Midwives, Mothers Oppose Maternity Center's End
By ANDREA ADELSON

Photo by Greg O'Loughlin Midwives Snell & Sherwood at Tuesday's Council meeting

Two midwives, about 25 baby-carrying mothers and a half-dozen staff nurses from South Coast Medical Center politely stormed City Hall on Tuesday, pleading with the City Council to intercede and halt the looming closure of the hospital's maternity center.

The planned closure most immediately affects about 120 expectant clients of B.J. Snell and Lisa Sherwood, licensed midwives of Beach Cities Midwifery, based in Laguna Beach and San Clemente, respectively. For the last six years, the midwives together have delivered about 100 babies a year at South Coast, the only facility in the county where they are granted hospital privileges.

Women from Santa Clarita to San Diego trek to South Coast in order to give birth without drug intervention, but with immediate access to hospital services in case of emergencies, as demanded by insurers. "This puts our practice in jeopardy," said Sherwood, who has applied for similar privileges at Irvine Regional Medical Center and Saddleback Memorial Hospital.

In an interview after the meeting, Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman held out a slim hope the maternity ward could be saved. "They need 100 babies a month," she said, which is twice the current volume of 30 births per month. "We have the power to stop it," she said, if patients demand that their doctors, who generally maintain privileges at several hospitals, provide their services through South Coast rather than elsewhere.

Photos by Greg O'Loughlin Parents and their children protested the planned closure of the South Coast Medical Center's maternity center at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

"We can lose this hospital piece by piece," said Kinsman, noting that the difficulties of the hospital's maternity ward are a more exaggerated reflection of the entire institution's continuing struggle to compete with nearby hospitals that have negotiated more lucrative reimbursement rates with insurers for procedures.

Last week, the hospital's top administrator announced the planned closure of the 13-bed maternity center with ocean views by May 31. The unit has not operated in the black for a decade and losses have accelerated, amounting now to $100,000 a month, Chief Executive Bruce Christian said. "It's a business decision based on necessity," he said. "I have to deal with financial reality."

The hospital's marketing efforts to woo young families, particularly in nearby Aliso Viejo, has failed to attract childbearing mothers. "It's very, very competitive; Mission and Saddleback are closer to where the younger families are," Christian said. Elizabeth Schneider, the hospital's marketing director, defended her efforts, which specificallytargeted Aliso Viejo with newspaper advertising and magazines sent its younger demographic households.

Other trends may be luring expecting mothers elsewhere. Older mothers with higher risk pregnancies seek neo-natal facilities that South Coast lacks. In addition, natural deliveries are inconvenient for physicians who want to avoid after-hours calls.

During the council's public comment period, some mothers and fathers loyal to the midwives expressed skepticism about the hospital's outreach efforts and urged the town to protect a scarce resource that reflectsits culture.

"If you have a product that is superior to competitors you should market it, not abandon it," said father Devon Cutchins of Dana Point, who described the hospital as "the jewel of the county."

"This is a service provided in your community that isn't provided anywhere else in south county," said Carole Thorpe, a Mission Viejo birth assistant. "To close that down I think is unconscionable."

"It's not just the midwives," explained mother Melissa Armstrong of Costa Mesa. "It's the community and culture of the hospital; it's the principle of letting a woman have the choice of a natural birth."

"When you're committed to a drug free birth, you need the environment to be supportive," said Tanya Hauer, of Trabuco Canyon, in an earlier interview. She scoffed at the hospital's inability to attract child-bearing mothers, pointing to the crowd. "I haven't seen any outreach for this department or any fundraising. Women from all over go there."