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Birth service ends

I received an e-mail Aug. 19 from Butler Memorial Hospital notifying me of the closure of the Maternal Services Program.

I know this decision is not open for discussion, but I am writing to pay homage to the great staff who worked at MSP since 1990. This program was truly an excellent and effective one, as evidenced by many statistical measures as well as patient satisfaction.

I had the pleasure of working there as a nurse-midwife for more than 13 years with these wonderful professionals, and I can speak firsthand to the excellent prenatal care that their clients received.

Many of the patients had multiple barriers to accessing care and their needs were often complex, but MSP provided continuous teaching and follow-up by the nurses and visits with a nurse-midwife, nutritionist and social worker all under one roof.

The staff took part in Healthy Beginnings Plus, encouraged women to stop smoking and to breastfeed, all measures shown to improve outcomes. The dedication, caring attitudes and attention to detail of all the staff were vital to the success of the program.

Added to that, treating patients with the respect they deserved, and sometimes the “tough love” they needed, kept them coming back for their visits. I always referred to the care provided at MSP as the Cadillac of prenatal care.

I can only hope that the administration looked long and hard at every possible option before making this decision. Who can say what the long term consequences will be, but discontinuing an effective program with proven results seems short-sighted and may do the Butler community a disservice in the long run. The expression “Penny wise and pound-foolish” comes to mind.

Lastly, the women who made up the staff are a treasure that should not be squandered. It was an honor and privilege to have worked with them. I urge BMH to find a place within their system for these talented professionals so that mothers and babies in Butler will not be deprived of their compassion, experience and collective wisdom in the years to come.

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