Baptist Health expands women’s services with addition of Certified Nurse Midwives

FORT SMITH, Ark. — Baptist Health-Fort Smith recently welcomed two Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) to its medical staff. Certified nurse midwives have post-graduate training in obstetrics and gynecology and have passed the national board-certification exam administered by the American College of Nurse Midwives.

SaraBeth Askins, CNM, earned a Master of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies in Washington, D.C., this spring. Prior to that she completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Samford University Ida V. Moffitt School of Nursing in Birmingham, Ala. Askins has worked as a nurse since 2014, with much of that time spent caring for mothers and babies.

Madison Stave, CNM, graduated last winter from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. with a Master of Science in Nursing. The Batesville native attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2020. Stave’s nursing career began in 2020, where she practiced in a variety of settings, including the emergency room, urgent care, and labor/delivery.

Nurse midwives care for women during childbirth, including monitoring both mother and baby during labor, assisting with pain management and delivering the baby.

Askins and Stave offer numerous obstetrical and gynecological services for women at any stage of life in the hospital and at Baptist Health Women’s Clinic-Fort Smith, including:

• Wellness Visits/Pap Smears

• Gynecology

• Breast Exams

• Family Planning and Birth Control

• Pregnancy: Prenatal through Postpartum, including vaginal deliveries

• Lactation Support

• Peri-Menopausal and Menopausal Management

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit Baptist-Health.com or call 888-BAPTIST.