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Nurse gives birth to hospital's last baby

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By CHERYL POWELL, The Associated Press Updated 2:02 PM Saturday, November 7, 2009

WADSWORTH, Ohio — When Silvia Reed left Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital with her new baby in her arms, bittersweet tears streamed down her face.

The birth of her first child last week also marked the death of the place where she loved to work.

Reed had been a nurse for four years in the hospital's labor and delivery unit.

Her daughter, Aaliyah Venice Reed, was the last baby born there before the hospital officially shut down its maternity services on Saturday.

Reed delivered the 6-pound, 6-ounce baby girl last Wednesday evening after being induced nine days before her due date.

"It was very tearful," she said. "I was trying not to cry until my manager hugged me goodbye and then I was a tearful mess."

The hospital's decision to shutter its maternity ward sparked a community outcry, especially among families who had their babies in the unit and those who planned to deliver.

In August, about 130 moms and other supporters marched in front of the hospital to protest the possible closure.

But hospital officials said the birthing unit needed to close because the service was losing millions of dollars.

"We notified all our patients at the time of the decision that we were going to be closing the unit in October and encouraged each person to work with their physician or midwife on a transitional care plan," said Mike Bernstein, spokesman for Summa Health System, the hospital's owner.

In Reed's case, she and her husband, Ivan, knew they wanted their baby to be born at Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital.

Reed began working there as a labor and delivery nurse a month after graduating from nursing school in Dayton.

"I liked that it's a smaller unit and you can do more one-on-one care with your patients," she said.

In the past four years, her co-workers became her family.

"We were bonded like a family," she said.

Reed found out when shewas about six months pregnant that she was losing her job, as well as the place she planned to deliver her baby.

As her due date approached and the impending closure of the unit drew nearer, her doctor and nurse midwife agreed to induce labor because they believed it was the appropriate plan of care.

"The nurses were fighting over who would take care of me," she said. "I had the greatest nurses, because they were my best buddies."

The hospital sent her home with diapers and other supplies that weren't needed anymore because the unit was closing.

"It was exciting but super bittersweet," she said. "I was so happy to take her home. But I went the whole way to my car bawling my eyes out."

Reed was among 33 people who lost their jobs when the birthing unit closed.

Employees who didn't accept other jobs were given severance packages, Bernstein said.

Reed said she's looking for another job but hasn't had any luck finding a position in a labor and delivery unit yet.

"I would love to get into a hospital kind of like I was in," she said. "I know I'll never find one like Wadsworth-Rittman."

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November 07, 2009 06:59 PM EST

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