by Mike Bush
The Labor and Delivery Department at Roswell Regional Hospital is a family-friendly facility, according to its manager.
Each birthing room has a baby crib where the newborn can be kept much of the time, and visiting hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, according to Sheila Luttrull, RNC, BSN, WHNP, nurse manager of the Women’s Center at Roswell’s only locally owned hospital.
Each room also has its own private bath, she added.
The department has six rooms— three with tubs for mothers who want water births and three without tubs — in which mothers can receive care during labor, delivery and recovery as well as post-partum care. Mothers typically spend anywhere from 8 to 24 hours in the hospital for a normal vaginal delivery without complications, Luttrull said.
“The midwives are really very good at prepping their patients beforehand and doing some screening to see which ones would be best suited to go home early if they desire,” she said. “That’s usually the moms who’ve had children already and are comfortable with self care and newborn care.”
Mothers who must deliver by cesarean section, in which the baby is delivered through a surgical opening in the mother’s abdomen, usually stay 48 to 72 hours, Luttull added. Labor and Delivery has its own operating room suite for cesarean births.
The hospital’s nursery is a Level 2 nursery, which can accommodate “low-risk” medical care such as providing stabilization, antibiotics and oxygen. There are pediatricians on call 24 hours 7 days a week if needed.
Local obstetrician/gynecologists do a good job of screening prospective mothers and sending those whose babies may need intensive care, usually because they are being born early, to the facilities in Albuquerque, which have neonatal intensive care units, Luttrull said.
After a baby is born, if the baby is very ill and needs intensive care, he or she is flown to Albuquerque to a facility with neonatal ICU, she said.
The nursery is the responsibility of Toni Ross, RN, newborn care coordinator. It has 10 beds, including 3 special-care beds for babies who need additional medical care.
Ross has been involved with the hospital nursery since its inception, helping to develop it.
“I love my job, so I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Ross said. “I’m just really happy working at Roswell Regional Hospital. It’s been my baby from the very beginning. I can’t imagine working anywhere else.”
Babies don’t usually spend much time in the nursery itself, Ross said.
“Usually babies stay with the mom in the room except when the physicians come in and want to examine them, or if the mom is tired and wants us to care for the baby while they rest,” Ross said.
Helping Ross during the day is Lori Spicer, RN, day-shift charge nurse.
“She helps all over the unit and runs the unit for the most part during the day,” Luttrull said.
Security in the nursery is tight, according to Luttrull. There is a white board in each room, with the names of the nurse, nurse aide and a tag color for the day. Only those employees with the proper color tag for a specific day have access to a baby. Tag colors are changed each day.
Photos are taken of each baby for security reasons, Ross said. The baby’s family also can order copies of the photos.
Labor and Delivery has a triage unit to treat patients who believe they are in labor, Luttrull said.
“When patients come in and think they are in labor, we’ll put them in observation for a little while to make sure the baby’s doing OK, to see if they’re dilated, and to determine if there are any problems. Then the provider is called and decides if the patient is in active labor,” she said. “Then we’ll go ahead and put them in a room. Sometimes we’ll let them walk a while and see if [labor] kicks in and sometimes they go home.”
The observation room has its own ultrasound machine so doctors can do a quick check of the baby if needed.
The Labor and Delivery Department offers several services to mothers and prospective mothers. Ross said they do hearing screenings, not only for babies born at Roswell Regional but also for infants on an outpatient basis. The hospital also sells Moby wraps, which can be used after discharge from the hospital. They wrap around the baby and mom to allow mothers to carry the infant and leave their hands free. The physical therapy department has maternity support belts for pregnant women if their provider feels they need extra abdominal support.
The hospital also offers prenatal classes taught by Annie Nelson, RN, of the New Mexico Health Department. Courses meet on five consecutive Wednesdays or all day Saturday at the hospital. Interested participants can call Connie Moya at ext. 330 for more information.
Rowell Regional also has a lactation consultant, Kathy Cooper, RN, who helps new mothers with breast-feeding.
Prospective mothers who want to check out the facilities may get a tour of the Labor and Delivery Department by requesting one at the hospital’s front desk, Luttrull said. Tours depend on whether the department has a vacant room not being used; often all rooms are full.
There were 497 births at Roswell Regional from Jan. 1 through June 30, Luttrull said, and another 26 or 27 in the first week of July. Those numbers put the hospital on track to deliver many more babies than in 2008, when 924 babies were born at the hospital. Typically, about 1,100 babies are born in Chaves County each year.
CONTACT: Mike Bush, 575-317-6249