Midwifery heads up the hill

Chico Nurse Midwifery and Paradise Midwifery Services are now part of Feather River Hospital in Paradise—home of the popular Birth Day Place.

“We are proud to welcome four nurse-midwives to the … staff at Feather River Hospital,” said a recent press release.

One of those nurse-midwives, Lisa Catterall (pictured), was featured in CN&R story last year (see “Chico’s first nurse-midwife jumps ship,” Feb. 26, 2009) when she ended her long association with Enloe Medical Center after it declined her proposal that it take on her then-Chico-based nurse-midwifery service as part of Enloe’s staff.

In late April 2009, Catterall stopped delivering babies at Enloe when she became part of Paradise Midwifery Services and began delivering babies at Feather River.

“Bringing [the four nurse-midwives] in as a contractual arrangement … is a tremendous opportunity for us to ensure that there are choices for people about their delivery,” said Maureen Wisener, Feather River Hospital’s director of marketing and communications. “We’re definitely pleased to be able to provide the only hospital-based midwifery services in Butte County.”