Mothers, nurses fear loss of rural Oregon birthing centers

SWEET HOME Ore. (KPTV) - Nurses are demanding that birthing centers stay open in some more rural parts of Oregon. They called on Samaritan Health Services not to shut down maternity wards in Lincoln City and Lebanon at a rally Wednesday afternoon.

These possible closures of birthing centers are just the most recent in a nationwide trend. According to the March of Dimes, one in 25 obstetric units have shut down over the past two years.

And while it can be concerning to read about those kinds of stats, it can be devastating when it hits close to home.

Accompanied by a midwife, Aubree Tocher gave birth to her fourth child at her house in Sweet Home. But while baby Brynlie was happy and healthy, all was not well with mom.

“After delivery, my placenta would not detach,” says Tocher. “And so, there was blood loss that was happening.”

Tpcher was rushed into the operating room at Samaritan Hospital with specialists from the Girod Birth Center on hand to perform the surgery. In total, Tocher lost 60% of her blood, over three liters in total.

“My peace comes from knowing that it was in place, like it was there and that everyone knows what they were doing, and they were ready to help.”

But in the face of mounting financial pressures across the healthcare industry, Samaritan Health Services is considering closing birthing centers like the ones in Lebanon and Lincoln City.

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Michelle Steinhebel, the Lebanon City Council President, said in a city council meeting that she spoke with Samaritan’s CEO, Marty Cahill, and understands that while the closures are under consideration, they are not a done deal.

Samaritan Health Services operates five hospitals and serves 300,000 people across the state. A spokesperson tells FOX 12, “At this time, no votes are scheduled to close the birthing centers,” and that while they are looking at making cuts to general surgery, orthopedics, women and children’s and urology, that “no final decisions have been made.”

“There’s a lot of fear involved for the women in this area just to have to travel farther, because of course we all want it to go well,” says Tocher.

If the birthing center in Lebanon was closed when Tocher needed it, she would have had to travel more than twice as far for help, to either Albany or Eugene.

“Your worst-case scenario, though I hate to talk about it, if you’re driving for 40 or 50 minutes in an ambulance while bleeding, could be that you literally bleed to death on the way,” says Elizabeth Baer.

Baer was Tocher’s midwife. She knows that when a birth becomes an emergency, mothers may not consider whether or not a hospital has specialized staff.

“And I think one concern is that people will still go there, even if the birth center were not available, and ER staff will have to handle things that are not appropriate for them,” says Baer.

For now, the medical staff at the Girod Birthing Center, like nurse Stefanie McDougal, are bracing for the worst.

“Just walking down the halls, you see how important they are to our community. It is devastating,” says McDougal. “We’re not just talking about life and death situations. We’re talking about just daily care to make sure they’re safe and healthy, that they don’t get to those life and death situations.”

The birthing centers in Lebanon and Lincoln City each provide a whole suit of services beyond just delivery. McDougal fears that closures will mean new delays in patting patients to treatment.

“Babies don’t wait. Emergencies don’t wait. Mothers at risk for death don’t wait. They need care now.”

Senators Merkley and Wyden, along with Representative Val Hoyt, sent a letter to the Samaritan Health Services CEO urging him not to close the two locations. The lawmakers called on Samaritan to “engage in transparent process with the community before making any changes to the labor and delivery services it provides.”

In statements to FOX 12, the healthcare system has committed to doing just that, but closures are clearly not off the table.