Laura Galati, ND

I went to Dr. Laura for my first (and only) pregnancy because I didn't want to have a lot of medical intrusion/intervention on what is a normal, healthy thing. Dr. Laura was fantastic. I always felt listened to, I was in good hands yet not over monitored, and the whole experience was calm and peaceful due to Dr. Laura's calming guidance. I was lucky and had a healthy pregnancy but I attribute some of that to feeling supported and nurtured instead of monitored and weight-shamed like friends of mine. I had planned to use the birthing center for delivery but ended up transferring to the hospital. Dr. Laura came handled the transfer and came with me one doula capacity and I could not have done it without her. My daughter was born healthy, after a long labor (and epidural) and Dr. Laura helped me get off on the right track with nursing. She provided such amazing prenatal and labor/delivery care that she is my daughter's pediatrician. I absolutely plan on going back when we have more children. Note: my insurance does cover Kalista which is lucky, but they have cash rates as well that are very reasonable. Because they are such a small operation, the care is very personal...even with billing. I highly recommend them!
5 8 years ago (17-09-2017)

We absolutely love Dr. Laura! She provides pediatric care for our family and the kids always love to come see her. She always has time to answer all of my questions and give my children the best care possible!
5 8 years ago (01-07-2017)

If I could have no stars, I would. Based on reviews I read I thought this would be a perfect fit for me. We just moved from Dallas so I wasn't able to use my midwife I had there. This place seemed like it was well put together and had midwives who would be there for you. We had several inconveniences which started to add up but my husband and I knew when our midwife couldn't find the heartbeat at 14 weeks that we may need to look elsewhere. It wasn't just that she couldn't find it, she didn't ask any one else to try. She just said she couldn't find it. I, having 4 miscarriages, started to get that terrible gut feeling even though I had no signs of miscarriage. When she was on the phone with the Medford hospital, she was laughing and carrying on, which didn't feel great in that situation. At this point, we were thinking maybe we should switch midwives. Then my family got food poisoning and I was very very sick and becoming dangerously dehydrated for my baby. My husband called the birth center to tell them what was happening. The operator there called Dr Laura and told her and her response was that she was not on call and that we needed to go to urgent care. When my husband told her we had 3 children, 2 of which were also throwing up from food poisoning, and that we couldn't load them up to go to urgent care the answer was, well she isn't available. I didn't even get a phone call from my midwife asking me what was going on. My midwife from Austin, TX was on the phone with me until 11pm while I was at the ER supporting me even though she couldn't be there physically for me. THAT is a midwife. THAT is someone you trust. I still haven't received a call from her asking me how I am which just shows me that there isn't a lot of care about their patients. This birth center has good reviews, but it takes one very bad experience from someone to make me think twice. You should really think about who you want taking care of you and your baby and if they will be there when you need them in an emergency or not...
1 9 years ago (26-07-2016)

All I can say is terrible experience. The worst. Zero stars if I could rate as such. I would never recommend her or Wendy to anyone. I had Laura as my midwife for a planned at home water/lotus birth and as a naturopathic physician, and planned on using her as our family physician. She is too new and needs to go back to school or not be a midwife at all in my opinion. She had to consantly poke me and could not draw any blood, had to keep getting it retested because there wasn't enough, all she could do was laugh nervously and say sorry again and again. I never received any helpfyl advice other than printouts. I was the one who researched and gave her information about my planned home birth and lotus birth. Her attitude never seemed sincere and she was always nervous which made me and my husband both worry but I decided to give her a chance because Kalista Wellness was so highly recommended (from Dr. Wendy's patients). When it came time and I was in active labor a week before my due date she kept saying first time mothers always go past by two weeks and not to worry, even though I was in active labor... She also didnt think my baby was "big" enough and had me go in for an ultrasound which we are very against and had one done a few weeks prior, and I knew everything was fine, but she kept trying to scare me by saying he could be a stillbirth and other terrible things because she didn't feel comfortable helping with the birth without it. So we had the ultrasound done to please her and she sent me to the hospital saying I would need to be induced because he was too small and the placenta was done (This was my first child, and I was very petite pre-pregnancy so this was completely normal for him to be smaller than "average" by a bit, it was not by much at all, I measured 36in at 39 weeks). When we got there they said everything was fine and sent me home to continue to progress. When we told her the information she still didn't want to help me even though everything was just fine.... My water broke that night, and I had a natural birth in the hospital right on my due date (not the birth or experience we had hoped for or planned...) I gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby, no complications at all. She ruined my first birth experience, physically and emotionally, gave both my husband and I unneeded stress and anxiety, and made it so I couldn't give birth in my home the way I wanted and could not leave my son's placenta attached, and I didn't have any time to find a new midwife to help me. I felt like she just didn't want to help me with the home birth and was too scared and nervous so this was her way out of it. We tried to have Wendy help us instead since she had more experience, but she wouldnt even talk with us. (They are also so hard to get a hold of, you have to call a number to reach an operator, and they 'might' be able to contact them when they are needed if you go into labor, etc.) She should have just told me in the very beginning she didnt feel comfortable instead of waiting until I went into labor. Because of this I ended up with a bill for full price plus more, the useless ultrasound, and had to pay the hospital as well. If you are looking for someone who cares about you, your baby, and your birthing experience and wishes, please do not choose this midwife, or this facility... It was the worst mistake I made, if I would have listened to my intuition I would have chose someone else and not had this terrible experience.
1 8 years ago (02-06-2017)

Dr. Laura is our children's doctor and was present at the birth of our daughter. She is great with children, she was patient and thorough. Our experience with Kalista Wellness has been amazing. Both Dr. Wendy and Dr. Laura care very much and unlike the other reviewer, we never had any issue getting to speak with them. They always responded promptly.
5 9 years ago (07-09-2016)