New 24/7 Midwifery Services Provide More Options for Richmond Area Women
Bon Secours Richmond OB-GYN, an obstetrics and gynecology provider of Bon Secours Richmond Health System, has established a midwifery practice at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in the West End of Richmond.
Three nurse-midwives will provide 24/7 midwifery care to women and their families — the first midwifery practice of its kind in the West End of Richmond.
Certified nurse-midwives bring an understanding of the unique physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of women during pregnancy. They are registered nurses with master’s degrees, post-master’s training, and board certification by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
These specialty-trained providers will work with physicians at Richmond OB-GYN including Alice Hirata, M.D. and Sarah Peterson, M.D., in a caring, collaborative and compassionate manner.
“Midwives are a wonderful addition to our Richmond OB-GYN West End practice. Their enthusiasm for providing health care to women of all ages is contagious,” said Dr. Hirata. “This integrated, patient-focused model of care will be a real asset to our patients in this area.”
Lee-Ann Parker, RN, MSN, CNM, enjoys all areas of women’s health and obstetrics, but she has a special place in her heart for young mothers. After 13 years as a labor and delivery nurse, she obtained her master’s in nursing, specializing in midwifery, from Frontier Nursing University. She is board certified with the American Midwifery Certification Board, and a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
Dana Taylor, RNC, MS, CNM/WHNP-BC worked as a labor and delivery nurse for fifteen years before returning to school and graduating with honors with her master’s in nursing/women’s health nurse practitioner. While working as a nurse practitioner, she completed a post-master’s degree in nurse midwifery at Shenandoah University. Dana is board certified as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and Certified Nurse Midwife and has additional training in advanced fetal monitoring and colposcopy.
Julie Weathers, MSN, CNM, has participated in more than a thousand births and describes assisting women who are delivering their babies as a rewarding experience every single time. She worked as a labor and delivery nurse in a small community hospital until she enrolled in the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. She completed the program in 2004 and has been practicing full-scope midwifery ever since. She is board certified with the American Midwifery Certification Board, and is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives.
While midwives are best known for helping with the birth process, they also serve women of all ages in all stages of life, providing professional, state-of-the-art medical care, including providing well-woman annual exams; providing complete prenatal and postpartum care for women with low-risk pregnancies; providing lactation and breastfeeding consulting; counseling women about family planning; helping women navigate menopause; and treating common gynecological problems and infections.
Richmond OB-GYN also provides midwifery services at Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, serving women of all ages in all stages of life, providing professional, state-of-the-art medical care, including all areas of obstetrical and gynecological care as well as high risk pregnancies; urogynocology; three-dimensional and four-dimensional ultrasound; digital mammography; reconstructive surgery and pelvic medicine services.
To learn more and to schedule an appointment, call 804-320-2483 or visit richmondobgyn.com.
