Wellness Wednesday with Dr. Early Ritter From Summerlin Hospital

Joanna talks with Early Ritter from Summerlin Hospital to talk about the important considerations when choosing a hospital for labor and delivery.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Sunny when I was six point five. Hello, this is Joanna from Sunday
Mornings with Joanna and Sean and it'sWellness Wednesday. Every single Wednesday, we
feature a various topic where we getto dive in to some of the experts
and their opinion and their expertise fromthe Valley Health System. I want to
say hello and welcome to the showto Early Ritter. You are the director

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of Labor and Delivery at Summerlin Hospital. How long have you been there?
I have been at Summerlin since twentyfourteen, so quite some time with the
Valley House System since twenty eleven.Oh that's wonderful. What is it about
Summerlin Hospital that you love working andgoing to work every day? You know
the people, we are a big, happy family. We all have a

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commitment to patient care and quality andso that really means a lot. It
translates out to their leadership and whowe all are. So that's pretty much
the whole reason I'm there and Ican ever leave. It's always about the
people. And listen for somebody whois is a mom who has gone through
the labor and delivery process. Iknow it's all about finding that right hospital

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in the valley that can make youfeel immediately at home, and it starts
with the people. So I wantto talk a little bit. Our topic
for Wellness Wednesday this week is whatparents should look for when choosing where to
deliver their baby. It's a veryimportant time. You're thinking about so many
different boxes to check off. Youwant everything to be perfect, and you

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want to make sure that the healthcareyou are in you're in great hands.
And I know people are in greathands at Summerlin Hospital, But what are
some of those things early that peopleneed to really think about and consider when
choosing the hospital to deliver their baby. Well, First and foremost, you
want to make sure that your physicianor your midwife go to or have privileges
at Summerlin or whatever hospital you choose. Sure, and then the second thing

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is you want to make sure thatyour insurance covers you know, you don't
want to get stuck with the hospitalthat you weren't expecting, right, very
important, So you get into thenitty gritty. You know, you have
nine months, which is in aregularity when you're getting ready for a hospital
state to think about it. Andyou know, us women and us being
moms we like to think and havean expectation and control of our situation.

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Sure, so here we have ninemonths leading up to our hospitalization, So
what things that we do we wantto look for that is things that complement
our painted picture of our delivery.A lot of times you hear a lot
of patients that they have other friendsor family who've delivered at a certain hospital
and they get a bad review orwhat have you. And most of that

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is because the picture that they paintedwasn't matched and identified. So you want
to make sure that you're picking aplace based upon their medical expertise and something
that matches your personality. Go havea tour, find out if it's something
that you know matches what you anticipateand want in your delivery. Absolutely,
that's very very important, And ofcourse I'm going to a someone in the

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hospital offers all those things, theopportunity to go and tour and meet the
staff before delivering. Sure, absolutelywe have great people there that will help
anyone go through and see what we'reabout. I love that I can tell
by your welcoming nature earlier, orthat your team there is fantastic. Now.
I remember early on when I waspregnant people through this term out a

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lot. A birth plan, Abirth plan? Do you have a birth
plan? I was just so lostin the excitement of being pregnant and thinking
about everything I needed to prepare forat home. I did not go into
it having a birth plan, thoughif I were to do it all over
again, I would now. Issomething like a birth plan important for a
new and expected mother. Well,I equate it to like when you're going

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on vacation. We're planners, right, we always pack what we need and
make lists and things like that.Right, So thinking about it and anticipating
and knowing what you want, youknow and involved in your care, that
is really important for any nurse,any physician, any midwife to understand and
know about you. So having thatbirth plan coming in, having it all

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written out, we ask those questionsanyway, but sometimes we have those questions
that aren't on their checklist, right, and so we want to make sure
that everybody has everything met that theyhave on this list. So birth plans
are great. They're a great toolfor us. It's a great tool for
the mom to have complete control andaccessibility to the thoughts of her care.

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So I think I think they're fantastic. Yeah, if I were to do
it all over again, I woulddefinitely, oh, be better prepared and
have a birth plan next the time. Now when you are considering, you
know, all the risk and allthe complications if you are a high risk
mother, because I was myself personally, I had high risk needs that I
needed to make sure we're addressed.You know, that's scary, and I

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think now women are having you know, children later in life and automatically you're
considered high risk. Now that's outsideof just other complications that a woman could
be experiencing. How do you atSummerland Hospital and the team there handle and
help and prepare women who are consideredhigh risk. Well, we have the
highest acuity probably in our demographic areaof Summerlin. You know, we have

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a lot of patients who come inwith in viat fertilization, so they are
really you know, it's it's oneof those things that the risks involved in
the delivery of that is pretty intensebecause they do have a high propensity for
going into labor prematurely. Sure,so you want to make sure that you
go to a place that has alevel three nick you one that has you

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know, a laborist program, soa physician that's there twenty four to seven,
so in case something does happen oroccur. We're really fortunate because we
do have an antipartum unit that's ifyou need to be hospitalized before you're ready
to deliver. Wow, right there, we have a whole unit that's set
aside for just that. Yes itis, and so when and other hospitals

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have kind of the same thing aswell, but we have an entire unit,
so we have seventeen antipartum rooms.It sets us apart from the other
hospitals and it also makes we haveto make sure that we have nurses that
are qualified and competency to make surethat they can handle the highest risk mom.
So doing your homework knowing you knowthat this facility has me. You

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know they've got We've got you covered. And so we have a nicky reunion
like you know every year and allof these fun things that occur just because
we have those parents that come backand want to bring their kids and show
us that you know, I madeit, I you know we did it.
Yeah, that's that's very sweet.I know that you and your team,
you're a part of people's memories thatlast a lifetime. Any particular story

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or something that ever happened at SummerlandHospital that really just stuck out to you,
and you're like, this is whyI love being a part of this
team. Yeah, you know,we we have so many things that occur
all the time, and and thosethings it's hard to talk about because sure,
you know, you go home andit's so overwhelming and taxing, and
you know, we have those thosethose families that come in and they experienced

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fetal demise and things that we weren'tanticipating, and sure, it's really sad.
And then they come back a yearlater and they have a baby and
you know, that rainbow baby,and it's really such a powerful thing to
experience that with someone. I stillcry. Oh yeah, I kind of
have to stay out of the deliveryrooms. I think I've been kicked out

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like several times because I just booo, you know, because it's so intense.
You know, it's like being insomeone's very personal piece of their life,
you know all the time. Butyou know our emergencies and the way
that we handle them, and it'slike a ballet. It's watching all of
these experts come into the room andmake sure that this mom and this baby

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or babies are going to be safeand sound. So amazing things happen every
day, so it's hard to justpick one out, but man, you
know, it's so neat to worry. I love that and how you described
that early. You know, obviously, you know, being able to see
the joy on a mother's face who'sgone through miscarriage or loss of any kind,
to be able to see them comeback and have a successful, full

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term pregnancy with a happy, healthybaby. I mean, to be a
part of somebody's story like that,that's very special. Yeah, it is.
And we don't forget them. You'llnever forget them, right, I
can't imagine, No, not atall. And it's and it's you know,
it's it's bittersweet. But we haveevents every year. We do the
Memory Trade event and Christmas time wherethey come and they put an ornament for

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their baby on the tree and itgives them a place to go that's tangible.
They can hold on to that,that means something to them. That's
beautiful. Yeah, So we don'tjust stop at that part where they deliver.
We continue it on. We makesure that we remember all of the
babies, you know, whether whetherthey're bouncing baby. You know, they're

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teenagers now in high school because we'vehad so many babies at Summerland. Now
that we have people are going offto college. It's just fun. That's
so special and it's so incredible thatsomeone in the hospital is going to be
forever part of those memories for thosefamilies for years to come. Now,
is there anything else that you wantto put out there for people to consider

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when choosing the hospital to deliver at. Well, you know, honestly,
make sure that you know what you'regetting and it's not always about what they
feed you afterwards. You know,that's a good point. You know,
it's funny because it's one of thethings that people ask us, do you
do these dinners and you know,we do a really huge dessert and the

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sure, you know, a congratulationsdeal, but honestly, making sure that
you have afterwards. What we wehave a lactation team that is there twenty
four to seven. We have youknow, experienced people that can help every
step of the way, because afterthe baby's born, that's when the fun
begins. Right right now, you'vegot this baby that's outside. Everybody's looking

(10:01):
at it and here's mom laying therewithout the attention. It's all on this
child. And that's something that wepride in is making sure that you know
that mom has everything that she needsto be successful in terms of the turnover
of emotions and all of those things. So not just you know, looking
at the birth, but looking afterward, you know, looking to make sure

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you have all the resources at yourfingertips that we send you home prepared,
childbirth education, breastfeeding support groups,those kinds of things that they can make
sure that they're they're supported throughout,not just when the baby's born, but
you know, for years to come, definitely, and there is so many
emotions and feelings and changes and justquestions that new moms have, so to

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know that they can rely on theteam at Summerland Hospital, that is incredible.
Thank you, Early Ritter. It'sbeen a wonderful opportunity to dive into
and explore more about the labor andDelivery department at Summerland Hospital. Thank you
so much, thank you for havingme here. Thanks That's Wellness Wednesday,
sponsored by the Valley Health System eachWednesday, right here on Sunday, one

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of six point five