Seeking a Ob And/or Midwife Who Is Open to Natural Birth in Northern NJ

Dr Winsome Parchment in Maplewood (I think) is very natural-birth friendly, I hear. She apparently had natural births herself. I haven't seen her personally, so I can't speak to her demeanor, but I know 3 people who like her and had natural births with her.

Avalon Midwives in Caldwell (deliver at Morristown Memorial) are very good. There are, I think, 4 midwives in the practice, so like any practice, you don't know who will be on call when you deliver, if that matters to you. In NJ, certified nurse midwives are RNs with master's degrees in midwifery. They work independently except when interventions are needed -- c/s or assisted delivery (vacuum or foreceps) is needed, when they call their covering OB. Avalon also bills under their covering OB.

I had a very good experience with Avalon. They are lovely and supportive and don't ever make you feel stupid for having questions. I would recommend them.

We had a wonderful birth experience with Hackettstown Midwives group. Midwives must practice under an OB, but I never met the doctor, I was only seen by the midwives. Hackettstown Hospital is across the street from their practice, and they do have two water birth suites there. The midwives were all fantastic.

I used Avalon, too, and was very happy with them.

Good luck!

B.

There's a practice in Morristown called "One to One Female Care" and Avalon Midwives are in Morristown (I think the Caldwell office is closed?). I have a few friends who have had positive, natural birth experiences with both of these practices. I personally had a bad experience with a midwife through St. Clare's in Denville with the birth of my first child, which was waaaaay too medicalized. So for baby #2, I went the other way, and had a homebirth (waterbirth) with a homebirth midwife. It was absolutely wonderful, and I plan to do it again with baby #3 in February. I felt completely safe, and my midwife's backup doctor is at Morristown hospital, so I knew we were good to go if I needed or wanted to transfer to the hospital. BTW, in case you're interested, her name is Jessica Lawlor. Best of luck to you and congrats!