you’ve chosen the right midwives. We wish we had come in to contact with Kim and Allegra when we were pregnant with our second son but we believe the ancestors connected us at a divine time. We are forever grateful for you ladies and please keep serving our community because WE NEED YOU!
We love you both!
The Johnson Family
(DeAngelo and Anisha)
Being supported in my second pregnancy by Allegra and Kim was one of the most empowering and nurturing experiences of my life.
Thinking back to our appointments and their care brings me to tears as I remember how much love and support I felt from them during my pregnancy, birth and post-partum period. Birthing during the pandemic was challenging for me emotionally, but every time I would walk into Kindred Space for an appointment or Allegra and Kim came to the house to check on me and baby after birth I felt so much peace. I felt seen, respected, deeply cared for and held by all of the experience, knowledge and love they bring to their work. Their perspective on prenatal care and birth is holistic, trauma-informed and deeply empowering. I wish all birthing people could be supported in birth by midwives like Allegra and Kim. I love them so much.
Ale
My pregnancy experience from beginning to end with Kindred Space LA was nothing short of amazing. I started seeing Allegra and Kim at 2 months pregnant and felt cared for, seen, heard, and loved every step of the way.
Each question I had was answered and I was always met with professionalism and genuine care. My due date came and even with some concerns I had, my midwives were able to comfort me and keep me in the right headspace so I could bring my baby boy into the world stress-free and just as beautifully as I imagined. I am so grateful for the knowledge and support from Kindred Space LA. I can’t imagine birthing any other way. I cannot thank your entire team enough. If you are a mama thinking about birthing at a center or at home, don’t look anywhere else. This is the dream team!
Natalie
Allegra and Kim expertly guided me through my dream birth experience for Kamyar in July 2020. Words cannot express my gratitude to them and I highly recommend their services to anyone seeking midwifery care in LA.
From our very first day of prenatal care, they invested themselves in my pregnancy - making sure I was taking care of me and baby physically, mentally, and emotionally. You would think that preparing for birth in the middle of the pandemic would be super stressful, but under their care I was able to feel fully supported going into labor. Although I had a lot of ideas about how I was hoping the birth would go, they gently guided me to be prepared for all possibilities, and not to get too hung up on expectations. This was my second baby, and they knew all about how my body behaved in labor for my first baby, which they took into consideration in their care.
Five days after my due date, I had consistent contractions from early morning. When they started to stall out mid-morning, Allegra told me to take a shower which would either speed things up or put a pause on things, in which case she wanted me to lay down and try to get some rest. The shower paused things, so I rested for a couple hours. Shortly after I woke up, my water broke. I called Allegra and she and Kim arrived at my home in Santa Monica within half an hour. I wanted a water birth in the backyard. When my husband struggled to set up the birthing tub, Kim stepped in and swiftly got the tub ready and filled. By this time I could feel myself transitioning and Kim said, "If you want this baby born in the water, it's time to get in the tub."
Once I settled in the tub after a few contractions, I was able to sit with my head leaned back against the edge of the tub. I got into a steady breath rhythm through the contractions. Kim sat behind me, outside the tub with a hand on my shoulder, reminding me, "Relax your bottom."
Allegra stood on the other side, in front of me, watching attentively. Kamyar's head crowned and I actually cradled his head in my hands through a couple contractions, while I looked up at the cloudy sky and stayed focused on my breath. Allegra throughout this process used her instruments on my belly every so often to make sure his heart rate was good, which it was throughout the birth.
My older son, 3.5 at the time, watched this whole thing with a caretaker from a second story window in the house. When the birth team brought my attention to him at this point I looked up, and he gave me a big smile and a thumb's up.
I kept following Kim's counsel of relaxing my bottom. I never "pushed" hard; I let my body use her wisdom to release him through my womb. A few minutes after he crowned, I caught him with my own hands under the water as the rest of his body was born. Kim and Allegra swooped in to guide him out of the water and on to my chest with a towel. They moved us inside to the couch for the next couple hours of monitoring and rest. Kamyar's cord had snapped, because it was a very short cord, but Kim and Allegra quickly clamped it and baby thrived throughout his post partem time. Allegra guided me to gently push out the placenta and made sure no bits stayed in with the cord having snapped. Allegra and Sierra prepped my "small but mighty" placenta from my kitchen counter, taking some of it when they left to prepare capsules and tincture, and leaving some chopped in portioned containers in the fridge for a couple days of smoothies.
The entire day was serene and Divine. This is a testimonial to the medical/physical care, but it would be impossible not to note that we could all feel our ancestors present. This was a sacred space and Kim and Allegra held this space exquisitely. They make a phenomenal team. They are grounded, professional, skilled, deeply caring, spiritually connected and wonderful humans to be around. Their care was a gift that will be a cherished memory in the hearts of my family for the rest of our days. No matter how your birth story unfolds, to be under the care of Kim and Allegra for your birth is to uplevel your chilbearing experience to a tender and loving chapter of your life's journey.
Nicole Sabourian
A Celebratory Birth Experience
When I received the sacred call from my womb that I had been chosen to carry and nurture a baby for the second time, I was left awestruck. My soul was honored to be chosen and yet I had so many concerns about my body’s ability to birth at home again. I tuned in with my baby Solaris and contacted Allegra Hill and Kimberly Durdin at Kindred Space when I was 12 weeks pregnant. Immediately, any doubts in my mind were put at ease by their tenderhearted, soul centered, knowledgeable and intuitionally astute approach to perinatal care.
I am a birth worker that fell in love with Allegra and Kim while attending their powerful Birthing People Foundation Birth worker Training. I knew that we shared a vision of birth as a sacred rite of passage that can feel celebratory, juicy and full of LIGHT. During every appointment, they provided me with information that fed my mental, emotional and physical body. There was plenty of big belly laughter and when I was struck with prenatal depression they provided me with loving support to ride the waves. I tend to carry my babies beyond the estimated date of arrival. Babies know when they wish to be born and we have to trust their wisdom. As I approached 41 wks, the world began to shut down from the pandemic. The energy of the collective was extremely difficult to navigate, and yet my family created a bubble of peace in our home. My birth altar was set, I curated a 10 hour playlist of music, the nest had been nested!
With each day that the sun set, without the Solaris being Earthside, I began to fear that I would have to birth in the hospital without my partner Ben and my oldest daughter Corvus. Allegra helped me to surrender to the intentions of baby Solaris and to release any attachments I had of how this miracle was to unfold. She was my rock in those days and I truly don’t think I would have had the faith to maintain a high vibration if it were not for her immensely calm and grounded presence. I went into my birth experience with Solaris several hours after a membrane sweep and our home water birth was everything I could have ever imagined and so much more. Solaris Meraki Martin arrived on March 30, 2020 at 3:42 am. As my midwife, Allegra had confidence in my ability to birth intuitively and granted me the space to fully embrace the power of my inner voice to guide my baby out into this world.
I have often said that I wish that I could relive the night of Solaris’ arrival Earthside, with my magnificent birth team again and again, until the end of time. Allegra Hill and Kimberly Durdin, pour every ounce of their hearts and souls into their sacred service to families and the community. From training birth workers, to building a birth center, leading holistic healing events, and supporting the birth ritual, I am so grateful that Kindred Space was birthed from the minds of these two miraculous women and that it exists as a wellspring for the entire village!
- Bianca