Evergreen Women’s Health is unique among medical practices in its design. We have a practice comprised of Certified Nurse Midwives, Family Medicine Physicians who include Obstetrical services in their practice, and Ob/GYN physicians; all under one roof!
Written By: Dr. Mary Powell
We collaborate to provide an exceptional model of care within Douglas County. We work together to bring the greatest quality of care to our patients. The following story, which is fictional but not unusual, might explain what I mean.
Patient Jane Doe is a 32-year-old woman who discovers she is pregnant for the first time. She sets up an initial intake with our Nurse or one of our Certified Nurse Midwives. During this intake, our clinic takes a thorough medical history, draws labs, and our Sonographer completes an ultrasound when needed. Jane is given several resources that begin the educational component of her prenatal care. During her pregnancy, she may choose to continue her prenatal care primarily with our midwifery team or alternatively go with one of our family medicine physicians or one of our OB/GYN physicians. For this example, I will have her continue with our midwifery team.
As her pregnancy advances, she develops gestational diabetes and her blood sugar levels become quite high. Our CNM consults with one of the OB/GYN physicians to help initiate proper treatment and surveillance of this condition or other similar pregnancy-specific conditions. Jane also meets with one of our Family Medicine physicians, who can also address potential newborn and early childhood outcomes that can occur in the setting of gestational diabetes.
As Jane’s pregnancy continues her baby is found to be in the breech presentation. That means the baby is positioned bottom first, which can increase the risks of complications in labor and delivery for mom and baby. Our CNM gives her information on methods to try to encourage spontaneous rotation to the head's first position. If that is unsuccessful, she can meet with one of the OB/GYN physicians to discuss the possibility of trying a procedure called the “external cephalic version,” where we attempt to move the baby to the head-down position. If the version does not work or if the attempt is not desired; then the OB/GYN physician can perform a c-section, which is known to be the safest route of delivery for a breech baby.
Jane has delivered a healthy baby boy. She may choose to have him circumcised by one of our family medicine physicians, who can complete that procedure in the clinic. The newborn can continue care with one of the family medicine providers or our pediatrician within the full Evergreen practice for ongoing well-baby care.
We encourage our Obstetrical patients to meet all of us during their prenatal care. We are honored to be part of your journey as you grow your family. We understand that you may strongly bond with one Evergreen Women’s Health provider and want them to be present at your delivery. We all love doing deliveries and hope to be there at your birth. Often, it is possible for us to be there for the special event. However, it is not feasible for us to be present at all deliveries and still be able to nurture our own families. But with our dedicated team, we can provide expertise in Women’s Health coming from diverse backgrounds and training, giving you the benefit of our collective expertise and complete coverage that no one provider could possibly achieve. Together we can serve you better. As you see our care, either personally or by helping someone else, we encourage you to take advantage of our team approach to get the most out of your Evergreen experience.