HealthEast is a large and experienced practice of midwives that has been exclusively operated by CNMs for the past 22 years. Their midwives service six different clinics and attend births at three metro area hospitals: St. John’s, St. Joe’s, and Woodwinds. The practice offers care for women of all ages from puberty through menopause, providing a full scope of services. In addition to prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, HealthEast provides yearly gynecological exams, family and pre-conception planning, health maintenance, and disease prevention.
HealthEast midwives happily support women who birth with or without the use of pain medication, allowing the woman to choose what she needs for her birth. They do have a deep history in the community of successfully supporting normal physiologic birth, and have one of the highest in-hospital water birth rates in the metro area at 15%. For women who do choose pain medication in labor, Nitrous Oxide is available in addition to IV and epidural pain medication.
HealthEast midwives average 85-90 births per month. Their vaginal birth rate averages 90%, are they are proud to provide labor care to women who desire a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). These midwives are committed to their patients and practice the art of “labor sitting” at the bedside. As a large practice with 21 midwives on staff, they often will assist one another to ensure they are able to commit the appropriate time to each mother and her family.
Some of the metro area’s longest practicing and most respected midwives work at HealthEast, and the group is deeply rooted in using this wisdom to train student midwives – it is one of the most popular sites in town for a preceptor rotation! Current co directors are Melissa M. Hasler, CNM and Mary Kempf, CNM.
Check out in full detail what they offer and who the Midwives of HealthEast are at http://www.healtheast.org/clinics/midwifery.html
By Ricky McCallister, SNM (edited by Emily Rumsey, CNM)