Dr. Alexa Williams 
Dr. Alexa, her husband, Shea, and their 4 children
By Danielle Dyann Abril
This whole calling to be an OBGYN that practices in accordance to the Catholic Faith has required a lot of patience, and a lot of trust on things and taking time to listen and reflect on is this where I am supposed to be right now and being so thankful to God every step of the way.
Dr. Alexa Williams
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Alexa Williams to hear about her journey to become an authentically Catholic OBGYN. From my conversation with her I can already tell that Dr. Williams is the epitome of compassionate patient care. She feels that her own journey to motherhood (including a 26-week delivery, twin pregnancy, and much more) has helped her to be able to put herself in her patient’s shoes when offering care. She says, “when you have the patient perspective it makes you see medicine in a different way.” She believes in providing care for women from teens to menopause and beyond and feels that by providing a continuity of care it allows the patient a greater participation in shared decision making. She also emphasizes that medicine is not a one-size fits all program and tailors her treatment to each individual patient.
Dr. Williams hails from Gregory, South Dakota where she was raised on a ranch by a loving Catholic family. Her interest in medicine was set aflame when she was in college and began shadowing physicians on a local Reservation. It was there that she witnessed her very first birth and gained a new awe and appreciation for the female body. In this experience, her desire to help women understand their reproductive cycle and bring new life into the world was ignited.
Dr. Williams attended the University of South Dakota and earned her undergraduate degree and a Master of Business Administration. As an undergraduate, Dr. Williams was a college track athlete and explains that the lessons she learned there helped her as she balances her many roles today. It was during her time in college that she met her future husband, Shea.
She continued her education with a move to Phoenix, Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she attended medical school. In her courses at medical school, Dr. Williams saw a lack in women’s healthcare where she says that in her unit on women’s health only 2 minutes were allotted to so-called Fertility Awareness Based Methods and there was a total lack of understanding of the female cycle. This led her to seek out other skilled physicians as mentors. It was at this time that she was blessed to have a number of good Catholics mentors, such as Dr. Clint Leonard. Dr. Williams shadowed Dr. Leonard in his practice, and he showed her how a Catholic OBGYN can live their Faith and provide excellent medical care. She says, “to see that it [NFP] works out in the real world was really inspiring.”
She also owes thanks to the Natural Family Planning Office for Archdiocese of Phoenix who provided her with many resources to learn NFP. While living in Phoenix she also had the opportunity meet with Archbishop Olmstead several times a year for talks and discussions. She fondly remembers that he always encouraged her to have hope as she pursued her goal of becoming a Catholic physician and mother.
Following medical school, Dr. Williams could have had the pick of her residency programs but ultimately chose to come to St. Louis to work with Mercy Health Systems because she wanted to be in the Midwest and practice in a Catholic program. She comments that, “you don’t have to go to Mayo clinic to be an excellent provider, even though that’s what the world tells you that you have to do. You can go to a smaller program and come out a more authentic physician and able to live out [your] Catholic Faith.” After applying to many places, it was at Mercy that Dr. Williams felt she could most authentically live out her Catholic Faith as a physician. She says, “Mercy really checked off all the boxes for us because it was a great general training program for OBGYN. [It] was going to be the best spot to be able to get excellent training and live out my Catholic Faith and learn how to incorporate my Faith into medical care.”
During her residency, at Mercy, Dr. Williams welcomed her four children and has made St. Louis her home. When trying to discern where to practice after residency she had a number of promising offers but ultimately decided to stay in St. Louis where she is excited to begin offering her services. In making all of these choices, Dr. Williams emphasizes, “God put us in the right place at so many different times.”
In addition, to being a wonderfully compassionate mother and physician, Dr. Williams has also done research into opioid use in the postpartum period. Her research has led to better education on prescribing practices and has resulted in a huge drop in prescriptions of opioids in the postpartum period at Mercy Hospital. She won a research award for her class for this project.
When asked how she possibly manages to balance family-life and a busy career, Dr. Williams concluded that it was her husband, Shea, the true MVP, who allows it all to happen. She says, “he has really allowed me to be successful.” Shea stays at home with their four wonderful children, all who are under the age of 4! Dr. Williams explains that he takes excellent care of the children and allows her plenty of time for fun with them. Dr. Williams aspires to be as good a cook as her mother and one of her favorite activities to do with her children is to bake cookies and cupcakes. She reports that her favorite ice cream flavor is coffee, which is no surprise because this busy woman definitely deserves some sugar and caffeine after a long day of work!
Dr. Alexa Williams, MD, MBA will be joining Dr. Richard Brennan at the Mercy Clinic – South Fork (12700 Southfork Road, Suite 230, St. Louis, MO 63128). She will begin accepting new patients on August 30. She is very excited to offer her services to the women of St. Louis. She will offer full service OBGYN care and is a Creighton Model Medical Consultant. Please call (314) 849-3711 to make an appointment.
Danielle Dyann Abril is the mother of many children through adoption, foster care, and biological motherhood. She home-schools her crew and in her spare time works with the Archdiocese of St. Louis Office of Natural Family Planning to share the good news about NFP with the world.