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July 2013 • www.saukvalleysun.com • Sauk Valley Sun
Why choose KSB Hospital for your healthcare needs?
Youngsters attending the Sauk Valley Community College Child Fair earlier in the year were given the opportunity to draw “My Sauk Valley Sun.” The drawings were collected and evaluated by a professional artist. The 12 drawings were selected as the best. Gift certificates were sent to each artist as a “thank you” for their participation. The artists are: LEFT PAGE Top left: Bruce Delaney, 6, Dixon Top right: Nora Fordham, 7, Dixon Middle left: Brayden Swaim, 9, Morrison Middle Right: Hana Ford, 6, Rock Falls Lower left: Ashley Zentz, 10, Dixon Lower Right: Lily Willett, 5, Morrison RIGHT PAGE Top left: Quincy Sue Robbins, 8, Tampico Top right: Peyton Davis, 8, Sterling Middle left: Olivia Buyno, 8, Sterling Middle Right: Nevaeh Herrera, 5, Rock Falls Lower left: Allie Considine, 13, Dixon Lower Right: Carmen Lewis, 10, Dixon
Have you heard? If you have been walking around KSB Hospital recently, chances are you heard a few bars of Brahms’ “Lullaby” over the loudspeaker system. The hospital has adopted the practice of playing the familiar song every time KSB’s The Birth Place welcomes a new baby.
The Birth Place at KSB Hospital delivers hundreds of babies a year, taking them to the full term of 40 weeks whenever medically possible. That’s one reason why Director of Obstetrics and Pediatrics Sandy Dennis decided almost three years ago to submit KSB’s name for a March of Dimes grant to lower the number of elective deliveries under 39 weeks. Officially called the Eliminate Non-Medically Indicated (Elective) Deliveries Before 39 Weeks initiative, KSB was one of only five hospitals in Illinois selected to participate in the program. And once processes were put in place in late 2010, KSB excelled at getting babies to full term. In 2010, the year before the study started, 28% of KSB’s patients that were delivered electively did not have medical indication or reason to be delivered before 39 weeks. The next year, in 2011, the percentage was reduced to a meager 0.9% as there was only one elective delivery that occurred before 39 weeks that should not have out of 111 elective deliveries. “Our doctors did well, but it wasn’t always easy,” Dennis explained. “We had to get everybody to come around to the understanding that a lot of pregnancies are uncomfortable, but that’s not a good enough reason to deliver early.” It’s those last several weeks that make a big difference in development, Dennis noted. “The brain grows the most between 35 and 40 weeks and all of the body’s systems get fully developed and function much better the closer you get to 40 weeks,” she said. “Long-term, we know it’s better for the kid to let nature takes its course. Nature gets it right.” KSB’s physicians played a key role in eliminating nearly all non-essential elective early deliveries thanks to the leadership of Shirley Stone, M.D., who was and continues to be the physicians’ champion for this project. After the tremendous success of the test period, KSB chose to continue with the under-39-weeks initiative going forward. Apparently the lessons have taken hold because in 2012 there were no elective deliveries before 39 weeks’ gestation unless they were medically indicated out of a total of 113 elective deliveries. “It feels so good to be a part of this March of Dimes project,” she added. “It gave us a gigantic head start on where other hospitals in the state and the nation are at. We didn’t realize what a good thing this would end up being.