Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to One on One with Regional One Health, your inside look at how we're building healthier tomorrows for our patients and our community. Join us as we get to know some of the individuals who provide life-saving, life-changing care for our community and for expert insight that empowers you to achieve a lifetime of better health.

I'm Melanie Cole. And today, we're talking about childbirth care at Regional One Health with Lauren Russell. She's the Director of Nursing for Women's Services at Regional One Health, which includes the hospital's Labor and Delivery Center. Lauren, thank you so much for joining us today. Why don't you start by telling us about Regional One Health's Labor and Delivery Center? What can patients expect from your facility when they go to give birth?

Lauren Russell: Thanks, Melanie. You know, patients when they come here, they can expect a patient-centered family approach. We want to make sure that we don't just care for the mom. We want to make sure that we care for the whole family. We want to make sure that we give a voice to everybody in the room. You know, some of our patients will come with a doula, and we want to make sure that the doula feels like she's part of the care team, that the support person feels like they're part of the care team.

And we feel like that approach really creates a good relationship between the care team and the patient. And it makes us really centered on her goals. We want to make sure that we ask each mom that comes through our door, "What do you want this birth experience to look like?" Some of our moms come in with no plan and they just say, "Hey just help me get this baby out safely." And we say, "Absolutely, we're here to do that." But some of our moms do come with a very detailed list of things that they want to happen and things that they do not want to happen. We want to make sure that we go through those together, make a plan, and then do our very best to listen to those moms' birth preferences, to honor those birth wishes, to make sure that she has the experience that she's really hoping for.

Melanie Cole, MS: What a wonderful approach. As you say, the whole person approach and the whole family approach. That is lovely, Lauren. And it's such an exciting and also can be a little bit scary, right? Regional One Health recently started using the team birth approach. Now, you just spoke a little bit about it. What is that and how does it benefit the patients?

Lauren Russell: Team birth focuses on the mom's birth preferences. So even if you don't come in with a detailed birth plan, you still probably have an idea of some things that you want to happen or don't want to happen. So, maybe your birth preference is you want your baby to stay at your bedside the whole time. That's perfectly fine. We're happy to do that. Maybe you want the lights low or maybe you want to play music. That's perfectly fine with us. Maybe you don't want to be separated from your partner while you're here. We're okay with that, too. We just want to make sure that we stop intermittently and give you time to hear your options as well. We want to make sure that birth doesn't happen to the mom. We don't want to come in there just with physicians and nurses a-blazing and do things to the mom. We want her to be an active participant in how it all rolls out. We want our moms to have informed consent so that we give them the options. We want them to have body autonomy above all, to make sure that they understand what their options are, and that we ourselves as caregivers are good listeners and make sure that we hear the moms and then we do our best to ensure that we protect her experience.

You know, I think one thing that we've learned over time is that we really need to stop and think about the mom's birth experience. Because just having a healthy, happy baby, that can't be just the only goal. We need to think about the mom's social, emotional experience when she goes home. If she wasn't listened to, that impacts her experience.

And listen, sometimes we know that we don't always control things. Wild things happen in labor and delivery. But when those wild things happen, have we talked to that mom? Have we kind of debriefed with her what happened? We really have to think about the mom after she goes home and her experience and how she processes that and how she might perceive maybe some birth trauma if her birth preferences just didn't turn out like she had hoped.

Melanie Cole, MS: Well, that makes really good sense and such important points, Lauren. And Regional OneHealth, along those lines, also has a lot of resources for high-risk pregnancies and deliveries. Why is that so important to moms? Tell us a little bit about high-risk pregnancies and deliveries and how you help the families during those times.

Lauren Russell: Through our MFM Center of Excellence, our moms can get really great care. We want to make sure that we address the totality of the family. How's the dad feeling? How is the mom feeling? Or if the mom just has a support person with her, we want to make sure that we address them in that fashion, and we help them develop a good plan.

Maybe the mom needs some special services after she's discharged. Maybe the baby needs some special services, other surgeries, other disciplines that need to follow up. So, we want to make sure that we really involve all the other disciplines and have a good plan for this mother-baby couplet as they start their journey together.

Melanie Cole, MS: Lauren, tell us a little bit about your labor and delivery team, because, I mean, really that's what makes it for the mother, for the family, is this team approach. Who are the providers a patient works with? What makes your team so special?

Lauren Russell: I love that. I can with 1,000% certainty we have some of the best labor and delivery nurses you can find in this area. And I think that the word that encompasses them the best is advocates. And i say women because we have all women that work in labor and delivery, the nurses per se. These women are such fierce advocates for these families to ensure that their voice is heard, that the care is coordinated, the care is safe, the care is quality, and the care is exceptional.

You know, here at Regional One, our mission statement is to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we serve by providing compassionate care and exceptional service. And I can tell you every day that these ladies come to work, they live out this mission. And I think that's what sets us apart, is that we're not just here to get babies out and send them on to their next phase of care.

We're not just here to get these moms delivered and get them discharged. These folks come to work every day to invest in the health and wellbeing of the moms that we serve, and that's just so special to me, and it's what makes this place unique

Melanie Cole, MS: I love that you said that, because that is just the most important part, isn't it really? Making that mom feel cared for and heard and listened to because that is just what makes or breaks that birth experience.

Now, when you think about supporting patients throughout pregnancy and during the birth as we've talked about, but also after they give birth, I'd like you to speak a little bit about the before and after and even during it, Lauren. Are they allowed to have people in the room with them? Are they allowed to have more than one person? Tell us a little bit about the support that you give before they give birth, after, and during.

Lauren Russell: Absolutely. You know, even in the clinic setting, that's where our prenatal care starts. We want our moms and all of our patients to bring someone with them. We feel like that there's strength in numbers, especially when there's some teaching and some education that might need to happen. These moms are going through a lot physically, socially, and emotionally, and sometimes they need an extra voice with them to make sure that all the information is heard and digested and questions can be answered.

So, we always want our moms to have support, to have someone with them, and that's no exception in labor and delivery. We have an open door policy for our visitors. We want them to come be with their family members. And also, we love it when the little siblings come visit on postpartum. We want that family approach. We want Regional One to be a safe place for all of our moms and all of our families.

Melanie Cole, MS: If a woman is trying to decide where to give birth, what would you tell her about Regional OneHealth? Here is the opportunity to offer your best advice and really let people know why it's so unique, supportive, caring, and compassionate.

Lauren Russell: Regional One is really unique. We're the only place in our city that offers midwife care. And for the folks that engage in the midwife care, they feel so cared for individually. Our midwives are incredible. They just partner so much with our families to make sure that our moms get the care that they deserve.

And I will say, those midwives are primarily for moms a little bit more on the lower end of the risk spectrum, so they're really better suited for our lower risk moms. And a lot of times our midwife families, they want lower intervention, and our midwives are here for that. If you want a little bit of a slower pace, if you want that extreme connection, our midwives are such an incredible opportunity for you to partner with that kind of birth experience.

But for our moms that might need a little bit more medical care, we have an amazing NICU, and I cannot not mention our NICU team. We have the Sheldon B. Korones NICU here at Regional One, and it is a NICU full of mission-minded folks to grow these babies, to return these babies to the best health that they can, and also get these babies back in the arms of their parents and home where they belong.

These NICU nurses, they take such an investment in these babies. It's so beautiful when we see these parents come back and show off their healthy and well babies. And we get to say, "We all worked together for the common goal of getting this baby back to his or her family." So whether you are low risk and you want low intervention, we have a place for you. If you're middle of the road, you need some intervention, we have a place for you. And if you need high levels of intervention, we also have a place for you. And if your baby needs a certain level of care and help, we also have a place for you.

I just love that Regional One makes space for every spectrum of mom that you can imagine. There's a place for everybody here at Regional One. And with that place, we promise the same thing every time. We promise to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we serve by providing compassionate care and exceptional service.

Melanie Cole, MS: Wow, Lauren, that was beautifully said. I can just hear the passion in your voice for what you do for such a lovely person, and your patients are lucky to have you at their side and in their corner just cheering them on. So, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your incredible expertise.

And for more information, please visit our website at regionalonehealth.org/womensservices/laboranddelivery to get connected with one of our providers.

Thanks so much for making One on One with Regional One Health part of your journey to better health. Join us next time as we introduce you to another member of the Regional One Health family and cover another topic to keep you on the path to a healthier tomorrow.

I'm your host, Melanie Cole. And we'd like to invite you to download, subscribe, rate, and review One on One with Regional One Health on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and Pandora.