How closing Petaluma’s birthing center could affect home births

Denise Cobb has been a registered nurse with the Petaluma Valley Hospital obstetrics department for 25 years. She is also a doula – one who provides education, advice and support before, during and after childbirth.

But with last month’s announcement by Providence that the health care provider intends to close the hospital’s well-regarded Family Birthing Center, the future of midwives and doulas like Cobb – and of local mothers who may be forced to choose differently about how they give birth – is unclear.

According to Cobb and other professionals, home births are less safe without a hospital birthing center nearby. Should Petaluma’s birthing center close down, those who can may simply drive to Santa Rosa or Marin County to give birth, rather than give birth at home.

But less affluent families may have no better choice than attempting a more doable – but also riskier – birth at home.

For these and other reasons, Cobb is among many planning to rally on hospital grounds Feb. 15 in support of keeping the Family Birthing Center open, so that local expectant mothers always have a safe hospital setting to give birth in. The rally begins hours before the Petaluma Health Care District Board of Directors holds its next meeting to discuss the birthing center’s future, the third such meeting in the past month.

Cobb’s hope, she said, is that “Providence will realize how important Petaluma Valley (Hospital’s birthing center) is to Sonoma County and they will work with us to keep us open.”

Rebecca McLeod-Marquez, a certified nurse at Petaluma Valley Hospital who has helped deliver hundreds of babies there over the last 14 years, said the majority of the patients she sees are Spanish-speakers, many of whom would not have access to transportation if they needed to get to a birthing center quickly for emergency care.

“My patients are primarily under-served, under-insured folks,” she said. “Gas is really expensive, (and) a lot of our patients don’t have cars or are needing to get rides.”

McLeod-Marquez said she also sees mothers transferred to the hospital who need emergency care due to complications during home births.

“There are certain disastrous events that can happen in a pregnancy, like a placenta abruption or a water breaks and you have a cord prolapse – those things are situations where you want to have quick, quick access,” she said. “And even EMS will take a tremendous amount of time to get people to a place where they can safely deliver.”

With multiple birthing centers in Sonoma County closing, McLeod-Marquez and Cobb both said there’s a likelihood the region will see more expecting mothers opting for home births.

“Nonetheless, when you have one, you need somewhere safe to transport if that’s needed,” Cobb said.

Jessica Moore is a family nurse practitioner, associate clinical director and director of innovation at the Petaluma Health Center. Moore said it’s hard to predict how closing the Family Birthing Center would affect demand for home births overall, as some mothers may be frightened away from doing it, while others may feel it’s their best option.

“I had both of my children at home, and part of what made me feel comfortable giving birth at home is I knew that I had a hospital backup that was close by if I needed it,” Moore said. “So I’m not sure I would have made that choice if there wasn’t a hospital in town.”

McLeod-Marquez, who said she helped in the delivery of 335 babies at Petaluma’s Family Birthing Center last year alone, said closing the local birthing center would take away that potential backup, which in turn could put mothers and their babies at risk.

“I think home births are a great option for low-risk individuals, but you definitely need a relationship with an accepting hospital for transfers,” she said.

As Moore put it, “My hope is that Providence will do what it said it will do and keep the Family Birthing Center open so there are safe and supportive places for families to give birth.”

The upcoming rally in support of the Petaluma Valley Hospital Family Birthing Center will take place from 3 to 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Petaluma Health Care District board meeting room, immediately before the board convenes at 6 p.m. The meeting room is located on the hospital campus at 1425 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite 100.

Those wishing to submit questions or comments prior to the board meeting can email tpinochi@phcd.org. The board meeting agenda is available at phcd.org/agendas.php.

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.