ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200054
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
In the rooms of Montgomery Regional Hospital's new birthing center, institutional white walls and tiled floors have been replaced with hardwood and wallpaper borders of delicate, pastel-colored flowers.
"People don't want the hospital," said Dawn Armour, nurse manager for obstetrics and gynecology. "They want a more homey environment."
Within the next few days, expectant mothers at Montgomery Regional Hospital will be giving birth in the new, $1.9 million birthing center when the entire obstetrics unit is moved to the 10,000-square-foot addition.
The idea behind the birthing center is to consolidate all aspects of childbirth. Although it is connected to the rest of the hospital, the center has a separate entrance where women can register and then check into one of five tastefully decorated rooms where they will remain while in labor and during delivery and recovery.
The rooms, which have washable vinyl floors that look like polished wood, are equipped with a pull-out chair for the father to sleep on, a bathtub with a whirlpool feature and a small refrigerator. There are five additional rooms for patients who are not in labor.
Three small nurseries, each adorned with wallpaper borders of cartoonish sleeping sheep, can hold a total of 15 cribs.
Armour said the emphasis is keeping the family together, including the mother and newborn. Nurses will be assigned to a mother and child once the center is open to patients. Currently, nurses are either assigned to mothers or newborns.
"Everything is done in the room," Armour said. "We want to do everything at the mother's bedside. The mothers want that. They don't want babies taken away from them."
Consolidating childbirth care is not a new concept. Many hospitals in Southwest Virginia, including Pulaski Community and Lewis-Gale, have rooms equipped for labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum care. At one time, women had to transfer to several different rooms.
The idea for a birthing center at Montgomery Regional Hospital was developed three years ago in an effort to make women and their families more comfortable and make the hospital more attractive to potential patients and physicians. Gene Wright, the hospital's chief executive officer, said the hospital hopes to recruit more pediatricians and gynecologists as a result of the addition.
"We understand there are still people who travel out of Montgomery for various reasons [to give birth]," he said. "We want Montgomery County patients to remain here."
By the end of this year, approximately 530 babies will have been delivered at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Wright said the hospital is projecting it will deliver 1,000 babies a year within a few years.
If that projection is correct, the hospital would have to expand its 10-bed facility and staff. For now, three registered nurses and a technician who will register patients will be working in the center. Five obstetricians and seven pediatricians also are on active staff at the hospital.
"Should it ever become necessary, the facility is designed to be expanded and rooms could be added on," Wright said.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB