Provider Spotlight: Kristina Carmain
At Covington Women’s Health Specialists, we believe in providing compassionate care to every patient who walks through our doors. We are thrilled to shine the spotlight on Kristina Carmain, a midwife for our practice. Get to know Kristina in the Q & A below to learn about her background, expertise, and the personal touches she brings to our practice.
What is your role at Covington Women’s Health Specialists?
I’m a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner here at Covington Women’s Health Specialists.
How did you get connected with Covington Women’s Health Specialists and how long have you worked with the practice?
Since 2015, I’ve been practicing as a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP). I began my career at New Beginnings Comprehensive Women’s Healthcare, dedicating six solid years to the field. Excitingly, I joined the fantastic team at Covington Women’s Health Specialists in June 2022. The move was a thrill for me since it’s a larger practice, allowing me to care for even more amazing patients!
Why did you choose to work in the field of obstetric/gynecologic medicine?
I just love being in women’s health because it’s not just about treating symptoms, it’s about building connections. I get to be there for my patients from their teen years to postmenopause, guiding them through all the ups and downs. This long-term bond lets me give the best, evidence-based care at every stage of a woman’s life!
What are the key challenges of this field of medicine?
Our challenges start with healthcare literacy and education. Patients rely on “Dr. Google” and “Nurse Tik Tok” for their education and there seems to be increased mistrust in healthcare practitioners. I’m working to change that by providing the best evidence-based practice to all our patients. Making my patients feel heard, and addressing their concerns in a timely manner is incredibly important to me.
What are unique and/or special skills you have because of your work at Covington Women’s Health Specialists?
Throughout my experiences as a Midwife, I gained valuable skills and expertise in performing bedside ultrasounds for pregnancy confirmations and IUD placements. I believe these are crucial skills for a Certified Midwife and Nurse Practitioner.
What’s the most rewarding part about work at Covington Women’s Health Specialists?
I love our patients. It’s so rewarding to be able to care for our patients throughout their lives, meeting them as adolescents and supporting them through their adult years. We celebrate their pregnancies together, we get to deliver their babies, and we continue caring for them well beyond their pregnancy journey.
What’s one thing that has surprised you about being at Covington Women’s Health Specialists?
I’ve always been impressed by how hard all our providers work to provide evidence-based practice care. We work together to achieve the best outcomes for our patients so we can accomplish our overarching goals: healthy women and healthy babies.
Is there a specific patient or work experience that left a lasting impact on you? If so, explain how and why.
Absolutely. I had a patient that went into labor as a preterm rupture and ended up having cord prolapse. Due to the relationship I built with that patient during that time, I still get updates on how she and her baby are doing, even two years later. Those updates really brighten my day.
How do you perceive the existing challenges in the current patient information culture, and what strategies do you envision employing to effectively address these challenges?
I plan on trying to get my doctorate of nursing practice in the future as I want to be able to provide evidence-based practice care and hopefully develop educational tools to the community, patients, and nursing/hospital staff about preeclampsia and postpartum depression and anxiety. In my experience we are seeing more patients with preeclampsia and postpartum depression and anxiety. Our population overall is sicker and we need better ways to reach our patient population to provide much needed education.
Tell us about yourself. Family? Hobbies? What do you enjoy doing outside the office?
I am an aunt to three nieces and two nephews, with a new one on the way. Despite living away from me, I try to stay as involved as I can.
My sisters and I try to take annual Disney trips with the kids so we can all be together, and while those are some of my favorite trips, I just love to travel in general. My goal over the next several years is to go to Europe. I’m a lover of Italian renaissance art and architecture as well as Roman, Greek, and Egyptian classical art and history.
In my free time, I also like to read and cook.
