Kirkland Midwife Delivers 1,000th Baby

KIRKLAND, WA — A Kirkland midwife this spring celebrated the delivery of her 1,000th baby after nearly 14 years of serving the Eastside. Shana Johnson began her career with EvergreenHealth as a student in 2008. Since 2012, she has worked with Evergreen's Midwifery Care unit as a certified nurse midwife and advanced registered nurse practitioner.

EvergreenHealth celebrated Johnson's latest milestone in a news release this week, marking her 1,000th delivery — a baby boy born in late March. Johnson said she was working on-call on the day of the birth and had not met the family before helping them through the labor process. Though she knew the birth would be a personal milestone, Johnson said she didn't mention it until later.

"I try to give people the time and space for this to be their moment," Johnson said. "This is such an important and special time in their life that can impact them in so many ways."

Even having delivered hundreds of Eastside babies, Johnson said she keeps track of every one, writing down details from each birth, including things like what music the parents chose and memorable comments from families.

She's also looking forward to seeing how close she can get to the next 1,000.

"I'm not getting any younger," Johnson said. "So we'll see how many more babies I get to catch before sleep deprivation gets the best of me."