Miranda Bailey

"Don't ever suggest to me that I do not stand in the sisterhood with the other woman in this hospital. You've never been 4 feet, 11 inches tall and overlooked, and called "girl" by your male colleagues. You don't know. I'm a woman. Hear me roar. ... This is what a feminist looks like, sir."

- Miranda Bailey

Miranda Bailey is a general surgeon and the current Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Early life
Although Bailey has rarely spoken about her childhood, she has said that growing up she liked Star Wars, was in the school band (playing the oboe) and believed in Santa until the age of 11.

She did not attend homecoming, because the boy she liked never asked her out.

MRSA Infection
Three of Bailey's patients returned with post-operative infections. It was initially believed to be the fault of Leah Murphy, who was ill, but assisted on Bailey's surgeries.

However, following the arrival of the third patient, whose surgery Dr. Murphy had not assisted on, it was apparent that the problem was more serious and the CDC was alerted.

Following the investigation, it was deduced that Dr. Bailey was contaminated with MRSA, an aggressive infection which resulted in the deaths of all three patients.

The infections were transmitted due to the replacement of surgical gloves instituted via Pegasus policy, which possessed microtears.

Following the investigation, Dr. Bailey became reclusive and refused to operate, testing herself repeatedly for MRSA. It was only when Meredith was critical post-natally did she step in and save her.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Following her experience with MRSA, Bailey was more cautious in surgery. This came to a head when her husband, Ben quit his surgical residency to return to Seattle to be with his family.

After Bailey was informed of this, she began to show signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder which caught her husband's attention.

While casually speaking to Derek he mentioned that her condition could be affecting patient care. Derek, being a member of the board, was required to investigate and report these claims, which he did with the help of Owen.

They came to the conclusion that she was unfit to continue performing surgery and required psychiatric help. Dr. Alma, an occupational therapist, was assigned to shadow her and clear her when she deemed Dr. Bailey ready.

After the first two days, Dr. Alma tested Bailey's control over her condition and recommended that she take the medication she had been prescribed.

After a conversion with Richard Webber, Bailey finally agreed. The medication was effective and she was cleared to return to surgery.

Personality
Miranda Bailey has two completely different sides, sometimes she is extremely loving and kind, others she is tough and keeps true to her nickname the Nazi. She usually gives advice to others, being very direct.

Tucker Jones
She married Tucker Jones c.1995. They had been married for ten years and trying to conceive for seven when Miranda announced her pregnancy with their first child. Her son, William George Bailey Jones, was born during a bomb scare at Seattle Grace while her husband was in surgery with Dr. Derek Shepherd, having crashed his car on the way to the hospital. George O'Malley helped her through labor, and she thanked him by naming her son William George Bailey Jones (although he is nicknamed "Tuck" after his father).

Due to her working as a surgeon, Bailey rarely spent time at home, putting a strain on their marriage and following an incident where Tuck was hurt at home, their relationship was strained even more and although they stayed married, Tucker went on dates.

On discovering Miranda had applied for a pediatric surgery fellowship, Tucker gave her an ultimatum: the fellowship or their marriage. Miranda decided to leave her husband, believing a marriage should never come to an ultimatum, but also declined the fellowship.

Sam Bennett
While she was still married, he flirted with her. ("Before and After") When she came to L.A., he almost kissed her. She stopped him and returned home before anything could happen between them. ("Right Here, Right Now")

Ben Warren
After her divorce from Tucker was finalized, Bailey started seeing Ben, the anesthesiologist. ("Valentine's Day Massacre")

But after the shooting at Seattle Grace, she broke off her relationship with him, saying she had to put herself back together. ("With You I'm Born Again")

When drunk, she confessed that she still missed Ben. ("Slow Night, So Long")

During their time apart, Bailey dated another man, but after Ben found out, he decided to fight for her and things ended between Bailey and Eli. ("Love, Loss and Legacy")

After things ended with Eli, she got back together with Ben.

Ben tried to propose to her through a crossword puzzle which didn't work out like he planned, and in the end Miranda herself asked him to marry her twice. ("Migration")

On the day they were supposed to get married, Bailey got caught up with Adele Webber when she and Richard found out that Adele was coughing up blood and had been rushed to the hospital. They turned the limo that was taking them to the wedding around, and went to the hospital instead. ("Run, Baby, Run")

Bailey and Meredith operated on Adele, before returning to the her wedding and tying the knot with Ben. ("Things We Said Today")

Eli Lloyd
Eli, a nurse, asked her out, and the two dated for a while, even to the extent of sleeping together in the on call room, something which Miranda never actually thought she would do, given her stellar reputation.

After Ben returned, she dumped Eli. Even before Ben returned, Miranda admitted she wasn't looking for a long-term relationship with Eli.

Meredith Grey
Miranda had a strained relationship with Meredith in the beginning because of Meredith's relationship with Derek, but they soon became friendly. They also worked on a medical trial to try to cure diabetes together, although Bailey refused to allow her to help at first because of what happened with Derek's Alzheimer's trial. Eventually, Bailey became close with Meredith, even demanding that Meredith be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Ben.

Cristina Yang
Bailey said that Cristina was the one intern she didn't have to worry about.

Izzie Stevens
Izzie was not her favorite in the beginning. Then when Izzie cut Denny's L-VAD wire, Bailey really had a disliking for her. When Izzie got cancer, Bailey softened up. Bailey once accused her of being too "attached" to her patients.

George O'Malley
Bailey said George was her favorite of her interns. She also named her son after him. He coached her through her labor and delivery, allowing her to work through the stress of her husband's car accident.

Alex Karev
Alex is seen as the one who sleeps around. She thinks he was made to be a PEDS surgeon. After learning of Alex's past from his younger brother, Bailey says she is impressed Alex became a doctor, due to his troubled upbringing. She also remarks on how impressing her is not an easy feat.

Other
Through the rest of that residency year, Bailey had to adjust to becoming a parent and reconciling this with her desire to continue her career as a surgeon. Her professional confidence was shaken when Izzie Stevens cut Denny Duquette's LVAD wire and Denny subsequently died after his heart transplant; Bailey felt that she wasn't in control of her interns, and that the incident was ultimately her fault. She was criticized for the events at a Morbidity and Mortality conference, with one colleague questioning outright her competence at juggling career and motherhood. While her confidence has been somewhat restored since then, she still feels bad about not spending enough time with her son, once making a late-night call to sing "God Bless the Child" to him. During her pregnancy, she was upset that her interns had drove away two residents and no one wanted them. When she returned to work, she was making sure that her colleagues knew that she hadn't gone soft because she had become a mother.

Following severe injuries to her son and several arguments over the state of their marriage, Bailey and her husband separated because her husband believed that she placed her job at the hospital before her family and that it led to Tuck's injuries. Bailey's relationship with Erica Hahn is quite strained. Although Erica saved her son's life, she temporarily stopped the surgery until Bailey left and when Bailey asked Erica for help on a surgery, the whole day Erica was quite negative and kept putting Bailey down.

Career
Miranda Bailey, a graduate of Wellesley College, is an Attending General Surgeon. She says she was the only female intern in her year, but she was the best and she won the first solo-surgery. She was also previously in charge of the five interns Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, Alex, and George (although Alex was not originally hers). Her colleagues used to refer to her as "The Nazi" because of her tough personality and blunt attitude although she behaves almost in the exact opposite way with patients and has a great bedside manner.

Although she was often harsh with her interns, she has been shown to provide both support and advice when they need it; practicing "tough love." For instance, Bailey stayed by Cristina during her pregnancy scare and her initial recovery; she also held Izzie's hand when Izzie was giving bone marrow for her daughter. She cares about her patients and is a committed surgeon. When she first learned about Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd she became brisk with her but it was to prove Meredith had no favor. She protected her while she was looked at by all the Seattle Grace when Derek choose Addison over her, she admitted he had put himself between two remarkable women.

Disillusioned by how little she can help patients as a surgeon, Bailey decided to open a free clinic at Seattle Grace. She faced initial difficulties getting support from the attendings, but after talking with the Chief, managed to get their agreement to work there. The Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic has since opened, paid for using part of the $8.7 million bequeathed to Izzie by Denny Duquette, and Bailey is satisfied that the clinic will change people's lives for the better. She competed for the post of Chief Resident, but she found out she lost to Callie Torres. Dr. Richard Webber has indicated that she could eventually become Chief of Surgery.

Miranda became a 5th year resident and decided to be Callie's "number two," as Torres was lacking in performance as Chief Resident. The Chief saw Bailey pick up the slack, and delegate exceptionally well, and eventually realized that Miranda was covering for Callie. He fired Torres from the position, and told Bailey that he made a mistake in not giving her the job in the first place. He also apologized for taking Dr. Bailey for granted. At this Miranda broke down in tears hugged the Chief. This is an example of the emotional baggage the "Nazi" carries, and shows one of her very rare emotional moments. Miranda helped save the life of a white supremacist paramedic despite his racist treatment of her. When closing his stomach after the surgery, she comments to George that the incision will need to be aligned better, thus ruining the paramedic's large swastika tattoo on his stomach. During the surgery she declared that she didn't want to be called the Nazi anymore.



Dr. Bailey was nearing the end of her surgical residency in General Surgery, and Richard Webber had planned for her to become a general surgery attending. Although for a while she claimed she was growing tired of appys and gall bladders and nothing excited her but while treating a child that almost died, she wanted to stick with general surgery. Unfortunately, she had been assigned to another child. While treating the child, both Dixon and Robbins said she was a true pediatric surgeon because of her disregard of rules, her personal interest in patients and taking the time to explain surgeries to the patients and the children. Privately, she told Arizona how she felt when her son Tuck was admitted and said, because of how she felt, it would make her bad for pediatric surgery. But in contrast, Arizona told her that in her opinion it made her uniquely qualified. Eventually, she decided to pursue a pediatric surgery fellowship, despite the Chief's disagreement. Armed with letters of recommendation from Shepherd, Sloan, O'Malley, and a disappointing letter from the chief, she is very excited about Addison's letter of recommendation, labeling her the "the most promising peds surgeon I've ever had the pleasure of working with". Even though Arizona claims the Chief is the major factor in the decision, the implication of Addison's referral should make a much larger difference than any other doctor she could have, as Addison is a world-class neonatal surgeon, hopefully outranking most other letters of recommendation Bailey has.

Bailey eventually gains the pediatric surgery fellowship, and even the Chief signs on and agrees with it, but Bailey is unable to take the position and asks for a job as a General Surgery attending, after making the decision to leave her husband, as a fellowship for 2 years of long hours is not healthy for a single mother.

As a general surgery attending, Bailey spearheads an initiative to reduce post-operative fistula formations. After introducing a new protocol that involves the removal of a drain on day 3 versus day 5, the formation is reduced by 30%.

With Richard stepping down as Chief of Surgery, Miranda appeared livid, when Owen Hunt was ushered into the position, however, she eventually supports this decision. Bailey later admitted that she thought she would have eventually become Chief of Surgery after him. ("This is Why We Fight")

Along with stepping down from his position, Dr. Webber passed on his clinical trial on diabetes to her. Along the way, Richard kept insisting that Bailey have Meredith Grey help her, which she refused because she partly blamed Meredith for Richard's downfall. Eventually, Bailey hit a rough patch in her own research and begun shutting out Webber from their lab of mice. Though she employed April Kepner to assist her, it was not until Meredith began working on the case that the problem was finally discovered. Meredith discovered that parts of her mother's research were wrong, and that the first few devices installed in their first patients would eventually become ineffective. After Teddy's husband Henry Burton dies, the trial was not mentioned again.

Bailey later pursued a new project of genome mapping that will arm doctors the necessary information to treat diseases at the source rather than treating the symptoms as they arise. A while after, because of defective gloves, she unintentionally infected three of her patients with a staph infection and was investigated by the CDC. While her name was eventually cleared and her infection was eradicated and all three patients died, she overheard Richard telling a patient that the one doctor who caused the infection had been isolated. This affected Bailey greatly, causing her to lock herself in her genome lab, shutting out the other doctors, particularly the board and Richard, for a day while she obsessively mapped her own genome over and over again. She was drawn out only by her husband, Ben, but she still refused to perform surgeries, until she had to operate on Meredith.

Notes and Trivia

 * Although known for her strict personality, Bailey has an excellent bedside manner (example, Jackson Prescott).
 * Bailey was the only female intern in her year. She also won the first solo-surgery.
 * Bailey states in Deny, Deny, Deny that her cystic fibrosis patient has been her patient for at least five years, despite being a 4th year surgical resident at the time.
 * Bailey believed in Santa until the age of eleven.
 * She knows a lot about Sci-Fi, notably Star Wars, and a collector of Judy dolls, seeing as how she could identify each doll and their accompanying accessories.
 * Bailey was always nicknamed The Nazi but the nickname stopped when a racist patient with a tattoo of a swastika who came in for a surgery refused to let her operate on him alone.
 * Bailey often says Va-jay-jay instead of saying vagina.
 * Bailey has changed her hairstyle more than any other character.
 * The reputation of Nazi precedes Bailey, and the "Nazi" is said to have "balls the size of Texas".
 * Sandra Oh originally auditioned for the part of Bailey, not Cristina.
 * The role of Miranda Bailey was originally envisioned as a blond Caucasian woman - in reference to the Nazi's preference of Aryans, who had blonde hair and blue eyes.
 * She has arachnophobia.
 * Due to her short stature, Bailey usually has to use a stepping stool in the operating room.
 * Her new nickname is "BCB" which means Booty-call Bailey because of her frequent "contacts" with Ben Warren whenever he came to GSMH from LA.
 * Bailey officiated Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins' marriage in the season seven episode, "White Wedding".
 * She refers to the hospital shooting as the worst day of her life.
 * Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey named their son Derek Bailey Shepherd in her honor.
 * Bailey played the oboe while in high school.
 * She likes extra crumb topping on her macaroni.
 * She enjoys extra thick strawberry milkshakes.
 * She is the first female Chief of Surgery at GSMH. ("Walking Tall")
 * Although not stated directly in dialogue, Bailey is board certified in general surgery, as George, during his second-time as an intern, was calculating Bailey's required OR time to sit for boards during her fifth and final year of residency.
 * During her fourth year of residency, Bailey applied for five fellowship programs, including Seattle Grace's; however, this has not been brought up since as Bailey considered a pediatric surgery fellowship the following year, which she subsequently turned down, in favor of being a general surgery attending when she completed her residency.
 * Bailey is the only character to have said Preston Burke's middle name (Xavier) on-screen.
 * She refers to her interns as her "babies."
 * Bailey lost her virginity to her ex-husband Tucker Jones.
 * Bailey would like to have her way with Idris Elba.
 * When Bailey appointed Meredith Chief of General Surgery, it was implied that Bailey was the unofficial department chief of general surgery when she was an attending under Richard Webber and Owen Hunt.
 * She's 4'11". ("I Choose You")

Notable Episodes

 * Forever Young
 * The Time Warp
 * Walking Tall

Memorable Quotes

 * Miranda: O' Malley! Stop lookin at my va-jay-jay!

Appearances
Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey