Anyone Have a Very Personable OBGYN or Midwife?

I know in the Madison area, waterbirth is not allowed in the hospitals. There is the Madison Birth Center run by midwives (wonderful place, can't say enough!). Otherwise, the UW Health Midwives are great...they caught by two kids, but can't do waterbirth. You might want to try a homebirth for a water birth? Ingrid Anderson is a midwife doing homebirths in Dane County, I believe! ~K.

Dr. Mies at Metropolitan OBGYN.... She is fantastic. I will warn you she is very popular and she is so personable that she almost always runs late. what i do....call the office before and see how far behind she is...if she is and then go in late....or i get one of her first appointments.... But she is WELL worth it. I will not see anyone else....besides dr. Kelly as well at metro. she fantastic as well!!!my 1st choice is dr. Annette Mies.... she was name one of st.paul/minneapolis' top OBGYN!!!!

I, too, went to the midwives at Fairview Riverside Women's Clicic and loved them (Karen McMenimen was my favorite, but almost all of them are great.) As another poster said, the downside is you have to deliver at Riverside, which doesn't have a water birth option. But otherwise it's a great hospital for l&d. I know lots of other people who have gone to the FRWC midwives and they have all had wonderful experiences. Good luck!

Hi M.,
I had a great experience with the midwives at Park Nicollet Shakopee. There are 3 midwives there. All are very supportive and informative about options. They don't do water birth at St Francis hospital yet, but the midwives said it is a possibility in the future. I can tell you more when we meet at Caribou if you want.

I saw a Midwife in St. Paul at Mac/Groveland clinic on Snelling. That may be too far for you.

But I had a OBGYN for my first baby and a midwife for my second. I really liked my OB, but I LOVED my midwife. The prenatal care was superior. I felt more involved in the process. And though I planned on a water birth, it didn't happen because I dilated from a 3 to a 10 in 15 minutes and the little bugger was born 25 minutes later in an unplanned, totally natural birth. (My husband almost missed the birth when he moved the car to the parking lot and my midwife didn't get there at all.)

I highly recommend the midwife route.

By the way, I'm a cop's wife too.

Depends on what side the of cities you are on. I went to a great CNM (nurse midewife) before finding out I was having twins (they can't deliver multiples) and I still see her for my other gyn. needs. She is at Northmetro Midwives (Kathryn). I get along with her so well , our visits usually end up going late b.c we end up chatting so much. I couldn't have asked for a better helath care provider. I absolutly love her to death. ANyways she is located on the 55 just east of 169 so might be too far away from you but contact her anyways she might know of CNM's located closer to you.
northmetromidwives.com
Good luck
K. H

I had a waterbirth at St. Joseph's hospital. It was wonderful. I saw the midwives at the Health East Macalaster Groveland clinic. You don't get to pick the midwive who will deliver. You get who is on call. You can see whichever midwife you want at your appointments. I saw all of them at least once so that I would know them in case they were the one on call. I was very satisfied in spite of not getting to choose who would deliver. I wrote a birth plan and gave it to the midwives ahead of time as well as at the hospital.

I LOVED my OBGYN. Dr. Hartsough at the Burnsville/Southdale Fairview OB clinic, was amazing.

He has such a gentle demeanor, and a genuinely caring disposition. I had severe hyperemesis and he went out of his way to check on me. He was AWESOME!!

I have so many wonderful stories about him. Let me know if you're interested in hearing them!

I love my midwifes. I would suggest Park Nic Shakopee Midwifes Jennifer or Dawn. If you have further questions let me know. Hope this helps.

I love Karen McMenimen at Fairview Riverside Women's Clinic. I've seen most of the others and they are nice too. John Eads delivered my baby. They are a great practice, however, the hospital they work with, University of MN Riverside Campus, does not do water births (I was interested in that as well). I was allowed to labor in the tub for as long as I wanted.

river side womans clinic. john is the midwife, but if you want a woman jill sandeen is the woman. im not much into men seeing me but if you can handle it he is awesome. i picked him twice for my last two kids. he is very funny. i have had 4 childrend 25,21,7 and 4.
the number is ###-###-#### they are at riverside and 94. i live north of anoka and i do not trust the hospitals around here, so it is you decision. good luck

I recently had a waterbirth with my son Joe, delivered at St. Joe's in St. Paul with the midwives from Generations Womens Clinic which is located in Shoreview just off 694 near Lexington Ave. They had 2 midwives at the time (I heard they have since added a third). They are fantastic. It is such a small practice that you get very good, personal care. The nurse Joanie is fabulous and remembered not only my name, but my older sons name every time. I just can not recommend them enough.

And, the waterbirth was amazing. I had a very medical/intervention laden birth with my first son - 36 hours of pitocin induced bed ridden labor with epidural and everything else you can imagine... there were about 8 people in the room when I delivered. This time, it was me in the tub, my husband, the nurse and my midwife and that was it. I had the same nurse and midwife for the whole labor (granted it was MUCH shorter this time) and it was just the best.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

____@____.com

Jess - SAHM to 23 1/2 month old Charlie and 3 1/2 month old Joey

If you're thinking water briths, I found only three hospitals that do that in the twin cities (of course you can do it in your home): 1) HCMC 2)Woodwinds in Woodbury 3) St Joe's in St Paul

I went to HCMC and used their midwives as I was planning on doing a waterbirth. It didn't work out because I had a minor complication so I could not get in the water. I loved the midwives there. You work with the group, not just one though. I probably saw about 6 different midwives during my prenatal visits and had two during the delivery (day shift switched to night shift duty). They were all personable. I will go back to HCMC for if we have #2.

Good luck!!

I went to the midwives at the HealthEast Woodwinds Clinic in Woodbury, MN. I had a REALLY great experience and would REALLY recommend the Woodwinds hospital and all of the midwives. They also do water birth there, and the birthing suites are so nice and modern. If you have any questions at all, please contact me and I would be happy to give you more information.

I love my doctor. She is Dr. Fischer at Allina Medical Clinic in Eagan. ALso Dr. Dohm-Palmer is really good there too. You can look her up at allina.com

I'm terrified of doctors, so went the midwife route. I used the Midwives with Park Nicolette, and adored them. My favorite was at the Meadowbrook office, Kaisa Johnson. She made me completely at ease, was supprotive of my phobia of medical offices, and was so easy to talk to that my husband made sure to take the whole afternoon off when our appointments were with her because we got along so well. When I had my son via C-section, she stayed with my through the surgery, keeping me company while my husband went with our son. She's wonderful. I can't say enough good things. They were all great there, but she was the one I really hit it off with.

I love Women's Health Consultants in Minneapolis. They only have one partner that I didn't find kind - otherwise, their entire staff is completely excellent. And all of them are competent. They only deliver at Abbott, however, which may be an issue for you. Good luck!

Cara K's delivering midwife, John Eads from U of M Riverside, was also my delivering midwife. I had an unmedicated birth and was EXTREMEMLY impressed with him. He has a great energy and was very calming and laughed at all my jokes during labor. I have also met Karen McMenimen from the same group of midwives, and she seemed like a great listener.

I'm not sure where you live, but Community Memorial was great for us. We had Dr. Kaminski and he was WONDERFUL. I was shy about having a male OBGYN, but he came highly recommended from our family practice Dr. and he was great right from the first visit. The hospital doesn't do water birth though.

I know a couple of really good Midwives and Doctors. Where are you located?

The Family pract dr I seen with both my kids was great I still see her for my yearly check ups. She is through Alina clinics and the nake is Roxanne Lockhart. She listens, pays attention and doesn't push you into anything you don't want to do.

I am not sure where you live but there is a wonderful Midwife in Alexandria, MN named Jenie Howell. She has been my obgyn since I was 15, she delivered many babies in my family as well as all three of my children. She always makes me feel comfortable, and is very understanding and caring. I have 2 waterbirths as well. The first one without drugs even. It was a wonderful experince, becaues it helps back labor. You are able to float and move around. If you have anymore questions about it you can email me at ____@____.com, I highly recommend water births and midwives :)

It depends on where you are. If you are in Cottage Grove, Peggy Sullivan at the Alina clinic is great. She is no nonsense and doesn't sugar coat things for you but at the same time will listen to you and give you good advice.
If you are in the Eagan area Dr. Carlson-Buckley in Alina clinic is great too.
Good luck

Hi M.,
I know you sent this out awhile ago. I looked over your responses too. I actually had Stephanie Johnson a nurse midwife deliver my baby. She did a nice job. Her office is in Hudson, WI just over the river but she does deliver at Woodwinds in Woodbury and I know that she does water births. I went with a regular birth in Hudson but do recommend her. Her number is ###-###-#### or you can look up her website at www.kinniside.com
Hope this helps and maybe you already made a decision. Sorry for the slow response.
R.

I did an OBGYN with my first daughter and after that I went with the midwives because they really take the time to listen and get to know you. I loved the midwives at Park Nicollet Shakopee. I saw them with my second son and was able to labor in the tub and deliver in the bed. When I had a miscarriage Lisa was extremely supportive and was a great person to lean on. When we were blessed with our final daughter it just so happened she was delivered during the shift change so I had Dawn catching and Lisa supporting my head and encouraging.