Dunlap Community Birthing Center is Tops
Released 2011-02-25
The Daily Record
Letters to the editor
February 25, 2011
Dunlap Community Birthing Center is Tops
Editor:
As a childbirth educator and doula, I help prepare parents for birth, informing them of their choices and equipping them to best handle their labor. I focus on parents making healthy choices prenatally, being informed consumers and avoiding interventions unless medically necessary.
As a doula, I attend births for extra support. I have attended births at Dunlap Community, Wooster, Pomerene, Aultman, Mercy, Akron City, Akron General and more.
Maternity care in the U.S. is in trouble. The cesarean rate is nearly 33 percent, having set record highs every year for the past decade, with more women than ever feeling traumatized after giving birth.
No one entity is to blame for this. It involves a number of factors, including parents not becoming informed about their choices, nutrition and prenatal care, our health care system, insurance companies, our legal system and a culture of fear around birth.
But one key ingredient can make a huge difference: Changing the atmosphere around the birthing woman. In an overall defensive environment, where fear of liability sometimes dictates medical decisions, Orrville has a shining beacon of light in the form of Dunlap Community Hospital. It is by far my favorite hospital in which to attend births.
I recently attended a labor at Dunlap Community that took an exceptionally long time. I am convinced had this couple chosen a large, impersonal teaching hospital, the outcome would have been very different. As it was, the choices were left in her hands and the respect and patience of the staff was unwavering. She delivered a healthy, happy baby and had no regrets.
The staff at Dunlap Community sets the standard for care for moms, babies and families. As a birth professional, I dream of the day when staff at every birthing facility respects mothers to the same degree as the Dunlap Community team. Every woman expecting a baby anywhere in the reasonable vicinity of Dunlap Community Hospital should investigate what they have to offer.
Large, beautiful rooms and birth tubs, including the option of water birth, are great places to start, but the most critical elements -- respect, kindness, compassion and support -- are unparalleled. Pregnancy is a vulnerable time, and while everyone deserves kindness and respect, it is especially critical for expectant mothers. At Dunlap Community, they know this, and they practice it.
Hats off and thank you to all the wonderful, caring nurses and care providers that make Dunlap Community what it is.
Katie Immel
Childbirth educator
Certified Birth Doula
Orrville