I delivered my son with Jan at HFWB in April. The hospital had only been open for about 3 weeks when I delivered, but I could not have asked for a better experience. Trish Scane was my primary midwife, when she was at Metro Partners and delivering at Providence. When she switched to Henry Ford, my husband and I went back and forth but ultimately decided to switch with her. I started seeing Jan at my prenatal appointments because Trish wasn't "in the system" yet, and ended up delivering with Jan as well. I was VERY SERIOUS about a med-free vaginal delivery. I ended up having some complications but Jan and my doula worked together to help me have the birth that I wanted to the extent it was possible - and after pushing for almost four hours, I did end up delivering my son vaginally, with no pain medications (I did have sterile water papule injections for my back labor but they didn't help
). The nurses were amazing - didn't bother me, very gentle, very considerate and caring. I had a small emotional breakdown one night because of my stupid IV and my nurse sat with me, delaying her own meal, until I could calm down. Gayle, the lactation consultant, was amazing (only drawback is, she is the only one and does not work every day - but she is fantastic!!). My son had to go to the special care nursery (it's not officially a NICU yet) because of my complications and the nurses down there were amazing as well - explained everything to us in detail, let us hold our son while he received his antibiotics, were very gentle and very attentive. The food is AMAZING and you order room service instead of filling out a menu the night before. I recommend the flourless chocolate cake and the strawberry-banana smoothie. The turkey sandwich is also delicious. Actually, I honestly liked every meal I had there!!
If anyone has any specific questions about Jan, Jen, Lynn or Trish, or the hospital, please feel free to contact me! I have had wonderful experiences with all four midwives:
Trish - started out as my primary midwife. Very gentle, thorough, compassionate. Called me after my son was born just to check in with me.
Jan - amazing. I do not think she has homebirth experience- but she was a nurse at the ABC at Providence for about 20 years before getting her CNM, and then she joined Henry Ford and worked downtown for about 8 years until switching to West Bloomfield. Experienced, attentive, thorough, will work with you, very hands-on during my delivery (in a way I think an OB wouldn't be, I mean). She was honest with me throughout, trusted me and my body and I honestly think I would have ended up with a c-section if I had an OB instead of Jan. I cannot speak highly enough of her.
Jen - also a massage therapist, I was having TMJ issues during my pregnancy, and when I called Jan to discuss, Jen happened to be standing there and suggested I get a cranio-sacral massage. I had a cranio-sacral chiropractic adjustment that day and didn't have TMJ issues the rest of my pregnancy. Jen saved my sanity that day - and in my opinion, possibly my life or baby's life because I hadn't been able to eat anything in three days before that adjustment!
Lynn - my second night in the hospital was the first night I was able to nurse. My doula and I couldn't get my son to latch on my right side - Lynn came in to check on me and she got him to latch right on! She stayed in our room with us for about an hour, discussing baby-care, our post-hospital plans, etc. I would say in my experience she is the most, um, blunt and direct of the four midwives, which I could see being an issue for some more, um, sensitive moms - but I was very grateful for her help and she did give my husband and I some things to think about during our talk.
Honestly I cannot speak highly enough of the midwives or Henry Ford West Bloomfield. I definitely plan to continue seeing the midwives for my annuals and plan to deliver with them at HFWB again if I am lucky enough to get pregnant a second time when we start trying in a year or so.