Category Archives: News

Positive Changes in Maternity Care at Sentara Williamsburg

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Exciting news, everyone!

Last fall, the nonprofit group I direct, Birth Matters Williamsburg, conducted a small survey to assess local women’s opinions of maternity care at Sentara Williamsburg: what they liked, and what they would like to see changed.  The results of that survey can be viewed here.

In November, I met with Sentara Williamsburg administrators to present the results and discuss options.  It was a very positive meeting.

This month, I received word from Sentara about changes they have implemented in the time since we met. 

While our community’s request for nurse midwives at Sentara Williamsburg has not been met, a number of positive changes have been made, including:

  • a change in policy so that mothers who have had C-sections may now have their babies with them during recovery if mother and baby are both stable
  • the purchase of a telemetry fetal monitoring unit so that women requiring continuous electronic fetal monitoring can be out of bed and mobile during labor
  • the installation of two larger labor tubs so that women can labor in water (although I do not believe water birth will be an option)
  • further education of staff on supporting birth plans and breastfeeding

All of us at Birth Matters Williamsburg are thrilled about these changes!

When any new policy is established, it can take time for the changes to become habit for the staff implementing them.  If you are a mother giving birth at Sentara Williamsburg, know that these options are now official policy.  If you encounter challenges in receiving care in line with these policies, **speak up** so that hospital administrators can ensure that all staff are carrying out the new policies.

Please direct any feedback — both positive and negative — about your experience at Sentara Williamsburg to Jaime Sanderson, Director of Patient Care Services.  She is a kind and lovely woman who is very receptive to hearing what Williamsburg women have to say!  Here is her contact information:

Jaime Sanderson
Director of Patient Care Services
Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
100 Sentara Circle
Williamsburg, VA 23188.

Many thanks to all who provided feedback last fall — your input has made a difference in our community! 

Please spread the word about these new developments at Sentara Williamsburg so that local mamas can know their new options!

Hurricane Hiatus

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Hello, everyone!  Whew, what a storm.  Matt, Bennett, and I weathered the hurricane safe and sound, but the power is still out on our street, and our roof is still sporting a downed oak tree.  So, a little blogging hiatus is in order, it seems.

When we’re back up and running, look forward to new posts on

  • and, of course, new Links for Thought!
Until then, enjoy a few favorite archival editions of Links for Thought, including this one and this one!

Northern Neck Birth Center Closing; CNM Amber Price Relocating to VCU

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FMCNN CNM Amber Price will relocate to the midwifery program at VCU Medical Center

It’s with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that the Family Maternity Center of the Northern Neck (where Bennett was born!) is closing its doors — just over a year after opening — due to financial struggles.  The Center will deliver babies through August 15, 2011.

After the closure, FNCMM CNM Susan Waid will continue her work at Langley Air Force Base.

FMCNN CNM Amber Price will be relocating to the Midwifery Program at VCU Medical Center in Richmond starting September 1.  The move is a natural one, as VCU was the facility to which FMCNN mothers transferred when necessary, and Price has collaborated with the VCU staff to provide care for local women throughout the last year.

Mamas-to-be interested in receiving care at VCU Medical Center should call 804-828-4409 or (800) 762-6161.

Very long, very sad sigh. The closure of the FMCNN is a tremendous loss for our community in general and for the women of the Northern Neck in particular.

Area women seeking midwife-attended births should check out these Williamsburg Mothering resources:

We have some wonderful local home birth midwives who will catch babies here in town!  But all Williamsburg women wanting midwifery care at the hospital should consider making their desires known to Sentara Williamsburg and our city’s main OB/GYN office, Williamsburg OB/GYN!   Presently, there are no hospital-based midwives in Williamsburg.  Without a ruckus raised by local women, the chance that midwifery services will become available at the hospital is infinitesimal.

Womancare of Williamsburg No Longer Delivering Babies as of June 30

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Well, it’s official.  The notification letters went out this week: this June, Womancare of Williamsburg will cease to deliver babies.  The practice is transitioning to gynecology only — no obstetrics.

Here’s the scoop.  As of June 30, 2011:

  • Dr. Camilla Buchanan, Dr. Beth Scharlop, and Nurse Practitioner Allison Butler will remain at Womancare, providing gynecological care.

So, ladies, we are down to one OB/GYN practice in town: Williamsburg Obstetrics & Gynecology.  Williamsburg now has only two female OBs, three male OBs, and zero hospital-based midwives. Our in-town birthing choices have narrowed.  Painfully.

I feel like raising a ruckus.  Maybe I will!  Sigh.

In the meantime, if you are a Williamsburg mother-to-be looking for additional maternity care providers, be sure to check out all of your OB and midwife options here at The Williamsburg List, especially the following:

Birth Centers staffed by Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs):

Home Birth Midwifery Practices staffed by Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs):

  • Matresence Midwifery (Mary Callender, Senior Midwifery Student; prior to certification, all prenatal, birth, and postpartum sessions are also attended by her preceptor, Jeni Rector, CPM); 804.382.8222, vbacfamily@yahoo.com.  Richmond-based.

Local Midwives in the News!

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Tara Smith, CNM, Midwifery Center at DePaul

Two fun news notes from the local birth scene:

New Free-Standing Birth Center in Richmond!

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[IMPORTANT UPDATE, SPRING 2013: The Complete Care Birth Center will be closing in April 2013.]

Exciting news for Williamsburg mothers-to-be who desire a birth center birth!  A new free-standing birth center will soon be opening in Richmond at The Complete Care Center for Women.  (The Complete Care Birth Center does not yet have its own website separate from the Complete Care Center for Women’s site, but when the website is launched, it will live here).  [Update: The Complete Care Birthing Center is now open; here is their website. Watch their Facebook page for announcements on monthly tours!]

Staffed by OB/GYN Dr. Sumac Diaz, family practice doctor Dr. Jeanette Carpenter, and certified nurse midwife Jessica Jordan, the birth center will follow the midwifery model of care and will also offer Centering Pregnancy prenatal appointments.  From the Complete Care Center’s website:

[T]he birth center will offer women experiencing a low-risk pregnancy the opportunity to labor, birth and bond with their babies in a safe, comfortable family-centered environment.

Complete Care Birthing Center will not offer any augmentation or intervention and is truly a space where women will feel supported and empowered during their labor and delivery.

Complete Care Center for Women’s physicians and staff are natural birth advocates that believe in women’s ability to birth naturally and look forward to offering this service to the women in our community.

The Complete Care Birth Center is just over an hour’s drive from Williamsburg.

If you would like to tour the Birth Center, you are in luck!  An open house will be held this Saturday, February 19, 2011, from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM (7109 Jahnke Road, Richmond, VA, 23225).

Check it out if you think a birth center birth might be right for you!

For additional information, contact Abby Dini at 804.320.4967.