Lacombe Hospital (rdnewsNOW)

By Sheldon Spackman

Declining Numbers

No more baby deliveries at Lacombe Hospital

Dec 19, 2019 | 9:50 AM

Expecting mothers in Lacombe will now have to go elsewhere to deliver their babies.

Starting tomorrow (Dec. 20), babies will no longer be delivered at the Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre.

Kimberley Sommerville, AHS area manager for Lacombe and Bentley, says a decision has been made to cancel the Obstetrics Department due to declining use.

“The decision comes after lengthy review of our obstetrics services here on site and the birth rates at the facility as well as discussions with our physicians and staff, and patient feedback was also considered,” she explains. “We’re finding a decrease year-after-year of the number of babies being delivered on site. With obstetrics, it is a high-risk practice that requires our team to be trained and competent and have these specialized skills.”

To date, Sommerville notes 31 babies born at the Lacombe Hospital this year, down from 81 at this point last year, and 91 the year before.

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“Our patient safety and our patient experience is first and foremost and when you have such a decrease in the number of births at your facility, it’s harder to keep your competencies up, which you’ve been trained,” she points-out. “If you’re not seeing those births and getting that experience, it can be difficult and so this decision is related to patient safety solely, and not at all tied to any finances. There will be no job losses and no other impact to services on site.”

Sommerville says a growing number of Lacombe and area families are choosing to deliver their babies elsewhere for better access to surgical interventions if required.

“So if they needed emergency C-section or if they are wanting an epidural, those are services we cannot provide at our facility at this time,” adds Sommerville. “We are just providing the low risk deliveries and based on the decision of women to have that back-up which is offered in Ponoka and Red Deer, we were seeing a drop in the number of deliveries we had.”

Sommerville says discussions that lead to their decision, did include Ponoka and Red Deer.

“We were assured that Red Deer had capacity as their numbers were also down,” admits Sommerville. “Our physician group will continue to do prenatal care and there will be a process for them to be referred at a later stage in their pregnancy to another physician to support their delivery. But we’ll still be providing prenatal and post-natal care in the Lacombe area.”

Sommerville encourages expecting mothers to have a plan in place before delivery.

“Anyone that is planning to have children or is currently pregnant, make sure they have those conversations with their physician to line up their birth plan,” she exclaims. “I think that’s really what’s important.”