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After more than 40 years of owning the first midwifery practice in Southeast Seattle, founders and co-owners Marge Mansfield and Suzy Myers have sold their building to new local owners. Several years ago, they passed the practice on to a fabulous local midwife, Heather Chorley, who continues to provide the absolute best care to the community. The current owners are happy to have Heather and Seattle Home Maternity Service as tenants, hopefully for many years to come.
Marge and Suzy are a dynamic duo who pioneered the field of midwifery in this area. They have, over the past 40-plus years, played a variety of other key roles in the development of midwifery locally and nationally.
They began their training together in 1975 as part of a women’s community health center in Seattle. With physician supervision, their group attended more than 250 births over the following three years. Recognizing the need for formal education and licensure, they co-founded Seattle Midwifery School (SH MS) in 1978, and both served at times as active faculty, staff, and board members over the following 35-plus years. In 1980, Marge and Suzy were among the first “direct entry” midwives (meaning not already holding nursing degrees) educated in the United States to obtain Washington State midwifery licenses.
In 1983 they remodeled their Columbia City site to include a licensed birth center in the very private lower level to offer midwifery services to women on Medicaid. Until the early 2000’s, state Medicaid did not reimburse for home delivery!
I have known Marge and Suzy for more than 25 years and was so happy to assist them in selling their ‘baby’ to good friends who live in the neighborhood; it was truly a win-win for everyone.
Selling a property that hasn’t been listed can be tricky, as value must be established and both parties have to be satisfied. When I do a market analysis on a property I am selling, I can never really say exactly how much it will sell for as it is up to market demand, and lately properties have been selling for way more than the listed price.
Also, the property was complicated as it was zoned commercial/residential, so there were several ways to access it; as an existing commercial space, land value for town houses, live/workspaces, or purely more commercial space. The existing building was just one-story with a basement on a small narrow lot, so development was somewhat limited, although building another two to three stories was certainly feasible. I approached my assessment in a few different ways as did the realtor who was helping the buyers. Our final number differed so I suggested we get a commercial appraisal which Marge and Suzy did, and we were able to negotiate on a price that seemed fair to all parties.
I’m glad the buyers had their own representation, as often when folks try to go it alone, it can get messy and adversarial. It is so much better to have an agent representing you, so they can be the buffer when emotions get high! Luckily, this was a very amicable situation but often that is not the case.
I am so happy for all parties and especially Marge and Suzy who no longer have the responsibility as landladies for an old building. During our numerous meetings at the Both Ways Café, pre-COVID-19, I was always amazed by the number of folks who would come up to them and say, ‘you delivered my baby 20 years ago’. It is so cool to be around such great women who have delivered so many babies in this community.
