After acquiring Merit Health Madison, the only hospital in Canton, over the summer, the University of Mississippi Medical Center announced a midwifery clinic has been opened on location of what’s now UMMC Madison.
The UMMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology said in a press release that the midwifery clinic makes for the first midwifery clinic to offer care five days a week outside of the one on the academic medical center’s main campus in Jackson.
The Madison location is part of a five-year plan to integrate certified nurse-midwives into UMMC hospitals and clinics in the metro area and surrounding counties, with the goal of offering round-the-clock midwifery care by 2027. Differing from a regular hospital birth, midwifery care emphasizes a more natural, holistic, and personalized approach to birth.
The UMMC Madison clinic is the first to be staffed exclusively be certified nurse-midwives while maintaining collaboration with departmental OB-GYN physicians for consultation, collaborative patient management, and referrals when needed. The clinic provides a full range of services, including prenatal and postpartum care, family planning and preconception counseling, and annual exams.
“The opening of the UMMC Madison Nurse-Midwifery Clinic marks a milestone in expanding access to evidence-based reproductive and gynecologic health care for families living north of Jackson,” said Kim Rickard, one of the certified nurse-midwives who work at UMMC Madison.
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“As the first UMMC clinic site staffed exclusively by certified nurse-midwives, it reflects our commitment to improving maternal health through patient-centered care that supports health pregnancies and empowers shared decision-making,” she continued. “This clinic strengthens our connection to the community by ensuring access to trusted providers and vital resources.”
Along with UMMC’s other midwifery clinics at Grants Ferry and at the main Jackson campus, nurse-midwives will begin seeing patients at the UMMC Pavilion and EversCare Clinic at the Jackson Medical Mall soon.
“We are very excited to bring accessible, high-quality maternal care back to UMMC Madison,” said Dodie McElmurray, UMMC CEO – University and Community Hospitals. “Expanding nurse-midwifery services to Canton is a critical step to meeting patients where they are to ensure that women across Mississippi have the support they need for healthy pregnancies.”
