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| Joanne Motino Bailey,
director, U-M Nurse
Midwifery Service,
with Stephanie Klaver
and her children, Katy,
Caroline,Thomas and
Matthew (oldest to
youngest), who were all
delivered by U-M nurse
midwives. |
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| Sue Hieber loves the
excellent quality of care
she received throughout
her pregnancy from her
U-M nurse midwife Holly
Powers. |
U-M nurse midwives celebrate 25th anniversary
Stephanie Klaver has four wonderful reasons to recommend the University of Michigan Certified Nurse Midwives—Katherine, Caroline, Matthew and Thomas. All four of her children were delivered by the U-M Nurse Midwives and she feels strongly that other women should have the same positive experience.
“Birth is a process that works and the midwives support you through its unfolding,” says Klaver. Throughout her four pregnancies and deliveries, Klaver appreciated the nurse midwives’ excellent communication. Klaver had three different midwives for her four deliveries, but she says that the care was very consistent and that the midwives were
all very personable.
Nurse midwifery supports normal birth in a hospital setting. “We keep women feeling that they are the center of the birth experience. We make sure their wishes and desires are validated and supported,” says Joanne Motino Bailey, director, U-M Nurse Midwifery Service.
This October the nurse midwives are celebrating their 25th anniversary, which includes many milestones. The nurse midwifery program has grown from two nurse midwives to 18 nurse midwives whose schedules combine to equal approximately 12 full-time positions.
“The success of the midwifery service has allowed us to develop some new roles,” says Bailey. Nurse midwives are responsible for assessing all women in triage, even the patients whose babies will be delivered by obstetricians. Triage is the first stop for women in labor when they come to the hospital.
Trish Crane, who served as the director of the nurse midwives for 12 years, is now the director of Triage Coordinator Services, a program she helped start. While she was director of the U-M nurse midwifery service, Crane facilitated partnerships with the Corner Health Center and Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. These partnerships allow U-M nurse midwives to provide uniquely comprehensive pregnancy care for women with varied social and health needs—including a Spanish-speaking prenatal care group.
Another of Crane’s accomplishments was to help make water birth possible at the women’s hospital starting in 1998. She explains that some women appreciate the comfort of water during labor even if they might not want a water birth. Crane says, “It is important to give women options.”
Many women aren’t sure if choosing a nurse midwife limits their choices for pain control. In fact, the opposite is true. The U-M Nurse Midwives’ motto is “listen to women” because the nurse midwives are committed to supporting women and their wishes.
U-M Certified Nurse Midwives are delivering excellent pregnancy and gynecologic care at seven different locations in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.
Click here or call 734-763-2311 to learn more about the U-M Nurse Midwifery Service. |
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 Terri Murtland helped establish the Nurse Midwifery Service at the University of Michigan. During her career as a midwife, she delivered more than 800 babies and inspired countless people to pursue midwifery as a profession. Her friends and colleagues admired her for her love of life, her dedication to the women she cared for and the profession she loved, midwifery. Terri lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on August 17. A fund has been established in Terri’s name to initiate the Annual Terri Murtland Lectureship and Terri Murtland Scholarship at the University of Michigan.
For more information call 734-998-7363.
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