Best Cheerleader Ever

Heidi Loving came to Southdale ObGyn on her friends’ recommendations. “I’d heard really good things about the clinic in general … and about how caring the staff is,” she says.

Heidi had also heard good things about working with a midwife. So when midwife Jana Flesher joined the Southdale ObGyn staff, Heidi and her husband, Kyle, met with her right away. “We really liked her,” says Heidi. “She was calm and collected, and her laugh was so contagious! All good things!”

As her pregnancy progressed, Heidi especially appreciated that Midwife Flesher addressed all of her questions and concerns “in as much detail as we wanted. I literally would come to every appointment with a list of questions on my phone,” Heidi says with a laugh. “She was very patient, and I really liked that she was careful to answer all of our questions.”

As delivery time neared, Flesher discussed the birth plan with Heidi and Kyle, making sure she knew exactly what they wanted to do if the plan couldn’t be followed. “Jana really went into detail about everything that could happen, not just everything we hoped would happen,” says Heidi. “She was very clear, which was very important to us. As first-time parents, we didn’t know what we were getting into! But I felt very comfortable saying what I wanted to do at every step along the way.”

Once Heidi’s labor began, Flesher was available — every step along the way — from the first contraction at 3 a.m. Saturday morning to the delivery of a healthy boy more than 24 hours later. She saw Heidi through Pitocin, an epidural, and delivery of Oliver through the umbilical cord, which was wrapped loosely around his neck. “The entire time she put me at ease,” says Heidi. “At the end, I told her, ‘I couldn’t have done this without you.’ She was the best cheerleader ever.”