There are many common misconceptions surrounding the term “midwife.” For some, the word conjures up visions from generations ago of a kindly, but perhaps medically untrained, woman traveling to pregnant women’s homes to help them give birth.
Today, a certified nurse midwife actually has many years of training and is usually part of a larger medical team, with the vast majority of midwife-assisted births occurring in hospital settings.
According to certified nurse midwife Mary Weisbrod, of Geisinger, “A certified nurse midwife is a registered nurse who has gone back to school for a master’s — usually a master’s of science in midwifery. We’re independent practitioners who specialize in normal birth. We also do women’s health — pap smears, birth control and such. We generally see women from the time they start having periods up until the end.”
Now, through a new partnership between Geisinger Lewistown Hospital and the Geisinger Gray’s Woods women’s health department, women in State College have the option to see one of six certified nurse midwives for well-patient visits and prenatal care in State College.
“We don’t have privileges to deliver at Mount Nittany Medical Center at this point,” said Weisbrod, “but women can see us here (Gray’s Woods), and if they choose to deliver with a midwife, they can go to the Lewistown hospital. If they want to deliver with a physician, they can choose Mount Nittany. It’s completely up to them.”
The Geisinger midwives are part of a larger medical team.
“We collaborate with the doctors, and the doctors are always readily available if we should need them for something,” Weisbrod said. “We don’t do surgery or operative delivery, but we know how to take care of emergencies until a doctor can get there to help out. The nurses are also a very integral part of what we do. It really is a team effort.”
This team approach is one thing that helped Malini Mattler decide to use the Geisinger midwifery services in Lewistown when she became pregnant with her son in 2016. Mattler is Geisinger’s communication specialist.
“At Geisinger, I felt I got the best of both worlds,” said Mattler. “I could see a midwife and make it a very natural process, but at the same time I had the support of the doctors, and this whole system, the state-of-the art medical facilities and services, as well. I felt very taken care of and comfortable with that kind of environment.”
Weisbrod said women also choose a midwife for health care because, “we really get to know the whole woman, and sometimes we get to know the whole family. We’re more holistic. We see the patient as more than just a pregnant person that walks in.
“We also really help the woman prepare for birth, take time to answer questions, and we like to be available for them when they’re laboring, especially toward the end of their labor.”
Mattler, who moved to the United States from Malaysia in 2016, confirmed this experience.
“I was really, really worried because I was 34, and back in Malaysia, I’d always heard that was too old to actually have a child,” she said.
“On my first visit with Mary, one of my first questions to her was, ‘I’m 34. Do you think I need a C-section?’ And her answer completely threw me off guard and put me at ease. She said, ‘You’re fine! You don’t have any complications that would indicate you need a C-section.’
“I was also very fearful that childbirth would be so painful. Mary said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,’ and she gave me materials to read, she really listened to my concerns and, most importantly, she was very calm, even though I was not, and that really calmed me down.”
Mattler said another thing that calmed her down was having an experienced friend in the labor room with her.
“I did not want my husband to be in the room with me while I was going through such pain. I thought it would be hard for him to be there and not really be able to help me. But I think it’s important to have a really good support system. … For me, it was my friend Amanda Yohn. She has seven children, and she was my rock. She was there throughout my contractions, and she really helped me out.
“Mary was also in the room for a long time, and the two of them were so encouraging. … When I started pushing they would say things like, ‘You’re such a natural,’ and I would feel a gush of confidence, like, ‘I can do this!’”
Weisbrod said, “That’s really important. That handson woman-to-woman support is a big thing.
“We helped her get through it, and she ended up having baby Jay with no medication. She was awesome.”
Although Mattler did choose to deliver naturally, Weisbrod is quick to point out that she could have chosen pain medication.
“Another misconception about midwives is that we don’t use pain medicine, but, oh yes, we do. We support whether a woman makes the choice to use no pain medication or is open to an epidural.”
Mattler’s son is now almost 9 months old, and she said she hopes to have another baby some day.
“The only reason I am willing to do it again is because they made it such a good experience for me,” she said.
For more information, call the women’s health department at Geisinger Gray’s Woods at (814) 272-7200.
