# Help us Save our local Birth Center!!! Update#13



## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

If you need more info, follow the following Thread. Thanks in Advance for your support., any would be great, be it joining the facebook group,our thread or writing a letter in support of Birthcenters.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...9#post12564799

Save the Birth Center!!!

There is a very serious move to stop all births at the North Shore Birth Center. It is being recommended to the Board of Trustees of Northeast Health Corporation that all birth center patients be required to labor and birth at Beverly Hospital. NSBC would continue to provide Gyn and prenatal care at their current site.

On November 18th there will be a proposal to the Board of Trustees of Northeast Health Corporation to no longer allow women to labor or birth at the North Shore Birth Center.

The North Shore Birth Center was established in 1980 to meet the needs of 'low risk women' wanting an alternative to home and hospital births. Since then the North Shore Birth Center has birthed over 6,494 babies, providing quality, low cost, compassionate care in an alternative setting.

Letters in support of the North Shore Birth Center can be sent to your local paper and to:

Board of Trustees of The Northeast Health Corporation
c/o Mary Ellen Lear, Secretary
Beverly Hospital
85 Herrick Street
Beverly, MA 01915

For more information contact Pav Kneedler at [email protected]


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## barefootamy (Jan 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hipmummy* 
Northeast Health System's Board of Trustees
c/o Mary Ellen Lear, Secretary
Beverly Hospital
85 Herrick Street
Beverly, MA 01915

It should actually go to the *Board of Trustees of the Northeast Health Corporation*, the hospital has three different boards and the Northeast Health Corporation is the one deciding the fate of the birth center on the 18th, not the Northeast Health System. Thanks. We just want all of the letters to get to the right folks.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Thanks Amy, I changed it.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Article links:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33650813774

http://savethenorthshorebirthcenter.wordpress.com/

http://www.wickedlocal.com/beverly/n...e-birth-center

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/loca...secondarystory


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Stats
*NSBC stats for the last year*
Here are some of the statistics for the last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2007 - Sept. 30, 2008) for the NSBC:

Total number of births: 256
Births at the Birth Center: 110
Births at the hospital: 146

C/S rate overall: 18%
C/S rate for women starting labor at the Birth Center - 5%
C/S nationally - 31.3% in 2005 (and up since then, I am sure)
VBAC (vaginal birth after C/S) - 64%

Transfer rate (starting labor at Birth Center, transferring to hospital) - 21%
Most common reason for transport - Pitocin augmentation or induction
Induction rate - 5%
Augmentation rate - 23%

Episiotomy rate - 5%
Patients receiving epidurals - 29%
96% of mothers are breastfeeding upon discharge


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Update: The President/CEO has resigned. This may help us a lot.
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/loca...316121841.html


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

If anyone has any interest in coming to MASS for the Rally here is the info. I know it is early, but we need all the support we can get!! Thank You--Lisa

*COME TO OUR RALLY!* 6:30 a.m., November 18, in front of the North Shore Birth Center. Please arrive *no later than 6:30 a.m*., allowing yourself enough time to park on side streets and walk over. Board members meet at 7 a.m. and we want them to see our HUGE crowd as they arrive! Babies & children welcome!!!

or visit our website at
http://savethenorthshorebirthcenter.wordpress.com/

or check us out on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...0813774&ref=mf

Please let me know if you have joined the group or have written a letter, as we want to personally thank everyone for showing their support.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

from the Boston Globe. Some of the comments are interesting???
http://www.boston.com/news/local/art..._campaign=8315


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Please check out our petition! Thank You In advance!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/241/p...e-birth-center


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## wombatclay (Sep 4, 2005)

Moving this to Activism... good luck!


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Update:
We are almost at 800 signatures, WE NEED 1,000. Keep them coming, tell all of your family members and friends. Thank you in advance for all of your support!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/241/p...e-birth-center


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Thank you everyone we hit 900 signatures today! Only one hundred more to go, to reach our goal of 1,000. I am seeing many out of state names and I have a feeling a lot of them are fellow MDC mamas. Thank you for all your support!


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Hello Everyone, We are at 966 signatures! Only 44 more until we reach our Goal! Let's get to 1,000 before the day ends. Email everyone one you know who cares about women's Birth Choices. Thank You!









http://www.thepetitionsite.com/241/p...e-birth-center


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Hello Everyone, Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and sign our petition. We only need 8 more signatures to reach our goal of 1,000. We need to do this before Thursday. On Thursday the steering Committee will be meeting with some of the Hospital Admin. to discuss thepossible Closure of the North Shore Birth Center. If anyone has any advice or ideas please PM me ASAP as we want to hear from YOU! Thank You Again for all of your support!

Here is the link once again. If you have already signed, then have your partner sign or family,friends,co-workers, neighbors etc. Anyone who cares about woman's birth choices.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/241/p...e-birth-center


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## ~Boudicca~ (Sep 7, 2005)

It's at 995 now!


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

Thanks







honeydee


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

*The north shore birth center will remain open!.....*
With a glitch.....we still need to work some things out...Until then...Thank you to all for all of your support.

The Board of Trustees apparently met this morning to vote on the fate
of the North Shore Birth Center. The release sent to the press by the
hospital is below. Details about the "plan" are still vague, though
patients at the NSBC will apparently now receive fetal monitoring akin
to what a patient at the hospital would receive.

--christa

North Shore Birth Center to Remain Open
Northeast Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees Approves Plan to
Continue Services

(Beverly, MA) - The Board of Trustees of Northeast Hospital
Corporation announced today that they have approved a plan that will
keep the North Shore Birth Center open and allow the Center to
continue to provide services to women who are low-risk and prefer a
birth center approach to pregnancy and childbirth.

Trustee members worked diligently with hospital administration and
clinicians to develop and approve a plan that would allow for the
continued operation of the Birth Center on the campus of Beverly
Hospital. The Board recognizes the national trend of birth center
closings due to rising costs and has decided to take a proactive
approach and modify how care will be delivered at the Birth Center.
Patients delivering at the Birth Center will now receive fetal
monitoring during their delivery.

"I am pleased that we were able to find a compromise that would allow
us to keep North Shore Birth Center open to the community," said Dr.
Henry Ramini, President and CEO of Northeast Health System. "By making
this slight modification, we will be able to continue to provide this
valuable service."

In a time when healthcare costs are increasing for all hospital
services, the Board of Trustees continually evaluates the programs and
services provided throughout Northeast Hospital Corporation to ensure
that the highest quality of hospital care is available and delivered
to the community.

"The Trustees believe in the care that is rendered at the Birth Center
and believe that it is a safe birthing alternative for expectant
mothers in our community," said Nancy Palmer, Chairperson of the
Northeast Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees. "We recognize and
appreciate that the Birth Center is a special place for many families
and we are honored to continue to provide this unique birthing
alternative."

The North Shore Birth Center (NSBC) became the first freestanding
birth center in the northeast when it opened in 1980. It is a nurse-
midwifery practice, in collaboration with OB/GYN physicians, situated
on the campus of Beverly Hospital. The Certified Nurse Midwives
(CNMs) at the birth center also provide GYN care. The NSBC's CNMs
attend births at both the Birth Center and Beverly Hospital.


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