 |  | New birthing center offers safe childbirth alternative
By Kathy Plum. Sunday, April 4, 1982
Dominion Post Staff
KINGWOOD – This weekend Preston County women joined thousands of others around the country who now have the choice of giving birth in the safety of a hospital but outside the sterile environment of a delivery room. The ribbon cutting ceremony Friday at Preston Memorial Hospital for the county’s first birthing center was a long awaited step in the hospital’s campaign to upgrade obstetrical and gynecological care for Prestonians.
A study conducted last year found that in 1980 only 31 of the 500 Preston County women who gave birth did so in the county. In 1981, 66 babies were delivered at Preston Memorial. At the end of March this year 14 babies had been delivered at the hospital. This upswing has been attributed to the changes being made at the hospital to better accommodate births.
The hospitals entire third floor maternity unit has been remodeled and redecorated with donations and funds and materials from the county commission, clubs and private citizens. Three county physicians, Dr. Fred. Conley, Dr. D.R. Davis and Dr. Dennis Saver, make deliveries at the hospital.
What is a birthing room? It’s a room (in this case within a hospital) with a more homey atmosphere than that found in the traditional delivery room. Generally attitudes, as well as surroundings, are different in a birthing room. The focus is on complicated, unmedicated deliveries by women who have been told what to expect. A doctor and nurse are present, but they try to make the situation as little traumatic as possible for mother and baby.
Hilda Heady, project director of the Birthing Center Steering Committee has had two children, the first in a traditional delivery room and the second in a birthing room. Her experiences convinced her to begin her work at Preston Memorial. “In the delivery room I felt like things were being done to me; in the birthing room I felt like I was having the baby,’ Heady recalls.
Those familiar with the old maternity ward will be pleasurably shocked at the changes. Walking into the unit now is like entering another world, one bright and cheerful and homelike, the kind of comforting place where new babies and their families should first become acquainted. Pluto and Pinocchio romp beneath the window of the nursery, urging visitors to ask a nurse for help if they don’s see the baby they’ve come to see. The two postpartum rooms are painted cheery colors, not institutional green, and there are rocking chairs where mum can sit and rock her baby. The birthing room itself has yellow patterned wallpaper and soft yellow drapes. Plants contributed by students, at the Preston County Educational Center grace the window and there are chairs for support persons. The focal point of the room is a handsome red oak cradle commissioned by the People’s National Bank of Rowlesburg and made by Preston County artisan Michael Costerisan.
Janet and Imre Szilagyi are expecting their fist child in April and they have opted to use the birthing room. They have lived and operated a business in Preston County for the past four years. “We wanted to have the child in Preston County,” said Janet. “The birthing center seems the best alternative to us in Preston County and we’re just really excited that it will be done in time.” The Szilagyis were surprised at the number of options available within the birthing center setup and found the interview with the hospital’s staff very informative. “It took away some of the fear from those of us who haven’t done it before,” commented Janet, adding that “the homey atmosphere is more conducive to my way of life, but having the backup equipment there is nice.”
Ann Dacey, an obstetrics/gynecology nurse specialist who has been involved in the Preston County project, notes that because Preston Memorial is small it can cater more to the desires of each family. No visiting hours have been established because it’s believed hours will be arranged to suit each family. Really, Dacey said, this has always been true in the hospital’s maternity ward.
“We’re not going to have a lot of strict routines,” said Dacey. “We are going to operate within the bounds of safety.” Women who wish to return home soon after giving birth perhaps because they have a young child at home, who will worry about momma, may opt for the early discharge plan. Under this they remain in the birthing room for 24 hours after giving birth, and then return home. They are charged for only one day in the hospital and must certify that someone will be at home to help with the newborn. One of the hospital’s nursing staff will visit the home within two or three days to see that all is going well. Women who want the extra rest, though, can remain hospitalized for two or three days.
“The main things is choice, and what the consumer wants is what we want to provide, as long as the choice is safe and remains within the guidelines of the program,” said Heady.
The hospital is continuing its search for an obstetrician-gynecologist and a certified nurse midwife to practice within the county. The midwife could be in the county as early as this summer, while it’s hoped the obstetrician can be recruited by 1983.
Efforts are also continuing to raise more funds for the birthing center so other improvements can be made. Another $6,000 is needed to finish paying for the birthing bed, and some dolls contributed by Louise Steelman will be raffled as the first step in a fundraising campaign for a washer and dryer. Others besides those mentioned in the story who have contributed to the center are Kingwood Junior Woman’s Club, $200, March of Dimes, $500, Bowyers Furniture, lamp and end table; Pam Jenkins, handmade lamp, Arthurdale Women’s’ Club, care seat; Jan Cook, photographs on temporary display; Fred Wyant, cartoon characters; Joe Sluster and Ann Dacey, signs; Fitzwaters Furniture, lamp
and pictures.
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