West End Midwifery Services

West End Midwifery Services West End Midwifery Services is a collaborative midwife and physician practice in Richmond, Virginia

Her birthday seems like the perfect day to introduce the newest member of the West End Midwifery Services team. Happy b...
04/15/2023

Her birthday seems like the perfect day to introduce the newest member of the West End Midwifery Services team. Happy birthday and welcome Leneka!

Leneka was born and raised in upstate South Carolina, found the love of her life at the US Olympics in Atlanta and moved to Richmond 25 years ago to start a family. After getting settled and becoming a mother to four children, She set out to pursue her nursing career through the scenic route. She earned her LPN diploma in 2005 and worked many years in outpatient OB and postpartum. Chasing after her dream of doing more in the birth world, she went back to school and earned her Associates of Science Degree in Nursing in 2018. She went straight to work in Labor and Delivery where her dream to be a midwife was confirmed. While working full-time nights in a busy high risk unit for several years and raising a family, She earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing Degree specializing in Nurse Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University in 2022.
She is passionate about all things related to the care of those with a uterus. She believes it is both a privilege and an honor to not only provide care across the lifespan, but to be apart of the beautiful journey of pregnancy. Holding space with and for each and every family, along with the sacred moment of receiving a new baby into her hands, is not one that she takes lightly.

When she is not busy being a birth nerd, Leneka enjoy’s spending time with her family, traveling to the Caribbean, partaking in a hot yoga class or roller skating.

Leneka looks forward to being apart of your journey through pregnancy, as well as helping you navigate your gynecological healthcare needs.

Happy 1 year (and a little more) work anniversary to Ashlie Buell. We’ve been so busy delivering babies that we never a...
03/22/2023

Happy 1 year (and a little more) work anniversary to Ashlie Buell. We’ve been so busy delivering babies that we never announced an incredible addition to our team.

Ashlie has a Master’s degree in Women’s Health from Suffolk University in Boston, where she worked with the Massachusetts Coalition for Midwifery on improving access to midwifery services across the state. She also trained in Boston as a doula and supported single parents, low-income families, and teens in home and hospital births. Ashlie received her second Master’s degree from the University of California in San Francisco as a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. She worked as a CNM providing contraception, gynecology, individual and group prenatal care, as well attending births at Chippenham Hospital for several years before joining the midwife hospitalist group at Henrico Doctors Hospital. Ashlie enjoyed expanding access to CNM care as a hospitalist midwife, but she missed getting to know families during prenatal care. She joined West End Midwifery in March 2022, and has been covering labor & delivery most nights and providing prenatal care once a week in the office.

Ashlie is passionate about supporting people through unmedicated labors, working to reduce the incidence of primary cesarean sections, and supporting Vaginal Births after Cesarean (VBAC). She feels that everyone deserves the option to have labor and birth experiences with care providers who will avoid unnecessary interventions while respecting personal preferences and individual needs. Ashlie spends her free time with her husband and two daughters (both born with West End Midwifery!) and loves to bake, read, and practice yoga.

11/11/2022

💫posted w/ permission💫
Well, Kenzo came two weeks early! I thought that my water broke at 2am, but no contractions, so we just waited until our scheduled 38 week appointment at 9:30am. They said that my water hadn’t broken, but I was already 3cm dilated! We were told to be ready, as the baby could come anytime, or stay put for another week. We went to Costco around 11am, to make sure we had extra food on-hand, and gas, but as we walked in…. My water broke! (for REAL, this time!) Matt quickly grabbed our supplies, and we went home. Mila had no idea what was going on, but couldn’t stop laughing, because she thought mommy was peeing in the laundry room floor!🤣 We called Matt’s dad to ask him to drive up, asap (he lives 3 hours away from our house) My contractions started at 12:30pm as I put Mila down to nap (and Matt started exercising…). My contractions started 7 minutes apart, and quickly moved to 5 minutes apart, by 2pm. I waited it out and tried to rest, in bed with Mila while she slept, in-between contractions since I only had 2 hours sleep the night before (again…). When my contractions became 2-3 minutes apart at 2:30pm, we decided to rush to the hospital. (Following my doula’s instructions.)

*I was told the rest of the story later by

We walked in the hospital doors at 3:00pm, Matt’s dad arrived at 3:48, he took Mila to him, in the lobby, at like 3:51…when Matt picked up the intercom to get back into the delivery dept. the nurse says: “you had better hurry, quick!!” When he opened the door all the nurses yelled, “RUN, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!” Matt opened the door to our room, and I was in the bathroom floor, on my knees with my hands on the bathtub, and the baby’s head was out!

Kenzo Cassius Cook was born at 3:59pm. 🎊

It was totally unanticipated, and we were completely unprepared. The wildest 3 hours & 30 minutes we’ve ever experienced!

I was blessed to have another natural birth, with no medicine, and no interventions. I cannot thank everyone enough for the massive support we were given. From my midwife, Meghann, and our doula, Sara, for their flawless, amazing work. Our story would have been totally different without them.

The moment you realize you did what you thought you couldn’t✨. You can do hard things.
07/23/2021

The moment you realize you did what you thought you couldn’t✨. You can do hard things.

In the absence of high risk conditions of mom and/or baby, spontaneous labor is ideal because it is produced by signals ...
07/18/2021

In the absence of high risk conditions of mom and/or baby, spontaneous labor is ideal because it is produced by signals that say the baby is ready to be born. Therefore, by doing the hard work of waiting for labor, we get great outcomes; this simple element of patience can be the key to the low intervention birth that people are looking for.

Double the snuggle 💕.
07/02/2021

Double the snuggle 💕.

That slimy baby against your body. In an instant, it was all worth it 💜.
06/30/2021

That slimy baby against your body. In an instant, it was all worth it 💜.

The first of a million sweet hugs✨💕.
06/19/2021

The first of a million sweet hugs✨💕.

06/03/2021

We are now on Instagram. Follow us at: West End Midwifery Services ✨

That moment when your baby girl is finally in your arms 💜.
05/26/2021

That moment when your baby girl is finally in your arms 💜.

“That beautiful smile says it all”✨💜
05/23/2021

“That beautiful smile says it all”✨💜

Address

118 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard
Richmond, VA
23220

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+18045233712

Website

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