LAKEPORT, Calif. – Since 1997, Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s Family Birth Center has welcomed an average of 300 babies per year into the world.

For Laura Beckley-Boone, RN, the opportunity to deliver babies fulfills a lifelong dream.

“When a mama is in labor and it’s time for her to push, and the doctor is there with everything ready to go, waiting for the last few pushes feels like Christmas morning,” said Beckley-Boone.

An ideal delivery involves a laboring mother getting settled, comfortable and briefly hooked up to the monitors that track contractions and heart rate patterns, according to Beckley-Boone. The care team looks for normalcy to ensure the safety of both mother and baby.

“Women’s bodies are amazing. If a mother doesn’t feel comfortable or safe, she won’t deliver,” said Beckley-Boone. “I have a fairly midwife-y style. If everything is normal, minimal monitoring is OK. I serve as a voice for the women who want to labor standing up or in the bathtub, or who don’t want pain medication. We advocate to let our patients labor the way they want to.”

While an OB/GYN usually “catches” the baby, occasionally the deliver happens so quickly that Beckley-Boone has had the honor.

“I have a jar that I keep with all the names of the babies I’ve delivered myself,” she said. “Every time I add a name, I dump it out and go through all of the names before putting them back. Each one taught me a lesson; I love living in a small town because I’ll run into families at the grocery store whose child I helped deliver.”

Beckley-Boone also channels her passion into teaching birthing classes for child birth preparation classes at SLH. Mothers usually attend the weekly four-part series of classes during the last trimester.

“Most participants want more knowledge about what they’re getting into,” said Beckley-Boone. “I cover everything from the physiology of changes during pregnancy to who to invite during birth. Talking about birth and making a plan allays the fear that we will do something the patient hasn’t approved of beforehand. We also talk about ways to manage pain, breastfeeding, and what to expect immediately afterwards.”

While childbirth is painful, Beckley-Boone offers the same advice to every patient she counsels.

“I heard a wise little boy talking to his step-mother as she was getting ready to have her first baby. He said ‘You just gotta let it hurt,’” said Beckley-Boone. “That’s what I tell my patients. The mothers who struggle the most are the ones who are the most afraid, because stress hormones impact pain and can inhibit the hormones responsible for controlling labor. I’ve had patients tell me they feel less pain when I’m able to stay in the room with them versus when they’re alone. Fear links directly with pain and can definitely slow a labor’s progress.”

While the job can sometimes present challenges, Beckley-Boone wouldn’t want to do anything else.

“Every day that I work, I’m reminded why I do what I do. It feels like I am where I belong and I am so grateful.”

The Family Birth Center at Sutter Lakeside Hospital recognizes and honors the uniqueness of every birth and supports each family in creating an environment that best meets their personal, physical, emotional and technological needs.

Family-centered care is provided by a team of highly experienced and compassionate nurses. Each shift an individual nurse is assigned to each family unit, which reduces the institutional need to separate mothers’/families from their babies at this critical bonding time in life.

Accommodations include private and spacious labor and delivery rooms, in-room sleeping accommodations for family members, private bathrooms with shower or shower-tub accommodations, and “At Your Request” room dining service that provides patients the freedom to choose meal options from an in-room menu at his or her preferred meal times.

Call the Family Birth Center at 707-262-5085 for more information or to schedule a private tour.

Morgen Wells is Community Relations & Fund Development coordinator at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport.