Done deal

This morning the final decision was made to close the OB unit at BHMH, it will close in the end of May. I am disappointed with the outcome but I know that we gave it our best shot and I don't think there was any more that we could have done in the amount of time allotted. We accomplished a great deal in less than a month; we raised close to $170,000, raised community awareness, forged new friendships, all of which couldn't have been done without all of our friends and supporters in the community and those from beyond. I will cherish the memory of how we all pulled together to fight for what we believed in. Thank you all so much for everything.

Roller coasters and Taffy

NEWS CLIP
Yesterday doctors, midwives and nurses met with administrators who informed us that they thought the OB unit would be able to remain open for a few reasons. They got the message loud and clear, because of the grassroots fundraising and networking, that this was something near and dear to the hearts of many members of the community that they are here to serve. Yay team! Another key factor is an unexpected increase in stimulus money, coupled with the fact that they are beginning to see results from the measures the hospital and staff have been making over the last couple months to improve the financial bottom line.

However, there's more, the decision is not done. The hospital is not out of the woods by a long shot, cost cutting measures still need to be made with or without OB. The problem is that there is the possibility of restructuring some of the support services that need to be in place to practice obstetrics. So physicians and providers are looking at a new paradigm to see if they can work within that. And administrators continue their hard work of looking in very nook and cranny for savings.

My hope is that the decision is not a purely financial one, but one that is based on the demonstrated needs of the community that the hospital is here to serve and is ultimately accountable to. I hope that together we will find a way to be part of a solution working towards compassionate accessible health care for essential service, rather than perpetuating the vast problems of the health care industry by compromising our values and mission by succumbing to the bottom line to save our own financial skin.

Hopefully this roller coaster ride will stop soon.

Voices on WERU-Community Radio

Tune in this Saturday, March 7, at 3 pm to WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill or streaming at http://www.weru.org during 'Voices,' the community audio magazine. The 18-19 minute piece features the Save Blue Hill OB campaign, airing interviews with BHMH OB parents, supporters, 4 OB nurses, and midwife Suzanne Norgang! If you miss it, you'll be able to find it in the audio archives section of the website after it airs.

Bottles For Babies

Area redemption centers will collect bottles for the OB Department Fundraising efforts from now until March 9th. So start your spring cleaning and mention our cause when you drop of your bottles. Thank you for your support! Thanks Gisele for organizing this!
The Sedgwick Redemption Center Hours Monday - Friday 8 - 4 Sat 8 - 12
The Union River Redemption Center Hours Monday - Friday 8 - 5 Sat 8 - 2
Northern Bay Market 6:30am - 8pm daily

Saturday, March 7 Massage-A-Thon Fundraiser

The massage therapists, body-workers and healing arts’ practitioners of the Blue Hill peninsula, Ellsworth and Hancock County will be holding a Massage-a-thon on Saturday, March 7, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Maine Grind in Ellsworth. This event is part of the effort to help raise $600,000. for the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital’s Maternity Unit. If $600,000. is not raised by March 10, the Obstetrics center will close. For more information, or to participate in the massage-a-thon, please call Charlene Crane at 664-0189.

Abstract from study of rural community hospitals

??Is this where we're heading??

Access to obstetric care in rural areas: effect on birth outcomes.

T S Nesbitt, F A Connell, L G Hart and R A Rosenblatt

Department of Family Practice, University of California, Davis, Sacramento 95817.

Hospital discharge data from 33 rural hospital service areas in Washington State were categorized by the extent to which patients left their local communities for obstetrical services. Women from communities with relatively few obstetrical providers in proportion to number of births were less likely to deliver in their local community hospital than women in rural communities with greater numbers of physicians practicing obstetrics in proportion to number of births. Women from these high-outflow communities had a greater proportion of complicated deliveries, higher rates of prematurity, and higher costs of neonatal care than women from communities where most patients delivered in the local hospital.

Belly Up

Joyful Crowd



Henrietta



Stephanie, Tanis, Julie, Chris



The grassroots Bellies to Bellies event that brought our community together yesterday was outstanding. We raised a total of $12,000, half of that just outright donations. The music, dancers, smiling faces and warm hearts were enough to start thawing out the two feet of snow that remain on the ground. I was so moved to see how many people showed up to support us in our effort, thank you for coming, it really means so much to us all to know that you care. It will take a miracle to raise the remaining $447,000 in nine days, but we are achieving another goal here, which is to give our community the chance to support us and show how much what we provide means to you. We hear you loud and clear and we are so grateful for your voices. Here's a link to a video clip of the news broadcast (short insurance ad first).

The fight is not over by a long shot; this is not about our jobs, we love our jobs and what we do, and we all need to keep working to support ourselves and our families, but we are strong and creative women and we will survive. We are fighting for you; our daughters, sons, grandchildren, for our friends and neighbors, for your health care access, for your birthing choices, your birth rights! We still need to keep getting the word out, email everyone you know and have them pass it to everyone they know, write a letter to the editor and send it in tomorrow for this weeks papers, and maybe our miracle will happen.

We need money in hand by March 9, to hand over March 10. If we do not reach our goal we can return your checks, or donate to the general BHMH fund.
Please send a note with your check if you would like your check returned. Thank you for your donation!

Make checks out to: OB - Blue Hill Memorial Hospital

send to:
Henrietta Clews
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital
Po Box 1653
Blue Hill, Maine, 04614

Total Donations So Far

Raised (approx.) $154,000
Needed still $446,000

We raised $12,000 today at the Bellies to Bellies event! Will try to post more tomorrow about the event, it was great fun. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out to support us, and to all the great donors and tireless organizers.

Sanguine's Testimonial

Here's my testimonial. I start out warm and fuzzy and get rabble-rousing at the end. If you think I'm being too ass-kicking and might incite a riot, edit me. That is, if you think a riot would necessarily be bad. :)

(note from un-editor in chief, I didn't leave out a precious word! karen.)

I am throwing myself wholeheartedly into the struggle to save birth at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital. My husband and I have already had one amazing birth at BHMH, and have been hoping to return one day for another. When I read that the unit might close, I cried.

The obstetrics staff at BHMH, from the front desk through to the labor and delivery nurses, is unparalleled. It's clear that they've worked hard to put together a 'dream team' of caring, very skilled professionals.

When we first moved Downeast, a neighbor told me I should go to Blue Hill if we ever decided to have a baby. "But that's an hour away!" I said. "Trust me. it's worth it," she told me. I went to BHMH for my annual exam, and immediately understood why she rave about Henrietta and Dr. Walker. By the time I got to experience their maternity care firsthand, during my son's birth in September 2006, I heard many more glowing stories from friends who traveled an hour or more to BHMH for their deliveries.

People are downright evangelical about obstetrics at Blue Hill. It is truly a destination hospital for birth, and with good reason. No other hospital in the area- and few hospitals in the country-combine the experience, caring, good judgement, and trust in women's ability to give birth with a wonderful small hospital experience, where you feel valued and attended to as a person, not "the primipara in room 12."

I was so moved by my birth experience at Blue Hill that I trained as a doula. I believe that the work that the obstetrics staff at BHMH does is crucial to the functioning of the hospital, and to the health of the community as a whole. As a doula,and now as a mother, I believe that an empowering, positive birth experience, coupled with excellent postpartum support, can make a huge difference in the physical, mental, and emotional health of mother, baby, and family- and by extension, the whole community. Happier, healthier moms, dads, and babies are the foundation of a healthy, safe society.

Pragmatically, it does not make sense to me to close obstetrics to try to save money. Honestly, I can't think of any other service that is such a draw to the hospital. I, myself, was so impressed with the care I received during our son;s birth that I visited their ER a couple years later, confident that I would get great care (which I did). During their deliveries, many parents discover a wonderful small hospital, and return for other care, bringing in more revenue. One friend, who bypasses her local hospital to return to BHMH, recently told me that every time she goes back to Blue Hill for other health care, it reminds her of her 2 wonderful births, and she goes away feeling happy, wanting to return. It would be a terrible mistake to close this important 'door' to the hospital.

Blue Hill Women's Health Care is a model for OB/GYN practice. For those of us who want to be actively involved in our births, but who want the safety of a hospital birth, I believe there is no better place than Blue Hill. Henrietta Clews and Dr. Walker are truly exceptional in their knowledge, wisdom, and professional judgment.
Suzanne Norgang is a wonderful addition to the practice, and I hope she has the opportunity to carry on the tradition of empowered birth at BHMH. All the staff at Blue Hill Women's Health work together to create a wonderful, welcoming, caring environment for patients. Phoebe, Ann, and LeeAnn make every visit a pleasure. To be welcomed as a friend, cared for and understood as an individual, all while receiving top-notch medical care--what else could a patient ask for?

What makes Blue Hill exceptional is that the high standard of care continues right up through delivery and recovery. After the birth of our son, we got such wonderful care, we wished we could stay forever! In fact, we decided to stay an extra day because we were learning so much and getting some much needed rest. We felt we could relax and trust the staff completely; we never felt we needed to advocate for ourselves or our son or fight for anything we wanted--a very rare experience, even in the best hospital. We felt 100% supported.

Every member of the obstetrics nursing staff has her own strength, and together, they are an unrivaled team. Susan gave us amazing labor support. She was on through most of my labor, and always knew just what to say to help keep me moving along. Chris came on at the very end of our delivery, and did an excellent job teaching me to breastfeed. Tanis and Karen took wonderful care of us during the days I was in the hospital, helping us learn everything we'd need to know to get ready to take our son home. They gave us helpful information, all the while making us feel confident, capable, and calm--the greatest gift for exhausted new parents who could so easily become overwhelmed and begin to doubt themselves. Tammy was a calm and down-to-earth presence overnight. Rose was on for our discharge, and helped us prepare to leave the nest with our new baby.

It breaks my heart to think that this little gem of an OB unit, which is a national treasure of empowered birth and should be held up as a model for all obstetrics services, could instead be closed in a matter of weeks. It is unconscionable that the women of Stonington and Deer Isle, and several other out lying peninsula towns, will have to travel over an hour to the nearest hospital. These women will be forced to choose between taking a gamble on making it to the hospital in time. or scheduling c-sections and inductions, which will increase the risk of complications for both mother and baby. It disgusts me to think that in the 21st century , we can't assure such basic heath care access for rural communities.

Don't stand by and let our health care rights be taken away. Raise money. Raise a ruckus. Call the governor's office. Write to the hospital board. Tell them that women's and babies' health care is not expendable. We are not a "frill."
How can Maine stem the tide of young families leaving the state if we can't provide the basic health care those young families need? A community that stops delivering babies is making a strong, and ominous, statement about its future. Don't let birth at Blue Hill become a thing of the past.

Susan Dickson-Smith

Being Born Is Important

You who have stood at the bedposts and
seen a mother on her high harvest day,
the day of the most golden of harvest moons for her.

You who have seen the new wet child dried behind the ears,
swaddled in soft fresh garments,
pursing its lips and sending a groping mouth toward
nipples where white milk is ready.

You who have seen this love's payday
of wild toiling and sweet agonizing-

You know being born is important.
You know that nothing was ever so important to you
You understand that the payday of love is so old,
so involved, so traced with circles of the moon,
so cunning with the secrets of the salts of the blood
it must be older than the moon, older than salt.


Carl Sandburg

submitted by Suzanne Norgang CNM



Suzanne & Owen

This is a nurse

Post From Tanis

Many years ago I had a "calling" to become an OB nurse. I began my path by teaching childbirth classes and assisting Henrietta Clews C.N.M. at home deliveries. I went to nursing school specifically to be an OB nurse at BHMH, and that is what I have been for the past thirteen years. This is the only kind of nurse I have ever been, and the only kind of nurse I ever want to be. My children and nephew were born there, andI want my grandchildren to be born there too-many years from now! So you see, now that OB at BHMH is on the endangered species list, I am having an impending identity crisis...and our community is too.

Assisting women giving birth and families to transform is a pleasure and a gift that defies definition, and doing birth the Blue Hill way is much more than a job, it is a dying art. Sure there are times when I am physically and emotionally exhausted, but a moment before a baby is born all that disappears. At that moment I am completely present, nothing else matters, there are no other thoughts in my head and my heart is full. That is a rare and beautiful space. It is a privileged place to be in, and I can't imagine life without it. Each delivery I attend leaves an impirint on my life, and has helped form who I am. Although each nurse I work with might word it a little differently, I think they all agree.

The women that I work with, and the one man (HONK IF YOU LOVE DR. WALKER!) are truly amazing. We are united, professional, skilled, and dedicated. We are passionate about what we do, and how we do it. We are friends inside and outside of the hospital. Most days we talk to one another on the phone to pass on an upcoming scheduled event at work, to process the events of our day (or night), to check in on how a family is doing, or just to chat or thank one another. Just as I can't imagine the end of childbirth in Blue Hill, I can't imagine no longer working with these women. It makes me so sad.

Several years ago when Jasmine was in kindergarten she was given an assignment to depict how a family member helps our community. This picture is what she drew. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

Childbirth in Blue Hill is part of our history, and an inspiration for our future...

So, that is my story. I invite any woman who has given birth at BHMH, any man who has become a father or anyone who has become a grandparent here to use this blog to tell your story. And I ask the amazing women, and that amazing man that I work with to do the same. Let's all share, preserve and relive our memories of the OB Department at the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, and may we continue to make more!

Peace,
Tanis Williams BSN, RN

Donate Here

Donations can now be made right here. Thank you so much for your contribution, it means so much to the families we serve!



If we do not reach our goal by March 9th any funds you donate can be refunded to you or allocated to the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital general fund. If you prefer a refund PLEASE email me so I can keep track of that, if there are associated merchant fees they will not be refunded. My email address keepbirthoptions@gmail.com

If you prefer to send a personal check that is an option also, please include a note indicating if you would your check returned or given to the general hospital fund if we do not reach our goal.

Make checks out to: OB-Blue Hill Memorial Hospital
Send to: Henrietta Clews CNM
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital
PO Box 1653
Blue Hill, Maine 04614

Questions? call Karen or Tanis at our shop String Theory 207 374 9990.

Bellies to Bellies Fundraising & Silent Auction

This Saturday, February 28 there will be a fund raising and awareness raising event in Blue Hill at the Blue Hill Consolidated School. We are busy gathering donations for a silent auction. Entertainment will be provided; including belly dancers, belly painting, fire breathers, yes folks it's true. The festivities begin at noon and go until 3pm.

We have some fantastic donations from very generous donors. Here's a list, there are more that I don't know about. Gift certificates for hair cuts, tanning sessions, dinner out at several local restaurants, pizza,yoga classes, bodywork, yarn or knitting supplies, a gas card, flowers, sporting goods, clothing, delivered loam and more!

Items donated by local businesses, artisans, and indivuduals also include; a handcrafted curly maple side table donated by Baldwin Builders, Motherbloom Botanical Herbs, wine, locally raised food from Horsepower Farm and Stoneset Farm, books, a decadent chocolate cake for 12, lasagna for 8, gardening services, a bowl from Rackliffe Pottery, a light fixture donated by Gilmore Electric with installation by Haskell Electric, 4 oriental rugs.


An amazing bronze sculpture donated by Basha Olson, sculptor from Penobscot, you can see more of her work here.


Stained glass window donated by Kris Grover of Pound Ridge Stained Glass, also of Penobscot.


Yarn and patterns donated by String Theory.

Beautiful handspun yarn by the lovely Linda Freimuth of Northern Bay Handspun.

Hats, there are more lovingly made and donated by Brennan Murphy, our favorite Knitting Imp.

I will try to post more pictures to tantalize you all to come down on Saturday and see for yourselves. A huge thank you to everyone who is helping with this effort and the donors! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

How to Save the World

It's 4am and I lie awake thinking about how to save the world. My world, the OB department at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital where I have worked as a nurse for the last 7 years. The world where babies are born to women are supported with good old fashioned hands on labor support. We encourage women to labor and birth their babies in whatever way they need and want to.

I have had the good fortune to work with amazing people, they are what makes the place so special. It is a fiercely dedicated group of women, one hell of a dedicated man, most days we love what we do.

At 4 am this seems like the best way that we can get the word out and reach out to those who may be interested and hopefully concerned. Our little hospital on the coast of Maine is struggling financially, nothing new there. It's everywhere, on every level. The administrators have made the agonizing decision that if $600,000 is not raised by March 10th 2009, the OB unit will be closed sometime at the end of May. I do not blame the hospital, board, past or present administrators. I know that this was a wrenching decision to make. They feel that they have no choice. The way I'm beginning to see it is that this is a symptom of our breaking health care system. There has been a trend over the last few years of hospitals closing OB departments, they are not great sources of revenue for hospitals.

It's late and my brain is tired so the rest of this post is something I wrote a couple weeks ago. After my coffee I will let you know about fundraising events.

The kernel of truth and hope that I have witnessed time and time again as a labor and delivery nurse is that no matter how hard it hurts, women keep going and they survive. One aspect of this truth that drew me to this work is that not only do women survive but that the process has the potential to be empowering and life altering.

I believe that the dedication of the staff, and the care laboring women and new families receive at the Maternity Department at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital are unique. We hear this from parents who are starting families, who themselves were born at BHMH, - they value their community and they want their children to be born and raised here. It is demostrated by others who come from points Down East, Mount Desert Island and the greater Bangor area, some traveling hours in labor over rough roads because they chose to deliver their babies at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital. It is reflected by the fact that, in the several years I have worked there, women have come from California, Alaska, and Maryland specifically to BH to birth their babies. Those women had family ties in the area, but certainly could have stayed where they lived to labor and deliver.

We are a small unit and have been afforded the luxury of giving women one-on-one care during their stay. We support women in a comfortable family friendly environment. It's a wonderful place to work, but more importantly a wonderful place to have a baby. I know that the way we support women is rare for a hospital environment, this is in large part because of the beliefs of our care providers, including midwives, medical doctors, osteopaths and nurses. I feel pretty safe saying that we collectively believe in women and their ability to give birth.

We are going through hard times right now; the hospital is being hit hard by the recession as is everyone. The hospital recently made some layoffs, however it seems as if that is not enough to remedy the dire situation. I cannot stand by silently and watch while decision may be made to close the OB unit. Closing the OB unit at BHMH will cause families from local community and beyond to lose an option of a rare and wonderful place to have a baby. I don't think we as a community can afford to lose what Blue Hill Memorial Hospital offers for women and their families.

Here is my cry to you, the women whose hands I have had the privilege to hold, your partners, your families, and to all people who believe that in this world of technology we need more places where people can be supported through their difficult times with humanity. We need your financial help and support now. I am asking as a person who cares for and about birthing women and their options. My hope is that with your help the same thing will happen for the Maternity Department ath BHMH; that I will again witness that truth of human determination and strength, yeah this hurts like hell, but together we will get through it.

Please contact me if you'd like me to update or include something.