Fran Bennett Fran Bennett is a prolific film and television actress who played Fleet Admiral Shanthi in the fifth season episode . She filmed her scene for this episode on Wednesday on Paramount Stage 8 . Bennett portrayed the second Vulcan midwife beside Jill Lover in J . J . Abrams ' . Her scene , " Spock ' s Birth " , was cut from the final film but is included on the Special Edition DVD and the Blu - ray . According to the call sheet of Monday , Bennett was up to reprise her role of Admiral Shanthi for the fifth season episode but was replaced by Karen Hensel as Admiral Brackett . Bennett began her screen acting career with infrequent TV work during the 1950s and ' 60s , including a one - year stint on the soap opera " Guiding Light " . It wasn ' t until the later 1970s that she began making frequent appearances on television as well as in films . In 1979 , she appeared in her first film , the drama " Promises in the Dark " . That same year , she had a role in the epic TV mini - series " Roots : The Next Generations " , which featured fellow " Star Trek " alumni Bernie Casey , Bruce French , Albert Hall , Brock Peters , Bill Quinn , Logan Ramsey , Percy Rodriguez , John Rubinstein , Paul Winfield , and Jason Wingreen . Bennett also starred in the 1988 TV special " Roots : The Gift " , along with Avery Brooks , LeVar Burton , Kate Mulgrew , and Tim Russ . In 1981 , Bennett starred opposite Robert Picardo and James Sloyan in the TV movie " The Violation of Sarah McDavid " . Her later TV movie credits include 1984 ' s " Ernie Kovacs : Between the Laughter " ( with John Glover ) , 1986 ' s " Between Two Women " ( with Michael Nouri and Terry O ' Quinn ) , 1989 ' s " My Dad Can ' t Be Crazy . . . Can He " ( with Wil Wheaton and Judith Jones ) , 1991 ' s " Crazy from the Heart " ( with Bibi Besch and Brent Spiner ) , 1992 ' s " Majority Rule " ( with Robin Gammell , John Glover and Richard Herd ) , and 1998 ' s " Tempting Fate " ( with Randy Oglesby and Steve Rankin ) . Throughout the 1980s , Bennett guest - starred in such hit shows as " Dallas " ( starring Glenn Corbett , Susan Howard , Barry Jenner , William Smithers , and Morgan Woodward ) , " Trapper John , M . D . " ( starring Madge Sinclair ) , " Falcon Crest " ( with Robert Foxworth and Jonathan Frakes ) , " St . Elsewhere " ( with Chad Allen , Jeff Allin , Ed Begley , Jr . , Norman Lloyd , Deborah May , France Nuyen , Jennifer Savidge , Alfre Woodard , and Jane Wyatt ) , " Cagney & Lacey " ( in an episode also guest - starring Andrew Robinson ) , " L . A . Law " ( with Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake , and Robin Gammell ) , " Dynasty " ( with Joan Collins , Michael Ensign , Kenneth Tigar ) , and " Tour of Duty " ( starring Dan Gauthier and Patrick Kilpatrick ) . She was a regular on the short - lived 1989 series " Nightingales " , which co - starred actress Roxann Dawson . That same year she also appeared in the film " How I Got Into College " with Charles Rocket . Her more recent film credits include Wes Craven ' s " New Nightmare " ( 1994 , with Tracy Middendorf , Matt Winston , and Rob LaBelle ) , " Foxfire " ( 1996 , with Richard Beymer ) , " Leave It to Beaver " ( 1997 , with Christopher McDonald ) , " 8MM " ( 1999 ) , " The Sky Is Falling " ( 2000 , with Teri Garr and Bert Remsen ) , and " The Next Best Thing " ( 2000 , with John Carroll Lynch , Jay Karnes , and Katelin Petersen ) . Her TV work during the 1990s included appearances on " Mancuso , FBI " with " Trek " veteran Michael Ensign and " Voyager " star Tim Russ , " Amen " with guest star Bumper Robinson , " WIOU " with Eric Pierpoint and Harris Yulin , and multiple appearances on the science fiction series " Quantum Leap " , starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell . Other " Trek " performers she appeared with on this series include Meg Foster , Glenn Morshower , and Noble Willingham . She would go on to appear with Heidi Swedberg and William Windom on " Murder , She Wrote " , with George D . Wallace on " Arli $ $ " , with Kirsten Dunst and Deborah May on " ER " , with Seymour Cassel on " Chicago Hope " , with Robert Foxworth , Tony Plana and Gabrielle Union on the short - lived " City of Angels " , and with David Graf and Terry Farrell on " Becker " . She also appeared with Heidi Swedberg as well as Tony Jay , Robert Pine , Scott Thompson , and Concetta Tomei in a 2001 episode of " Providence " , co - starred with LeVar Burton , Neal McDonough , and Vanessa Williams on " Boomtown " , and appeared opposite Rene Auberjonois and William Shatner on " Boston Legal " . In 2006 , she had a recurring role on " The Book of Daniel " , a series starring Susanna Thompson . More recent work includes guest roles in " Crossing Jordan " ( 2006 , with Miguel Ferrer , Lisa Kaminir , and Richard Wharton ) and " ER " ( 2008 , with Scott Grimes and K Callan ) , a supporting role in the television thriller " Grave Misconduct " ( 2008 , with Joanna Miles , Bart McCarthy , and John Fleck ) , and episodes of " Numb3rs " ( 2009 , with Caroline Lagerfelt ) and " Community " ( 2010 ) .