BURDETT CARE CENTER/LDRP PETITION

2 out of 3 Rensselaer County women are NOT wrong. This year, two thirds of women and families having children in this county chose the midwife based single room Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Post-partum model of care provided by Seton Health at St Mary’s Hospital. This extensive use of midwives and single rooms has offered families privacy, dignity, and support not available elsewhere, during one of their most stressful yet joyous times.

This service, vital not only to women but to the entire community, is now in jeopardy. The proposed merger with the Burdett Care Center will cause the closure of the maternity wing at St Mary’s Hospital. Current plans eliminate the hospital based midwifery practice so many women have chosen.

We who have signed this petition:

1.Believe the families of Rensselaer County and the surroundingcommunitiesshould not be denied the option of care currently offered at St Mary’s Hospital, including singleroom LDRP and midwifery services. We believe it provides a safer birth experience and a more nurturing environment;

2.Believe consumers of Women’s Health Services should not be denied access to their preferred providers;

3.Believe the denial of these services locally will force expectant mothers, infants, and families to seek them elsewhere, weakening our community as a whole; and

4.Ask that the new facility incorporates the family centered care model ascurrently provided by Seton Health at St Mary’s Hospital.