Expert Advice From Patricia A. Evans, WHNP, CNM / MemorialCare Medical Group
For an expectant mother seeking a holistic approach to bringing her child into the world, delivering with MemorialCare Medical Group (MCMG) certified nurse-midwives at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center, can bring a sense of both comfort and security.
“There are some definite advantages to having a midwife delivery in a hospital,” says Patricia A. Evans, lead women’s healthcare nurse practitioner (WHNP) and certified nurse-midwife (CNM) with MemorialCare Medical Group. “It’s like the best of both worlds. You get the holistic approach of the midwife, and the security of knowing that if something unexpected happens, Orange Coast Medical Center’s Childbirth Center also has an operating room with a board-certified OB/GYN in-house 24/7.”
Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) play a unique role in optimizing the childbirth experience. For most women with healthy pregnancies, childbirth is a normal, natural, physiologic process that requires little intervention.
The midwifery philosophy of care includes prenatal education and counseling, which enables women to make informed choices for their best birth experience. CNMs provide support through labor for women choosing an unmedicated birth, but are also able to offer multiple pain relief options and increased intervention as expectant mothers desire or as their needs during labor change.
“We help expectant mothers learn about the physical and emotional changes they will experience throughout pregnancy,” Evans says. “We also help them think about what kind of birth experience they want and support them in their decision for a medicated or unmedicated labor.”
CNMs are educated in two disciplines: midwifery and nursing. They earn graduate degrees, complete a midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM.
MCMG patients can deliver with an MCMG-certified nurse-midwife at Orange Coast Medical Center. MCMG midwives see expectant mothers in the office throughout their pregnancy so they will be familiar and comfortable with them when it’s time to give birth, says Evans, who has delivered an estimated 4,500 babies since delivering at Orange Coast for over 30 years. Evans is one of four MCMG CNMs with privileges to deliver at Orange Coast Medical Center. In 2021, certified nurse-midwives delivered 15 percent (260) of the 1,698 babies born at the hospital.
We want this to be the best labor and birthing experience possible, with a healthy baby and mom with the least amount of intervention. MemorialCare is committed to high quality care and when people share where they delivered we want it to be remembered as the best experience you’ll ever have.
Patricia A. Evans, WHNP, CNM / MemorialCare Medical Group
“Orange Coast’s labor and delivery postpartum nursing staff is exceptional, experienced, caring and knowledgeable and discuss all aspects of labor and delivery with expectant mothers as part of the decision-making team,” says Evans.
