Create Your Own Story

“It feels really tailored to you and your family and what you want and how you want things done,” Grace says. “Very just calm and relaxing, and nothing ever seemed rushed. Nothing ever seemed like I was being annoying or overexaggerating with the pain, or anything like that.”

Grace and Damion just had their third little girl delivered at Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center.

“It was just amazing,” Damion chimes in.

“Me and my sister, we recommend this hospital to everybody,” Grace says. Grace’s sister also gave birth to both of her boys at Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center.

Grace grew up in Liberty and returned here when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. She wanted to raise her family in the community she’s always called home. Their three girls – a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old, and now the new baby – are all settling in together.

Grace had very specific criteria in mind in choosing Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center.

“I think what really mattered the most to me was the nurse-to-patient ratio,” Grace explains. “Getting that undivided attention when you’re in that most vulnerable state,” that was the deciding factor for Grace.

She also appreciated some of the enhanced safety features, like the wireless 24-hour monitoring system placed on the baby’s ankle immediately after birth that sets off an alarm if anything goes wrong. Grace was pleased to see all the new options available at the Birthing Center since her first two deliveries.

Grace delivered her first child without pain management, due to her platelets being too low for an epidural. With her second child, her two epidural attempts did not provide the desired pain relief. For her third delivery, she learned about a newer option – nitrous oxide.

Nitrous oxide is something dentists have long used for painful dental procedures, but most people are surprised to encounter the option for childbirth.

“It doesn't take the pain away necessarily, but it like kind of clouds your mind to not think about it as much,” Grace recalls. She said it also helped her focus on her breathing, which she struggled with in her first two deliveries. “You have to breathe to take in the nitrous.”

Grace had the same nurse (and a nursing student) with her every step of the way – and they helped guide her in self-administering the nitrous oxide.

“My end goal is to be a labor and delivery nurse,” Grace shares. “So, the whole experience, just watching her, it just reminded me of why I want to do what I want to do.”

Generations of Caring

Robin Morris, MD, a family medicine provider with Primary Care Liberty Clinic, has been delivering babies at Liberty Hospital for 25 years. She especially appreciates the opportunity to provide multigenerational care.

“I see some families with three and four generations that I care for,” Dr. Morris says. “Some of the babies I delivered when I first arrived at Liberty 25 years ago have grown up and are now having babies of their own, which is just an amazing full circle moment for me. It is truly gratifying to walk out of the labor and delivery unit and see parents and grandparents that I already know, waiting eagerly to see the new baby.”

Dr. Morris has lived in the Northland for almost three decades. “It is such a great place to live and work and raise my kids. Anywhere I go in the Northland, I see a patient, whether it is at Target or the movies or my kids’ schools. It is remarkable to have that small town feeling where I know so many people and still be so close to the city and all the dining, sports and entertainment options that Kansas City offers. It is the best of both worlds, truly.”

Outside of work, Dr. Morris’ focus was always on her own children, but now that they are grown, she enjoys growing things in her garden, cooking, reading and getting some movement every day, like she advises her patients to do.

Dr. Morris appreciates that nitrous oxide is a patient-controlled option and can be used as a standalone method or as a bridge to an epidural.

“Nitrous oxide helps patients manage the natural curve of pain and anxiety that comes with labor and delivery,” Dr. Morris says.

“Every patient can visualize how she would like her delivery to go, and we can discuss what might help that all work out and what flexibility she may need to have to ensure the delivery of a healthy baby,” Dr. Morris says. “I always like to see a patient who is thinking deeply about what her experience is going to be like.”

Dr. Morris calls the nurses and staff at Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center her “A-team.”

The VBAC Option

Twelve years ago, Rachel lived in a small town and needed to drive more than 90 minutes to the nearest hospital, where she had her first child by C-section. It was not a good experience.

Fast-forward to her two most recent childbirth experiences, both of which were vaginal deliveries. Vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC, would have been unheard of years ago: once a cesarean, always a cesarean. But times have changed since VBACs were ruled safe for some patients if specific measures can be put in place.

A VBAC is treated as a higher-risk procedure that requires continuous fetal monitoring and preparation for a repeat C-section in the event complications arise. Not every hospital offers VBACs even today.

When Rachel was having her second child at Liberty, she was considering a VBAC, but as the birth grew closer, she contemplated another C-section primarily because she knew what to expect. A nurse at the Birthing Center opened her mind to the real possibility of a VBAC. Rachel remembers her especially well because her name was Rachel, too.

As they spent time together, nurse Rachel encouraged her to take everything moment by moment and not make any decisions until she was ready. “It would have been much easier for her to just go along with the thinking that I should have a C-section,” Rachel explains, “but I could tell she wanted what was best for me.”

The recovery from a vaginal delivery is much easier than the recovery from a C-section, and when you have other children waiting for you at home, that quicker recovery can make all the difference.

“I think the biggest thing is that, which I've noticed with the two that I've had at Liberty, is they really change positions frequently with you,” Rachel recalls. “They're in there at least every 30 minutes, really catering to your body and what is going to work best to get the baby to move down.”

Advances in healthcare don’t always come in the form of a shiny new high-tech piece of machinery with flashing lights. Sometimes, a simple change in how things are done can make what was impossible then actually possible now.

Why did Rachel choose Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center in the first place?

“I have a sister-in-law who does postpartum care in the labor unit,” Rachel shares, “and she had nothing but good things to say – and I trust her word. I would never go anywhere but Liberty now.”

Creating Your Own Story

Suzanne Eggers, MD, FACOG, an OB/GYN with Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology, has been delivering babies at Liberty Hospital since 2015.

“It’s such a personal and moving experience. Each story is special and unique in and of itself – and in a way, you kind of are a special part of each family’s story.”

While patients can create the experience they want and communicate their preferences going into their child’s birth, things don’t always go according to plan. “So, they have to go into it with an open mind,” she cautions.

“For example, the decision to have a VBAC is a very personalized decision,” Dr. Eggers explains. “We encourage VBACs if patients are good candidates. It’s kind of a fluid decision because there's a lot that goes into it, a lot that can change.”

All the options available – the choice of physicians, nitrous oxide, VBAC and more – are impressive, but Dr. Eggers especially values “the wonderfully huge hearts” of the doctors, the nurses and the staff who “want to make their day as special as possible while keeping them and their baby safe.”

Dr. Eggers commends the two hours of “quiet time” every afternoon in the Birthing Center, during which families focus on bonding. Breastfeeding support is essential, too. It’s all designed to foster connection between parents and the new baby.

Dr. Eggers has been planning this career since childhood. She just always somehow knew she wanted to bring babies into the world.

She lives with her husband, two daughters and two dogs in the same house she moved into when she came here. She runs marathons and has taken up action photography as a hobby since both her daughters play soccer. Between delivering babies, running marathons, playing soccer and family life, Dr. Eggers stays busy, so she understands the importance of making time for connection.

A Birth Experience That’s Your Own

The Birthing Center at Liberty Hospital encourages each patient to make a birth plan, with options that allow families to personalize their experience – from their choice of physician to comfort options such as nitrous oxide and the possibility of a VBAC for eligible patients.

Dr. Morris and Dr. Eggers are just two examples of the physicians available to families at Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center. Along with the nurses and staff, they work with each family to create a birth experience that feels personal while keeping the health and safety of mom and baby at the center.

Connection, after all, is at the core of everything that happens at Liberty Hospital – and it’s especially important when delivering babies and introducing them to the new world around them.

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