Certified nurse midwives are licensed healthcare providers who take a patient-centered approach to guiding women through birth and newborn care, as well as other important aspects of women’s reproductive healthcare. Midwives’ approach is grounded in the fact that childbirth for most low- to moderate-risk patients is a normal physiological process that women are built for.

 

Increasingly, research is showing that midwifery care, when incorporated into comprehensive hospital-based maternity care, can lead to significantly lower intervention rates (a 2019 study showed that midwifery patients had a 30-40% lower risk of cesarean delivery), and states with better midwifery coverage are associated with fewer adverse neonatal outcomes.

 

Mary Washington Healthcare sees the importance of making midwife care more accessible to women in the Fredericksburg region. The nonprofit community healthcare system has assembled an all-star team of seven certified nurse midwives who are dedicated to providing family-centered care that covers every aspect of the pregnancy journey, from prenatal visits to postpartum recovery and beyond.

 

This allows Mary Washington Healthcare to provide 24/7 access to a certified nurse midwife for mothers who deliver at the Family Birth Place at Stafford Hospital—a level of midwifery service that is unmatched in the region. Expecting mothers can now have the peace of mind that they will be able to access the kind of empowering, patient-centered and supportive care midwives provide, while also having access to  OB specialists, anesthesia providers, pediatric hospitalists from Children’s National Hospital and a level II NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).

 

As our December experts, Julie Flanagan, CNM, WHNP-BC, and Julie Weathers, MSN, CNM, talk about what it’s like to work with a midwife and why they love being able to provide this care as a team at Mary Washington Healthcare.

 

 

Q: How do patients get started with a midwife?

 

Julie Flanagan: Patients can choose to have prenatal appointments with our team of midwives at Mary Washington Obstetrics & Gynecology, which has locations in Stafford and Spotsylvania. We are all very excited to be working together to be able to provide this level of coverage to patients. It’s heartening to be able to tell patients that if you see our group, you will receive midwifery care. You will have a midwife at your delivery, because we are able to provide 24/7 coverage at Stafford Hospital.

 

And we are so excited to be here. To have a practice where your whole focus is on patient-centered care, family-centered care–it just it brings it to a whole new level. We can just truly practice as we are originally trained, and provide that patient-centered care that women are looking for.

 

Q: What is a certified nurse midwife?

 

Julie Flanagan: We have master’s degrees and have undergone extensive education and clinical experience before we are licensed to practice independently. We have the skills and credentials to make sure you have a safe and healthy pregnancy. Midwives are ideal for low-risk pregnancies, but we do handle some of the moderate risk cases, as well.

 

Julie Weathers: It’s important to note that certified nurse midwives (CNMs) differ from certified professional midwives (CPMs). CPMs delivery outside of the hospital, while we have the safety net of providing care in the hospital working collaboratively with the physicians. This is important because even in a healthy pregnancy, things can change in an instant. So, to have that flexibility and support is important, both for us and for the patient.

 

 

Q: Does having care from a midwife mean I cannot have pain medication during childbirth?

 

Julie Weathers: Absolutely not. What I tell every single one of my patients when I describe our approach is, “We want the least amount of intervention needed for a healthy mom, healthy baby and positive birth experience.” It is not for us to say whether or not you want pain medication. We want what you want.

 

Q: Why do you enjoy working as a midwife?

 

Julie Flanagan: I’ve always known I wanted to care for patients, since I was 5 years old. I enjoy taking care of people. They’re letting you into their inner circle, and that trust that they have in you is just a gift. It’s wonderful to be a part of such a big experience for them. I was a nurse first, so I like the aspect of being at the bedside, really being with the patient. I like the fact that as midwives, we can be really hands-on with our patients, and really try to involve them in their care and their decision-making. It’s just such a blessing to be able to be part of that experience.

 

Julie Weathers: It always goes back to seeing birth for the first time and just totally being drawn to it. But now after 20 years, I realize it’s so much more than that baby being born—it’s the connection you make with the mom, the family, having people trust you with that most intimate part of their life. And continuing on past the childbearing period. Ten or fifteen years later, we are following these families and may get to see the actual young lady that we helped deliver for her gynecological care. It’s a continuum that I don’t really think you can get in many other places.

 

Q: How can midwifery care be beneficial after childbirth?

 

Julie Weathers: It’s a safe place for moms. You show up after the birth for that six-week checkup, and yes, we want to know what they want to do for contraceptive, and yes, we want to know when their pap test is due. But we want to know how they’re doing. I want them to know when they shut the door, if what they need me for at their six-week checkup is just to vent and to hear what they’re experiencing is common, or address it when it’s not common, then I can do that. And we want to listen and make sure they know that just because something they are experiencing is common, doesn’t mean it’s not an important thing that we need to work to resolve for them.

 

We work hard to build that close connection so that our patients can talk to us about things they may be experiencing, such as postpartum depression. You should never feel like you cannot reach out to us. We are going to listen, we are going to care, and we are going to reach out and get support so that you can enjoy that bonding time with your baby and get through that depression and anxiety, because it can be a very real and intense thing.

 

 

 

To learn more, visit midwives.mwhc.com.