Pregnant women have been known to drive hours so they can deliver their babies at Sutter Davis Hospital’s birthing center.

They come because of the birthing center’s reputation for excellent outcomes, said center director Carolyn Campos, and they come because of the choices available to them here: It’s the only birthing center in the greater Sacramento area offering water births and the services of volunteer doulas, in addition to physicians and midwives.

As a result, the center delivers between 1,300 and 1,400 babies a year — a pretty significant number for a community hospital.

Check it out

What: New birthing rooms celebrated; tours offered

When: 5-7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Sutter Davis Hospital, 2000 Sutter Place

But despite its reputation and consistently high rankings for patient outcome and satisfaction, there was one area in which patients regularly ranked the center fairly low: They found the comfort and décor in the labor-and-delivery rooms decidedly lacking.

Now, thanks to community donations made through the Sutter Davis Hospital Foundation, and matching funds from Sutter Health, those rooms have been transformed.

Gone are the glaring, bright lights and wallpaper that looked like something out of the 1970s, replaced instead by earth tones on the walls, wood floors, dimmers on the lights and medical equipment hidden away behind wooden cabinets.

What was once a sterile, cluttered place, Campos said, “is now a very peaceful, tranquil environment.”

“It’s not what you would expect in the hospital,” she added, likening the new rooms to “birthing caves.”

And it’s all based on feedback the center has received from patients.

“We asked what people want, and they wanted this,” Campos said.

Added hospital CEO Janet Wagner: “We talk to patients a lot, patients who were just here. We bring them back and talk to them about what we can do to improve the care here.

“I also go to prenatal classes and ask them what they want, what their expectations are,” Wagner said.

And expectations haven’t really changed over the years. Moms-to-be still want choices about how they deliver their babies, whether it’s with the assistance of a physician or a midwife, natural delivery or the help of an epidural. And they want to do it in a supportive environment.

“One of the last memories to leave us,” Campos said, “is the birth of a child.”

Being able to play a role in making that a positive memory “motivates us,” she added.

In addition to the muted, natural colors, the wooden floors and cabinets, the soft lighting and the battery-powered candles, the labor-and-delivery rooms also offer comfortable seating for visitors, including a couch, where dads-to-be can even take a nap.

New moms spend only part of their time at the birthing center in a labor-and-delivery room, of course, so changes were made as well to the postpartum rooms. Out went the dated wallpaper and in came cool blue paint and new artwork on the walls. Like the labor-and-delivery rooms, these rooms also evoke a sense of tranquility and peace, but are at the same time lighter than the labor-and-delivery rooms.

“It’s a different kind of tranquil,” Campos noted.

The remodeling was made possible by more than $250,000 raised by the Sutter Davis Health Foundation, matched by $240,000 from Sutter Health. Money came from everyone from community leaders to grateful patients, foundation executive director Reuben Williams said.

“Our community rallies around us,” Wagner said. “We couldn’t do this without them.”

It helps that the birthing center’s reputation reaches far and wide. Last year, Campos said, only about 20 percent of babies born here were born to Davis residents. The majority come from Yolo County, including Woodland and West Sacramento, but many come from Placer, Sacramento and Solano counties. Others have driven from as far as San Luis Obispo, Campos said.

“And nobody leaves empty-handed,” Wagner quipped.

Representatives of other hospitals come to learn how Sutter does what it does, and the birthing center was even the subject of a 2011 article in the journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which documented the center’s excellent outcomes.

More than 20,000 babies have been born at Sutter Davis since the birthing center opened in 1994. The center is known for its low Caesarean section rate (16 percent in 2010 versus 30 percent for the state average) and its high rate of breastfeeding (82 percent in 2010 versus 57 percent for the state average), in addition to its many birthing alternatives.

The new birthing rooms will be celebrated at a grand opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Sutter Davis Hospital, 2000 Sutter Place. The gathering will take place in the meditation garden just outside the hospital and tours of the new birthing suites will be available for visitors.

— Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at [email protected] or (530) 747-8051. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy

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Sutter Davis Birthing Center Director Carolyn Campos, left, and hospital CEO Janet Wagner talk in one of the newly remodeled birthing rooms at Sutter Davis. The rooms were refurbished with community donations made through the Sutter Davis Hospital Foundation and matching funds from Sutter Health. In addition to the muted, natural colors, the wooden floors and cabinets, the soft lighting and the battery-powered candles, the labor-and-delivery rooms also offer comfortable seating for visitors, including a couch, where dads-to-be can even take a nap. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Sutter Davis Birthing Center Director Carolyn Campos stands in front of the specially designed tub for water births. The center is known for its low Caesarean section rate (16 percent in 2010 versus 30 percent for the state average) and its high rate of breastfeeding (82 percent in 2010 versus 57 percent for the state average), in addition to its many birthing alternatives. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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The newly remodeled birthing rooms at Sutter Davis feature muted, natural colors, wooden floors and cabinets, soft lighting and the battery-powered candles. They also offer comfortable seating for visitors, including a couch, where dads-to-be can even take a nap. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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