Having a baby becomes family affair at centers

Three tiny sets of footprints are displayed on the wall at The Birth Place at Longmont United Hospital, where Roxie Hagerman gave birth to triplets six years ago on Dec. 3.

Hagerman was the first and still the only mother to deliver three babies at the Longmont hospital. Because multiple births are considered a high risk factor for mother and babies, expectant moms carrying more than two usually are whisked away to Denver hospitals for delivery.

Within the last five years, however, there have been a lot of changes in nurseries, labor and delivery rooms and postpartum care. Hospitals have become more family-oriented and more sensitive to the mother’s comfort.

“After having my two older daughters in the old maternity ward (at LUH) I thought that the new Birth Place was really nice,” said Hagerman.

The Birth Place was remodeled about 12 years ago with new lighting and soft colors. Last May, the staff in the maternity center received new training. New equipment was purchased to upgrade the center to a “Level II” nursery now capable of handling more complicated births, including ones where the child has heart, lung or feeding problems. About $80,000 in new equipment was purchased to upgrade the facility.

LUH did not have a Level II designation when the triplets were born, but Hagerman said the hospital was prepared.

“I was going to go to Swedish Hospital in Denver for the delivery; then I got too far along in labor and had to stay in Longmont,” Hagerman said. “Everyone was ready. They knew that there was always a chance that I would have to have them there, so they were all set up for it.”

Two doctors helped Hagerman, along with an anesthesiologist, a pediatrician, nurses and respiratory therapists for each baby. A team from Children’s Hospital in Denver was standing by as well.

After the babies were born, two were taken to Denver for about 12 days. Last fall, they started kindergarten in Longmont.

Mothers who now are having a normal delivery at Longmont United Hospital are admitted to a room where they stay for labor, delivery and recovery.

After delivery, a mother and her baby are taken to a postpartum room where she stays until it’s time to leave the hospital. Babies can stay in postpartum rooms during the hospital stay, as long as there are no complications.

“We have a real family-centered birth place,” said Peggy Murray, patient-care manager of The Birth Place. “Whoever the mom wants can be there with her (at delivery). Significant others, fathers, sisters, a friend — some even want other siblings there.”

In 1996, 820 babies were born at LUH. In 1997, 840 babies are expected. The nursery has 18 beds.

“The number of babies is growing,” said Murray. “The population of Longmont is growing and so is the number of babies.”

Another new feature at The Birth Place is hearing screening, done on newborns since March. About six out of every 1,000 babies has a moderate to severe hearing loss, the most common disability at birth, Murray said.

“We have already discovered two babies with a hearing loss since we started the program,” Murray said. “We can now begin working with babies as early as six months so they won’t get behind with language skills.”

And a certified midwife, who works with two obstetricians, is now on staff.

“In 1998, we are looking at alternative therapies for the mother such as massage,

acupuncture and aroma therapy,” said Murray. “We get a lot of requests for massages.”

Hospital workers also visit new mothers at home if requested and offer classes for new moms, for siblings and on parenting. Workers want to expand the nursery for babies with special needs and create more privacy for those families as well.

Murray said the cost of having a baby at LUH with a normal delivery is $2,578, with a one-and-a-half-day stay in the hospital. There is a separate baby charge of $910. An average cesarean birth cost is $6,770, with a three-and-a-half day stay. Cost for the baby is the same.

Boulder Community Hospital delivers about 1,800 babies each year. The birth rate at the hospital has declined slightly over the last few years with the opening of Avista Hospital in Louisville five years ago.

“In 1990, we remodeled the LDR rooms and the nursery,” said Laure Lisk, co-director of Child Maternal Services at Boulder Community Hospital. “We have couplet care here where one nurse takes care of the mom and the baby all the way through. We try to have one nurse instead of several handle all the mom’s needs.”

All the labor, delivery and recovery rooms have a Jacuzzi, a compact disk player and an extra bed. There are seven LDR rooms and 23 postpartum rooms that also have extra beds.

Also new in Boulder is a self-administered medication program.

“We allow moms to administer their own pain medication when they need it,” Lisk said. “The pain medication stays by the bedside. Most of our moms are really healthy and don’t need much medication.”

The hospital uses cloth diapers to help protect the environment. And it has a big recycling program for bottles and other items.

Child Maternal Services, one of the first hospitals in the state to pioneer hearing screening for babies,. has been a Level II nursery for a number of years. All babies born in Boulder are kept in Boulder unless they are put on a ventilator, Lisk said. But if a mother is expecting more than two, she is transferred to a Denver hospital for delivery.

“We have triplets here now. They were born Nov. 8 at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s in Denver,” Lisk said. “We did have (other) triplets born here once, but it was an accident. The doctor reached in and found a third baby, but no one knew it was there.”

In the next few years Lisk said the hospital would like to remodel the postpartum rooms and create a woman’s resource center offering an extensive series of classes on women’s health issues. BCH now offers many classes on prenatal care, refresher courses, parenting, sibling classes, breast-feeding and other topics for families.

on Facebook on LinkedIn