VALDOSTA — Citing a tremendous increase in the number of births at the hospital, Smith Northview will be adding four beds in its Labor and Delivery Unit, and are waiting for final approval from the state for 10 additional inpatient beds as well.

“We’ve been at 90 percent occupancy for the last two years in the hospital,” said Larry Jeter, chief executive officer of Smith Northview. “We qualified for 14 new beds, which, when approved, will take us from 31 to 45 total inpatient beds.”

According to Dr. Michael Sharon of Azalea Women’s Center, one of three physicians who deliver babies at the hospital, “They’ve outgrown the existing facility, and this is something they’ve needed for a long time. There are about 60 deliveries each month, and the two labor and delivery rooms are not enough to accommodate all the patients.”

Sharon has added a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNW) to his practice, Lauren Osborne, to assist with deliveries as he is currently handling about 200 births each year. Smith Northview, between the three physicians, is on track to exceed last year’s total of 632. Sharon said the expansion will be good for the hospital and physicians, but especially good for the patients.

“The community is growing, and we’ve been seeing a lot more military families this year. Choices for the community are always healthy. I admire the way they manage the unit at Smith Northview as it’s always full, but somehow they find room for our patients,” Sharon said.

According to Dr. Ellen Eanes Courson, the expansion is necessary because the unit is running at capacity and is at many times overflowing. “We have 10 babies in the nursery (Friday) and three moms in regular rooms outside of the Labor and Delivery Suite.”

Courson, Dr. Danielle McFarland and Cheryl Kitchel, CNM, of Valdosta Women’s Health Center, deliver an average of 40 babies each month at Smith. Courson attributes the increase to several reasons, including the availability of more physicians delivering at Smith Northview. “Another reason we have grown has been the popularity of the hospital. Patient satisfaction is excellent for our department. And when patients are happy, they tell their friends, and then their friends want to come deliver at Smith!”

McFarland, a home grown physician, is a graduate of Lowndes High School. She went to Georgia Tech and the Medical College of Georgia to fulfill her dream of becoming an OB/GYN. “I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was in middle school. My mom made me watch the Miracle of Life, and I was amazed at the entire birth process,” she said. “I’ve been blessed enough to be able to do what I wanted to do, which is a good thing, because I didn’t have a Plan B!”

McFarland came to Smith Northview after training in a large Atlanta-area hospital so she could be close to her family. She enjoyed the smaller, family feel to the hospital and said she was impressed with the facility and the administration.

“Every year, the number of deliveries just keeps going up, so we definitely need more space,” she said.

Courson said she is very happy that the state approved Smith’s CON (certificate of need) for expansion. “We will effectively be tripling the size of the unit by adding four LDRPs (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum rooms). We will be expanding the nursery as well and adding more rooms for our antepartum and postpartum moms.”

Jeter said the hospital already has a Level 2 nursery, which means they can care for most babies that are born there, but for those with serious issues, the hospital has a partnership with the perinatal and neonatal staff at Phoebe Putney hospital in Albany.

According to Smith Northview Assistant Administrator Chuck Roberts, it helps tremendously that the staff loves what they are doing. “We want to thank our wonderful OB doctors and our labor and delivery staff. They have all stepped up to the challenge, as we have days now with four and five or more births. One day last week, we had several births; one was a 12 pound baby and another was twins! They’ve done an outstanding job managing the unit and taking care of the patients.”

The construction on the expanded unit is expected to be underway soon.