Midwifery Virginia
Beach Hampton Roads Virginia
Midwives were the standard of care for women for
centuries. With the move to hospitals and physician
births in the United States, midwives almost became
a footnote in our medical history. But today, midwives
are as popular as they were in the biblical days
for the same reasons...midwives listen to, empower,
educate, and support women.
Nurse-Midwifery practice is the independent management
of women's health care, focusing on pregnancy, childbirth,
the postpartum period, care of the newborn, and
the family planning
and gynecological needs of well women. The Certified
Nurse-Midwife (CNM) practices within a health care
system that provides for consultation, collaborative
management or referral as indicated by the health
status of the client. The midwives in this practice
have earned Master of Science (MS) and Master of
Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees and posses prescriptive
authority. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, CNMs
are regulated as nurse practitioners by the Boards
of Medicine and Nursing.
The heart of midwifery care for women and newborns
lies more in the nature of that care than in its
specific components. Midwifery practice has a firm
foundation in the critical thought process and is
focused on the prevention of disease and the promotion
of health, taking the best from the disciplines
of midwifery, nursing, public health and medicine
to provide safe, holistic care.
Midwives are partners with women in the provision
of health care, engaging in a dynamic re-evaluation
of each woman's unique health needs. Midwives would
rather nurture a woman's progress with hands-on
care than diagnose her problems from afar,
...rather listen than lecture,
...rather teach a health principle than treat
an illness
...rather empower women to join in decision-making
than decide for her, ...rather urge her to speak
for herself than to be her advocate,
...rather support natural processes than employ
technological interventions,
...rather instill a woman with trust in her body
than demonstrate the midwife's technical proficiency
...although midwives will do these things when
necessary.
Midwifery is a profession born of a woman's vision,
nurtured in an understanding of women's developmental
phases, and committed to assuring women in all
populations that it is their birthright to be
part of this unique care. - ACNM
Rhonda Bertholf, RNC, CNM, MSN has been
a nurse for about 25 years working in a variety
of settings, including women's health. She is
a graduate of Abbot-Northwestern School of Nursing
in Minneapolis as well as the Regents University
in New York. She completed her post-graduate studies
and earned her nurse midwifery education from
Eastern Carolina University in Greenville, NC.
As a nationally board certified nurse-midwife,
she has been in clinical practice since 1996 and
is knowledgeable in natural and medicated childbirth.
She does approximately 120 deliveries a year.
Her gynecological skills include meeting women's
needs from teen years through menopause using
natural healing methods as well as standard medical
protocols.
Karen Carroll, RN, CNM, MS
graduated from Old Dominion University in 1998
and began her nursing career in the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit at Children's Hospital of the King's
Daughters. She felt called to midwifery during
that time and changed her nursing specialty to
labor and delivery, working at Chesapeake General
and DePaul area hospitals. She studied academically
at Philadelphia University while gaining clinical
experience at the Midwifery Center at DePaul.
As a midwife, she aims to educate and empower
women as they make decisions concerning their
health care and birth choices. |
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