It’s not often you hear of a hospital room being so large that someone considers inviting their whole family up for a Super Bowl party, but that was just the kind of comment nurses at the W. Steve Worthy Maternity Center were hearing from the first patients admitted to Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton’s newest space.
On the Monday after the big game, the hospital began to admit patients to the maternity center’s newly remodeled, expanded postpartum unit, leaving behind a space the unit had occupied since the mid-1980s.
“The old unit was very small, very cramped, and there was no room to walk at all,” said Jennifer Beam, who recovered from the delivery of two of her three children — Lee, 10, and Caydi, 8 — in the former postpartum unit before experiencing the new space following the birth of her third child, Charlie. “The new space is a lot nicer. There’s a lot more sunlight, a lot more space. The bathrooms are more spacious. The whole atmosphere is completely different.”
The unit was carved from existing space within the hospital. It expands the number of postpartum and women’s care beds from 17 to 22. Each room is larger than those in the former unit, providing more space for patients — and the groups of visitors who line up to see the new arrival.
It took about three months to fully renovate the space, according to Patti Gill, RN, a nurse manager at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton’s W. Steve Worthy Maternity Center.
“A delivery is a special time, and families want to be involved in welcoming the new additions,” said Gill. “With this new unit, we’re better able to accommodate that, along with the partners who want to room-in and be there for the new mothers and babies.”
Along with the larger, more modern rooms, the new unit also offers a spacious new waiting room for visitors. A new educational space for Tanner’s recently-revamped, free prenatal education classes and an outpatient lactation room for consultations with the unit’s internationally certified lactation consultants were also added in the remodel. The unit is secured, with limited public access and specialized security features to ensure the safety of the maternity center’s smallest patients.
According to Gill, the nursing staff is receiving lots of compliments from patients who love the big windows and stylistic touches.
“We’ve had more than one say they felt like they were recovering in a very nice hotel,” said Gill. “But that’s what we were going for — not just to give patients more room, but to make them more comfortable, too.”
Beam said she was aware that the hospital had changed since she delivered her last child eight years ago, but wasn’t completely expecting to see how nice the new maternity center was.
“I had a friend who delivered at Tanner about three years ago, so I was able to go through then and see some of the renovations at the hospital, and I was very impressed,” said Beam. “The new space for mothers, though, was very nice.”
And it’s not just about the facilities, either.
“Being a mother — especially your first time — can be really frightening,” said Beam. “You feel like you have so much you need to learn. But the nurses at Tanner have always been so good to take the time to teach you, and share with you what they know, and that gives you a lot of confidence when you leave with your baby. And if you need them, you know they’re available to help.”
Along with mothers recovering from a delivery, the space will also be used to provide specialized care for women recovering from surgeries and other illnesses.
The revamped postpartum unit isn’t all that’s new with Tanner’s maternity program — the health system’s obstetrics and pediatrics specialists have worked with nurse educators in recent months to revamp the health system’s prenatal classes as well, consolidating a wealth of information into two free, four-hour “boot camps” hosted at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica. Tanner’s Pregnancy Boot Camp class focuses on such topics as understanding labor; comfort techniques; understanding medical procedures; Cesarean birth and recovery; and more. The Baby Care Bootcamp covers understanding newborns; choosing a pediatrician; emotional and physical changes to the body after delivery; and understanding breastfeeding, including how it works, positioning and latching on, when to feed your baby and getting enough milk. Mothers-to-be can register for these free classes online at www.tanner.org/maternityclasses.
More information on Tanner’s maternity services, including the maternity centers at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, is available at www.TannerMaternityCare.org.
Top photo: Kasey Cook and newborn son Duke took advantage of the spacious new postpartum unit at the W. Steve Worthy Maternity Center at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton. The number of postpartum beds at the hospital grew from 17 to 22, and each room is larger than those in the former unit, offering more space for patients, partners — and the visitors who line up to see the new arrivals.
Bottom photo: The nurses station in the new postpartum unit is as lovely as the rest of the revamped space.