Low-Intervention Birthing Suites Opening at Northwest Health Hospitals
2/26/2019
(BENTONVILLE, AR) – Feb. 26, 2019 – For women looking for a non-medicated natural childbirth experience, a new low-intervention birthing suite is opening this week at The Family Birth Place at Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville, the first of its kind in Arkansas. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house are planned for Thursday, February 28, from 4:30-6:30 pm.
A similar low-intervention suite is opening at sister hospital Willow Creek Women’s Hospital in early April, with a ribbon-cutting and open house set for Thursday, April 4, from 4:30-6:30 pm. Leaders in OB services for the region, the two Northwest Health facilities were also the first two in the state of Arkansas to achieve prestigious international recognition as Baby-Friendly Designated birth facilities.
With minimal intervention and technology, the low-intervention birth program allows hospital staff to support patients and families in their labor and birthing goals. The suites offer large beds, specialized labor tubs, shower, birthing stool, labor balls and waterproof, wireless monitoring. The hospitals also provide a variety of options for comfort during un-medicated labor including aromatherapy, hydrotherapy and a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit to reduce pain. Additionally, The Family Birth Place at NMC-Bentonville also offers nitrous oxide for pain relief, the first hospital in Arkansas to do so. Willow Creek Women’s Hospital is also adding nitrous oxide availability upon the opening of the Low Intervention Birthing Suite.
In addition to offering alternatives to pain management and a home-like environment, certified nurse midwives (CNM) add another dimension to both of these programs. While a midwife has been in practice at Willow Creek Women’s Hospital for some time, a new midwife has recently gained privileges to practice at NMC-Bentonville. Patients who desire midwifery services now have the ability to deliver with a CNM in both hospitals. They are the only two hospitals in the state with full-scope practicing midwives.
“Our new, state-of-the-art suite offers low-risk patients a comfortable experience for childbirth,” said Whitney Tolbert, OB services director for Bentonville’s Family Birth Place. “The spacious room will accommodate expectant mothers and their support person in moving around and trying multiple positions in labor, which can increase comfort and speed progress. We encourage parents to bring music and enjoy a relaxing low-light ambiance in this spa-like room to help ease discomfort. We’re pleased that The Family Birth Place is the first facility in the state to offer a low-intervention birthing suite with the capability of a labor tub, queen-sized bed and nitrous oxide within the hospital.”
While the low-intervention suite is opening in February, Tolbert said all current labor suites at the hospital are capable of low intervention pain management options and wireless monitoring. What sets the Low Intervention Suite apart from other suites is the labor tub for water immersion and the queen-sized, family-friendly bed.
At Willow Creek, the new suite will open within the next few weeks. “We’re excited to expand upon the services we have to help meet needs and desires our patients are expressing,” said Christine Picarelli, OB services director for Willow Creek Women’s Hospital. “Women will now be able to choose a setting that creates the sense of comfort that comes from being at home, while at the same time provides access to all of the resources the hospital has to offer. It is our privilege to partner with our laboring mothers and help them achieve the goals and expectations that they have for their birth experience.”
Obstetrician-gynecologists – in collaboration with midwives, nurses, and those who support the patient in labor – can help women meet their goals for labor and birth by using techniques that require minimal interventions and have high rates of patient satisfaction. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) states that evidence suggests, in addition to regular nursing care, continuous one-to-one emotional support provided by support personnel, such as a doula, can be associated with improved outcomes for women in labor, shortened labor, decreased need for analgesia, fewer operative deliveries and fewer reports of dissatisfaction with the experience of labor.
Use of the low-intervention suite must be discussed and approved by a patient’s healthcare provider. Availability is on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information or to speak with an OB nurse navigator at The Family Birth Place at NMC-Bentonville, call (479) 553-1266. For more information or to speak with an OB nurse navigator at Willow Creek Women’s Hospital, call (479) 684-3204.
The two Northwest Health hospitals both offer Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), with a Level III unit in Willow Creek and a Level II in Bentonville.
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