|
- |
BY FRANK DELANO
Northern Neck women gave birth to 490 babies in 2005. But, according to state health statistics, only six of those occurred on the rural peninsula.
The region has been without obstetrical care since 2004, when a Kilmarnock hospital closed its labor and delivery rooms.
Since then, most expectant mothers have traveled many miles to have their babies at hospitals in Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg and Newport News.
But the distance to delivery may diminish if plans develop to open a midwife-staffed birth center at Kilmarnock in 2008.
Backers of the center outlined their plans last week at a Kilmarnock meeting. They said the proposed facility could improve access to prenatal and obstetrical care in the medically deficient region.
It would also give healthy moms expecting normal deliveries a safe, cheaper and homier alternative to hospital maternity wards.
"Pregnancy and birth are not diseases. If we can be with a woman throughout her pregnancy, labor and delivery, we can teach her how to take care of herself and her baby," said mid-
Van Olphen-Fehr is coordinator of a graduate program in nurse-midwifery at Shenandoah University in Winchester. She served on a state panel convened in 2004 to address vanishing obstetrical care in the Northern Neck and other rural areas.
Now she is advising the Family Maternity Center of the Northern Neck Inc. and a similar group based in Emporia. Both groups received $75,000 in state funds last year to help them develop birthing centers that might serve as models for other regions.
Shirley C. Dodson-McAdoo, coordinator of the Northern Neck center, said the two projects hope to receive an additional $150,000 in state planning grants this year. The Kilmarnock center also will seek funding from foundations and other donors, she said.
In addition, leaders of the Kilmarnock and Emporia projects have asked the General Assembly for $1 million to build their facilities and cover start-up costs.
"If someone is healthy and wants a natural-birth experience, they'll be able to have it here rather than driving 60 to 80 miles away," Dodson-McAdoo said.
And probably save money in the process.
According to a 2003 study, the average cost of a birth at 185 U.S. birth centers was $1,624. The study said the average cost of a normal delivery at a hospital was $6,239.
Dodson-McAdoo said the Northern Neck center would be staffed by certified nurse midwives, registered nurses and collaborating physicians.
Northern Neck women with high-risk pregnancies would be referred to specialists at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.
Women experiencing childbirth emergencies would be flown to Richmond by helicopter or transported in specially equipped ambulances staffed by obstetrical and neonatal nurses.
Dodson-McAdoo said the proposed birthing center would need 106 deliveries a year to break even. She estimated it would take three years of operation to reach that number.
Dr. James F. Hamilton is one of two obstetricians who previously delivered babies at Rappahannock General Hospital.
The doctors' inability to obtain malpractice insurance, along with below-cost Medicaid reimbursements, forced the hospital to close its maternity unit. About 250 babies were born each year at the hospital.
Hamilton said that the maternity-center group hopes to "join in with the hospital in a working relationship for lab work, ultrasound and other ways to cooperate."
"Rappahannock General Hospital will be a necessary part of this effort," he said.
Frank Delano: 804/333-3834| Key points about a birthing center being proposed for Kilmarnock:
Will be staffed by two certified nurse-midwives, Will provide health screening, care and edu cation to all women. Will handle only low-risk deliveries; high-risk pregnancies will be referred Will provide equipped birthing rooms for delivery and emergency care, if needed. Emergency childbirth cases will be sent to VCU Medical Center via helicopter or special ambulance. |
