photo by: Emma Delk

Women and Children’s Services staff at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital gathered to celebrate their designation as one of U.S. News and World Report’s “2024 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.”

WHEELING — WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital has received national recognition for its work in maternity care as one of the U.S. News and World Report’s “2024 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.”

Designated in the highest category of the award as a “High Performing” hospital, the rating indicates that Wheeling Hospital is performing at a significantly higher quality level than average hospitals when it comes to maternity care.

This distinction was determined through objective quality measures, including rates of unexpected complications, C-sections and exclusive breastfeeding.

Receiving recognition for these metrics is gratifying for the Director of Women and Children’s Services, Lynette Debertrand, who noted that “maternal morbidity and mortality rates are rising throughout the country.”

“The fact that we are delivering care that proves our numbers are much better than the rest of the country should be a relief for parents that are delivering here,” said Debertrand.

It takes a village to deliver a child at Wheeling Hospital, with Debertrand’s department being one of many that ensure the delivery process goes off without a hitch. From neonatal intensive care to labor and delivery, Debertrand explained that everyone in their 75-person staff helped contribute to these award-winning numbers.

“It’s very rewarding to get this accolade because we have a very dedicated staff of physicians, nurses and housekeeping,” said Debertrand. “Those dedicated people come here every day to deliver safe, quality care, and these numbers demonstrate we’re successfully achieving that.”

The dedication of the maternity staff extends beyond their floor, with the ward often collaborating with other departments. Drawing attention to the work they do in the emergency department, Debertrand explained maternity staff often drill “emergent situations that may occur” to ensure they are well-prepared when those situations occur.

Maternity care also extends beyond the hospital, as Debertrand noted WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital partners with community agencies to ensure parents have the resources they need once they’re checked out.

On top of making sure their efforts extend throughout and beyond the hospital, Debertrand detailed the staff’s dedication to staying up-to-date in the field. When practicing within an evidence-based practice, she noted keeping abreast of what’s happening nationally in the field is another vital aspect of their work.

Despite only working for four months in the maternity ward, Dr. Samantha Richardson saw the dedication of staff from her first day on the job. Often learning by example through her coworkers, Richardson explained they taught her to keep her main focus of care on what the patient desires.

“It’s all trying to fulfill each patient’s individual goal, whether that’s breastfeeding, pain control or caring for newborns,” said Richardson. “Everything that goes into patient care, the patient has had in mind for themselves in their delivery plan.”

To keep patients’ desires at the forefront of care is “all done through communication,” noted Richardson, as every single step of the labor process is communicated by staff to patients in the ward.

“I’m talking to patients about every single step of the way and giving them really good expectations about their delivery process and what that process looks like here,” said Richardson.

Noting that the maternity nurses play an important role in every step of the process, Richardson commended them for their work in educating patients during childbirth and lactation classes.

“We just are very open with patients as their delivery progresses,” added Richardson. “Having them to be the first to know how things are going and our expectations for their birth moving forward is the most important.”

As the maternity ward celebrated the recognition with cake, Debertrand said the year overall for the department had been “very busy and very positive.”

“We always get a boost in births when the weather turns colder,” she explained. “We’ll be looking forward to 2024.”