You may be confused at the title.  Midwives at Northwest Hospital, you ask.  It’s true!  There have been many changes in the local midwifery community, and one of them is that the UW Midwives have a new home at Northwest Hospital. 

The practice consists of the same great midwives: 

• Michelle Grandy, CNM, Director, who started with UW Midwives in 2003 and has been service director for the past 5 years
• Cindy Rogers, CNM and Bonnie Bernstein, who started the UW practice in 1995
• Mary Bolles, CNM, who started with UW Midwives in 2002
• Sachiko Oshio, CNM, who started as a per diem in October 2011 will be assuming the full time position starting Feb 1^st.
• Robyn Holloman, CNM, who started with UW Midwives in 2005—recently decided to resign her full-time position and will transition to per diem.

The midwives are supported by a team of per diem CNMs:  Helen Gabel, CNM and Mary Lou Kopas, CNM. 

These midwives have had a rich experience while working at the UW Medical Center.  The practice was started by Cindy Rogers and Bonnie Bernstein in 1995. During the 16 years at the UWMC, the practice has delivered over 4000 babies.  Dr. Easterling (Maternal Fetal Medicine) also helped with starting the practice.  He was the medical director for about 13 years and very supportive of CNMs.  Due to the close relationship with the Perinatologists and ability to co-manage pregnancies with moderate risk, the UW midwives became known as the “Perinatal Midwives”.  It was an affectionate term that the MFMs gave them, as they often provided midwifery care to women who would not have access to a midwife in the community due to their risk status.  The UW midwives became a magnet for women desiring VBAC, with women coming from as far as Juneau Alaska, as well as all of the Puget Sound Islands, eastern WA, and even Oregon.  In the ACNM 2010 benchmarking project, the UW Midwives had the highest number of attempted VBACs for CNM practices who delivered 300-500/yr.  They were also active supporters for UWMC achieving status as a Baby Friendly Hospital in 2009.

Another interesting facet of the midwifery practice at UWMC is that they are a part of the faculty in the OB dept of the School of Medicine.  The midwives teach 3^rd year medical students during their OB rotation.  They also teach a course for 1^st and 2^nd year medical students in which the student is matched with a pregnant woman during the third trimester, attends the prenatal visits, and attends the delivery.  It is very popular and well loved by students and clients alike! 

Michelle Grandy was actively involved in teaching and mentoring the interns for the past 6 years.  She provided didactic teaching regarding normal prenatal care, labor, and birth.  She worked with each of the interns during their first month on L&D. 

Aside from the clinical and educational aspects of the practice, the UWMC midwives served a very diverse population of clients in every way:  socio-economic, cultural, age, and medical risk.  They held clinics in two public health centers in the Seattle area.  They were also a bridge between home and hospital births, often taking transfers from out-of-hospital midwives.

I asked Michelle Grandy what motivated the move to Northwest Hospital and how that would change their practice.  Here is what she had to say:

“The decision was made by the Chair of the OB department and UW Medicine.  UW Medicine has formed an affiliation with NWH.  The UWMC will have a new NICU opening in the fall of 2012. When the new NICU opens, the UWMC will still have the same number of L&D/postpartum beds.  They needed to move some of the volume off from the medical center.  NWH is a level II hospital which had room to welcome our volume of patients.”

Many things will stay the same in their new home, such as the same wonderful staff, the midwives will continue to work with medical students and nurse-midwifery students, and they will continue to serve a diverse client population. 

The main differences that will affect the birth community are that the midwives will no longer be able to follow women who desire VBAC and they will no longer be able to accept out-of-hospital transfers.  However, Michelle is quick to point out that their new medical director, Ali Lewis, MD, is very supportive of collaborative practice and believes that all women who have a normal pregnancy deserve access to midwifery care.  She also notes that the nursing staff has missed having midwives at Northwest and is very welcoming.

Best of luck to the Midwives of Northwest Hospital as they get settled in their new home!