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Show " ' . ,.,J V : V. V DeAnn Brown, as the new nurse-midwife at Garfield Memorial Hospital, Hospi-tal, has expanded the hospital's services. She has served as director of nursing at the hospital Car the past four years. Here, Brown teaches her Wednesday evening pre-natal class, among the many services she provides. New Nurse-Midwife Expands Maternity Services At Garfield Memorial Hospital m Garfield Memorial Hospital has added its first Certified Nurse-Midwife Nurse-Midwife to its hospital staff. Of some 50 certified midwives in ; Utah, DeAnn Brown is the first in Garfield County. Brown has been director of nursing at Garfield Memorial for the past four years and will blend her new profession in with her current job. The 35-year-old professional pro-fessional nurse had served as nurse-manager for 15 years at Valley View Regional Medical Center where she worked intensively inten-sively in labor and delivery. Her desire was to be more directly involved again in that field and, recognizing the growing use of midwives in the state, she decided deci-ded that midwifery could expand the services of Garfield Memorial Hospital in an important way while filling her own needs. "I'm excited about it," she said. "I think midwives are the experts in normal childbirth where physicians are the experts in complications of childbirth." Certification in Utah requires a master of science degree in nursing and two years minimum experience as a registered nurse in an obstetrics, gynecological field. It also requires successful completion of a national exam and meeting the requirements set by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Successful completion com-pletion qualifies the applicant for licensing anywhere in the U.S. As a CNM, Brown sees giving . birth as a normal process, during which complications can often be prevented or minimized when the woman is shown how to do so. As a CNM, Brown cannot attend home births but works instead directly with the hospital. She is not replacing any of the doctors on staff but works closely with them. While in training as a nurse-midwife, Brown delivered some 40 babies. According to the University of Utah College of Nursing, "today's CNM is an alternative to traditional tradi-tional obstetrical and gynecological gynecolo-gical care, the result of individual's individ-ual's demands for more personalized personal-ized care." The CNM combines the concept of individualized, continuous support with access to sophisticated medical care when required. Nurse-midwifery was first legalized in Utah in the mid-1970's. mid-1970's. Brown is licensed to provide care for the healthy woman (and her baby) throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery of the baby. Nurse-midwives also provide post-partum and routine gynecological care, operating in both birth centers and hospitals. Brown's services not limited to obstetrical care alone. She also provides full prescriptive care, menopausal care, family planning and contraceptives, premarital pre-marital counseling and examinations, examin-ations, management of vaginal, urinary problems and infections, and newborn care for infants up to one year. Insurance companies generally (See NURSE on page 3-A) New Nurse-Midwife At GMH From Front Page reimburse CNM's for their services. ser-vices. In Utah, insurers who regularly reimburse physicians for obstetrical or gynecological care must do so for CNM's providing similar care. Usually, the nurse-midwife nurse-midwife can help reduce costs, particularly in the hospital and can take clients on Medicaid or Champus. Brown provides comprehensive comprehen-sive and personally adapted prenatal care throughout pregnancy pregnan-cy while offering teaching and counseling about preparation for labor, delivery and parenthood. Her emphasis is on safe, satisfying satis-fying and family-centered childbirth. child-birth. "Because midwives view pregnancy as a completely normal nor-mal condition, we tend to spend more time educating women about their condition," Brown said. "Sometimes," she said, "women simply feel more comfortable com-fortable working with women." She stays with the about-to-be-mother throughout her labor in order to provide comfort measures and emotional support as well as to supervise and evaluate the progress of labor. She encourages the family and other support people to assume as active a role ' as possible in the labor and birth process. Her goal is to facilitate the most natural birth possible in a non-interfering manner according to the couple's birth plans as long as the birth process progresses normally, but she is fully prepared to treat problems or consult with a physician if needed. She is also licensed to provide pain medications medica-tions or anesthesia as appropriate. I (See NURSE on page 6-A) Nurse-Midwife From Page 3-A She does not, however, do operative opera-tive deliveries. Brown encourages bonding with the newborn after birth according to the parents' wishes, and will help the new mother to , breastfeed as soon as she wishes. ' Followup care includes caring": for the mother and baby as re- . , quired following delivery. Brown is also licensed to do PAP smears, and other gyneco- '. ! logical procedures. Her full line : '. of services will be available ; within two months and she is ; -currently on board for most. Brown earned her bachelor's degree at Westminister College; ; -r and her masters at the University.';, ' of Nevada at Las Vegas. She and.',;', her husband Robert who is : : employed with the Utah Depart-'; ment of Transportation have a 3" i .'; year-old son Clayton. |