Someone You Should Know: Pipestone’s baby doctor

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - A doctor in Pipestone, Minnesota has been with many parents in one of their most memorable moments of life, the delivery room.

Dr. Michael Lastine recently retired, after 44-years as a family practice physician in Pipestone.

“Medicine has changed, and now the younger docs, you know aren’t quite as into having the older docs around as they were years ago. And my wife became ill, and has a rare disease and is bedridden at home,” said Dr. Lastine.

“He was a super boss. Very kind, very kind, very considerate. But adored his patients, they always came first,” said Denise Solma, Dr. Lastine’s longtime coordinator.

You could call Dr. Lastine the baby doctor, considering how many he’s delivered in his career.

“The ones I kept track of, 3,217. And there could be a few more. I had a little side practice in my residency,” said Dr. Lastine.

At one time, he estimates he was doing 80 percent of the deliveries in Rock County.

“I delivered many babies and then I delivered the babies, babies. And then the third generation, I was just getting to deliver the babies, babies, babies,” said Dr. Lastine.

Five of those babies he delivered, we’re his own kids.

“It came naturally for me to be to divest myself. And also at the time, I didn’t have a lot of options you know sometimes,” said Dr. Lastine.

And he’s got some stories.

“One time, I was delivering a baby in this one room. Mother was a little older lady but finished delivering her baby. And then I had to go in the next room, and it was her daughter, right after her mom,” said Dr. Lastine.

Dr. Lastine says it was a 24/7 job.

“It was probably a very dysfunctional life because I worked 100 hours a week, maybe 120 sometimes. Slept very little for the first 20 years I was here until we formed a group,” said Dr. Lastine.

“Now that we have the new clinic, it’s quite a jog to get over to the emergency room. And he would literally run to the emergency room and when he’d get done he’d run right back so that patient didn’t have to wait that long here in the clinic even,” said Denise.

And he wouldn’t trade a moment.

“I loved to see the outcome, the beauty of it. Everybody’s happy. Despite the pain, everybody ends up happy. You occasionally have issues that come up that are no good, but it’s just a happy time. I just always like to do it,” said Dr. Lastine.

As he heads out after a long career, there’s probably a good chance when you look down the streets of this town of just over 4,400 people, that Dr. Lastine was there for their first moments of life.

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