Activity at the Family Birthing Center Increasing

Dr. Christian Gagné gives a check up to ten-day old baby Madison, daughter of Tracy and Christopher Melanson.

For over a year now, five young physicians, two ladies and three gentlemen, have made up the team of physicians of the Family Birthing Center at the Hawkesbury & District General Hospital. Since then, the activity at the Center has been increasing steadily. From 342 deliveries in 1999 and 327 in the year 2000, the number has increased to 363 in 2001. There has already been 167 babies delivered since January 1st 2002, 30% of which come from the hospital clientele from the Province of Québec and 70% from Ontario.

The mother-to-be who is followed by the obstetric team can be assured of attentive care from the doctors as well as the nursing personnel.

The Center offers modern birthing rooms, most of them with whirlpool baths, thus providing moms with a means to relax in order to relieve the pain during labor.

Several methods are offered to alleviate the pain. Mom- to- be can choose between medication or non-pharmacological methods for controlling pain, like breathing, positions, therapeutic bath, or even accepting an epidural analgesia. Three anaesthetists are on-call around the clock to offer this service and another one will join the team in September. It is interesting to note that approximately 38% of respondents to a recent survey have chosen the epidural analgesia while 62% preferred the other methods.

One of the main goals of the nursing and medical personnel of the Family Birthing Center is to increase the percentage of breast-fed babies to eventually reach 85% of the center's clientèle. Presently the last statistics indicate that upon discharge from the hospital, the percentage of breast-fed babies was 63% for mothers coming from the Eastern Ontario area and 66.5% for those residing in the Western Quebec area. A breast-feeding support program is offered to all the moms who so desire. They also receive all the relevant information concerning the Community Services (La Lèche League, maman allaite or halte-allaitement).

The resources of the Center are utilized in a quality control process while ensuring continuum care with the partners of the community, namely the personnel of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit for the mothers residing in the Province of Ontario and the CLSC for those residing in the Province of Québec.