Samaritan Hospital could close its Burdett Birth Center within six months, if plans are approved by the New York State Department of Health. St. Peter’s Health Partners, which owns the hospital and is part of Michigan-based Trinity Healthcare, cites staffing and financial concerns.
Tuesday’s rally at the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region saw parents, children, and nurses brandishing signs reading “Save Burdett Birth Center” and “Midwives Save Lives.” Many demonstrators were quick to note that they were born at Samaritan Hospital, or had given birth at Burdett. They say the closure would create a dangerous maternity care desert in Rensselaer County – at a time when the nation’s maternal mortality rate is on the rise.
BirthNet Board of Directors Co-Chair Esther Patterson says the current plan would force expecting mothers to travel as far as Albany, Niskayuna, Saratoga Springs, or even Pittsfield, Massachusetts when they’re in labor, creating a ripple effect throughout the Capital Region.
"Closing Burdett would mean that St. Peter's Hospital and Albany Medical Center would have to absorb the close to 1,000 births that would have occurred at Burdett, which would tax their already overburdened clinics and labor and delivery rooms, and make giving birth for women of color even more unsafe than the current statistics show," she adds.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the number of women who died in and around childbirth rose to more than 1,200 in 2021 – a sharp increase from what was already considered a dramatic rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC says Black women are roughly three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women due to lack of quality healthcare, chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias.
Birth doula Jayana LaFountain says she frequently refers her clients, many women of color, to Burdett. She says she is devastated by the news, fearing the closure could be catastrophic for low-income women across the county.
“People will die. It is not a question, it is a fact. Not a matter of if, but a matter of when,” says LaFountain. “Not everybody can afford to have a home birth, not everybody wants a home birth, not everyone can get transported to the nearest hospitals.”
For its part, St. Peter’s says its plan preserves prenatal care in Troy, and even after the closure of Burdett, the Samaritan Hospital emergency room will remain open to mothers in labor.
Even for those who can make the drive to Albany, Elizabeth Gray of Troy says having Burdett close by was a comfort during her first pregnancy. Gray became pregnant with her son, Francis, just as the state began announcing COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. She had just left her job to finish her doctorate, and was navigating a new health insurance provider – and to top it all off, the week Francis was due, in December 2020, saw back-to-back snowstorms in the Capital Region.
"We literally talked about the fact that I could be dragged to the hospital in a sled, if that was necessary," Gray laughs. "And knowing that I'd be in a birth center, in my room, which kept me apart from the rest of the hospital, gave me such a sense of relief."
Burdett Birth Center first opened in 2011 out of a merger between Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary’s/Seton Health. The Doula Network of the Capital Region says Burdett is the only regional maternity ward that exceeds the recommendations set by the federal government’s Healthy People 2020 Initiative. And according to St. Peter’s Perinatal Regional Center, which bases its data on birth certificate information, the primary cesarean rate at Samaritan Hospital is 12.7 percent, much lower than the statewide rate of 28.9 percent.
Many of the rallygoers credit that record with the variety of care options at Burdett, particularly its collaborative midwifery model. Birth doula Jessica Hayek says, worldwide, midwives attend roughly 70 percent of all births. She says having a midwife or doula on-hand for the ups and downs of pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period allows mothers to receive more attentive and personalized care.
"The thing about Burdett is that people have access to all the options. Whatever they may need to bring their baby safely and joyfully earth-side, Burdett has it," says Hayek. "We know when people are in labor, and they're able to move around during that labor, it helps facilitate a quicker birth. Burdett supports that. We know that when hydrotherapy is available, people have a more satisfying and peaceful experience. Burdett provides that. We know that when birthing people are respected and included in their care plan and decision-making, they leave their birth experience feeling empowered — and birth is the jump-off point for parenting, for all of us."
In a statement to WAMC, a spokesman for St. Peter’s attributes at least part of Samaritan’s low cesarean rate to its being a Level 1, low-risk center. St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany – a Level 3, high-risk birth center – is also on the lower end, with a primary C-section rate of 23.7 percent. St. Peter’s says it has offered to help Burdett staff relocate to other positions within its system, adding: “By bringing the highly trained staff at Samaritan to St. Peter's, we will have the ability to tap into the expertise of midwives and other birthing caregivers who the community has grown to rely on and trust during their birthing journey. With these birth models now in a centralized location, it will serve to further enhance a program long recognized for its excellence.”
Meantime, the Troy City Council has set a special meeting for Thursday at 7 p.m. to take up a resolution calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to block the plan. At the rally Tuesday, Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden said he is disappointed by the plan to close Burdett, and will personally ask Hochul and New York’s U.S. senators to intervene.
"This is one aspect of a system that's gone awry, and we need to keep our voices out there," says Madden. "You need to share your stories with me. I need to bring them to the table in discussions with St. Peter's and Trinity Healthcare, and with Senator [Chuck] Schumer, and with Senator [Kirsten] Gillibrand, and with the governor's office. So you can help me with that, by sharing your stories."
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You can read the full statement about the closure from St. Peter's Health Partners below:
"St. Peter’s Health Partners is a committed community leader in women’s health care, with a long history of caring for expectant mothers, newborns, and their families at both Samaritan and St. Peter’s hospitals. The maternity unit at Samaritan has been a very special part of our health care system, due in large part to its dedicated care team including physicians, nurses, and midwives. That team's commitment to low levels of intervention have assisted countless women in delivering safely.
The most recent data from the Perinatal Regional Center, which is based on our birth certificate information, shows that Samaritan Hospital is currently at 12.7 percent for primary C-sections, where St. Peter's Hospital is at 23.7 percent. These rates are both well below the statewide average of 29 percent, which speaks to the quality of care delivered at both facilities.
But those numbers only tell part of the story, as Samaritan is a low-risk birth, Level 1 center, while St. Peter's Hospital is a high-risk birth, Level 3 hospital. The reality is there are patients that begin their birthing journey at Samaritan, only to discover that they need a higher level of care and surgical interventions, one that can best be achieved at St. Peter's Hospital.
By bringing the highly trained staff at Samaritan to St. Peter's, we will have the ability to tap into the expertise of midwives and other birthing caregivers who the community has grown to rely on and trust during their birthing journey. With these birth models now in a centralized location, it will serve to further enhance a program long recognized for its excellence. Last year, St. Peter’s Hospital was recognized as a “Best Hospital for Maternity Care” by U.S. News & World Report, the only hospital in the Capital Region to receive the designation. This is a direct result of our highly skilled and compassionate physicians, midwives, nurses, and other colleagues, and our dedication to creating a space where women and their families know they are valued, they are heard, and they will be cared for."
