Page A8
WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM
Wednesday, August 6, 2014 • Whidbey News-Times
Midwives offer birthing options
BIRTHS
By MICHELLE BEAHM
AMELIA ANN GREELEY, 7 pounds, 10 ounces, was born July 18. She is the daughter of Brendan and Jaimi Greeley of Oak Harbor.
Staff reporter
For midwife Sarah Meyer, supporting women in the birthing process is a wonderful experience. Meyer said she loves seeing the transformation of a woman becoming a firsttime mother. “This is life changing for women, particularly having their first baby, and I love to be able to see that transformation,” Meyer said. Meyer became a registered nurse 30 years ago in New Zealand. Ten years later, she shifted gears to become a midwife. “I wanted to work in an area that specifically kind of dealt with women’s health,” she said. Midwives care for women from their first period through the rest of their lives, according to Meyer, not just the well-known obstetric focus. Eighteen months ago, Meyer partnered with Dr. Robert Burnett and Dr. Melissa Chinn, who specialize in obstetrics and gynecology, at Island Women’s Healthcare Clinic in Coupeville. The clinic provides complete OBGYN care for women and offers patients a choice between the traditional medical approach or the increasingly popular midwifery approach to care. Meyer said midwives take care of the majority of childbearing women in many countries all over the world, but “it hasn’t really been mainstream in America.” She said that lately, many hospitals have started embracing midwifery, just like Whidbey General Hospital has done with the clinic. Island Women’s Healthcare is the first clinic Meyer has worked in that has both obstetric doctors and a midwife in the same building. “Midwives always work in collaboration with an obstetrician or gynecologist,” she said. They do this in case there are any medical complications with a woman’s care.
WHIDBEY GENERAL HOSPITAL
NAVAL HOSPITAL OAK HARBOR
Photo by Michelle Beahm/Whidbey News-Times
Sarah Meyer is a certified nurse midwife with Island Women’s Healthcare, a clinic in Coupeville that offers midwifery and obstetrics healthcare. Meyer said that she’s been getting busier lately, a sign that midwifery is becoming a more popular choice. In the clinic, Meyer said the doctors are “very supportive of midwifery care, and I’m able to consult with them on a daily basis.” She used to work in a midwifery clinic in Mount Vernon, where she consulted with doctors who didn’t work out of the same building, and she finds having them so close is a lot easier. “They have a really good idea about my practice, and I think that the trust between providers is really important, so I think it works really well,” she said. Patients at the clinic get to choose which treatment path they want to follow, and Meyer said that midwifery is good for women wanting a low-intervention birth. “Midwives really encourage women to actively participate in decision making, to really be involved in their care, along with their families, and so midwives often appeal to women who are really looking for that kind of birth experience.” Another benefit, according to Meyer, is that once active labor starts, she is able to stay with the mother all throughout the process, whereas obstetricians aren’t able to do so because of other patients and commitments they have to
DEBBIE LEAVITT
take care of at the same time. “Midwifery is more of a one-to-one management during labor, where we end up managing more than one patient during labor a lot of times,” Burnett said. “And so we utilize a lot of the labor and delivery nurses to do a lot of the handson things during labor.” Meyer said that if, throughout the pregnancy or labor, there were any highrisk situations or “anything that seemed untoward,” she would refer the patient to the obstetricians. “We’re there to help with problems she can’t manage or shouldn’t manage,” Burnett said. However, if the woman were to stay healthy and have no complications, “like most women,” Meyer said she would oversee their care throughout the pregnancy. “My role is to kind of support and encourage women to have a positive experience with childbirth,” she said. “I think that you need to deliver with a provider that you feel comfortable with, that is going to support your decisions, and, for some women, that is an obstetrician,” Meyer said. “And for some others, it would be a midwife. I think that having both choices is ideal.”
Call Debbie today for a FREE consultation! or email: dleavitt@whidbeynewsgroup.com
P.O. Box 1200 • 107 S. Main St, Ste E101 • Coupeville, WA 98239 360-675-6611 • www.whidbeynewstimes.com
CHURCH NOTES n HIS KIDS PRESCHOOL has openings for the 2014-15 school year. Classes are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9–11:30 a.m. or 12:30–3 p.m.; Thursday and Friday 9–11:30 a.m. Classes are at Oak Harbor Lutheran church. $100 nonrefundable registration fee. 360-679-1561. n Oak Harbor Assembly of God is hosting a WILDERNESS ESCAPE Vacation Bible School 6–8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18–Friday, Aug. 22, at the church, 319 SW Third Ave. Children will learn to trust God as they discover what it was like to live in the Israelite camp. There will be crafts, games and music. For children ages kindergarten through fifth grade. For more information, visit www.oakharborag.org n Oak Harbor Lutheran Church is holding FUN WITH THE SON Vacation Bible School 9 a.m. to noon, Aug. 11–15, at the church, 1253 NW Second Ave. This is a beach-themed program focusing on five parables of Jesus. There will be music, celebrating, learning, games, snacks and socialization. Free, donations welcome. For more information, visit www.oakharborlutheran.com
OBITUARIES
WE SELL RESULTS Advertise in the Whidbey News-Times and watch your business GROW!
CARSON JAROD WILLIAMS, 6 pounds, 1.5 ounces, was born July 14. He is the son of Robert Williams and Ebony Gaillard-Williams. KARTER JAROD WILLIAMS, 4 pounds, 8.5 ounces, was born July 14. He is the son of Robert Williams and Ebony Gaillard-Williams. MARCELINO JAMES ONTIVEROS, 7 pounds, 1 ounce, was born July 19. He is the son of Marcelino and Lenore Ontiveros. KELLEND ROBERT JUQUETA, 4 pounds, 15 ounces, was born July 23. He is the son of Kathryn and Thomas Jugueta II. KRISTYN MAE SAVELL, 10 pounds, 1 ounce, was born July 24. She is the daughter of Kelly and Krista Savell.
Dobelman
Tiffany Nichole Dobelman
Tiffany Nichole Dobelman
was born on June 1, 1990, to Jacqueline Newsome in Duncan, Okla. She moved to Ridgecrest, Calif., and grew up there. She also met her loving husband, Michael, in Ridgecrest. They moved to Oak Harbor in March of 2009. Tiffany passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of July 28, 2014. She is survived by her husband, Michael Dobelman; her two daughters, Helaina and Piper; her mother, Jacqueline Roney; her aunt, Lorrie Newsome; her adoptive father, Gary Ammerman; her two younger siblings, Shane and Brandon Ammerman; and an extensive extended family.
Services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 201 NE O’Leary St., Oak Harbor at 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. Anyone who knew her was welcome to attend the services. Family and friends are encouraged to share memories and condolences at www. whidbeymemorial.com, and information on donations to be made will eventually be posted there.
746 NE Midway Oak Harbor, WA 360-675-5777
Theresa Faber Theresa Faber, Oak Harbor native, died Aug. 4, 2014. Visitation for Theresa will be held 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, at Wallin Funeral Home. Memorial services will follow at 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, at the Christian Reformed Church, Oak Harbor. A complete obituary will follow. Arrangements are entrusted to Wallin Funeral Home, Oak Harbor.
W
allin Funeral Home & Cremation
1811 NE 16th Ave Oak Harbor, WA 360-675-3447