Smoothing the Bumpy Road to Parenthood

Declining maternity services in small-town America is an ongoing struggle. McLaren Northern Michigan is creating a comfortable birthing experience that’s closer to home.

by LISA BLAKE

Pregnant women in rural America are facing more barriers than the last generation of expectant mothers. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate, many shutting down obstetric (OB) units first, while the post-pandemic shortage of health professionals continues to surge.

A 2021 Harvard Medical School study linked the rise of maternity care deserts—or geographic areas where access to safe maternity care is hundreds of miles away—to a substantial increase in maternal and infant mortality rates. Since 2005, the study states, there have been 170 rural hospital closures, with even more rural hospitals operating at a deficit.

McLaren Northern Michigan is working to change that narrative. The 202-bed regional hospital in Petoskey serves 22 counties across northern Lower Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula. In 2022, the hospital’s Family BirthPlace welcomed more than 400 babies with a monthly high of 50 babies born at McLaren in December alone.

McLaren Northern Michigan Director of Marketing & Business Development Joe Miles says he’s seeing mentalities shift from families feeling the need to drive two hours south for NICU access—to cover any possible complications—to more and more mothers confidently staying local for the entire birthing journey.

“What we’re proving is that not only can we handle births, but we also have surgeons available and can handle anything from a C-section standpoint,” Miles says. “You can stay close to home, have your support system with you and be able to have that child locally the way you’d like to.”

The birthing team at McLaren Northern Michigan provides compassionate care, welcoming mothers to hotel-like birthing rooms—think cozy sleeper sofas, birthing balls, hydrotherapeutic Jacuzzis, WiFi and blanket warmers. After baby arrives, families stay together in one of 10 postpartum rooms where the same nurse cares for mother and baby. A lactation consultant makes rounds to nursing mothers to help support all nursing efforts and to help troubleshoot any feeding issues that may arise.

“We have great nurse-to-mother coverage, and we have beautiful private rooms overlooking the lake,” Miles says. “It’s a very nice place to be able to have a baby.”

The Family BirthPlace at McLaren Northern Michigan recently elevated the birthing experience with the addition of two nitrous oxide units as a pain management option. Nitrous oxide is combined with oxygen in a fixed 50/50 blend and is self-administered through a bedside system. The light blend wears off right away and helps mothers cope with anxiety and discomfort during labor. Family BirthPlace began offering this option in December and has received lots of positive feedback from mothers about their experience.

“Birthing centers in Europe have been using nitrous oxide since the 1960s,” Miles says. “Now it’s catching on in America, as more and more mothers are looking toward natural birth. Instead of injections and being knocked out of the experience through an epidural, they’re using nitrous oxide to ease the discomfort.”

Once families return home with their newborn, they’re welcome to call Family BirthPlace nurses anytime during those first few weeks to ask important questions. Follow-up calls from a lactation consultant extend the breastfeeding support for as long as is needed.

McLaren Health Care encompasses 11 Michigan-based hospitals, including the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, and is leading the fight against breast cancer with McLaren Breast Center’s state-of-the-art mammography systems.

Learn more about McLaren Health Care at mclaren.org and listen in on McLaren’s weekly “In Good Health” podcast for intel on leading a healthier life.

Your relationship with money is very personal. And complicated. Easy access to credit cards, lingering college debts, rising inflation costs and volatile markets can eat away at your emotional, physical and fiscal health.

Harmful behaviors can often show up as focusing on regret— regret of not starting to save sooner, of a bad purchase or investment decision and shoddy financial relationships. That pit of regret may leave you frozen and unable to make decisions and move forward. When financial stress starts to disrupt your ability to enjoy life and causes anxiety, depression or even headaches and stomachaches, it’s time to talk to a financial professional.

“Often financial stress comes from the shame of thinking you ‘should’ be better off or further along, regretting decisions you made or debt you’ve accumulated,” says hemming& Wealth Management certified financial planner Autumn Chalker Soltysiak.

In addition to mental anguish, money-related stress can begin to manifest in the body as physical ailments and self-harming habits. Overeating or stress eating, insomnia, weakened immune systems and unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use can crop up when stress about money elevates to an unmanageable level.

HOW TO COPE?

Finding a holistic-minded financial expert allows you to start with understanding your current situation and finding out what’s important to you.

Takeaway Tip: The first step is to track your spending and outline a spending plan—one you’ll actually follow.

After that, building an emergency fund will put you in control of your finances. “If you’re in a relationship, this is also a time where open communication between partners and an understanding about a strategy for the future is necessary,” Soltysiak says.

To build financial confidence, hemming& uses a three-step