2 hospitals temporarily close obstetrics units

TwoNew Brunswick hospitals, one in Carleton County and the other in Bathurst, aretemporarily shutting down their obstetrics units this week.

There's no surgeon to cover the Upper River Valley Hospital in Waterville between Wednesday at 3 p.m. and Friday at 5 p.m., Horizon Health said in a news release.

Pregnant women who would normally go there to deliver their babies will have to travel to the Dr. Everett ChalmersRegional Hospital in Fredericton or to theEdmundstonRegional Hospital, it said.

A surgeon is only needed to do emergencycaesarean sections, but Horizon said the closure applies even to low-risk pregnancies because "emergency situations can quickly arise during child birth."

Anyone 35 weeks pregnant or morewill be contacted by obstetricsnursing staff, said Horizon.

Not enough nurses in Bathurst

Horizon's announcement comes on the heels of a similar one fromtheVitalitHealth Network.

Late Monday afternoon,Vitalit announced the obstetrics unit at theChaleurRegional Hospital inBathurstwould be closed from Monday at 4 p.m. until Friday at 8 a.m. because of a nursing shortage.

Pregnant women in that area are being redirected to hospitals inCampbelltonandMiramichi.

Vitalitsaid "much effort" had been devoted to finding enough nursing staff to safely provide services, "but to no avail."

"Unfortunately, this leaves us no other choice but tointerrupt these services inBathursttemporarily," said Johanne Roy, vice-president of clinical services forVitalit.

Roy said all patients likely to give birth this week were contacted personally.

"All the necessary arrangements have been made to establish service corridors toCampbelltonandMiramichito make things go as smoothly as possible," she said.