State-of-the-art birthing centre planned

Babies needing care won’t be separated from mothers

Area health officials have launched an ambitious plan to create a state-of-the-art birthing centre in Ottawa that would replace existing maternity units at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic and General campuses and see significant upgrades at other hospitals in the region.

If approved by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, the centre will be built on Smyth Road on land between the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the hospital’s General campus.

Provisional estimates at this early stage in the planning put the cost at about $200 million.

Aside from its basic baby delivery function, the new centre will replace the postnatal intensive care clinic at CHEO where premature, sick or otherwise at-risk babies from all area hospitals are currently treated.

Replacing the CHEO unit would mean that babies who need medical treatment would no longer be separated from their mothers and other family members, said Chantale LeClerc, chief executive officer of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), where the initiative began.

“It would allow us to keep the moms, babies and families under one roof,” she said, “and bring together the expertise of the providers at these three sites (General, Civic and CHEO) under one roof, which is a good thing.

“The existing sites are getting older and the way we look after moms and babies is evolving,” added LeClerc.

“It’s time to update and, rather than do it at separate locations, why not bring it all together?”

The proposal is not related to plans for a midwife-run facility in Ottawa announced last week by the province, but families who choose midwife delivery within the hospital environment would be allowed to do so.

Aside from consolidating Civic, General and CHEO maternity functions, the new site would include teaching and research units. The plan also involves related infrastructure and equipment upgrades to standardize care at the Montfort and QueenswayCarleton maternity units and in Pembroke, Winchester, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Almonte and Renfrew, all of which fall under LHIN jurisdiction.

Last year, a total of 14,773 babies were born at those hospitals.

The majority were born at the Civic (3,307), the General (3,135), Montfort (3,027) and QueenswayCarleton (2,482). The rest were divided between Pembroke (679), Winchester (650), Cornwall (555), Hawkesbury (447), Almonte (406) and Renfrew (85).

LHIN canvassed leading international birthing centres during its initial planning, said MarieJosée Trépanier, acting director of the Champlain Maternal Newborn Regional Program.

“There are a variety of models,” said Trépanier, “but none have the type of services we would like to offer. Ours would be unique because it isn’t just one or two institutions getting together, it is the whole region.

“There is always evolving research that shows new ways of doing things,” she added. “For example, parents of newborn babies are now being encouraged to have a more hands-on role in their care — not medical care — because the results are very good.”

“When you’re designing a new centre it gives you the opportunity to look at all the new research for providing care.”

The so-called pre-capital submission has been with the Ministry of Health for four months, but ministry officials have yet to respond.

“We are looking for some acknowledgment that this is a good project and they want us to start the planning,” said Trépanier. “We haven’t had word but, when we do, we expect it to come with many questions. This type of initiative is huge.”

If and when the new centre does get the go-ahead, it will likely be at least two years before building could start. “It will take us a long time,” said Trépanier, “but it will be a great thing for Ottawa down the road.”