South Sunflower County Hospital is delivering in Indianola.
Hospital administrators and staff hope that the recently-unveiled 6,200-square-foot Maternity Care Center at the facility will help to deliver better health outcomes and more babies locally.
Thanks to a partnership with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, the investment into SSCH’s new maternity ward brings four state-of-the-art labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms where mothers and infants can receive multiple levels of care in one space.
“This transformation reflects South Sunflower County Hospital's commitment to clinical excellence and enhancing the patient and family experience,” SSCH CEO Courtney Phillips said.
The project brings three antepartum rooms, a triage room and dedicated spaces for telehealth and collaborative care.
“This facility was designed with our community in mind,” Phillips said. “Every detail, from the comfort-centered environment to the integration of modern technology, was thoughtfully chosen to ensure mothers feel safe, supported and dignified throughout their birthing experience. This allows families to stay closer to home for exceptional maternity care, and more babies can be born in the heart of the Delta, surrounded by their community.”
SSCH is one of two rural hospitals in the state where family physicians focus on obstetrics and deliver babies. The other hospital is in Wayne County in south Mississippi.
In a state that has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation — with the Delta experiencing an IMR three times higher than the national average of 5.4 per thousand births — fewer doctors and rural hospitals are focusing on labor and delivery.
SSCH, BCBS of Mississippi and its foundation have doubled down in recent years on the notion that maternity care should remain a vital part of the Indianola hospital’s model.
“In rural areas, access to maternal care is critical. We believe every Mississippian deserves access to quality care regardless of where they live,” said Eugenia King, director of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation. “This is a bold investment in the long-term health of our state.”
In 2018, SSCH earned its Baby Friendly designation from Baby Friendly USA, the United States’ accrediting arm and national authority for the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund’s Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.
Two years ago, the hospital began collaborating with residency programs to establish an OB fellowship program that will train more physicians here in the Delta, with a focus on obstetrics. Recently, the hospital has started training and recruiting more Certified Nurse Midwives.
“By integrating CNMs into a care team led by family physicians, we deliver a team-based model that addresses provider shortages while enhancing quality,” Phillips said. “The LDRP setup allows mothers to remain in the same room for their entire stay, improving both comfort and continuity of care…This new model of care centered on collaboration between CNMs and physicians, will reduce unnecessary C-sections, increase breastfeeding success, and enhance the overall patient experience. It prioritizes safety, education and emotional support while delivering evidence-based care from pregnancy through postpartum.”
During a recent tour of the new maternity wing, SSCH staff demonstrated some of the state-of-the art technology the hospital hopes will improve outcomes and attract more families to choose the local hospital option for labor and delivery.
This includes real-time fetal monitoring, advanced mobile access for physicians and a centralized, labor-focused electronic health record system.
“We anticipate improved maternal and infant health outcomes, including better breastfeeding rates, fewer unnecessary C-sections and a more personalized patient experience,” Phillips said. “Importantly, we're creating a model that can be replicated across other rural communities in Mississippi, fostering a stronger and more sustainable maternal care network for the Delta.”
The Maternity Care Center represents the latest in a series of capital projects that came about from the partnership between SSCH, BCBS and Indianola Family Medical Group.
“This partnership has already brought significant initiatives to life, including the Baby-Friendly Hospital Designation, the Delta Healthy Moms & Babies group prenatal care program, and the Indianola Community Wellness Center,” Phillips said.
Coming on the heels of this latest multi-million maternity ward renovation is a proposed 4,000-square-foot Women’s Health Center, which broke ground on the SSCH campus this week.
“This new facility will provide expanded, comprehensive services to support women at every stage of life,” Phillips said. “This highlights our continued commitment to promoting women's health in Sunflower County.”
