Connecticut needs better oversight of proposed maternity ward closures

When she was pregnant with my sister, my mother went into the hospital for her routine five-month ultrasound and was informed by her doctor that her amniotic fluid had been leaking from the fetal sac.

This condition, known as oligohydramnios , essentially means that the fluid that was critical in her baby’s proper development and protection was diminishing by the day. Due to the dangers that this condition posed to the baby, she was instructed to go on bed rest for the last four months of her pregnancy. This is something that she wouldn’t have noticed on her own, and if she had continued with her daily life, my sister could have been born with severe fetal abnormalities , or I might not even have a sister today.

Now let’s consider a different scenario, one in which my mother did not have easy access to quality maternal care or live within a reasonable distance to any labor and delivery units. One in which my mother’s condition caused her to go into preterm labor, and she was unable to get to the hospital in time to have her baby safely delivered. What then?

She was extremely fortunate to live within twenty-five minutes of a hospital that had a great labor and delivery unit. This unit made all the difference between her delivering a safe and healthy baby and her experiencing potentially severe complications.

Unfortunately, many women in Connecticut have found themselves in a situation where their local labor and delivery units are in danger of closing down. Since 2020, there have been three different requests for the closure of labor and delivery units in rural Connecticut; Sharon Hospital and Johnson Memorial Hospital, whose requests for closure were denied, and Windham Hospital, whose unit was approved to shut down.

These aren’t small, insignificant hospitals either. Sharon Hospital serves approximately 31,220 people , Johnson Memorial Hospital about 146,934 people , and Windham Hospital around 80,421 people . If these units were to be shut down, a significant number of women would lose their means of care. One of the OBGYN employees at Sharon Hospital even said , “This place would have become a very dangerous area for pregnant women, and it would have been really hard for young families to even think about living in this area.”

This year, the Connecticut Legislature is deliberating Senate Bill 110 , which is about allocating further funds toward the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy, enabling them to hire more staff. This is the office that reviews requests from hospital systems to make changes to their coverage, deciding which units in a hospital stay open and receive more resources and which are going to face closure . If someone intends to expand or enhance a health care facility to increase its effectiveness or efficiency, they have to obtain permission from this office. So, if there were more staff members available in the Office of Health Strategy, it would help streamline the Certificate of Need process, the process in which these applications are filed and approved.

However, there are underlying issues within the process that, if addressed, could enhance the system altogether. One of the main problems within the Certificate of Need process is how long it takes from the submission of an application to the ruling made. The Connecticut Mirror’s analysis of this system found that there were about seven-and-a-half months between institutions’ submissions and the release of the decision.

In addition to Connecticut Senate Bill 110, the Connecticut legislature is deliberating Substitute Senate Bill 440 , which would allow changes to be made to the Certificate of Need process, allowing it to be shortened. In conjunction, these two bills would make significant improvements in the process, improving the oversight of decisions on the future of labor and delivery units.

The ultimate goal should be to ensure that all women can live within a reasonable distance from not just prenatal care, but high-quality prenatal care. Every woman, even if they have a perfectly healthy pregnancy, deserves the peace of mind they would get knowing that if anything were to go wrong, they could get help, and they could get it fast.

Put yourself in this position: what would you want for your daughter, granddaughter, niece, or any other woman you care about? I guarantee that I already know all of your answers.

Alex Calichman is a senior at Sacred Heart University, majoring in health science with a public health concentration.

Related Stories:

1. Fix or nix? CT’s ‘certificate of need’ law under scrutiny
2. CT’s maternal health care issues go beyond access, officials say
3. What to know about the closure of Windham Hospital’s birthing unit