South Brooklyn Health Midwives

“Midwives have been part of South Brooklyn Health’s care delivery team since 1982 and remain an integral component in our pursuit of delivering high-quality maternity care, including the elimination of intractable racial disparities in maternal health for Black and Hispanic women,” said South Brooklyn Health Chief Executive Officer Svetlana Lipyanskaya.

At South Brooklyn Health, both OB/GYN physicians and midwives work collaboratively to provide care during a woman’s pregnancy and the delivery of her baby. Our OB/GYN physicians are medical doctors (MD), who specialize in women’s reproductive health, as well as pregnancy care and delivering babies; while our midwives are healthcare practitioners who provide a broad range of women’s health services such as annual checkups, including family planning; but pregnancy, birth and postpartum care are their main focus. Midwives have a long history of providing high-quality, high-touch care to meet both the physiological and psychosocial needs of women, especially those of historically disenfranchised communities. The credentials for midwives in New York State include certified midwife (CM), and certified nurse-midwife (CNM), and all New York State midwives are designated as licensed midwives (LM).

South Brooklyn Health currently has 10 midwives on staff, all graduates of midwifery programs certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board and licensed by the New York State Education Department. They are licensed independent practitioners – meaning they do not require supervision by a medical doctor – and practice at the top of their license with the majority receiving advanced degrees (e.g. Master’s and Doctorate). South Brooklyn Health midwives have faculty appointments at Columbia University, S.U.N.Y. Downstate and New York University; and precept midwifery, medical and nursing students in our outpatient women’s health practice and Labor & Delivery (L&D) unit to share their knowledge and expertise in giving birth.

Our OB/GYN patients receive care in a modern and well-appointed women’s health practice and Labor and Delivery suite. In our new Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital, we offer private, comfortable rooms for new parents and babies to bond in, because we believe an intimate, personal birthing experience is a right, not a privilege.

Patients are welcome to bring a doula along with their support team to enhance their birthing experience. And, as a Baby-Friendly designated facility, we encourage and facilitate breastfeeding, so that our youngest patients receive optimal nutrition.

In 2022, South Brooklyn Health had over 1,200 births, with midwives being responsible for nearly one-third of all births.

NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health and its 371-bed Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital and Health & Wellness Institute is one of the public health system’s 10 acute care healthcare campuses that offers general and acute medical care to adults and children. The hospital offers modern trauma and emergency care, inpatient services for primary and acute care in general medicine, adult medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, medical and surgical sub-specialties, coronary care, intensive care, obstetrics and gynecology, midwifery, neonatology, critical care, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry and behavioral health. Its Health & Wellness Institute with over 40 ambulatory care practices provides patient and caregiver centered primary and specialty care to residents of South Brooklyn and surrounding communities. The hospital has designations as a Certified Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Center, an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, an accredited Baby-Friendly Hospital, a U.S. News & World Report high performing hospital, a SAFE Center of Excellence under the Sexual Assault Reform Act, Designated AIDS Center (DACs) and Level 2 Perinatal Center.