UNC Health Southeastern updates maternity ward with a focus on comfort
By Heidi Perez-Moreno
When Mary Campbell gave birth to her first daughter in 2021, her maternity room at UNC Health Southeastern was cramped and loud. The hospital’s thin walls did little to muffle the sounds of crying babies and foot traffic in the hallways, and Campbell could barely nap during her 36-hour stay.
But when Campbell, who works as an emergency room nurse at the hospital in Lumberton, had her second child last month, her experience was very different.
“I didn’t hear anybody the whole time I was there,” Campbell said. “I didn’t hear anything going on in the hallway. As far as I was concerned, (I was) the only person on the unit.”
UNC Health Southeastern opened its new maternity ward in December, nearly a decade after officials first envisioned a space that could help parents feel like they were at a spa instead of a bleak hospital room. The $35 million project resulted in more spacious and temperature-controlled rooms that have ambient lighting, large windows, reclining chairs and privacy curtains around the beds.
The labor and delivery unit now features four triage rooms, eight birthing rooms and eight postpartum rooms housed in one area of the hospital.
Doctors, nurses and midwives can now streamline their workflow to better access and provide care to patients, said Renae Taylor, vice president and chief nursing officer at UNC Health Southeastern.
The hospital, which came under the UNC Health umbrella in 2020, delivers about 1,300 babies every year. At a recent open house of the new maternity ward, hospital staff and community members were amazed at the state-of-the-art facility, Taylor said.
“A lot of pregnant patients came, and even patients that are not being treated by our own provider here came to see it that day and said, ‘How can I deliver here? I’d rather deliver here,’” she said. “It’s been positive.”
Dr. Constance Mulroy, an OB/GYN at UNC Health Southeastern, said several patients who received prenatal care at another facility decided to deliver in the new unit.
“It is creating a more positive birthing experience for our patients,” she said. “The unit is comfortable and spacious. It is a much more aesthetically pleasing and relaxing atmosphere.”
Robeson County is not a “maternity care desert,” a designation given to counties lacking a hospital that provides obstetric and birthing care, according to research from the March of Dimes. But some counties in southeastern North Carolina do carry the designation, including Hoke, Anson and Montgomery. Bladen County, which borders Robeson, has “low access” to maternity care, the research found.
Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital closed its maternity unit in September 2018 when Hurricane Florence caused extensive damage. Months later, hospital officials said the unit would not reopen, also citing a decline in deliveries. The hospital continues to provide emergency services, including care for pregnant and laboring mothers, but transfers patients to nearby hospitals when needed, WECT reported at the time.
Many hospitals across the country, including those in North Carolina, have upgraded their maternity wards with a focus on comfort and aesthetic while addressing changes in the latest technology. The WakeMed Cary Hospital renovated its labor and delivery unit in 2017, equipping 13 rooms with floral decorated walls, hydrotherapy showers and deep soaker tubs. The labor and delivery units at WakeMed’s two Raleigh hospitals underwent similar renovations, The News & Observer reported.
UNC Health Southeastern installed large tubs in two of its labor rooms, Taylor said. The hospital isn’t ready for water births just yet, but patients can take a dip during their stay.
Campbell said delivering her second daughter, Hunter, last month was a breeze compared to her first experience, when her stress was already exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The larger room accommodated more visitors, and a privacy curtain eased her fears that a coworker might walk in while she was breastfeeding her newborn. There was space to move around without hitting the reclining chair or the baby’s bassinet.
“It was much more comfortable,” she said. “We slept better this time.”
The post UNC Health Southeastern updates maternity ward with a focus on comfort appeared first on North Carolina Health News.
