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At Community Hospital North, midwifery care has become an important part of taking care of moms and babies. Our certified nurse-midwives use a special approach that combines the best of home births and exceptional hospital care. Since 2019, the midwifery team at Community has grown and continued to improve the health and safety for mothers throughout their pregnancies and births. With National Midwifery Week upon us, we’re excited to celebrate the midwives who work so hard to improve maternal health outcomes.
The midwifery program at Community began in 2019 with a small but dedicated team of certified nurse-midwives (CNMs): Helen Bean, Kristi James and Jill Kocher. They saw how many low-risk women needed care that was more personal and less focused on medical interventions.
By 2021 and 2022, the midwifery team had grown, allowing them to deliver comprehensive care for a growing number of patients. In 2024, the midwifery group delivered over 500 babies, a huge increase from their early days of fewer than 100 births a year.
What sets midwifery care at Community apart from other health systems is how they mix home-birth ideas with hospital safety. Some of the midwives have helped with out-of-hospital births or even had their own children outside the hospital. This helps them support women who want a natural birth, but also want the security of hospital care nearby in case it's needed.
This approach not only caters to women who want natural, low-intervention births, but also provides comprehensive care for those who want or need more medical support, such as pain management or monitoring for risk factors. The midwives collaborate closely with OB/GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine specialists to make sure each patient has the care plan that’s right for them.
One of the most remarkable outcomes of the midwifery program at Community is the reduction in C-section rates and increase in successful vaginal births after cesarean (VBAC). While the national C-section rate hovers around 30%, our midwives boast a total C-section rate of just 12%, with a primary rate of 7%. Their VBAC success rate stands impressively at 78-80%.
By spending more time educating patients, the midwives create an environment of trust, allowing women to make decisions that are best for them and their families.
The group consistently practices within the midwifery model of care. Two important concepts of this are informed consent and shared decision making. The midwife team believes that building a connection and trust with patients is the key to true shared decision making. Women learn that they can trust their midwife's recommendations and also feel empowered to make choices that feel best to them.
As the team looks to the future, the midwifery team hopes to continue growing as Community expands its services to more communities. The group also hopes to see a culture shift, as more nurses and medical staff embrace midwifery practices that emphasize patient-centered care and shared decision-making.
This National Midwifery Week, we celebrate the hard work and dedication of midwives and the entire team at Community Hospital North. Through their efforts, Community Health Network is helping to redefine what compassionate, high-quality maternity care looks like. Visit eCommunity.com/midwife to learn more.
