During one of the most vulnerable times of one’s life, it’s essential to know you will receive care you can trust. PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center provides the thorough, supportive care women and birthing people need. Dr. Nena Barnhart and Certified Nurse Midwife Katrina Hanna recently sat down with WhatcomTalk to discuss PeaceHealth’s array of prenatal, postnatal, and comprehensive gynecological healthcare services.
The Midwifery Group
One of the oldest professions in the world, midwifery, is still in full practice today. At PeaceHealth, midwifery and obstetrics work together as a team to ensure their patients receive the best care possible. Katrina Hanna has been a certified nurse midwife for the past eight years after going through school to become an RN, and then receiving a master’s in nursing. PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s certified nurse midwife program began eight years ago also.
“The way a master’s in nursing or a doctorate in nursing works is that you choose a focal area,” says Hanna. “I went to the University of Washington and at the time there were 20 different focal areas in a Master of Nursing, and one was midwifery. It’s a two-year program where we work on normal prenatal care, postnatal care, and women’s health.” As part of a master’s degree, students also become nurse practitioners in women’s health as a dual certification.
In Hanna’s estimation, the difference between midwives and medical doctors in gynecology and obstetrics lies at the beginning of their careers. “I was drawn to the nursing track and the doctor was drawn to the doctor track,” says Hanna. “That very basic philosophy that brings us to one track or the other is maybe the core of the difference. It’s all very similar between midwives and doctors.”
The midwives naturally have more time built into their scheduling with patients in their appointments, as well as when patients are in labor. “But I know all the doctors wish they had more time,” Hanna says. “It’s not for lack of wanting.”
Primarily, the midwifery practice engages in obstetrics, but they are looking to add more layers to their services and grow. “We like doing women’s health, gynecology, annual exams, and maintaining continuity,” says Hanna. “It’s our favorite thing to see women in their pregnancies, postpartum, and then see them yearly for their preventative exams and maintain these relationships, but we’re so busy with obstetrics. My license allows me to see patients needing gynecology care or those experiencing perimenopause — I can do all women’s health.”
Obstetrics
Dr. Nena Barnhart is a medical practitioner of obstetrics and gynecology with a focus on natural labor. “What we have here at St. Joseph’s is really something we’re proud of with the midwifery service,” says Dr. Barnhart. “We have a team of midwives who manage the healthy, normal pregnancies and provide a safe, in-hospital birthing experience while also focusing on that more natural childbirth and patient-centered care. It gives a balance of having the safety of the hospital setting and the skills of the certified nurse midwives while also trying to minimize intervention.”
The obstetricians work closely with the midwifery group through both normal and high-risk pregnancies, providing interventions such as cesarean procedures, vacuum applications and management of other medical complications.
“We are the backups for the nurse midwives if there’s a complication that will lead to a higher level of care needed,” Dr. Barnhart says. “We work as a backup in that way so the patient’s care can be fluently provided.”
The Value of Working Together
For Hanna and Dr. Barnhart, their team is an invaluable relationship that works like a dream. “The view of the relationship between the midwifery and the obstetricians is to provide the appropriate and quick care for the patient — or whatever is needed,” says Dr. Barnhart. “Us working as a team, we are side by side, which leads to easy communication and smooth transitions.”
Hannah calls their partnership “symbiotic,” with a real value placed on natural labor. “We consider ourselves a compromise,” Hanna says. “We value physiologic birth, and my favorite deliveries are the ones where I get to sit back and watch a woman, or person who births, do their thing; I call it ‘going mammal.’ I work closely with obstetricians, and I like it when they ask me questions or when I can confirm the plan. I think having all those different perspectives provides women or people who birth with excellent care.”
In the end, both practitioners absolutely love their careers and dedicate themselves to making their patients’ healthcare as smooth as possible — values that are found throughout PeaceHealth.
“I’m lucky enough to be there and witness it,” says Hanna. “I love being in the hospital because I think labor is like the ocean: most of the time, the water is cool and calm, and it’s smooth sailing; and then it can also be unpredictable and scary. I love being at the hospital and working with the obstetricians because I have everything there that I need.”
Sponsored
