Get to know the new certified nurse midwife at the Santiam Women’s Clinic
In early May, the Santiam Women's Clinic, part of Santiam Hospital, welcomed certified nurse midwife Melissa Sheffield, ARNP, CNM, to their team of health-care professionals. Together with the clinic’s physicians, Sheffield helps support women during pregnancy and labor and throughout their lifetime.
“We are a collaborative practice group,” said Sheffield. “Patients can decide what they feel best suits their needs. The doctors and I, we’re both experts in our areas and both doing the same thing — providing the best care possible for women. We manage care collaboratively, so the patients get the best of both worlds.”
The Women’s Clinic is a small, close-knit team, which allows them to truly focus on the women in their care.
“We all know what’s going on throughout the practice, and it’s a small enough practice that we’re able to know our patients,” said Sheffield. “The doctors are a part of my support team, and I’m part of theirs. Essentially a woman’s care should be exactly the same and meet a standard no matter what, and that’s what we strive to do.”
That connection is what made Sheffield want to become part of the Santiam team.
“I’m so incredibly excited to be here,” she said, adding that she had delivered two babies the night before. “This is a great community.”
Sheffield — who has a master’s in nursing from the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing and is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Midwifery Certification Board — has been delivering babies since 2006. She is also a Neonatal Resuscitation Program Provider.
“I get to spend lots of time with the patients here, developing those closer relationships and helping them feel supported,” she said. “I also get to spend more time on educating patients, building an emotional connection during our visits and answering their questions. As part of a smaller hospital, we give them specialized care and have so many wonderful things to offer.”
While some may associate midwives with home births or unmedicated births, Sheffield explained that is a common misconception.
“We’re all nurse practitioners who have specialized in women’s health and childbirth,” she said. “As certified nurse midwives, we’ve all been through midwifery education. You are a nurse practitioner accredited in your state and you’ve passed a certified nurse midwife exam.”
Patients often opt for a midwife during pregnancy and labor because they “want a more hands-on approach and have the luxury of a closer supporting relationship in labor,” she said. While women might seek the care of a midwife because they are interested in having a nonmedicated birth, or because midwives have high success rates of vaginal deliveries and lower C-section rates, said Sheffield, she cares for patients with all types of birth plans.
“I want to help you have your best birth based on your personal strategies,” she said. “This is your birth, it’s not mine. I’m here to take care of your needs.”
Any patient of the Santiam Women’s Clinic can opt to give birth at the Santiam Hospital Family Birth Center.
“They have the luxury of using the birthing suites, they can be up and ambulatory, using tubs if they want,” said Sheffield. “And because of their own personal preferences, patients might want to try for an intervention. If you want to have an epidural, you can.”
She also reassures patients that, as a certified nurse midwife, she’s there for the long haul — no matter whether a woman’s labor goes according to her birth plan or not. If labor is altered in some way, Sheffield doesn’t leave her patient’s side. For example, if a C-section becomes necessary, the obstetrician performs the surgery, with Sheffield assisting.
And, just like the physicians in her practice, Sheffield’s work as a certified nurse midwife extends beyond obstetrics.
“We’re highly skilled nurses that specialize in women’s care,” she said. “We focus on caring for a woman over the spectrum of a lifetime.”
She sees patients of all ages — 10- to 12-year-olds dealing with menstrual issues all the way to women in their 70s who are having postmenopausal issues. She helps women with family planning, prenatal and postnatal care, as well as routine annual visits.
An Air Force veteran, Sheffield said her own first encounter with a midwife shifted her career path. While she was pregnant with her first child, she was under the care of a midwife at the medical facility on base.
“That midwife completely changed my life,” she said. “I knew I wanted to be a nurse, but then I found midwifery. The whole concept of pregnancy and birth is beautiful to me, and I feel like I connect with women. I love birth. What better day is there in the world than a birth day?”