EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first part in a series on maternal care in the area. Part 1 examines the developing problem of maternity deserts and the role of Aurora Medical Center — Bay Area in Marinette.
MARINETTE — Kiersten Dubois, of Stephenson, Michigan, knew that she didn’t want to gamble with a 30-minute drive to the hospital when in labor with her fourth child.
She delivered her other babies within minutes — her third child wasn’t breathing and needed resuscitation.
“It would not be an ideal situation to deliver in a car,” Dubois said.
After some consultation with her doctor, OB-GYN Kristin Kniech, D.O. at Aurora Medical Center — Bay Area in Marinette, they decided to bring her to the hospital and medically start her labor, known as induction, instead of letting it happen naturally.
Her choice reflected the risks of giving birth when living far away from a hospital.
“That was one of my biggest fears — if something happened and I labored at home — if the baby was stuck again, there was no way to deliver her, and she would’ve died,” Dubois said.
About 2.2 million women live in maternity care deserts, which are counties where no hospitals or birth centers provide obstetric care and no obstetric providers work, according to the nonprofit organization March of Dimes.
“We’re seeing this in north Wisconsin, but the reality is, this is becoming a national problem,” said Dr. Scott Voskuil, chief medical officer at Aurora Medical Center — Bay Area in Marinette.
Low or no access to maternity care affects about 500,000 births a year across the U.S., according to the March of Dimes.
Marinette and Menominee counties aren’t located in a maternity desert, but every county bordering Marinette is a maternity desert.
Within a one-hour drive of the city, there is nowhere to deliver a baby besides Aurora Bay Area. If the hospital wasn’t there, families would have inadequate access to maternity services, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Eight counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and about 12 counties in northern and northeast Wisconsin are designated as maternity deserts, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.
U.S. News & World Report recognized Aurora Medical Center — Bay Area in Marinette as a “Maternity Care Access Hospital” in late 2023 — the only hospital recognized in the state.
This meant that they were providing care in communities that would otherwise have no access. In addition to a geographic requirement, the hospital also needed to meet quality criteria to be eligible.
All 73 hospitals in the U.S. that were awarded had significantly lower rates of cesarean section (C-section) in low-risk pregnancies (23.1% vs. 25.4%) and of unexpected newborn complications (27.3 vs. 31.8 complications per 1,000 births) than hospitals that did not get the award.
U.S. News & World Report also recognized Aurora Bay Area as the “Best Hospital for Maternity Care,” along with Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay. To qualify, the hospital excelled in multiple quality metrics, including C-section rates, newborn complication rates, breastmilk feeding rates and early elective delivery dates.
The C-section rates were 26% lower, and the newborn complication rates were 37% lower than unrecognized hospitals.
Not only is Aurora Bay Area recognized as an exceptional maternal care facility, but without it, there would be a significant lack of access in the area. These awards, coupled together, recognize Marinette as a destination for delivering babies — not as a last resort.
Dubois’ daughter, Brynn, was delivered on schedule with 12 mL of fluid in her belly. The doctors and staff took care of her and her child like none other.
“The care there is unmatched to anywhere else, in my opinion,” Dubois said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Continue reading Part 2 in the next edition of the EagleHerald.
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