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18 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • December 2024 sponsored material Certified nurse midwives are licensed healthcare providers who take a patient- centered approach to guiding women through birth and newborn care, as well as other important aspects of women's reproductive healthcare. Midwives' approach is grounded in the fact that childbirth for most low- to moderate-risk patients is a normal physiological process that women are built for. Increasingly, research is showing that midwifery care, when incorporated into com- prehensive hospital-based maternity care, can lead to significantly lower interven- tion rates (a 2019 study showed that midwifery patients had a 30-40% lower risk of cesarean delivery), and states with better midwifery coverage are associated with fewer adverse neonatal outcomes. Mary Washington Healthcare sees the importance of making midwife care more accessible to women in the Fredericksburg region. The nonprofit community healthcare system has assembled an all-star team of seven certified nurse mid- wives who are dedicated to providing family-centered care that covers every aspect of the pregnancy journey, from prenatal visits to postpartum recovery and beyond. This allows Mary Washington Healthcare to provide 24/7 access to a certi- fied nurse midwife for mothers who deliver at the Family Birth Place at Stafford Hospital—a level of midwifery service that is unmatched in the region. Expecting mothers can now have the peace of mind that they will be able to access the kind of empowering, patient-centered and supportive care midwives provide, while also having access to OB specialists, anesthesia providers, pediatric hospitalists from Children's National Hospital and a level II NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). As our December experts, Julie Flanagan, CNM, WHNP-BC, and Julie Weathers, MSN, CNM, talk about what it's like to work with a midwife and why they love being able to provide this care as a team at Mary Washington Healthcare. WRITTEN BY EMILY FREELING Mary Washington Healthcare Offers the Region's Largest and Most Expansive Midwifery Program Back row: Lauren, Julie W., Megan, Erin Front row: Melissa, Olivia, Julie F. Mary Washington Healthcare sees the importance of making midwife care more accessible to women in the Fredericksburg region.