Balancing Act

Father-daughter team runs OB-GYN clinic

Meriden Glasgow, left, is an OB-GYN at the OB-GYN Center in Batesville and shares the practice with her father, Clinton Melton, a gynecologist who retired from obstetrics last year.
Meriden Glasgow, left, is an OB-GYN at the OB-GYN Center in Batesville and shares the practice with her father, Clinton Melton, a gynecologist who retired from obstetrics last year.

— Clinton Melton and his daughter, Meriden Glasgow, share more than just the same office space — they share the same career path.

Melton and Glasgow are the physicians at Batesville’s OB-GYN Center, 305 Virginia Drive. Melton began his practice in 1993, and Glasgow joined the center after she finished her residency at Louisiana State University in Shreveport in 2008.

“I think there are two miracles that people experience: One is life, and one is death,” said Melton, who noted that he had known he wanted to be a doctor since he was in the first grade. “I wanted to be involved on the birth side [rather] than on the older patients, who are more likely to be dying.”

Familial experiences also shaped his career path.

“My great-grandfather lost three wives to childbirth trauma,” he said. “That affected the family and affected me.”

Glasgow said she always knew she wanted to study medicine, but in medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, she initially didn’t want to pursue the same field as her father because she witnessed him working long hours and being on call. However, she discovered that obstetrics and gynecology were her favorite subjects.

“It’s mostly happy — not always — but there’s a variety,” she said. “We get to spend time in the clinic; we get to spend time doing minor procedures; we get to spend time in the operating room for gynecologic surgeries and also deliver babies, so there’s a variety in what we do on a daily basis.”

Melton said that a year before Glasgow finished her residency, she asked him if she could join his practice.

“I think it definitely helped him for me to come into practice because he did have some minor health issues that took him out of work a few times during my first few years of practice,” Glasgow said. “I was able to cover and take care of his patients while he was out, which was nice for him to have that continuity of care here in our clinic.”

The father-daughter relationship isn’t at the center of the workplace because at the office, they are colleagues, and outside of the office, they are relatives, Melton said. Some workdays, Glasgow said, they don’t even get to see each other.

“We work independently,” Melton said. “We do discuss cases, and both of us help each other because she’s got some newer information, and I’ve got some wisdom from previous experiences that she doesn’t have. We complement each other on that.”

Melton said Glasgow’s family dynamic is much different than his when he was starting out in the field.

“She’s a mother of three. She has twin boys and a [13-year-old] daughter, so she has to balance being a mom and wife while being a physician,” he said. “Whereas, I didn’t have quite that complex balancing act because my wife ran the home while I did the work.”

Melton retired from obstetrics last year and focuses solely on gynecology. He said it has been a good transition because the role can take a toll physically.

“One of the most interesting things is being a granddoctor,” Melton said. “I have delivered children from children I have delivered before.”

Glasgow said Father’s Day is often celebrated with other special days in the family. Melton’s birthday is two days after Father’s Day and is also the same day as Glasgow’s wedding anniversary.

“Sixteen years ago, he got a son-in-law for his birthday,” she said.

Glasgow said the practice is a rewarding career that allows her to keep her family close to her parents and discuss ideas and cases with her father.

“The best part is being able to collaborate, having that support and also being able to see the continuity of patients,” she said.

Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.

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