By KRISTA CONGER

You could say that the fruits of Marie Smith's labors are numerous enough to populate a midsized town. Of course, there were a few other women involved, too: the mothers who gave birth to the more than 15,000 babies estimated to have entered the world under Smith's watchful eye. Smith, a labor and delivery nurse in the Johnson Center, retired Friday after 40 years as a tireless advocate for laboring women at Stanford Hospital and then at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

"All of us who have worked with Marie know she is tough and uncompromising when it comes to patient care," said chief of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine Maurice Druzin, MD. "She is smart and skillful, and you just don't cross her."

Smith began what was to be a six-month tenure at Stanford on Jan. 13, 1964. Fresh from nursing school, the 22-year-old Canadian took up lodging with two compatriots in Menlo Park. They quickly developed a camaraderie and a ritual.

Marie Smith, shown at her retirement party last week, has delivered more babies during her 40-year career than the number of graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford. The obstetrics nurse, who plans to spend more time traveling, gardening and going to sporting events, is also about to become a grandmother. Photo: Krista Conger

"We would work from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.," said Smith, "and then walk home together. Nearly every night we'd stop at the Oasis for a beer around 11:30." The stops were more than just relaxing; two out of the three young women, including Smith, met their future husbands at the El Camino Real watering hole. On May 24, Smith will celebrate her 35th wedding anniversary with her husband, Patrick. They were married on the Queen's birthday -- a date specifically chosen by Smith.

Settling down meant settling in, at least for Smith. Over the years she's taught 40 classes of medical residents at Stanford and more than 120 nursing students from San Francisco State University. Her years of experience have given her a unique perspective from which to assess the many changes that have occurred in the delivery room.

"I've helped deliver a lot of babies, but it's never been boring," said Smith. "I tell the young nurses and residents that each case must be approached individually; they can't be put in a box. I've seen a shift to a less hands-on approach and a greater dependence on technology, which in my opinion can sometimes be overused. I like to remind the nurses to use common sense."

"We've all benefited from Marie's teaching," said Druzin, the Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson Professor and professor, by courtesy, of pediatrics. "Her retirement is bittersweet because we're losing our most loyal patient advocate and a valuable resource."

Johnson Center patient care manager Gloria Santos agreed. "Marie has seen a lot of change over the years," said the registered nurse. "She's always willing to pick up the phone and tell us what's working and what isn't. I love her work ethic."

Smith's dedication and commitment to obstetrics began at Stratford General Hospital in Ontario, where she won the nursing school's obstetrics award. Her first delivery as a nursing student was especially memorable.

"It was my first day in obstetrics and I was sent to pick up a woman in labor," said Smith. "The woman, who was wearing Capri pants, had the baby in the elevator. I wasn't sure what to do. I knew she had delivered the baby, but it was stuck inside her pants." After that stressful introduction, Smith was hooked on obstetrics.

Smith also remembers the blue-striped dresses, stockings and bibbed aprons she donned during nursing school. "We had to make our own hats," she said. "My hat had 16 pleats in the back and four flutes and everything was heavily starched. I would get a red line on my neck where the collar rubbed, and I used to line it with Kleenex to make it more comfortable." Varying colored lines on the hats signified progression through the stages of nursing school.

On Friday, Smith's uniform was quite a bit different. Although most of the nurses wear blue scrubs, Smith sported a blue shirt given to her by a co-worker custom printed on the back with the words "I'm retired. Go around me."

Smith, who recently became a U.S. citizen, is looking forward to spending time in her garden and cheering on her favorite sports teams: the 49ers, the Giants, the Sharks and, of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs. After welcoming her first grandchild into the world any day now, she and Patrick will celebrate their wedding anniversary en route to a three-week vacation in Ireland, Scotland and England. But she didn't leave her 40-year calling without a few tears.

"I'm going to miss the people and the patients," she said. "I've had some really good years here but I just felt it was time to go."