GRMC awaits new birthing beds

Greater Regional Medical Center will soon house updated birthing equipment in the form of beds come November.

The birthing beds were approved by the Greater Regional Medical Center Board of Directors during the August meeting held at the hospital.

The four Stryker birthing beds will replace the four current beds that have been housed in the obstetrics birthing center at Greater Regional since before 2012.

“A birthing bed is a bed that mothers will labor, deliver and recover in,” said Jill John, Greater Regional birthing center nurse manager. “They have not been replaced for a long time, since before the tornado. And, just like with any hospital, they just wear out. These have worn out.”

The beds, which are lighter than the current ones and therefore will be easier to move, cost between $16,000 and $17,000 each, but are specially made to accommodate women in the throes of labor.

“The important thing about them is that when mothers get ready to deliver, the end of the bed comes off,” John said. “The old ones were safe for patient care, but for optimal patient care, we wanted new beds ... They were safe, but in the long run, they weren’t going to last a lot longer.”

The beds have been ordered and are scheduled to arrive sometime in November. The beds come with specially made sheets for both the main and removable parts of the bed. Other amenities include cushions within the bed that puff up or deflate to allow the patient more personalized comfort and a “scoocher,” which will allow the patient to move down toward the end of the bed during birth without having to be lifted.

The old beds will either be sold or donated to a third-world country in need of equipment.

OB

Recently, Greater Regional’s obstetrics center has been making various improvements in equipment purchases, policy changes and procedure updates.

“We’re getting lots of equipment and updating it. With Dr. (Toby) Marshall coming, our OB/GYN (obstetrics and gynecological specialist), he has suggested a lot of updates,” John said.

“One of those new things was the epidurals,” added LouAnn Snodgrass, GRMC executive director.

According to John and Snodgrass, the hospital is at an approximate 50 percent epidural rate for all patients.

John and Snodgrass also said the birthing numbers at Greater Regional have increased since this time in 2015. As of Sept. 6, the number of births in 2016 was 105. At this time in 2015, the number hadn’t broken 100.

“We’re 10 babies ahead. I know that doesn’t seem like much, but I think it’s great,” John said. “I think people are wanting to stay home, and I think it’s because of the services that we’re offering so our numbers are up.”

In August, all four birthing rooms, as well as the two Cesarean-section rooms were utilized simultaneously, making the month the busiest for the birthing center. John expects October to be just as busy for Drs. Lonny Miller, MD, Kristin Bolinger, DO, and Toby Marshall, MD OB/GYN, the delivering doctors.

“I just love working in the birthing center, and I cannot say enough about how the staff loves to do it,” John said. “They are very good to work with. They are extremely dedicated and very workable.”

While in labor and during delivery, a nurse only has one female patient to work with. After delivery, a nurse only works with two female patients, something the staff at Greater Regional is proud of.

“Greater Regional has a history in the past several years of being state-of-the-art, both in delivery of care outcomes (making sure we have the appropriate equipment for patient safety) and making sure the patient experience is at the highest level possible,” Snodgrass said. “These beds will bring the increased safety right in line with our mission to deliver the highest-quality health care.”