Delivering the baby of a baby she delivered marks special milestone for Avera doctor

This paid piece is sponsored by Avera Health.

Driving home in below-zero temperatures in the wee hours of the morning Jan. 21, Dr. Andrea Miller shed a few happy tears of gratitude. She had just delivered a healthy baby – always a special event. Yet this one was especially so.

This baby boy was born to one of her patients, Kay Peterson, one of the first babies Miller delivered as a family medicine resident in Sioux Falls.

“That kind of experience is what drew me to family practice in the first place. I remember the young couple, Kay’s mom and dad, putting their trust in me as a new doctor 20 years ago. To watch that family grow and now start a new family is just really special to me,” Miller said.

Kay Peterson, now a new mom herself, as a baby 

When training to be a family practitioner, Miller chose to include obstetrics and has delivered babies as part of her Avera Medical Group practice over the past two decades.

Next-generation family medicine/OB physician

She followed in her dad’s footsteps.

“My dad was a family doctor who also did OB, and I enjoyed that part of my residency. It’s that whole experience of being able to take care of moms throughout their pregnancy and then taking care of the babies once they’re born. It’s being part of the whole family’s experience throughout their life,” Miller said.

“It’s neat to be part of the big moments in my patients’ lives.”

Miller and other family practice/OB doctors at Avera Medical Group McGreevy clinics deliver their own patients’ babies whenever possible.

“When our patient is in labor, if we’re in town, whether it’s day, night, weekend or holiday, we try very hard to be there,” she said.

Peterson knew that Miller was the OB provider for her mom, Ciji Brandenburg. “She was our doctor for my whole family, so I wanted Dr. Miller to be my OB doctor.”

From prenatal care to childbirth

Peterson saw Miller for prenatal care throughout her pregnancy. When she was admitted to the Women’s Center at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center to have labor induced, Miller stopped in at the hospital and kept in contact through messages with the labor and delivery care team all day.

“She went home to have supper, and I think maybe she was able to get a little sleep,” Peterson said. “When I was at 10 centimeters, she came in, and everything went pretty effortlessly from there. Dr. Miller and the nurse were amazing at coaching me and super-encouraging.” The 7-pound, 10-ounce bundle of joy was born about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 21 – very close to the date 21 years ago when Peterson was delivered by Miller on Feb. 24, 2004.

Peterson and her husband, Elijah, named their son Sawyer Wayne, selecting his middle name in honor of Elijah’s grandpa.

While Miller is amazed to be at the point of delivering the baby of a baby she delivered, it’s not going to be a one-time occurrence.

“Strangely enough, I have a second patient who I delivered the first year of my residency who is now pregnant, and I’m taking care of her. So I will have two this year.”

Read more stories at Avera.org/Balance.