Our Nurse Midwifery Group at Swedish Covenant Hospital collaborates as a team to provide the best care for you and your family. Before your delivery, you will meet with each member of the Nurse Midwifery Team so that when the big day comes, every Nurse Midwife will be prepared for your unique delivery.
Meet your nurse-midwifery team
To learn even more about the Nurse Midwifery team and interact with them, you can:
NURSE MIDWIVES
 Sherri Ruerup, CNM
Director of Nurse Midwives
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Sherri's Clinical Interests:
- Low-intervention births
- Natural process of labor and delivery
- Well-woman gynecology
Sherri's Personal Interests:
- Travel
- Biking
- Jewelry Making
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 Rachel Blumenthal, CNM
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Rachel's Clinical Interests:
- Obstetrics (antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum)
- Well-woman care (annual exams and Paps)
Rachel's Personal Interests:
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 Kim Brandl, CNM
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Kim's Clinical Interests:
- Labor and delivery
- Supporting non-interventive labor and birth
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 Amy Graf, CNM
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Amy's Clinical Interests:
- Prenatal yoga (Certified Instructor)
- Reiki (Certified Level I)
- Therapeutic touch (Certified Level I)
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 Libby Oppert, CNM
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Libby's Clinical Interests:
- Holistic and Preventative Healthcare
- Women's Health: menarche through menopause, including pregnancy
Libby's Personal Interests:
- Rollerblading
- Cooking
- Making Jewelry
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Rosemary Baldwin, CNM
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Rosemary's Clinical Interest:
- Breastfeeding
- Labor support
- Facilitating normal birth process
Rosemary's Personal Interests:
- Cooking
- Exercising
- Fitness
- Outdoor activity
- Reading
- Traveling
- Spending time with family
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 Bridget Davidson, CNM
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Bridget's Personal Interests:
- Cooking
- Fitness/exercising/running
- Spending time with family
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Hannah Gottschall, CNM
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Hannah's Clinical Interests:
- Physiological Labor
- Contraception
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Katie Willey, CNM
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To learn more about Swedish Covenant Hospital's Midwifery Services, email midwives@SwedishCovenant.org or call 773-989-6200.
Nurse-midwives: Working together with OB/GYNs
Since you know that nurse-midwives are highly trained, educated medical professionals, you may be wondering what makes delivering with a nurse-midwife different from delivering with an obstetrician.
Although nurse-midwives and obstetricians often work together, their philosophies of care differ. Obstetricians are trained to "actively manage" labor, while nurse-midwives are trained to only intervene when it's absolutely necessary for the health of you and your baby.
Nurse-midwives view childbirth as a natural process and therefore avoid unnecessary interventions that disrupt the natural process, such as inducing labor or caesarean section. For low-risk pregnancies, their non-interventive techniques are highly successful. Research has determined that low-risk pregnancies that are assisted by nurse-midwives have outcomes just as healthy as deliveries done solely by physicians.
Additionally, our nurse-midwives on staff have an 80% success rate in vaginal births after caesarian sections. This means that even if a caesarean section was necessary in a previous pregnancy, there is a very good chance that you can achieve a natural childbirth with the help and patience of a nurse-midwife.
Although your nurse-midwife will typically try to avoid aggressive procedures, she knows how to recognize medical problems and complications during pregnancy or labor. Our nurse-midwife group works closely with board-certified OB/GYN physicians on staff at Swedish Covenant Hospital and will consult them quickly to ensure that you get the safest care.
To learn more about Swedish Covenant Hospital's Midwifery Services, email midwives@SwedishCovenant.org or call 773-989-6200.
