Easing Labor
L to R: Midwives kris Conrad, Mattie Berry, and Sherrie Doss.
e midwives also enjoy a collaborative relationship with physicians. “e care we give is complementary,” says Conrad. “We each have strengths to offer, and the care we provide as a group gives women many options to meet their needs.” “We encourage all patients—even those requesting a midwife for labor—to see both a physician and midwife during their prenatal care,” adds Berry. “ere is always a possibility that a physician may need to be involved in the labor or birth. “What makes our practice so unique is that we share patients together, providing the most well-rounded maternity care possible.” Patients who choose a midwife for delivery can also ask for an epidural to relieve their pain. While many prefer to go through labor naturally with a midwife, it isn’t required. “Midwives also provide continuous labor support, which has been shown to decrease interventions in labor,” says Sherrie Doss, who in 2007 was the first midwife to join the hospital’s staff. Doss and Conrad have doctorates in nursing in addition to their master’s degrees. “It’s unique to guarantee midwife availability,” says Patrice M. Weiss, M.D., chair of Carilion Clinic’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “We offer this to even high-risk patients, such as diabetics, because e Birthplace is in a hospital with OB/GYN availability to do a Caesarean section very quickly, if in the unlikely event this is needed.” e Birthplace has won the coveted five-star rating in patient satisfaction three times from Professional Research Consultants, Inc. e Birthplace team offers family-centered care in homelike rooms with sleep sofas, refrigerators, televisions, and massage therapy for patients. “We’re here to offer families the best possible birth experience,” says Dr. Weiss.
Women beginning labor are advised to soak in a warm tub. The water’s buoyancy lifts the baby’s weight off the mother’s back and relieves contractions. Now women have the labor tub option at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where the tub was installed last fall. (Patients undergo labor in the tub, but do not deliver in it.) “I was thrilled that they installed the tub at Roanoke Memorial weeks before my delivery,” says Laura Godfrey of Roanoke. “I went from 5 cm to fully dilated and pushing in an hour. I didn't need pain medication.” Andrea Cobb, M.D., who practices at Carilion Clinic’s obstetrics and gynecology practice in Salem, recommends the tub for women foregoing epidurals. “Tension prolongs labor,” she says. “When a woman relaxes in the tub, her body proceeds naturally.”
Laura godfrey holds her daughter, Avery, at the labor tub.
CarilionClinic.org | SPRING 2013 9