While I appreciate the thorough coverage and interviews with many of the involved parties in the body of your article, “Outraged families to rally, urge Evergreen Hospital to restore cuts to midwifery services” the headline is misleading.

Evergreen Hospital cannot “restore” a program it did not own in the first place.Like many of our patients, our nurses, physicians and the hospital administration are disappointed in the change in the midwifery program.

The midwives, the physicians of the Center for Women’s Health, as well as many others in the hospital and the medical community wanted a seamless transition from one practice to another, but that was not possible.

We are all very supportive of midwifery and are now working hard for a future that includes another strong midwifery presence.

I am also very aware that some patients who would like to choose midwifery have medical conditions that preclude midwifery prenatal care. However, that does not exclude the possibility of natural childbirth or midwifery-style support.

The silver lining in this challenge is that it presents the opportunity to freshly consider how all of us together can safely provide choices that meet the needs of both low risk and high risk women coming to Evergreen for maternity services.

Susan Rutherford, Medical Director, Women’s and Children’s Services at Evergreen Hospital