Montana sister travels miles to share birthing experience

WHITEFISH,Mont. — A few days ago, two sisters gave birth a couple hours apart. That might not sound too unusual, but the fact one drove 750 miles to deliver at North Valley Hospital is out of the ordinary.

Lacie Farmer had her baby around 8 on Monday morning. Six hours later nurses wheeled her into her sister, Echo Venn’s room, to watch her give birth.

“I’ve never missed a delivery before, “ Lacey Farmer said.

Lacie worried Echo’s move to Miles City would change that.

Yet, Venn wouldn’t let another doctor deliver her baby.

“So they were able to make that possible and now the girls are sharing a birthday and a middle name,” Lacie Farmer said.

All thanks to Dr. Mirna Bowden at the Alpine Women’s Center neither women would go anywhere else.

“It was amazing, so just having babies here at North Valley just having the providers the doctors that we have, you feel very comfortable and having the nursing staff, their just exceptional,” Lacie Farmer said

It has not been an easy road for Venn. She’s driven to North Valley multiple times throughout her pregnancy.

“Our philosophy and our very quaint rooms make people feel like their delivering in their home,” Felicity Williams, the Birch Center director, said.

“It’s you knowa huge undertaking on her family, but it’s really important to have the care and the provider here ,” Lacie Farmer said.

It’s the parents’ fourth child and they’re not sure yet if they’ll be adding any more to the family.

But if they do, they’ll find most of the nurses at North Valley already know who they are.