With Chilliwack maternity ward closing, expectant mothers scramble to make other plans

Fraser Health has announced the maternity ward at Chilliwack General Hospital is closing "indefinitely" in just over two weeks, leaving mothers nearing the end of their pregnancies scrambling to make new plans for delivery and midwives worried for their clients' safety.

Fraser Health said the wardwill be closed June 24 because ofanobstetrician staffing issue. After that, expectant mothers will be diverted to Abbotsford Regional Hospital, 33 kilometres away, or further.

Sandra Hoft, 35, isdue to give birth to her second child agirl in about eight weeks. She's anticipating a quick labour after delivering herfirst daughter last year less than three hours after her first contraction.

"I said to my midwife, 'If mums were like me with my first... they'll never make it,'" Hoft said Friday. "I barely made it. I was there for 12 minutes before I delivered."

A shortlabour is so likely for Hoft that her obstetrician is recommending she be induced ahead of her due date to ensure she'll be in a controlled hospital setting for delivery.

Concernsraised over potential for further diversions

With Chilliwack off the table,Hoft said induction wouldlikely happen in Abbotsford unless they're diverting patientstoo. Abbotsford isoften at capacitywithout extrapatients coming from Chilliwack.

Mothers diverted from Chilliwack could be diverted again as far as Langley, Surrey or Vancouver if Abbotsford doesn't have room. Those hospitals are between 60 and 100 kilometres away, raising concern about the potential for deliveries on the side of the highway.

"Our women, they're devastated," Hoft's midwife, Natasha Oglesby, said over the phone on Friday. "My biggest concern here is that thepowers thatbe [health officials]... haven't even considered the safety implications here."

Fraser Health said in an email that it hasno further comment on the ward closure beyond a notice posted on its website.

Oglesby, like other local midwives, doesn't have medicalprivileges outside of Chilliwack or Abbotsford. Ifher patients leave thosecities, she can't follow and the women lose continuity of care.

Hoft said delivering without your familiar medical team would be"terrifying."

"Labour in and of itself is a situation where there's lots of uncertainty ... But the one thing you should be able to count on is who's in the room with you, delivering your baby. And now we can't even count on that," she said.

"You will show up and deliver your baby withwho knows who. That's a very scary thought for a lot of moms."

Chilliwack maternity ward services a largearea

Oglesby said the Chilliwack maternity ward seeswomen from all over the eastern Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon.

"We've been told to imagine there's a lock on the maternity ward. If there's an emergency and the baby is crowning, they'll deliver in emergency," said Oglesby, who owns the Maternity Tree pregnancy care centrein Chilliwack.

Even then, she said, doctors in emergency rooms aren't always trained to handle complications that can arise during childbirth.

"We're told [those doctors are]doing a coursethis week. Well, the mere undertaking of a course doesn't mean they're competent," said Oglesby.

Oglesbysaid she andher colleague offered some replacement services for low-risk births at the Chilliwack hospitaluntil the maternity wardreopens. They would handle low-risk deliveries, with a transferplan in place for when complications arise as is the case with planned home births.

The midwife said Fraser Healthdeclined the offer, but both she and Hofthope the authority will reconsider.

"We're just asking the powers to be to think outside the box for this period of time. Surely, the risk of having a low-risk birthing unit is less than the risk of putting these women potentially on the road," Oglesby said.

"I don't know why they wouldn't do it," said Hoft.