The Nurse-Midwifery Service at Hutzel Hospital, University Women's Care is the first service in the State of Michigan. Hutzel Hospital was the first hospital to grant privileges to Nurse-Midwives in 1980.

Our service has always been a leader in innovative programs. Ours was one of the first practices in the country to care for incarcerated women in the Department of Corrections, we developed the useful and popular footprint card, began prenatal care at Planned Parenthood sites and in schools, developed a 24-hour pager system for all patients in order to contact the CNM directly, to name only a few.

The CNM's have been approached by the Arabic and Hispanic communities to expand and access care to their women as well as the Detroit Public Schools have requested our service in 2 of their 3 schools for pregnant and parenting teens. We have always provided service to women through the Detroit Health Department as well as other teen specific clinics.

For many years, the CNM's in our service have been preceptors for such education programs as CNEP, U of M, U of Illinois and USC. Our CNM's are experienced preceptors with a great interest in student education and excellence in practice. We have provided this service to education programs for over 15 years.

We can say with honesty that our CNM's do put the "heart of midwifery" into practice even in a higher risk population because we believe that being "with women" is our greatest calling. We are "with women" to a young teen, a new immigrant for Lebanon, Mexico, E. Europe. We have adapted our style but not our heart for the excellent care of the women we serve.

We are proud of our longevity even in trying times. Our CNM's dedication to the women they serve in the community is one to be admired, esteemed and emulated by services and practices that are younger. We feel we can serve as an example of hope to those newer practices. Our being alive and well in an ever changing medical milieu is a statement that "it can be done"!