Midwives... empower, encourage, educate, advocate, protect.
Welcome to
The Midwife Group Women’s Health and Birth Center
1692 Chatham Parkway
Savannah, GA 31405
(912) 629-6262
The Midwifery Model of Care
Supports birth as a normal life event
Promotes self-care, family engagement and the mother-baby dyad
Respects the human dignity of each mother and each baby
Respects cultural diversity
Focuses on education, health promotion, and disease prevention
Philosophy and Scope of Services
The exclusive model of care in a birth center is support of physiologic birth and newborn transition.
The Midwife Group respects and facilitates a woman's right to make informed choices about her and her baby's health care based on her values and beliefs.
The woman's family, as she defines it, is welcomed and encouraged to participate in the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience.
Birth centers are guided by principles of safety, sensitivity, prevention, appropriate medical intervention and cost-effectiveness.
The Birth Center is freestanding, or distinctly separate from acute care services within a hospital.
Services Provided
Program of comprehensive prenatal care based on evidenced based protocols
24 hour telephone consultation and provider availability
Ongoing risk assessment throughout the antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and newborn period to ensure medical, obstetric, fetal and/or neonatal well-being continues to support a safe labor, birth and postpartum period in an out of hospital birth setting
Shared decision-making model of care for the woman and her newborn
Intrapartum care that promotes physiologic birth
Family- centered postpartum and newborn care
24/7 consultation/collaboration availability with board certified OB/GYN and Pediatric providers if mom or baby's needs fall outside of the scope of birth center care
Transfer/transport contracts with Chatham County Emergency Management Services and Memorial Health University Medical Center Neonatal Transport in case of a non-emergent or emergent transport need
Continuity of intrapartum care at Memorial Health University Medical Center in the event of a transfer/transport (CNM or Provident OB/Gyn physician)
Comprehensive postpartum care services for mother and baby including maternal/newborn assessment within 24-72 hours of birth, newborn screening, breastfeeding support and referral, mood disorder assessment and referral, provision of family planning services
Laboratory services
Ultrasound services
Psychology services
Lactation services
Circumcision
Well woman care- gynecologic exam and pap smear
Contraception and family planning services
Evaluation and treatment of common gynecological problems, including STIs
Evaluation and treatment of abnormal pap smears
WHAT MAKES OUR PRACTICE UNIQUE?
CERTIFIED NURSE-MIDWIVES
Rita Chesney, RN, MS, CNM, Certified Nurse Midwife, Director
1988 Bachelors in Nursing, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ; 2001 Master of Science and CNM, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD; LTC, Army (Retired)
Hannah Bergren RN, MSN, CNM Certified Nurse Midwife
2018 Diploma in Nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, TN; 2020 Masters of Nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, TN
Stephanie Curtis BSN, DNP, Certified Nurse Midwife
2013 Bachelors in Nursing, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL; 2017 Doctorate in Nursing Practice, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
Amanda J. Haddad MSN, Certified Nurse Midwife
2002 Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Boston; 2017; Frontier Nursing University, Hyden, KY.
Sherry Hartenbower, RN, MS, CNM, Certified Nurse Midwife
1978 Diploma in Nursing, St Francis School of Nursing, Peoria, IL.; 1986 Bachelors in Nursing, Bradley University, Peoria, Il.; 1995 Master in Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Shelia Love, RN, MS, CNM, Certified Nurse Midwife
1980 Associates Degree in Nursing, Broward Community College School of Nursing, Ft Lauderdale, FL; 1992 Bachelors in Nursing, Florida International University, Miami, FL; 1997 CNM Frontier School of Nurse Midwifery and Family Nursing, Hyden, KY; 2001 Master of Science Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA
MEDICAL DIRECTOR
Karen Baker MD, FACOG, Obstetrician and Gynecologist
2000 University of Florida College of Medicine, OB/GYN Residency University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Board Certified OB/GYN, 2006-present, Fellow, American Congress of OB/GYN, Memorial University Medical Center Medical Staff, 2012-present
Marion Marsh PhD, Psychologist
University of Rochester, Bachelor of Arts 1966, University of Cincinnati Doctor of Philosophy 1972.
Commonly Asked Questions
How do I know if it is safe for me to receive care and give birth at the Birth Center?
The Midwife Group and Birth Center is a nationally accredited and state licensed facility with over 30 years of service to the families of this community. To maintain our licensure and assure safety for you and your baby there are eligibility criteria for entrance to care. Our nursing staff initially began this assessment over the phone. At each subsequent visit your midwife is assessing you and your baby's well-being to assure you remain appropriate for care at the Birth Center.
How do I get in touch with my midwife?
There is a midwife on call and available 24 hours a day for emergencies and labor.
Simply call 912-629-6262. If the office is closed an answering service will take your name and connect you via phone to the midwife on call.
We also have an electronic medical record system (patient portal) that allows you to review your health history and medications, cancel and schedule appointments, and ask general questions. This form of communication is for non-urgent matters only as it is reviewed during office hours Monday through Friday 9AM-4:30PM. Response time can be up to 48 hours.
Will I see a doctor?
Your office visits will be with a midwife. And your birth at the Birth Center will also be attended by a midwife. However, the midwives work in close collaboration with our medical director, Dr Karen Baker. That means that if a special circumstance arises, Dr. Baker or one of her associates at Provident OB/GYN will be consulted. If appropriate or necessary, your care will be transferred to them.
What methods for coping with labor do you offer?
We provide many ways to cope with labor that the hospital environment does not typically offer. Some of those options include freedom of movement, eating and drinking in labor, the continuous support of your partner/family or doula, water therapy and birth, herbals/homeopathy/essential oils, Nitrous Oxide Inhalation System (laughing gas), and a TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit. We have traditional medications for pain relief and sleep like the hospital as well. If epidural analgesia became desired or necessary, a transfer to the hospital would occur.
How receptive to birth plans are your providers?
Each woman in our practice is asked to fill out a birth plan. We strive for an individualized care approach and support choice and options whenever possible. Many of the usual birth plan requests are our standard: intermittent fetal heart rate auscultation in labor, freedom of movement in labor and pushing, delayed cord clamping, skin to skin contact of mom and baby after birth to name a few.
Can I have a water birth?
The midwives at the Birth Center have been safely offering the option of water birth to their mothers in labor for many years.
What if my labor doesn't go as planned?
Midwives are trained to handle a variety of circumstances in labor and birth. Most of the time when something out of the ordinary occurs, it is not an emergency. But if something serious does happen, the staff (midwife and birth assistant) are ready to respond quickly and proficiently. All employees are required to be certified in adult and neonatal resuscitation and take part in quarterly emergency drills. All the same emergency equipment and medications are available at the Birth Center as in a hospital.
If hospital transport is required, a system is in place to provide safe and efficient travel to Memorial University Medical Center. We try to ensure that a midwife can go with our clients when there is a transfer however that is not always possible. Sometimes your medical needs require a level of care that exceeds our scope of practice or there may already be a laboring patient at the patient in the birth center who the midwife must remain with. In that case we must refer your care to the physicians at the hospital. This is a seamless transition and with no break in care.
What if I need a surgical birth?
If a cesarean is necessary, the mother is transported to Memorial Health Medical Center and the in-house physician for the Provident OB/GYN group assumes your care and performs the surgery.
If you chose the Midwife Group and Birth Center for your prenatal care, your risk of an operative birth is the lowest in the region.
We accept your direct communication through the portal! Please log in to send direct messages to our providers or office staff.
Phone (912) 629-6262
Fax (912) 226-3268