One way or another, Donna Farley’s life has been defined by children. There are the countless babies she has helped escort into the world in her capacity as a certified nurse midwife. Then, there are the children she has loved,
One way or another, Donna Farley’s life has been defined by children.
There are the countless babies she has helped escort into the world in her capacity as a certified nurse midwife. Then, there are the children she has loved, fostered, and then adopted.
Even the new office she now occupies with Dr. Rob Warnock at Dynasty Court, near Curves, was used by an adoption lawyer and, before that, was a planned-parenthood office.
Farley had been associated with Kauai Medical Clinic (KMC) for 16 years, working within two other certified nurse midwives.
A year ago, KMC leaders made the decision to release their three midwives from the clinic.
At the time, Farley asked herself, “What can I do?”
The answer came in the form of a partnership with Warnock, a obstetrician/gynecologist (ob/gyn).
“He said, ‘why don’t we just go in to it together,'” Farley recalled.
The result was the opening of Pacific Breeze, a gynecology partnership that opened in October.
Pacific Breeze, Gyn, offers gynecological services such as well-woman exams, family planning, some types of female surgery, mammogram referrals, and menopausal therapy.
Warnock and Farley said they are pleased their partnership gives women an additional, perhaps more personal, choice, when it comes to addressing their health needs. Pacific Breeze leaders are also able to grant appointments with less waiting time than other facilities, they said.
Farley said it’s not a financial partnership in the American Medical Association sense of the definition, because the AMA defines partnerships as being only among physicians.
Warnock and Farley do not deliver babies at Pacific Breeze. They combine to provide gynecological care only, thus sparing themselves the much higher overhead that surgery malpractice insurance would entail.
Farley is the only practicing nurse midwife remaining on Kaua‘i.
“Business is coming along. It’s not yet as busy as I thought it would be,” she said.
But Pacific Breeze leaders are benefiting from some referrals, she said.
“My biggest challenge right now is letting people know where I am. Many people thought I had retired or moved off the island.”
Farley is essentially trained in her nursing specialty to provide normal gynecological care, such as performing pap smears. She is trained to identify abnormalities as well. And, if she spots something out of the ordinary, Warnock steps in.
She praised Warnock as being the kind of doctor who does not believe “one size fits all” as a treatment methodology.
She has been a licensed midwife since 1981, and previously worked in California before moving to Hawai‘i and becoming licensed here in 1988.
Despite some of the mythology surrounding midwives and what they do, Farley said she has never been to a home birth.
She said one of the most satisfying parts of her career was working as a midwife on a Navajo reservation. She said the importance of midwifery comes into greater focus in rural areas that don’t have many ob/gyn’s, like Moloka‘i.
Warnock is originally from Georgia. He has hospital privileges with Wilcox Memorial Hospital and the Waimea Women’s Center, where he commutes weekly to provide services.
Previously with Kauai Medical Climic, he has provided services for the women of Big Island for the past year.
