One-week birth ban at up-river hospital
Labour and delivery services at Upper River Valley Hospital closed from April 20 to 27
A doctor shortage is forcing a one-week closure of labour and birth services at the Upper River Valley Hospital (URVH), starting Sunday, the province’s anglophone health authority announced Friday.
The Horizon Health Network issued a news release Friday morning, advising that labour and birth services at the Waterville hospital, near Woodstock, was closing temporarily.
The closure will be in effect from Sunday, April 20 to Sunday, April 27, it said.
“The reason for this change is availability of physicians to provide emergency caesarian sections (C-sections),” the release stated.
“All pregnant individuals who would normally deliver their babies at URVH will need to travel to Horizon’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.”
It noted that even if an expectant mother feels she is at low risk and won’t require a C-section, she must still travel to the Fredericton hospital for labour and birth.
“... Pregnancy-related issues and emergency situations can quickly arise during childbirth,” the health authority said in the release.
Nursing staff has already contacted expectant mothers who are 35 weeks pregnant or more, it said.
This is at least the third such closure of labour and delivery services at the Waterville hospital in the past year.
“Recruitment to strengthen labour and birth services at URVH remains a high priority,” Horizon said in the release.
“Please be assured that all pregnant individuals will receive safe and quality care at any Horizon facility while we work to fill these service gaps.”
It previously reported that the URVH’s obstetrical service sees as many as 500 patients per year, and it saw 206 births and 40 emergency C-sections in 2023.
The Fredericton Independent can be reached at ftonindependent@gmail.com.