Why so many Moms-to-be are turned away from Calgary’s South Hospital

CALGARY – When Elizabeth Station moved into her South Calgary home last year, having the city’s newest hospital close by was comforting.

“We just bought this place in November when we were pregnant,” the new Mom said.

“We were expecting since we were just two minutes away (from South Health Campus), we could jump in the car and be right there but that wasn’t the case.”

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Instead, her little boy, Alexander was delivered at the Rockyview General Hospital – Even though that hospital was about a 30 minute drive away.  Early in her pregnancy she was told the maternity ward at South Health Campus was full.

“It was a little scary labouring all the way to Rockyview.  It would have been a lot more convenient if we could have just gone to the South Health Campus.”

READ MORE: Alberta Health says more money coming as midwife practices consider closing 

According to the Department Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Calgary, the maternity ward at the South Health Campus is much smaller than the wards at Calgary’s three other adult hospitals.

“The reality is that it is only half the size it was planned to be,” said Dr. Doug Wilson. “We had hoped to have a whole new women’s health centre with 5,000 deliveries.”

“We were restricted.  We’re in temporary space and we’re restricted to 2, 500 deliveries only.”

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As a result, Wilson says obstetricians who deliver out of the South Health Campus must stay within strictly enforced monthly patient quotas so that safety and quality of care isn’t compromised.

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(Graphic by Cody Coates)

According to Alberta Health Services, there were 19,000 babies born in the Calgary zone last year.  A small number were delivered in Canmore and High River and the rest were delivered among Calgary’s four adult hospitals.  While the Peter Lougheed Centre, Foothills Medical Centre and Rockyview General Hospital each saw around 5, 000 births, only 2,500 babies were born at the South Health Campus.

Wilson’s advice to South Calgary families is to ask for a referral to the South Hospital as soon as they can. According to Alberta Health there are no plans to expand maternity capacity at South Health Campus anytime soon.

In a statement to Global News, Alberta’s Associate Health Minister, Brandy Payne said, “as we are doing across the health system, we’ll monitor what is happening in this hospital and base future decisions on what the evidence tells us.”