OBGYN: The Easiest & Best Choice

Meet Ashley Weaver. Ashley is 31 years old and lives in Parkersburg, West Virginia. If you ever have the chance to meet her, you’ll quickly notice a nurturing nature about her, which only goes hand in hand with her passion for being a mother of four with her husband.

Ashley became a patient with Memorial Health System in the new year when OBGYN Peter Filozof, MD, joined the team. “I started seeing Dr. Filozof when I was a teenager,” she states. “Then, I continued to see him through all my pregnancies and deliveries. I just wanted to continue seeing him and will continue seeing him as long as I can.”

One may think that switching to an entirely new health system may be nerve-wracking. Luckily, everything that could have gone right went better than expected for Ashley when she was admitted to the Women and Newborn Unit at Marietta Memorial Hospital.

“Everything was awesome. Everyone was showing me where to go—because I had no idea—and they answered any questions I had,” Ashley recalls. “Everything was just… great. That’s all I can say. Like everything, honestly, was amazing.”

Giving a glimpse into her time, Ashley continues: “From the moment I walked through the door and until I was discharged, I had a nurse that followed me through the entire journey—from labor and delivery to postpartum recovery. That was amazing because I never had that kind of care before.”

“I made some very special connections. Susan Knotts, the clinical nurse manager, came and introduced herself to me when I was admitted. I’ve never had a manager do that before for my other deliveries. Then, of course, my nurse Ilanie was amazing, and she gave me the best care possible. She gave me the confidence to be able to continue through labor and deliver my baby even when I didn’t think I could. I don’t think I could have done it without her and my husband. She did and said everything someone needs when you’re delivering a baby.”

 Ilanie, a registered nurse with the health system for three years, has been working in the Women and Newborn Unit for two and a half years. Ashley coming to the health system and receiving the kind of care she had wasn’t just a warm welcome, it’s the standard of care our team members take as a personal mission for every patient.

“I strive for patients to have the best experience possible,” Ilanie states. “I want them to come in with high expectations and we, as a care team, meet those high expectations or even exceed them, especially in labor and delivery.”

“For patients like Ashley, she expected to come in and try to have a natural delivery. Thankfully, we were able to help her get through that process and do it after she had previously only had epidurals for her births. The resources that we have, like Nitronox, and coaching her through helped whenever she was about to give up.”

Coming to Memorial Health System as a first-time patient wasn’t the only first for Ashley. She also utilized Nitronox for pain management in hopes of having her first epidural-free birth. “I didn’t have any previous knowledge of Nitronox before my care team came and explained it to me. I mean, I had heard of it, but it was never available before. So, when it was explained to me, I knew it was something that I would want to try,” Ashley reports.

“The Nitronox was very beneficial for me while I was in labor. I had made it to a certain point of not having any pain medicine whatsoever but reached a point where I felt like I couldn’t go on anymore. I was able to breathe through my contractions and felt a lot more relaxed.”

Another goal Ashley had for this birth experience was to have the freedom to move from the bed if she wanted. For her previous births, she just laid in bed after receiving an epidural for the pain and couldn’t do anything. So, her care team encouraged her to utilize Nitronox for the pain, as well as wireless fetal monitoring so she could move around wherever in the hospital she wanted.

 Ashley concludes her experience, by sharing a bit of advice for future patients going through labor and delivery, “If I could tell anyone something from my experience, being here in the Women and Newborn Unit, it’s that they help you make it a very easy process. If you want to go natural, and you are interested in trying the Nitronox, definitely do it.”

INTRODUCING NITRONOX 50/50 FOR LABOR AND DELIVERY

Susan Knotts, BSN, RN, and Clinical Nurse Manager of Memorial Health System’s Women and Newborn Unit has been with the health system, as a nurse manager, for 21 dedicated years. Susan takes immense pride in encouraging laboring mothers and families to experience the birth of their dreams, claiming it as “a day they will remember forever,” and utilizes her role on the floor to make sure this happens. This oftentimes means implementing new practices and policies when she and her care team members hear from both patients and our providers on new and improved tools and technology.

Susan’s latest introduction to the Women and Newborn Unit is the Nitronox 50/50 system. Nitronox is an adjustable nitrous oxide machine that patients can use and administer themselves during labor to help reduce stress and pain levels. Nitronox has been a long-time patient and provider request, as it allows patients to manage their emotions and pain as needed while maintaining the freedom to move during labor. This flexibility isn’t possible with an epidural, as patients lose sensation and the ability to safely walk.

 To implement Nitronox on the floor and to put it in the hands of patients, it was Susan’s responsibility to create a safe process in which it could be used. This could have been a taxing duty, requiring hours of research and creativity. However, because Memorial Health System is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Susan was able to access a readily available resource—Health Care Consulting. She submitted her project to an expert at Mayo Clinic, who worked with her to send over research and Mayo Clinic’s practice and procedure for Nitronox.

With a few adaptations to ensure the process worked for Memorial Health System, the system was ready to be implemented and Nitronox was in patient rooms, ultimately saving Susan time and delivering our patients and providers the most up-to-date process for ultimate safety and satisfaction.

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