40 weeks of prenatal care

A Fort Bragg patient’s review highlights seamless, convenient prenatal appointments.

When Francesca Ashworth found out she was pregnant with her second child, she knew she wanted to deliver at the Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Family Birth Center, which has a highly trained staff specializing in delivery, postpartum and neonatal care. For her prenatal care, however, the Fort Bragg resident chose to see a provider just minutes from her home: Carla Stange, a certified nurse midwife and family nurse practitioner at Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Medical Office in Fort Bragg.

“Carla is very warm and motherly,” Ashworth says. “I felt comfortable talking about my concerns with her, and she always made me feel like my questions were valid.” When she experienced contractions early in her pregnancy, Ashworth called Stange, who met her at the clinic on her day off to evaluate her and ensure she wasn’t showing signs of premature labor. “It’s reassuring knowing she’s right here in Fort Bragg when I have concerns,” she says.

A smooth transition into the third trimester

During her third trimester, which begins at 28 weeks, Ashworth started going to Ukiah to see John Sanchez, MD, the OB-GYN who eventually delivered her son. “The transition from Carla to Dr. Sanchez was easy,” Ashworth says. “They communicated with each other so nothing got lost in the mix.”

And in the final month of her pregnancy, when she had weekly prenatal visits, her care team worked out a solution that made travel convenient for her. “Once my appointments were on a weekly basis, we switched off. I would see Carla one week and Dr. Sanchez the next,” Ashworth says. She was also able to do routine ultrasounds and bloodwork in Fort Bragg, keeping her trips to Ukiah to a minimum.

Compassionate delivery

Ashworth delivered her son Tayen at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley in early May. The hospital’s Family Birth Center offers mothers comfortable birthing suites where they labor, deliver and recover without the hassle of switching rooms. “All of the nurses were great, and Dr. Sanchez was calm and reassuring,” she recalls. “I had to have a cesarean section, and he held my hand through part of the operation.”

As Ashworth and baby Tayen recover from birth, both are seeing Stange again. “I see Carla for postpartum care, and she’s providing pediatric care for Tayen, too,” Ashworth says. “It’s great taking him to someone I already know and trust. I wouldn’t want to go to anyone else.”

Prenatal experts in your community

If you live in Mendocino County, you have access to providers who can guide you through every step of your pregnancy with compassionate care.

Carla Stange, CNM, FNP

Fort Bragg

Amber Gilmore, MD

Ukiah

Scott Loeliger, MD

Ukiah

Sara Martin, MD

Ukiah

Jodi Parungao, MD

Ukiah

John Sanchez, MD

Ukiah

Deliver your baby in comfort

The Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Family Birth Center partners with maternity care providers from Care for Her, Mendocino Coast Clinics, Adventist Health and Seema Nayak, MD, to deliver care to women throughout the county. Visit AdventistHealthUkiahValley.org/FamilyBirthCenter to learn more.