Moms, babies get new place to meet
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Western Pennsylvania Hospital officials considered incorporating three themes -- advanced technology and medical care, security and space -- when they thought of what the new maternity unit at Forbes Regional Campus in Monroeville would look like.
The Women and Infants Care Center, which opened Monday, was designed with the idea that technology enhances the process of childbirth while more space and comfort allows the expectant mother and family to enjoy a less stressful experience, hospital officials said.
Lake Fong, Post-GazetteJoseph and Jennifer Roberts, of Monroeville, with their baby, Mason, at the West Penn Hospital Forbes Regional campus maternity unit Friday.
Click photo for larger image.
The new $5.5 million maternity unit, housed on the fourth floor of Forbes Regional, has 11 suites furnished with birthing and postpartum beds, rocking chairs, built-in sleeper sofas for partners, flat screen TV sets, an entertainment center and a Jacuzzi.
"It almost sounds like a resort hotel and not a hospital delivery ward," said Dr. Mark Rubino, president of the West Penn medical staff.
But Dr. Rubino, an obstetrician and gynecologist for more than 20 years, said Forbes Regional simply was adapting to the standard of what hospitals and patients expect today.
"Women are now demanding a different approach to the kind of health care they receive, especially when it comes to childbirth and obstetrics," he said. "They are no longer interested in walking into cold, sterile rooms that intimidate them."
That is why there was a surge in home deliveries over the past couple of decades, Dr. Rubino said.
"At the time, women rebelled against hospitals because they didn't feel comfortable enough. The problem with home deliveries is that they did not offer the kind of emergency services available in most hospitals," he said.
Now, Dr. Rubino said, Forbes Regional will offer patients the comfort of a home and the security of top-notch emergency physicians and natal intensive care units.
The demand for change in approaches to obstetrics also was spurred by the changing demographics of women giving birth these days, he added. "We now have a lot of mothers who are older than before and they demand a lot of care and attention," he said.
With its new maternity unit, West Penn officials say Forbes Regional will be at the forefront of obstetrics and childbirth. For one thing, the maternity unit will be housed on the same floor, instead of two floors, said Stephanie Waite, a hospital spokeswoman.
"In the past, women would give birth on the second floor and then they would be moved to the fourth floor, where they would get all their postpartum rest and treatment. Now, all of that will happen on the same floor, where we're going to provide a comfortable environment and security for their babies," she said.
Mark Palmer, the president and chief executive officer of West Penn Hospital, said the new maternity unit at Forbes Regional demonstrated the hospital's commitment to women in Monroeville and in bedroom communities along the Parkway East.
This commitment, he said, stands in contrast to a recent trend in health care that has seen the closing of more and more maternity units in hospitals around the country and within the region.
West Penn's Forbes Regional stands alone as the major community hospital left with an operating maternity ward in the corridor between Monroeville and Pittsburgh, he said.
Furthermore, he said, the hospital's new maternity unit is the first phase of a $24 million initiative started a few years ago to enhance the quality of health care in Monroeville and surrounding communities.
Last year, West Penn refurbished the emergency room at Forbes Regional as a precursor of things to come, Mr. Palmer said. Funded through donations and the hospital's capital improvements foundation, the next step in West Penn's plans for Forbes Regional is a heart and vascular center.
The initiative marks the largest single construction effort in the hospital's history, Mr. Palmer said.
First Published May 17, 2007 6:44 am
