Providence Swedish delivers more babies than any hospital in western Washington and offers many resources for birthing people and their families, including classes and midwife support. At Swedish, 17 Certified Nurse Midwives at First Hill, Ballard and Issaquah help prepare patients and their families for parenthood and attend births. They also provide expert, comprehensive women’s health care, including ante and postpartum care, primary care, annual exams, birth control counseling, menopausal care, breastfeeding support and more. “We can start in puberty and go all the way through menopause,” said Michele Ankrim, certified nurse midwife at Providence Swedish. Because midwife care is a partnership between midwives and the families they support, it’s important patients feel comfortable. “We ask a lot of questions to make sure we are a good match, but we take insurance,” Ankrim said. “We deliver in the hospital. You can absolutely get the epidural if you want it, and we make sure we’re the best match throughout your pregnancy.” Centering Pregnancy is a group prenatal care model at Providence Swedish that takes the place of individual visits. Groups of eight to ten families meet for two hours at a time, and everyone gets the chance to have a private moment with the midwife to go over their own progress or concerns. “It’s a really cool model with good healthcare outcomes,” Ankrim said. The group covers a different educational topic for 90 minutes each week, and participants build camaraderie with each other. “It creates a social support network for these pregnant folks that are all going through this really important life transition at the same time,” Ankrim said. Centering Pregnancy participants have lower rates of pre-term labor, low birth weight babies and problems with breastfeeding. The program has also been shown to nearly eliminate racial disparities in preterm birth. To learn more about the Centering Pregnancy program and midwifery services, visit the Providence Swedish website. Sponsored by Providence Swedish Segment Producer Suzie Wiley. Watch New Day Northwest at 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.