Our son Miller John Shea was born two weeks ago on October 19th, at 2:52AM.

We had a successful natural childbirth, and every aspect of our birth plan was respected by the caregivers at the Women's Center. In spite of the late/early hour, and despite her being off shift, Dr. Norrell was present for the birth, but that was no surprise. Her cheerful arrival, after 1am, was just one manifestation of the superb and personal discipline evident throughout the St. Luke's Womens Center. She joined our great midwife Emily and lovely nurse Erica and with our doula Katie they gave us exactly the birth experience we had hoped and planned for.After Miller was born, we were genuinely cared for by a group of nurses including the hospital pediatrician and staff in NICU.

The thorough and earnest nature of the staff was almost a surprise to both of us, but a very welcome one. We were able to shift very gracefully into our new lives as parents with a minimum of stress and nervousness, due in large part to the attentive care given us by the staff at St. Luke's.Long before our son arrived, and many times since, we have spoken to other parents throughout the city and country, and we understand and appreciate the special experience we had with the team at St. Luke's. It saddens us, when we speak to these people, that their birth experiences - possibly the single most important experience they will ever have - were not as joyful as ours. And it stuns us that anyone would have as their goal the removal of an environment that would offer that level of excellence.

It is obvious that the city of San Francisco needs the care offered at St. Luke's, simply from the perspective of a basic accounting of the people in question. This has been borne out by people more qualified than we are. However, what we are eminently qualified to do is advocate the quality of care and service that the group of people at St. Luke's provided, a quality that is not associated with the CPMC or the Sutter Health brand, and which, were we them, we would value far more than they appear to.It is painful to judge that the nature of modern American business is to take that which is good and make it tolerable, in order to squeeze out the last drops of profit.

It is our hope that this short-sightedness can be overcome in this instance, and that as a result, rather than being the aberration of the Sutter Health conglomeration, St. Luke's Women's Center can become the standard through which their product, and brand are rescued.

Our sincerest thanks to those at St. Luke's Womens Center, and to those who advocate on their behalf.

Karen and Pete Shea (and Miller!)