A hospital in northwestern Iowa is opting to expand its birthing center — going against the trend of ending labor and delivery services at many hospitals nationwide in 2023, RadioIowa reported Nov. 8.
Floyd Valley Healthcare, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Le Mars, Iowa, announced it will begin major construction in spring 2024 to expand its birthing center and other maternal services.
Currently, the facility delivers about 100 newborns each year, and the construction will allow it to expand its capacity to deliver more babies and support surrounding rural communities of Iowa that continue to lose birthing services.
It's a trend that dozens of hospitals around the nation have followed too — citing reasons that range from declining regional birth rates to the centers not bringing in enough revenue to sustainably operate.
Even down to the layout of the new rooms, Floyd Valley is aiming to make the experience of giving birth at the hospital more comfortable.
"Currently, moms, when they come in, will labor in a room and then once they're ready to progress to the end of delivery, they move into a delivery suite," Tara Geddes, RN, the chief nursing officer of Floyd Valley Healthcare, told RadioIowa. "This will allow them to stay in one room, so they’ll be able to labor there, deliver and then actually be able to stay in that room postpartum, so they don't have to move to different rooms."
The new rooms will also be much larger than current rooms — expanding from a footprint of 280 square feet per room to 411 square feet.