Cathy Williamson, in her work as a certified nurse midwife, notes that it’s never completely possible for a woman who’s going to give birth to know just what she’ll need.

So one key is to be prepared — with options.

“I would say, I gave them lots of tools, and they had them in a bag, and they got to pull out whatever tools they needed, and what they didn’t they left them in the bag,” she said.

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Williamson has worked for Rush Health Systems for 30 years, 22 of which she’s served as a certified nurse midwife — and right now she works, for Rush, primarily at the Newton Family Medical Clinic and the North Hills Family Medical Clinic.

In addition to her certification as a nurse midwife, she has a bachelor’s of science and master’s degrees in nursing.

Williamson is also a founding member of The Free Clinic of Meridian, at 4707 Poplar Springs Drive, and she’s the vice-president of the Free Clinic’s board of directors.

She volunteers her services at the Free Clinic in an administrative capacity and also as a certified nurse midwife.

“Most of the patients that we see here are extremely appreciative to the services that we offer,” she said, though she noted that her patients elsewhere are appreciative as well.

As a certified nurse midwife, Williamson’s services are wide-ranging, going well beyond working with pregnant women in her care for women’s health. 

“We take care of pregnant women, deliver babies, we do GYN care, annual exams for women, contraception, and we also can do primary care (for women),” she said, in describing the roles of nurse midwives.

Williamson also referred to the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ website, which describes the range of services performed by nurse midwives.

“Midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) encompasses a full range of primary health care services for women from adolescence beyond menopause,” according to the site, which proceeds to outline the duties in detail.

At the Free Clinic, she said, she does not work with women who are pregnant since if they meet the income guidelines to qualify for the clinic, they also qualify for Medicaid and receive services from other providers. She does, however, perform other midwife duties related to women’s health.

The Free Clinic of Meridian provides primary health services and referrals for patients, from 19 to 64 years old, who do not have insurance and whose household income is no greater than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The clinic, which opened in 2014, is funded by grants and donations.

Williamson’s work places her in close touch with families, and sometimes that contact reaches several generations.

In her employment at Rush Health Systems, she said, “I have several families where I take care of three generations.”

On some occasions, Williamson has delivered babies for women whom she delivered as babies, years ago.

“There’s a lot of loyalty,” she said. “We get a lot of our patients through referral from friends and family.”

Williamson said, too, that much of her work involves educating patients.

“We do a lot of education,” she said, “about their diet, about exercise, about taking care of themselves, about what to avoid, about danger signs to look out for.”

For herself, knowledge and patience play strong roles, she said.

“Your patients can tell you a lot,” she said. “I always tell women to listen to your body, trust your body. Listen to your body, because it’s likely to tell you if there’s a problem.”

At the Free Clinic, she said, women often come in with needs that have gone unmet for some time.

“Many of them have not had mammograms or pap smears,” she said, noting that she and others at the clinic will work to refer them to other providers to do such tests — and other advanced procedures — at “no cost or minimal cost.”

Williamson stressed that the Free Clinic of Meridian continues to seek volunteers, ranging from people who can work the front desk to volunteers with medical expertise.

“We need nurses to work with the providers and phlebotomists to draw blood,” she said.

People seeking more information may call 601-286-5551.

On the Net:

www.midwife.org/

http://freeclinicofmeridian.com/