In northeastern North Carolina, many families have limited options when it comes to where they can give birth. For expecting parents, that reality means planning not just for delivery — but for what happens if something goes wrong during recovery or after they go home.
That dynamic is part of why Sentara Albemarle Medical Center was recently recognized by the U.S. News & World Report as a Maternity Access Hospital, a designation for facilities that provide maternity care in areas with otherwise limited access.
Staff said most low-risk pregnancies are delivered locally at Elizabeth City. But in largely-rural northeastern North Carolina, patients may be transferred to larger Sentara hospitals, such as Sentara Norfolk General, if complications require a higher level of care.Chief Nursing Officer Melissa Grootendorst said that reality means birth planning often extends beyond delivery itself.
“We don’t pretend to be able to do all the things,” Grootendorst said. “But we are the access for our moms, and then we can get them to where they need to be.”
That access role has expanded in recent years. Sentara Albemarle moved into a new hospital campus in Elizabeth City last summer, replacing its aging facility with larger maternity suites and updated technology.
The new hospital allows mothers to labor, deliver and recover in the same room, while keeping newborns with their parents throughout their stay — changes hospital president Teresa Watson said are designed to support continuity of care in a region with limited maternity options.
Now, Sentara Albemarle Medical Center averages 30 to 40 deliveries a month, with 42 births recorded in December.
National data show more than 35% of U.S. counties are considered maternity care deserts, meaning they lack a birthing facility or obstetric clinician.
Grootendorst said that’s part of why her staff focuses heavily on the postpartum period, which can extend up to a year after birth and carries ongoing health risks for mothers.
“I think that's a gap even in education, to our people, to the support person, to the moms,” Grootendorst said. “Certain symptoms carry a different level of urgency for someone who has recently given birth than for other patients.”
Clinical Nurse Manager Cheryl Simpson said the hospital is guiding patients and working with emergency responders to share information that explains how symptoms such as high blood pressure, chest pain or severe headaches months after delivery can still signal life-threatening complications.
“We put education out to all the ambulance services,” Simpson said. “Nurses went out and did training, and we also created brochures that we give patients at discharge along with a red bracelet.”
Simpson said three certified nurse midwives are a full-time part of the maternity care team at Sentara Albemarle and work alongside obstetric physicians to care for low-risk pregnancies and deliveries. Doulas are part of some birth plans when patients request them, and the hospital encourages those conversations to happen early in prenatal care so expectations are clear.
