Maternity Services suites at Veterans Memorial Hospital hits a new record number of deliveries

Veterans Memorial Hospital staff is happy to announce that during calendar year 2016 the hospital experienced 166 newborn deliveries, a record number in the last nearly 30 years.  The next closest year was 2014, which saw a record 148 deliveries, beating the 2013 record of 135 deliveries.

“We are very excited to see this growing interest each year in our Maternity Services at Veterans Memorial Hospital,” states Mike Myers, Hospital Administrator.  “Our staff is proud of our facility and services which offer a very private and personal approach to labor and delivery. They go the extra mile to be sure our moms and families have the best experience possible, making it all very memorable.”

Veterans Memorial Hospital opened its new Maternity Services suites in May of 2000, with three equally attractive, roomy family suites available for parents to enjoy their new baby, as well a more comfortable space for  relatives and friends to visit.
By 2006, due to the increase in deliveries each year, a new maternity waiting room for family and friends was added to the extended department, as well as an early labor/stress test room.

In 2011, Veterans Memorial Hospital added a new labor tub room to the department as an option for parents to consider. This room was completely remodeled along with a new adjoining bathroom and new labor tub purchased by the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital, and offered much more space for the families who wish to do water labor. The tub has proven to be a very effective way for moms to labor, offering great relaxation which leads to a faster progression of the labor.

In 2012, many upgrades were completed in the Veterans Memorial Hospital Maternity Services Department. New furniture, carpeting and décor were all replaced, plus new couches were purchased for the patient rooms as well sofa tables, new cabinets, and even small refrigerators and microwaves for the comfort and convenience of the patients and their families. Most all of these upgrades were made possible through staff donations, in addition to a new bassinet which was also purchased with the staff funds to help meet the demand of the increasing deliveries each year experienced by the hospital.

“Our plan is that the delivery of any infant be a positive and special moment for each family, but also that each family have access to efficient medical care,” stated Diane Allison, RN, Maternity Services Supervisor. “Our goal is to give a warm inviting atmosphere for delivery, but also give high quality care. I really feel that this is accomplished - our medical and nursing staff make patient care and safety their priority and we are very excited to see this increase in our deliveries.”

With this continued growth in deliveries, the hospital is in the planning stages for expanding the maternity services department to provide an additional labor and delivery room to accommodate the growth in deliveries.

“I am looking forward to our expansion project,” states Amy Bowden, RN, OB Manager. “With the increasing number of deliveries over the years, and especially in 2016, we are running into more and more times where we have ‘baby booms’ which require us to use rooms outside of our OB department in order to accommodate all of our patients. And while our patients have been wonderful about being moved in and out of the unit during these busy times, it will be nice to expand and add rooms to the department so we don’t have to move patients around as much.”

Not only has the number of deliveries at Veterans Memorial Hospital grown considerably over the last 30 years, but the size of the hospital’s maternity services team has as well. The delivering physicians now include Dr. Dave Schwartz, Dr. Steven Perkins, Dr. Benjamin Nesseim, Dr. Ben Ross, Dr. Nicole Barbee and Dr. Devin Wenrich. Physician Assistants Jenny Stegen, PA-C, and Jessica Everman, PA, and Nurse Practitioners Michelle Mertens-Dodgen, C.N.P., and Elizabeth Leschensky, C.N.P., also offer prenatal care for all moms, with one of the physicians on staff performing the delivery.

Any expectant parents, or couples planning on soon starting a family, are welcome to come and tour the Maternity Services facility. Call Diane Allison, Nursing and Maternity Services Supervisor, or Amy Bowden, OB Manager, at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411 to arrange a time for a tour or to have any questions answered.