Baptist Golden Triangle breaks birthing records
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Baptist Golden Triangle is beating the odds in baby births.
Last month, the hospital reached a record-breaking number in baby deliveries – 108.
“For us, it means that we’re giving awesome care. That the area is loving the one-on-one care that we’re giving to Moms and babies here,” said Baptist Golden Triangle OB-GYN Dr. Pam Lacy.
It’s been more than a decade since the Columbus hospital delivered 100 babies in a single month.
Their average is 70 to 80 deliveries a month.
“I know that this is the most special day of their life here when they’re giving birth, and I’m just so thankful and grateful to be a part of that. And I want to make their experience awesome and everything they want it to be,” said Melynn Presley, a registered nurse in labor delivery at Baptist GT.
From labor delivery to nursery to post-partum staff, all hands are on deck when a baby is born.
OBGYN Dr. Pam Lacy said safety is a priority in healthy baby deliveries.
“Number one, an awesome staff that cares and loves about the patients. We really try to give women a great birth experience, where the Mom is safe, the baby is safe, but they do have some autonomy in their care.”
The hospital’s success comes just a few months after The Mississippi State Department of Health declared a public health emergency on infant mortality.
The Baptist staff points to an increase in patients from surrounding counties for the record numbers.
“I’m assuming that the birth rate must be up right now, but I do feel like we are getting women from other counties, other areas that are actually seeking out our hospital because of the care provided, because of the safe birth they can have at this hospital,” said Presley.
Nurses said the only challenge they faced in the last month was finding rooms for the overflow of patients.
“We have been overfilling at some points. We do have mothers that come in for scheduled inductions and at some points, their inductions may have been put off scheduled to a later time or later date,” said Presley.
And though numbers remain high, Baptist staff says they are still educating their patients on how to care for their babies after birth to help prevent infant mortality.
Baptist expects to be above its yearly average of child births this year.
