New nursery bursting with babies

St. Francis Hospital expanded its nursery to offer different care levels

St. Francis Hospital expanded its nursery to offer different care levels

Nearly nine months after Valentine's Day, the renovated nursery at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital bustled with 17 babies.

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Andy Campbell feels the air coming from a vent in the expanded nursery at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. He and Jeff Poland came in Tuesday to fine-tune the thermostat settings.

The nursery doubled in size just in time to receive Cupid's darlings. In the warm, dim space, a volunteer burped a baby, gently clapping her hand on his bare back.

Work began on the Women's, Infants' and Children's Center in February, too, part of a 60-bed expansion affecting medical and surgical areas and the spine center.

Rebecca Shehane, patient care coordinator, has worked in the nursery for 29 years. This is the fifth renovation and her favorite by far, she said.

"We needed a place for the nursery to grow and expand," she said. The hospital also wanted to emphasize the mother-baby concept, where mother and baby are cared for by the same nurse in the mother's room.

"Labor and delivery and postpartum are working and cross-training with nursery nurses," she said.

St. Francis delivers between 100 and 150 babies a month. To meet the area's growing need, the nursery gained three intermediate care beds for babies who need special care, bringing the total to seven. Babies born with serious conditions, such as those weighing less than 3 pounds, 5 ounces, are taken to Medical University of South Carolina.

Four continuing care beds, which Shehane called "growers and feeders," were added to help babies

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Chad and Jessie Belue take care of their newborn son William Logan Belue on Tuesday.

transition from intermediate care. And two healthy-baby beds brought the total to 14. Nineteen mother- baby rooms will follow in the spring, completing the overhaul.

Many healthy babies spend a lot of time in their mothers' rooms, where staff can bathe and feed them. That way, Shehane said, parents can learn how to clean their babies' belly buttons and change circumcision dressings.

"If it's done in front of you, you're more comfortable doing it," she said. "With the hospital stay so short, you have to cram a lot in." Most women stay between 36 and 48 hours after a normal delivery.

The nursery's discreet location behind what appears to be another patient-room door is a security feature. Parents must present identification bands before being allowed inside.

Down the hall in a recovery room, Jessie and Chad Belue named their newborn son William Logan Belue after the boy's grandfathers. He's the couple's third child.

"Now, as soon as babies are here, they want him with you to start the bonding process," Jessie Belue said.

The mother-baby concept of care has been used in hospitals for years, Shehane said. "We can do everything in momma's room. Bathe, feed or give momma a break and take the baby to the nursery."

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.

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