Helping Hand

If you’re pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, you may want to consider including a midwife in your birth plan. Inova Fair Oaks Hospital has a team of certified nurse midwives (CNMs), who offer personalized care that puts moms’ priorities first.

“We are really looking at what the woman desires from her birth experience and trying to support that within the realm of safety,” says Karen Foster-Anderson, a certified nurse midwife at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital.

The hospital’s nurse midwives work with moms-to-be to support birth plans through prenatal visits, health promotion, help with self-care and more. Additionally, if a mom is interested in a natural birth, an Inova Fair Oaks Hospital nurse midwife will support her through that process.

All the hospital’s nurse midwives are trained as registered nurses and received certification for midwifery. This added healthcare expertise is key, says Foster-Anderson. “Being nurses first, generally we are attuned to the physical as well as the emotional needs of the expectant woman and her family,” she says.

“The difference between a lay midwife and a certified midwife that is hospital-based is we can provide our patients with the gamut of care, from natural to medicated, if they desire,” notes Leonard Rosen, MD, OB-GYN, Women’s Medical Director for Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. “We’re offering the best of both worlds in a safe environment.”