ATLANTA — Susan Griggs is a pioneer in midwifery for Cherokee County. Griggs is a Certified nurse midwife who's delivered over 1,000 babies and was the first midwife to deliver babies at Northside Hospital Cherokee.
After 28 years on the job, she is retiring.
Griggs became a part of the Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists family when Dr. Michael Litrel offered her a position. Dr. Litrel wanted to expand the role of a nurse-midwife in his practice.
According to Griggs, women's health nurse practitioners were already in place at Cherokee Women’s Health but were unable to attend births.
As a pioneer in Cherokee County, Griggs helped established the midwifery program at Cherokee Women’s Health and Northside Hospital Cherokee, helping save the lives of many babies.
“It has been a privilege to deliver over 1,000 babies at Northside Hospital Cherokee and I would like to thank my patients for letting me take care of them. I have enjoyed the opportunity to provide OB/GYN services for so many women in the community,” Griggs said in a Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists press release.
Griggs also assisted in the start of the education process for midwifery before offering her services to the Cherokee County Health Department, where she also provided care to women in the department’s first-ever obstetrics program.
According to the Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists release, soon after the new OB services were introduced, they began to see infant mortality rates decrease dramatically in Cherokee County.
The success of the new OB services prompted several counties in Georgia to begin integrating the same model into their health departments.
“We have seen a lot of positive changes over the years, not only in our community, but in other Georgia communities as well,” Dr. Litrel said. “I’m so thankful for Susan and everyone at the Health Department and Northside Hospital for allowing us to help the mothers and babies of Cherokee County. It’s awesome to be a part of it.”
Griggs last day at Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists was on May 5, 2022.
