Maryland's Health Matters - St. Joseph - Summer 2014 - (Page 5)

The Best Birth for You Young mom gets birthing experience of her dreams at UM St. Joseph W hen Nicole Atkinson was pregnant with her third child, she got the news that she'd been waiting for. The young mother, who delivered her ﬁrst two children by natural childbirth with the midwives at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, learned that the hospital's maternity service had acquired a hydrotherapy tub for labor. "It's the birth I'd always dreamed of. I'd watched water births online, and they were really wonderful," says Nicole, who delivered her son, Dylan, in the hydrotherapy tub last March. DECREASED LABOR PAIN AND TIME "We got the hydrotherapy tub in response to the number of women in the community who had expressed desire for this alternative to analgesics-to help them deal with the pain of childbirth," says Judith Rossiter, MD, chief, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and director, UM St. Joseph Perinatal Center. "We promote a more homelike environment, which Judith Rossiter, MD includes the amenity of the tub for women who want natural labor without using pain medications. Published studies on hydrotherapy show a decrease in the time and pain of Nicole Atkinson with her husband, Nathan, and sons Trevor, Casey and baby Dylan. labor. Women describe signiﬁcantly less anxiety and discomfort during labor." stjosephtowson.com | Summer 2014 5 http://www.stjosephtowson.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - St. Joseph - Summer 2014

Maryland's Health Matters - St. Joseph - Summer 2014
In This Issue
Mend & Bend
Healing Hearts
The Best Birth for You
The Art of Breast Reconstruction
Full-Fledged Support
At A Glance
A Place for Healing
News and Events

Maryland's Health Matters - St. Joseph - Summer 2014