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In This Issue:
A midwife at BWH since 1994, Alexandra Shea, MSN, CNM, has had the privilege of witnessing her team develop strong ties and long-lasting relationships with the women they care for.
“Our lives are enriched by these relationships,” Shea said. “We help with approximately 900 to 1,000 births annually, and often find ourselves caring for women who we delivered and are now having babies of their own.”
According to the American College of Nurse Midwives, midwives are highly trained health care providers who provide services to women of all ages and stages of life. They provide general health care services, gynecology care, family planning, as well as maternity care (before, during and after childbirth). The Midwifery Group at BWH, which formed 35 years ago, is the oldest continuous hospital-based midwifery practice in Massachusetts. An integral part of the Connors Center for Women and Newborns (CWN), the Midwifery Group at BWH offers 24-hour in-hospital coverage for labor, delivery and triage.
BWH’s 20 midwives practice in nine community health centers in and around Boston and at the BWH Adolescent Reproductive Health Services clinic.
“The fact that we have the oldest, continuous hospital-based midwifery service in the state is a tribute and commentary on BWH’s commitment to the community and to the provision of high-quality midwifery care,” Shea said.
Midwifery Group Director Michele Helgeson, MPH, CNM, said BWH Midwifery is unique because of the array of services it offers, as well as its long-standing commitment to providing women with the education they need in order to make good, informed decisions about their health care.
“We help empower women to be active participants in their care,” said Helgeson. “We are proud of our long tradition of sensitive, thorough care for women. One of our guiding principles is based on the midwifery philosophy that childbirth is not an illness but rather a unique part of a woman’s life cycle.”
Certified nurse midwife Amy Goh, MPhil, MSN, CNM, has worked at BWH for nearly three years. She said it has been wonderful working to educate and treat expectant mothers by preparing them for labor and birth. Looking at the future of BWH Midwifery, she hopes to see the creation of more programs to support unmedicated childbirth, including water birthing (delivering a baby in water).
“At the moment, there are two hydrotherapy rooms for women desiring a non-medicated birth,” Goh said. “I would love to see the hydrotherapy rooms expand into a full birthing center dedicated to natural child birth and where women can birth in water, if desired.”
Helgeson said she hopes the group will continue to grow and care for as many patients as possible.
“The birth of her child is something a woman never forgets,” Helgeson said. “I’m reminded of that whenever I tell someone what I do. We treat our patients with kindness, respect and compassion and want them to come away from their experience feeling positive about themselves.”