Date: Fri 23-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

health-CCWC-birth-center

Full Text:

Connecticut Childbirth and Women's Center: A Place Where Childbirth Is A

Family Affair

(with cuts)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

DANBURY -- Tracey Dean knew she wanted to use a midwife for the birth of her

third child. She thought she would have to make a choice between delivering in

a hospital or at home.

But by the time Mrs Dean, 30, gave birth to her son, Wyatt, last August 26,

the Connecticut Childbirth and Women's Center (CCWC) had opened directly

across the street from Danbury Hospital.

"The birth center was a wonderful experience," Mrs Dean recalled this week in

an interview at her Sandy Hook home. "Everyone dotes on you. The midwives are

there for you all the time, but they're not intrusive. Your family is there --

it's a very moving experience for everyone."

CCWC was founded on the philosophy that pregnancy and childbirth are natural,

healthy, joyful parts of family life that should be celebrated. Because

hospitals are designed to care for the very ill, traditional hospital-based

obstetrical care has a more institutional focus that does not appeal to women

like Mrs Dean, women who are searching for a more natural experience

unfettered by what they consider excessive medical technology.

At first glance, there is nothing at the 2,900-square foot birth center at 94

Locust Avenue that remotely resembles a medical facility. There is a quiet

living room and lending library; a great room with sofas, television, and VCR;

a fully equipped kitchen and dining area; and two large birthing rooms with

queen-size beds, rocking chairs, and private bathrooms with relaxing whirlpool

tubs and oversize massage showers. Open the doors of the bedroom armoires,

however, and you will find stethoscopes and other medical supplies, although

discretely hidden from sight.

Both of the center's certified nurse-midwives, Rhonda Johnson and Cathy

Parisi, are registered nurses who have completed a post-graduate program

specializing in midwifery. They have passed a national certification

examination and met requirements set by state health agencies.

Locating A Midwife

Tracey Dean and her husband, Eric, a computer specialist, have moved several

times since they were married six years ago. After the birth of their first

child, Kori, in a hospital in New Jersey four years ago, Mrs Dean said she was

determined to have a more natural birth.

"I find hospitals to be clinical, intrusive, and they push intravenous drugs

like epidurals," she explained. For the birth of her second daughter,

McKenzie, 2, in Pennsylvania, Mrs Dean located a doctor who had a midwife on

his staff.

"He wound up delivering McKenzie in a hospital but it was more like what I

wanted," Mrs Dean said. "So when we moved back to Connecticut, I started

calling around to find a midwife."

At that time, the closest birth center was located in Peekskill, N.Y., a

45-mile trip. But Kenneth Blau, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist who lives in

Newtown, and his associates, Patricia Whitcombe, MD, and Pamela Gilmore, MD,

were in the midst of the process of getting state approval and licensing to

open the birth center.

Dr Blau said he was familiar with midwifery because he trained with midwives

when he did his hospital residency. After Dr Whitcombe joined his practice,

the two obstetricians agreed women should not have to leave Connecticut to

have access to a birthing center. When the building which formerly housed The

Diet Center across the street from the hospital became available two years

ago, the physicians agreed that was the perfect location for a free-standing

birthing center.

Care provided by the nurse-midwives at the birth center includes not only

prenatal, labor and delivery, postpartum, and breastfeeding consultation, but

also well-woman gynecology, contraceptive and preconception counseling,

perimenopausal services and education.

Since the center opened August 1, seven women have given birth there, attended

by a midwife. Other women have used the facility for all of their prenatal

visits, then opted to deliver in the hospital, attended by a midwife. The

consulting physicians, who have admitting privileges at Danbury Hospital, are

on call to assist if complications arise.

"We only do the lowest of low risk deliveries in the birth center," Mrs

Parisi, who is also a registered nurse, said. "If a woman is expecting twins,

has had a C-section or has any medical complications, we go across the street

to the hospital to deliver."

In Mrs Dean's case, the fact that she had episodes of bleeding during her

pregnancy did not prevent her from delivering in the birth center.

"I had ultrasounds every other week," she said. "I stopped bleeding in my

seventh month and the condition was not considered a risk. But I keep in very

good shape; I'm a runner, I work out every day and do step aerobics."

Personalized Care

"Women come to us because of the personalized care," Cathy Parisi said. "It is

very one-on-one. The woman's first visit is 90 minutes, at which a full

patient history and physical exam is done, and each subsequent visit is a half

hour. We do a lot of teaching about nutrition, exercise and discuss plans for

the birthing experience."

"We never leave women alone [during labor], never separate them from their

families, never take the baby away to weigh and clean it. Women give birth

with people they know and in a place they know and are comfortable with," Mrs

Parisi said.

"A woman can give birth in any way that is comfortable for her -- in bed, in a

birthing chair, even under water in the jacuzzi. As long as she and the baby

are safe, she should be allowed to do what she wants."

For Tracey Dean that meant having her family and one of her best friends close

at hand.

"My mom was having a glass of wine [in the great room], my children were

playing on the floor. My father and stepmother were there with my two younger

brothers," Mrs Dean said. "Eric's parents arrived, bringing dinner: a Mexican

casserole to cook in the kitchen, a salad, and wine. It was almost like a

party. As soon as Wyatt was born at 7:47 pm, I saw all these heads peeking in

the door."

After the birth, while her family members took turns cuddling the baby, Mrs

Dean took a shower and got ready to leave.

"I left at 11 pm. It was like a drive-by birth," she said, laughing. "But

that's exactly what I wanted."

Prenatal and home care classes have prepared the new mother and father for

what to expect in the days following childbirth. The midwife makes a housecall

between 24 and 36 hours after the birth to do a follow-up check and there are

daily phone calls for several days afterwards.

A Matter Of Choice

There are over 5,200 certified nurse-midwives in America; they assist in

approximately 207,000 births per year. A study in the New England Journal of

Medicine in 1989 concluded that birth centers are just as safe as hospitals

for low-risk women, and the Department of Health and Human Services concluded

in 1992 that "the quality of certified nurse-midwife care is equivalent to

physicians' care within their area of competence."

The cost of delivering at a birth center is about half that of a hospital

birth in Connecticut, Dr Blau said, but that usually is not why a birth center

is selected.

"These are [pregnant] women with a real commitment," he said. "They tend to be

well-educated, many are affluent, and most could deliver free at any

Connecticut hospital. But they have turned their back on conventional hospital

care. The whole issue is one of choice."

The CCWC conducts orientation programs and tours for prospective clients and

offers an increasing number of classes which are open to the general public.

"We plan to add classes in infant massage, we will have an exercise therapist

for pregnancy and post-partum, and there has been interest in yoga, herbs and

other subjects," Cathy Parisi said.

For information about the birth center, classes and tours, call 748-6000.