Natural childbirh friendly doctor in the St Louis area

[Cativari]

I'm new to the area and just found out last week that I'm expecting baby number 4.  I have no idea who in the area delivers or  low intervention. I'd love a family doctor if there are any that deliver but a natural childbirth friendly OB would be fine. Also could you tell me about the hospitals in the area?

[MsBlack]

Dr Proffitt is a family doc who provides birth care.  She has a great reputation for supporting natural birth, and works out of St John's hospital.  There are other OBs who seem somewhat supportive of natural birth--various hospitals.  If it makes a difference distance wise, you might mention your general area so we can let you know who practices where.  St John's is near the intersection of N 270 and I 64/40, I believe.

[Cativari]

Thanks. I'm near Troy but I don't mind traveling a ways out for dr visits and delivery.

[MsBlack]

Troy IL, or Troy MO?  Seems there are a lot of towns with the same name on both sides of the river...and many seem to be in the Greater St L area. 

[Cativari]

Missouri

[starbuckmom]

My OB Jennifer McDonald is great!!  She is out of St Lukes.  I have to have c/sections but my chiropractor who introduced me to our OB had her dd naturally last April. 

[lauramarie79]

I had my first baby unmedicated under Dr. Jeffery Mormol (OB) and am planning the same with my second.  He is known for being very supportive of natural childbirth and I have been very pleased with his decisions and his bedside manner.  He delivers at MoBap and St Lukes.  I like St Lukes but have heard good things about MoBap, too.

He and one of his nurse practitioners sees patients at Progress West in O'Fallon for routine check-ups.  I'm in Foristell, so that's a big help.

[AfricanQueen99]

I used Michael "Ted" Mimlitz for both kids.  Both completely intervention-free at Missouri Baptist.  Mimlitz will also deliver at St. John's and St. Lukes, but when I told him that I wasn't interested in any interventions he suggested MoBap.  It worked out great for me.

[KTProvi]

 I love love love Dr Gary Wasserman.  He delivers out of St Johns, I think, and/or MoBap (I delivered at MoBap, but his practice has changed).  He is 100% supportive of natural birth, and the sweettest kindest person you could ever meet.  I had a wonderful natural birth with him 4 yrs ago, and I am still grateful.

[chels_c2000]

I second Dr. Wasserman. He is wonderful. I can't say enough good things about him. He is very supportive of natural childbirth. I had a baby last May and was planning on delivering at MOBap with him. (I ended up having my baby on the way to the hospital in the van. I live in IL. It is a long story but he was great even through all of that.) I did deliver my first with him at MoBap 2 years ago.

[bbbbaby]

I haven't used her, but I have met and talked with Dr. Lora Lindsey at Barnes St. Peters http://www.exceptional-healthcare.com/index.html  She is very natural-minded, VBAC-friendly, and encouraging of doulas.  She even paid for her nurses to receive doula training.  She also aligns herself with others that have the same philosophy.  I will say she is not on call through the week though so you may not get her when you need her but her partner would be a good substitute.  Good luck.

[brighteyed]

I used Dr. Mormol for my second child (VBAC!) and he was very supportive of VBAC, natural birth, and very low intervention.  He let me labor for three days, going home from the hospital whenever I wanted if I didn't like a nurse or felt I wasn't progressing as well in hospital, he let me eat and drink throughout labor, have a heplock only, I walked around outside the hospital, everything went great!  I am currently pregnant with number three and will be using him again.  As for the Doctors others have mentioned, I don't know Dr. Wasserman but Dr. Lindsey IS very open to natural birthing and actually attended my friend's homebirth along with her midwife.  So, I would say she sounds like a great option too.

BTW I live in Troy, MO and drove to Dr. Mormol's office in O Fallon, MO. I delivered at MoBap.  It wasn't too bad of a drive.

[rachelliba]

I delivered my first child in NYC with midwives. After moving to St. Louis I too was looking for someone that would be natural childbirth friendly. I thought for a brief moment about using a midwife and doing a home birth, but due to potential complication I opted for a hospital birth. I ended up going with Gary Wasserman and couldn't be happier. He is a wonderful doctor and extremely supportive emotionally. He gives quality care and I am so grateful that I found him. In fact, I was just thinking of giving a donation in his name (to thank him for the quality care he gives) when I stumbled across this thread. Having searched and searched on the internet, I thought I'd add my two cents. I delivered in 10/2011.

He will deliver at Mercy, MoBap and Barnes. I delivered at MoBap and found that most of the nurses were extremely supportive of natural childbirth. 

[LittleBagOfBones]

I saw Dr. Wasserman during my pregnancy due to recommendations on this and other threads.  I had an experience very different than the other posters here have described.  If anyone is considering him and would like a different perspective, please PM me.

[elsie234]

Anyone else? I just moved to St. Louis. I live in University City. I'm not pregnant, but I am looking for an OB/GYN now that I've moved and don't really want to change if I get pregnant. I used a hospital based midwife practice where I used to live and I loved it. I was sad to learn that they don't have anything like that here.

[7Lavendar]

Hi Elsie, where are you coming from? There are very few OB's I recommend. Dr. Shannon Forsetter, Dr. Michow Proffit, Dr. Turner, Dr. Mormol, Dr. Lindsay.

Good luck!