Raulken co.UK - Beverly Hospital shelves plan to close natural birthing center

By Kay Lazar As a phalanx of sign-carrying mothers rallied outside, their babies bundled against the earlymorning cold, Beverly Hospital trustees yesterday backed down from a plan to cease deliveries at the hospital's natural birthing center,...

New England News Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Print friendly version Vote delay on possible closing of MA birth center BEVERLY, Mass. -- Trustees of the North Shore Birth Center have put off a vote on whether to stop doing deliveries at the facility because of a sharp rise in malpractice premiums. The center serves women with low-risk pregnancies who wish to give birth naturally in a quiet setting. It is one of only two of its kind in Massachusetts, the other being in Cambridge. Supporters held a rally Tuesday outside Beverly Hospital as trustees of Northeast Health System met to discuss the future of the birth center. The hospital later issued a statement saying that the center would continue providing services while trustees weighed the impact of a possible closing on the community. The statement said the outpouring of support for the center's continued operation had not gone unnoticed. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Send to A Friend EmailAIMYahoo Featured Sponsor Source: WHDH-TV