MetroHealth Adds Midwifery to its Award-Winning Maternal Health Team

The MetroHealth System announced the launch of a new midwifery program to serve patients seeking care during pregnancy as well as ongoing gynecologic care through every stage of life.

This month, MetroHealth's team of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) will begin seeing patients in outpatient appointments for pre-natal checkups and women's wellness exams at Cleveland Heights Medical Center and Brooklyn Health Center. They will also provide inpatient care and attend births at MetroHealth's new state-of-the-art Birthing Center on its Main Campus in Cleveland.

MetroHealth President & CEO Airica Steed, Ed.D, MBA, RN, FACHE, said the move to integrate midwifery into women's healthcare reflects MetroHealth's commitment to health equity and eradicating disparities, including those that make Black women more than three times more likely than white women to die in childbirth.

"Research has shown that including midwives as collaborators in maternity care improves overall outcomes for mothers and their infants," Dr. Steed said. "In national surveys, Black women are among those who express the most interest in delivering their babies with the help of midwives, yet they are the least represented among midwifery patients. This initiative embodies our unwavering focus on equity and ensuring that every individual we serve is seen and heard."

Amy Lowell, CNM, MSN, joined MetroHealth in June as Director of the new Midwifery Program. She has more than 29 years' experience as a practicing midwife in Florida, Hawaii, New York and Cleveland.

"We build trust and break through misconceptions and communication barriers, so we can understand the anxieties and concerns that often lead to patients missing appointments and generally avoiding healthcare experiences," said Lowell, who most recently worked with University Hospitals and has served on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University since 2016. "Our goal is to provide options for patients and, in the process, forge relationships that will change perceptions and improve the health of women during pregnancy and at every other point in their lives."

CNMs are Registered Nurses who have attained specialized expertise in women's health through the completion of midwifery training.

"Midwives take a holistic, patient-centered approach to care that makes patients active participants in their healthcare decision making," said Kimberly Green, MSN, RN, C-EFM, Vice President of Women and Children's Services at MetroHealth. "There is a misconception that midwives are only involved in delivering babies, but that is just one part of what they do. They provide the full scope of women's OB-GYN care. They play a key role in women's healthcare."

Midwives may be best known for the care they provide to patients throughout pregnancy. They cultivate trusting relationships with patients and their families to help them prepare for the birth experience. During midwife appointments, which tend to be longer than typical OB-GYN exams, the CNM closely monitors the condition of both mother and baby.

CNMs attend births and deliver babies in the hospital setting. The low-intervention care they provide is appropriate for the estimated 85-90% of patients who are not considered to be at high risk of complications during pregnancy and the post-partum period.

While most women are eligible to partner with a midwife during pregnancy, some medical conditions may benefit from the input and collaborative care from one of MetroHealth 25 generalist OB-GYN physicians or from our team of high-risk OB doctors in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Midwives are fully integrated into MetroHealth's nationally recognized OB-GYN team, which was named among Newsweek's Best Maternity Hospitals in 2024 and designated by Blue Cross Blue Shield as a Blue Distinction Center for delivering exceptional quality maternity care in 2023.

All midwife patients deliver at MetroHealth's Birthing Center and, if needed, have access to its Certified Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which offers the most advanced monitoring technology in Northeast Ohio.

MetroHealth's full team of five midwives is expected to be in place by early fall with plans to expand as demand grows.

"Our CNMs are valuable members of our women's health team," said Donald "Chip" Wiper, III, MD, MetroHealth Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "Midwives are part of a tradition that has been around for centuries, and there's good reason for that: They are incredibly successful at connecting with patients in a way that has a direct impact on health outcomes. This investment in midwifery at MetroHealth is great news for our patients."

Patients interested in requesting an appointment with a MetroHealth midwife can visit metrohealth.org/midwife or call 216-778-4444.

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