KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Pregnant women in Kershaw County will soon face changes in their birthing options as Kershaw Medical Center is set to close its women's delivery unit.
According to Patrick Cawley, chief executive officer of MUSC Health, the oversight body for Kershaw Medical Center, deliveries will now take place at MUSC Northeast instead of Kershaw Medical Center.
"For when a woman wants to deliver a baby, and they are from Kershaw County, they will no longer be able to go to Kershaw Medical Center. They will have to go to Northeast," he said.
"Just to be clear, Kershaw is going to be closing the women’s delivery part of the women’s center," said Cawley. "The outpatient part, the part where they come to check in with an obstetrician, that will remain the same."
The decision has sparked concerns among some residents, including Kimberly Wiggers, a mother in Camden.
"I can say from experience, it might be a little of a challenge for moms that are in labor to have to travel that far and not have somewhere closer they can obtain that service, but it just seems inconvenient to me," said Wiggers.
A check on Google Maps reveals a distance of about 29 miles - or a 35-minute trip - between Kershaw Health and MUSC Northeast when traveling from Camden.
"The reason we are closing the in-patient part, at the moment, is the total number of babies being delivered, which has stayed about steady and not grown," Cawley said. "And when you're relatively small like that, it’s hard to recruit doctors, it's hard to recruit nurses, and from a safety and quality perspective, it's probably better to do that in a larger facility that can handle more patients."
Currently, Kershaw Health delivers about 300 babies annually. With the changes, MUSC Health aims to double that number to 600 by centralizing deliveries at MUSC Northeast.
"I'd like to see some other thoughts or ideas as a resolution for that rather than having to travel so far," Wiggers said.
MUSC Health has not provided a definitive date for when these changes will take effect.