UW Health Midwifery Program

I have worked with the midwives for 9 pregnancies, one of which ended in a miscarriage. For that one, they were a wonderful support as they had been through all of the pregnancies where the baby was carried to term. I can’t say enough good about them to explain my appreciation fo how they care for women. This is truly how medical care is intended to be. For some of our kids, we have chosen the home birth route, so we’d end up seeing them for some check ups and seeing my home birth midwife for alternating visits. This allowed me to stay in touch with them should a hospital birth be the best in the end, but also to get some of the routine tests done easily. Their knowledge has been a great asset and their encouragement through labor are invaluable!

I had a wonderful experience with the UW nurse-​midwives. I wanted to have a natural childbirth without any interventions, but I also wanted to give birth in a hospital in case something came up. From what I had read, it seemed unlikely that I would be able to have an intervention-​free childbirth with an ob/​gyn, but I wasn’t quite ready for a home birth and the birth center was miles away and I didn’t have a car (and my insurance wouldn’t cover a home birth or birth center anyway). So I went with the UW CNMs because they seemed like a happy medium between the home birth and the ob/​gyn.
During both the pregnancy and birth I really felt like the midwives were rooting for me rather than trying to take over the process. I began going to the nurse-​midwives early in my pregnancy and I had appointments about once per month (until the last month, when I went in once per week). I also saw them three times after having my baby (I would still be going to them for check-​ups if I hadn’t moved out of town). I never had to wait more than ten minutes or so for any of those appointments. The nurses that checked me in were friendly (even the couple of times that I was running late) and the midwives were experienced, kind, and down to earth. My husband came along for many of the appointments and everyone made him feel welcome. I never felt rushed by any of the midwives, and I had plenty of time to get to know most of them over the course of my pregnancy. Melissa and Erika (who is no longer there because she moved to a different city) were particularly friendly and chatty, but I liked all of the midwives I met. They also let me ask as many questions as I wanted to. They gave me plenty of information but never imposed a decision on me (for example, they told me all about the genetic testing and so on, but they didn’t push the issue when I decided not to get it).
Jodi Wagner was on duty when I got to Meriter to give birth, and, although I hadn’t actually met her before I arrived at the hospital, she immediately made me feel comfortable (as comfortable as you can be during labor, that is). She spent a lot of time just making conversation and trying to keep me calm and focused. She also gave me some very good advice, told me what to expect and told me that everything was going fine when I needed reassurance. She made me and my husband feel confident that we could handle the situation, even though I ended up having what she called a «fast and furious labor» (13 hours for a first-​time labor, 4 of those in the hospital — yes, that’s actually fast!). Her calm, grandmother-​like presence helped me stick to my birth plan and get through labor without any drugs or interventions (that said, I’m sure she would have been just as wonderful and non-​judgmental if I had chosen to have an epidural).