GREENFIELD — The maternity center at Hancock Regional Hospital was recently named among the best in the nation in a study conducted by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization that assesses health-care providers throughout the country.
The findings were published in Newsweek last month, listing what The Leapfrog Group considered to be the top 217 hospital maternity centers in the United States.
The magazine partnered with Leapfrog to compile the list of hospitals that demonstrate excellence in maternity care. To be considered for the list, hospitals had to demonstrate they meet Leapfrog’s standards for excellence in maternity care: low rates of caesarean sections, episiotomy and early elective deliveries; and follow important protocols to protect moms and babies.
Theresa Lueder, assistant vice president of acute care and surgical services, said the award recognizes the hard work done by the health-care professionals involved in maternity services. “It was great to see our hospital and department spotlighted like that,” she said.
Lueder said hospital administrators routinely submit data to The Leapfrog Group group voluntarily, as a means of reviewing and improving its services.
The recent ranking published in Newsweek was the result of Hancock Health’s ongoing effort to improve and enhance the hospital’s maternity services, she said.
“A lot of the things that are in (Leapfrog’s study) are things we’ve been focusing on from the start,” said Lueder, such as supporting moms throughout their pregnancies and reducing the number of c-sections and other complications.
The hospital’s maternity unit is called the Andis Women and Children’s Department, named for the late Fanny Andis, who donated the land where the hospital was built in 1951.
“She wanted this community to have a women’s center so moms wouldn’t have to travel,” Lueder said.
Located on the hospital’s second floor, the center provides labor and delivery services, postpartum and hysterectomy care, as well as a Level 2 special care nursery.
The unit has four labor and delivery rooms and 14 additional patient rooms, which are all private. The center was remodeled about three years ago, with the goal of incorporating soft colors and a soothing environment, Lueder said.
The staff there deliver a little under 400 babies each year — including 362 last year — although they’re starting to see signs of a COVID-related baby boom.
“Usually after a recession or after a major event there is always somewhat of an uptick in baby booms,” Lueder said. “People have been isolated and in seclusion for the past year, so we’re already seeing it.”
No matter how many moms and babies come and go, Lueder said the staff is constantly focused on reviewing and enhancing its level of care.
When an increasing number of moms started turning to pre-term deliveries through planned c-sections and inductions, the staff at Hancock Regional made a more concerted effort to educate moms on the benefits of full-term deliveries.
Lueder was happy to report that the hospital has not had any early elective deliveries over the past four years.
“The goal is for moms to go the full 40 weeks. There’s a reason why you carry a baby that long, because you need the baby to grow and have everything it needs to develop,” she said.
The Andis staff has also worked to reduce the number of elective c-sections by first-time moms. All moms who have c-sections also have pneumatic compression devices placed on their legs until they’re up and walking around, to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis.
“A c-section is a surgical procedure that has risks and complications,” Lueder said. “We’re focused on being patient with a woman’s body as she goes through labor to reduce the number of c-sections.”
The staff is also working with physicians and delivering moms to practice methods that reduce the need for episiotomies, and has enhanced its jaundice screening methods for newborns as well.
“Everything we do is focused on giving the best outcomes to our moms and babies. That’s always our goal,” Lueder said.
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Last month, Newsweek magazine released its annual list of the best maternity hospitals in the U.S., which includes 217 hospitals in 36 states.
Newsweek partnered with The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization, to compile the list of hospitals that demonstrate excellence in maternity care. To be considered for the list, hospitals had to demonstrate they meet Leapfrog’s standards: low rates of C-section, episiotomy and early elective deliveries; and follow important protocols to protect moms and babies.
These Indiana hospitals that made the list:
DeKalb Memorial Hospital (Auburn)
Elkhart General Hospital
Hancock Regional Hospital
La Porte Hospital
Memorial Hospital of South Bend
Saint Joseph Health Mishawaka Medical Center
Hancock Regional also received an “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score rating last fall, one of 11 Indiana hospitals to receive an “A” rating for that period.
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