New physician brings midwifery experience to Creston

Dr. Mojisola Ukabi was born and raised in Nigeria, but is now a medical doctor practicing family medicine with obstetrics at New Life Family Medicine, 1610 W. Townline St., Suite 100. Her first day was July 15.

While in Nigeria, Ukabi, 43, was a nurse midwife, meaning she was a registered nurse and registered midwife. As a midwife, the person delivers babies, and manages women who have a normal pregnancy without any complications.

"I decided to go into nursing because my mother wanted me to go into the medical field," said Ukabi. "For me, as a person, I really wanted to be a lawyer. But, I did have a passion for medicine."

Ukabi added, in Nigeria, there aren't a lot of opportunities, so you have to do what you can.

"At that point, I decided if I can't go into medicine, I might as well go into something that is next to it," she said. "Since I had a passion for taking care of people, I went into nursing."

Ukabi studied nursing at the School of Nursing Ondo State in Nigeria. After nursing school, Ukabi attended School of Midwifery Queen Elizabeth Hospital to become a registered midwife.

"I decided to go into midwifery because there were a lot of women dying as a result of child birth," she said. "They don't have access to hospitals or healthcare, and they delivered their babies at home. They also used unsanitary things to cut the umbilical cord."

United States

Ukabi came to the United States in 1997, and lived in Baltimore, Md., for eight years. After coming to the United States, Ukabi attended the University of Health Sciences in Antigua, in the West Indies.

After finishing her medical education in 2008, Ukabi had to do clinical rotations in Georgia.

"I lived in Atlanta, and was able to do my residency in Columbus in 2009," she said. "Medical school doesn't just stop with you graduating from medical school. You have to specialize, so family medicine is a real specialization in medicine and you have to do a residency."

After her residency, Ukabi was looking for a job, and contacted a recruiter. She told the recruiter she would like to be in a place where she could practice family medicine including obstetrics. The recruiter told her about Creston.

"I had never heard of Creston before, but I had heard of Iowa," she said. "Mainly because it is usually the first state to vote in primaries and because of Shawn Johnson. When I came for the interview, I just loved the people. They were so friendly toward me, people that I had never met in my life, and they were just open and very nice."

Ukabi has four children, one in elementary school, two in middle school and one out of school serving in the United States Navy. Ukabi said she would like to get involved with the community, especially with the school.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is home," she said. "I wanted a place where I can establish that foundation, and say this is home for me, and I've found that. Whatever I can contribute to the community, I will do it."