Our Services

Prenatal Care & Midwifery Services

Exceptional prenatal care is essential for the development of a healthy pregnancy, labor and birth. We focus on prenatal development through education, nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being throughout a series of visits during your pregnancy. The prenatal visit is a time for learning, asking questions, and preparing for parenthood.
We provide a nurturing, sensitive environment where you are truly heard and respected. Building a strong relationship with each midwife facilitates trust, an important part of our prenatal care. We encourage family members to attend prenatal visits and participate in your care. Throughout your care we will continue to monitor your low risk status. Your initial prenatal visit lasts an hour and a half and subsequent prenatal visits last approximately 45 minutes.
We offer a full range of labs through 2 major in network laboratories and can order sonograms as well. In addition, we have recently partnered with Sequenom to provide prenatal genetic testing.
Prenatal Care (1)
Birth Center Stone Oak follows the recommended schedule for routine prenatal visits (same as obstetricians):
  • 4 – 28 Weeks: Monthly visit
  • 28 – 36 Weeks: Visit every two weeks
  • 36 – 42 Weeks: Weekly visits
What to expect during your prenatal visits:
  • 45-minute sessions with a midwife (much longer than your average doctor visit)
  • Throughout all your prenatal visits you will meet and interact with all the midwives
  • Patient education including counseling and recommendations on nutrition, fitness, stress management and more
  • Birth preparation and labor plan – all options for labor will be discussed
  • Talk through any questions and concerns (tip: keep a running list with any new questions you have between visits)
  • Physical monitoring to include blood pressure, pulse, temperature, swelling, diet, hydration, vitamins,urinalysis, weight, position of baby, baby’s activity and fetal heart rate
  • Review and assessment on your progress and how you are feeling
  • We encourage our expecting couples to enroll in the Bradley Method childbirth education course and can recommend locations in San Antonio that offer it

Labor & Birth Services

We want your birth to be a personal experience. While a doula and/or birth photographer may be part of your birth team, we limit the number of people present to mother plus three people. Because our families return home the same day, we do not have a waiting area for extended family or friends. Extended family is welcome to visit briefly after baby is born.
During your labor, the midwife will monitor you and your baby’s well being while supporting your choices for birth. You will have been prepared for this moment through all your visits with the midwives. When your baby is born, we understand the importance of those first moments for mom, baby and dad. We facilitate bonding within this new family, while caring for and monitoring mom and baby together.
What to expect during your labor:
  • Fully staffed and responsive to your needs during labor.
  • Awesome facility creates an unforgettable home-birth experience.
  • Advanced medical support available to customize your birthing experience.
  • We facilitate water births in all our birthing suites.
  • Our licensed midwives are experienced in multiple births.

Water Birth

The water birthing experience is safe and promotes a comforting environment for both mother and baby. Witness Baby Jack’s gentle welcome into the world in one of our private birthing suites.
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Postpartum Care For You & Your Baby

Continuity of care is the foundation for the Midwives Model of Care. Therefore, postpartum care begins immediately after the birth of your baby. Exams on mom and baby are performed together to not interrupt the bonding process. Breastfeeding is encouraged and supported. Your midwife or assistant will help you and your baby with your first breastfeeding session. Before leaving the birthing center, parents are taught what to expect in the coming days and weeks. Our midwives will advise you on how to monitor your baby’s health as well.
The typical length of stay after the birth of the baby is 4 to 8 hours, but may vary from family to family. Most moms are eager to take their new baby home and settle in. We recognize your new family’s needs and will visit you in your home within the first 24–48 hours. A clinic visit is scheduled with mom and baby at 2 weeks to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience and a healthy start together as mother and child.
A 6-week postpartum visit is scheduled to discuss family planning and to make sure the process of transition is normal. This schedule is flexible and can be adjusted according to the family’s needs.

Exams/Testing

  • We offer a full spectrum of maternity related labs.
  • We can order sonograms.
  • We are partnered with testing labs to provide prenatal genetic testing.
  • We have relationships with 2 OB-GYN practices in San Antonio.
lab exams
Additionally, we offer the following services for you and your newborn:
Newborn Hearing Screenings
Newborn hearing screenings are critical in the early detection of potential hearing issues with your baby. Screenings have become an essential facet of newborn care, with long range benefits to your baby’s speech and language development. Tests are safe and comfortable for the your baby and only take minutes to perform. Newborn Hearing Screens are considered preventative care and generally reimbursed by your insurance. A receipt of payment will be given at the time of service for your submission to your insurance for reimbursement. Appointments are required.
Please call 210-481-7549 to schedule your baby’s appointment.
Infant Weight Checks
Tracking a newborn’s weight throughout the first few weeks and months allows care providers to monitor the baby’s general health and development. Infant weight checks may also help put new parents at ease, who often have many questions about their baby’s weight gain or weight loss. Weight checks are complimentary and available to our clients.

Please call 210-481-7549 to set your appointment.

1-on-1 Lactation Support with a local IBCLC
Our lactation class, taught by an (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is offered on an as-needed basis.Lactation classes have been shown to
  • Identify benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and baby.
  • Give guidance on breastfeeding tips and techniques.
  • Offer solutions for breastfeeding problems.
  • Help with information on pumping.
  • Improve breastfeeding outcomes.
Ask your midwife for referrals.
Registration required -
Call 210-481-7549 for information and class prices.

Check our calendar for dates and times.

Comprehensive Services

Prenatal Chiropractic Benefits
Chiropractic services are offered at our office location through Abundant Life Chiropractic. Angelina Artho D.C. has been a chiropractor for more than 10 years, and loves to provide natural chiropractic care, especially to babies, children and pregnant women.
Availability:
  • 1st Monday of the Month: 2 – 6 pm
  • Subsequent Wednesdays: 10:30 am – 12 pm
  • Appointments are available to our clients.
Please call 210-434-5772 for insurance questions, fees and scheduling.
Massage Therapy
We offer prenatal massage through Abundant Life Chiropractic. Prenatal massage throughout pregnancy has been shown to reduce some of the discomforts of pregnancy, including aches and stress, and promotes overall wellness.
Availability:
  • 1st Monday of the Month: 2 – 6 pm
  • Subsequent Wednesdays: 10:30 am – 12 pm
  • Appointments are available to our clients.
Please call 210-434-5772 for insurance questions, fees and scheduling.
Prenatal + Postpartum Counseling
As part of an overall healthy pregnancy, we offer prenatal and postpartum counseling through Gurno Counseling, LLC. Due to the change in dynamics within yourself during pregnancy, both physical and emotional, it is important to have the right kind of support and understanding throughout the journey. Angela Gurno, MS, LPC, NCC, can help you and your family with issues that may arise during and after your pregnancy with guidance and resources.

Counseling appointments are available to our clients. Appointments are required. Please call 210-502-5004 for Insurance questions, rates and scheduling.

Our Classes

The Birth Center Stone Oak offers an on-going 5-week Childbirth Education Class.
Get these and more of your questions answered:
  • What can I expect with labor and birth?
  • How can my partner help?

Call (210) 481-7549 for information.

Class time is 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm on weeknights.
Check out our calendar of events for more classes offered on:
  • Childbirth
  • Prenatal Yoga
  • Breastfeeding
  • Newborn Care
  • VBAC
  • Understanding Insurance
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Jami L. Johnson

Staff Childbirth Educator
Since 2010, Jami has passionately advocated for natural childbirth education, leveraging her experience as a Doula, Lactation Counselor, and Placenta encapsulator. Jami is honored to join Birth Center Stone Oak as their staff Childbirth Educator. Jami is committed to lifelong learning. She hopes to advance her education to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Her academic achievements include a Master’s degree and a Bachelor of Science. As a military spouse and homeschooling mother of four, Jami’s personal experience with natural childbirth methods enriches her professional role.
Cassie Sewell, Office Manager

Cassie Sewell

Office Manager

Helping others reach their full potential physically, mentally and spiritually is a passion for Cassie. For over 25 years she worked in full time ministry along side her husband running a business, teaching, fund raising and managing hundreds of volunteers.

Near the end of that career she also started caregiving for family members with various illnesses during their time of need. With over 15 years of caregiving experience she has worked with and advocated for both children and adults with a mirage of diseases and ailments.

 

Wellness is an ongoing study for Cassie. She began a journey into Holistic living after her first two children were born knowing it would improve the quality and longevity of life for her family.

Cassie is honored to be a part of Birth Center Stone Oak. Her initial interaction with the center was through her daughter who gave birth here. Working with like-minded women who keep the well-being of their patients at the forefront is inspiring.

 

A Dallas native, Cassie moved to the San Antonio area after her marriage to Jimmy Sewell and together they raised a family of 6 in the San Antonio and Boerne areas. They have been blessed with 8 grandchildren. Their family enjoys camping and hiking with their rowdy bunch any chance they get.

Cindy Lockhart, LM, CPM

Cindy Lockhart, LM, CPM

Midwife

Cindy has been drawn to birth since childhood; one of her earliest memories is of crawling into a culvert to help a laboring dachshund. It’s hard to say how much the dog appreciated the help but the experience started Cindy on the road to birth work. She voluntarily spent many nights labor sitting horses and cattle and couldn’t help but question some of the interventions she frequently saw in ranch life; why did some cows need to have their calves “pulled” while others came trotting out of the woods, calf in tow, having “needed” no human help at all?


These questions grew in significance with the birth of her first child in 1990; a rapid and joyful delivery of a posterior (sunny-side up) baby, born en caul (in the bag of waters). A magical experience that quickly became dramatic when local restrictions limited her midwife’s ability to manage a hemorrhage- a situation that resulted in an ambulance ride and abusive and hostile interaction with hospital staff. The OB involved likely thought he was making a point in favor of hospital delivery for all women but Cindy walked away from the experience strongly believing in personal choice, the importance of well trained and properly equipped midwives, and the paramount importance of access to compassionate and understanding medical care when needed.


Five weeks later she attended her first midwifery training; and though 5 more children, homeschooling and home keeping, multiple moves, and several life upheavals have caused some changes of course, the road always leads back to birth. She started her first apprenticeship in 1991 in Austin and worked with over a dozen midwives in the area, gaining a broad perspective on individualized care.


Interruptions in midwifery were filled with countless years of education in nutrition, early childhood development, physical and occupational therapy, and even a massage license. But no matter what she was trying to do, the calling to support birth in all forms kept knocking. After a particularly long break (2001-2008) a stranger called, stating “Someone told me you could help my goat give birth.” Without hesitation Cindy went. That is a longer story but the short version is, the need for compassionate and adaptable care exceeds limits; everyone deserves it.


Cindy moved to the San Antonio community in 2014 and has served many hundreds of area families. She feels strongly about the principle of a midwife for every woman and the importance of education and has helped to train over a dozen students, many of whom have become practicing midwives. She continues to work toward a supportive birth community where transfers to a hospital (when needed) are met with compassion and respect.


Cindy is very honored to be a part of the Birth Center Stone Oak team and to be serving alongside a diverse group of women while serving so many more.

Amber Gaddy, LM, CPM

Amber Gaddy

Midwife

In 2014, during the pregnancy of her first child, Amber got to experience midwifery care first-hand. The midwives who cared for her and her unborn child during pregnancy changed her life. Their loving guidance showed Amber that she too wanted to be a midwife and be able to offer families the same gentle, supportive care that she received. Following the powerful homebirth of her first child, Amber continued to work as a doula and prepare for midwifery school. She began her formal education in 2018 with Midwives College of Utah and in 2019, began her apprenticeship with the San Antonio Birth Center and four amazing preceptors.

During her apprenticeship, Amber assisted at and was the primary midwife under supervision of over 100 births with SABC. During this time, she also found a moment to give birth to her second baby. In June of 2021, she completed her apprenticeship and, in the fall of 2021, became nationally certified and licensed by the state of Texas. When Amber is not practicing midwifery, she spends time with her two beautiful children and her husband of 9 years, Devon.

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Christina Rodriguez

Office Manager

Christy is a passionate birth doula, animal lover, and artist.  She graduated from Butler University in 2022 with a degree in Psychology.  After worrying that she would never find a job she truly enjoyed, Christy is overjoyed to have found Birth Center Stone Oak. “As the office manager, I have been gifted the opportunity to learn and grow personally and professionally while also forming meaningful connections with great people.” Working in a birth center setting is one step in her dream to pursue career in birth work. Since starting here in March of 2023, Christy has absolutely fallen in love with the clients and staff and can’t imagine herself working anywhere else.

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Angela Gurno, MS, LPC, NCC

Therapist

Working in the counseling field is a blessing to me, as is working with Birth Center Stone Oak. I previously had a private practice here in San Antonio and before that, I was fortunate to have several years experience in a broad variety of mental health and substance abuse settings.

My involvement with Birth Center Stone Oak began in 2012, and is close to my heart, not only because of the excellent work they are doing, but because being a parent myself, I know how important it is to have the right kind of support and understanding through this journey. Due to the change in dynamics within yourself, your family and especially physically to your body, there are sometimes issues that may arise where you need guidance and resources before and after the birth process. Oftentimes we do need help to work through these difficulties in order to rebalance families, enhance our coping skills and thoughts, and increase our ability to enjoy and live life fully.

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Angelina Artho D.C.

Chiropractor

Angie Artho, D.C. has been a chiropractor for over 10 years and loves to provide natural chiropractic care especially to children and pregnant women. Her specialization has allowed her to see the tremendous healing ability of these young bodies.

Dr. Artho attended Texas A&M University and received her bachelor’s degree in Agronomy in August 1999. After marrying and learning more about chiropractic she decided to pursue this great career and graduated from Parker College of Chiropractic (now Parker University) in January of 2004. Since then she has been delivering loving chiropractic care to countless patients.

She is married to Damian Artho, D.C. (Parker 2003) and has four kids, Allison, John, Nathan, and Aaron. A San Antonio native, she returned home over 4 years ago.

To book an appointment with Dr. Angie call 210-434-5772.

Dr. Angie’s schedule at Birth Center Stone Oak:

1st Monday of the Month 2 – 6 p.m.

The rest of the month are Wed, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

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Joi Brock, LM, CPM

Consultant Midwife

After my youngest became more independent, I knew it was time to start preparing for the next stage of my life. I had a strong desire to serve women and to offer services that would support her experience in pregnancy and birth. It was a natural transition to care for women as they traveled their own path of bringing their children into the world.

I began working with expecting families in 1998 as a birth doula, childbirth educator and licensed massage therapist, specializing in maternal and newborn care. In January of 2004 I began my midwifery apprenticeship training and had the amazing opportunity of “catching” first baby!  Upon completion of my educational and clinical training I sat for my national exam, and in February of 2006 received my Certified Professional Midwife certificate.  In June of that same year, received my state licensure as a Licensed Midwife in Texas. From massage therapy to childbirth educator to doula and finally to midwifery – each journey added to the skills and information I could share with mothers and their families; to benefit them as they walked their own path through pregnancy and birth.

Over these years I have attended over 750 births – each being unique and amazing. My philosophy is to return honor, respect and empowerment back to where it has always belonged – to the mother!

Through my journey as a midwife, I knew there needed to be a place for women and their families to have care on their terms – and thus Birth Center Stone Oak was born.  I am honored to be a part of the care families are offered by midwives at Birth Center Stone Oak. It is always a miracle to watch as a woman and her family work together to bring a new life into the world. Their love, commitment and amazing power can be felt at each birth.

  • Licensed Midwife since 2006
  • Nationally Certified Professional Midwife
  • Birth Doula and childbirth educator since 1998
  • Preceptor for the ATM Midwifery Training Program
  • Preceptor for the Midwifery College of Utah
  • Preceptor for North American Registry of Midwives
  • Board Member of the Association of Texas Midwives
  • Lifetime member of San Antonio Area Midwives Association
  • Member of Texas Coalition of Birth Centers
  • Member of American Association of Birth Centers
Jordan Brown, LM, CPM

Jordan Brown, LM, CPM

Midwife

Growing up, I knew I wanted to help others. I wasn’t sure how, but going to nursing school was somewhere I knew I could start. I absolutely loved it and have worked in several areas, each field giving me new inspiration and passion for educating families and their support systems. In 2017 my husband and I welcomed our daughter into the world.when we began our family, I knew we were going to want an out-of-hospital experience, so we sought out the midwives here at Birth Center Stone Oak.

In my 41 weeks of pregnancy, I was more educated about my body and the process of pregnancy than I ever was during my entire nursing education. In 2017 my husband and I welcomed our daughter into the world and then 14 months later we said hello to our son. Each of the pregnancies and births were so different, yet there was consistency in the quality of wisdom and care provided to me and my family.

To say I was inspired is an understatement! I began my apprenticeship here at the birth center in 2019. Since then I am state licensed, nationally certified. I have attended countless births and supported families , attended breech trainings, become a member of the Association of Texas Midwives, and fallen absolutely in love with this “job”.

I believe that birth is a powerful moment, not only in a woman’s life, but for the whole family, and should be given the respect as such. When a woman looks back on this amazing work of birth she has done, it should be filled with memories of empowerment, respect and growth. It is my mission as a midwife to educate, empower, and encourage families as they walk their journey of bringing a new baby into their lives.

Erika Brown, LM, CPM, CLC

Erika Brown, LM, CPM

Clinical Director

After becoming a direct entry midwife in 2006, Erika founded and ran a home birth practice in Ohio for 8 years.  In 2013, she sat for the NARM CPM exam, receiving the credential of Certified Professional Midwife. Her license to practice midwifery from the state of Texas was awarded in 2014 when the decision was made to relocate to San Antonio. Erika’s involvement with Birth Center Stone Oak began in 2017 as a staff midwife and has evolved into being the owner and Clinical Director.

As a midwife, Erika has special interests in VBACs. breech birth, and water birth. She has attended nearly 1000 births. Every midwifery situation is approached with a foundational belief that birth works. Erika works to help parents become strong in knowledge and choice so they can in turn create strong families.  Because Erika believes that each family is unique, she can help you create a custom birth experience you will always remember.

Erika has 6 children ranging in age from 11 to 24 as well as two step children. Five of her children were born at home in water. When not practicing midwifery, Erika likes to spend her free time homeschooling children, attending Taekwondo tournaments, and cooking.

  • 2006 – Graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery
  • 2011 – Received breech birth and VBAC training at The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown, Tennessee
  • 2015 – Sat on the Ad hoc Water Birth Committee for the state of Texas
  • 2019 – Breech Without Borders breech training
  • 2020 – Reteach Breech and Gold Learning Breech Birth
  • 2022 – Certified Lactation Counselor
  • Maintains membership in the Association of Texas Midwives and San Antonio Area Midwives Association