By Abigail Roberts
Kentucky singer and songwriter Tyler Childers took to Instagram on Feb. 11 to speak out against the pending closure of the Fort Logan Hospital Birthing Spa.
Childers said he and his wife Senora May are expecting their second baby this summer and had planned to deliver at the FLH Birthing Spa. The couple gave birth to their first child at the birthing center in Stanford in Sept. 2022.
Ephraim McDowell Health announced Jan. 16 that they will be moving obstetric services to Danville and no longer providing those services in Stanford, beginning Feb. 16.
The move spurred local mothers, families and providers to rally together to protest the change. A petition has garnered more than 4,000 signatures.
In an Instagram post, Childers shared a statement on top of a screenshot of the WKYT news article about the pending closure.
The statement reads: “Saddened to hear about the impending closure of the birthing center at Ephraim McDowell,” Childers wrote in an Instagram Stories post on Wednesday, Feb. 11. “In Sept of 2022, Senora gave birth to our baby boy here. We were intending on going here for the birth of our second baby, who we are expecting later this summer.
This birthing center is a vital part of maternal care in the Stanford area. It would greatly affect the Amish community surrounding the birthing center as well. The birthing center is a top notch medical facility that Kentucky should be proud of.”
Dr. James Miller, of Bates, Miller & Sims also shared an update Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Miller said Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center has denied Miller and Dr. Christopher Sims’ request for privileges to care for their patients in the Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.
The doctors were notified of this five days before the announced closure of the Birthing Spa.
“They stated that their medical staff bylaws require someone to be board certified in OB-GYN in order to do obstetrics,” Miller said. “We have told them we’re board certified in family practice, and are trained to do obstetrics and procedures and cesarean sections.”
Miller, who has been delivering babies in Stanford for over 40 years, said the providers were not notified of this decision on Jan. 16 when the original announcement was made.
“We are deeply concerned about our patients, especially those who are in their last one to two months of pregnancy,” Miller said. “We will continue to do our prenatal care in our office and we are working on whatever avenues we can try to get a better remedy for this than the current one.”
Learn more about the online petition here: https://www.change.org/SaveTheFLHBirthingUnit_CommunityPlea
