First baby born at Chatham Hospital in nearly 30 years

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SILER CITY — For the first time in nearly 30 years, a baby was born at Chatham Hospital — thanks to the hospital’s new Maternity Care Center, which opened Sept. 8.

After just one week of being open, the birth of a baby boy, Se’kani Maurice Foxx, marked a major milestone for the new center and the hospital’s efforts to improve accessibility and equity.

But for parents Jasmine Smith and Shaquille Foxx, the hospital’s milestone paled in comparison to theirs: having a baby.

“My family was more excited than I was, I was more in shock, like, ‘Really that’s me? That’s me on someone’s Facebook page, that’s me on a newspaper? That’s my baby — are you sure?’” Smith said regarding seeing her baby on social media posts marking the event. “But family and friends were more excited. They were really happy about it, seeing that it was the first birth in 30 years at the hospital.”

Smith lives in Siler City, right across the highway from Chatham Hospital. She’d seen news of the new maternity center on Facebook, and after going into labor a couple days earlier than her due date, she thought it “was very convenient and easy to go around the corner” to the hospital to give birth ­— “my fourth and last,” she laughed. Their other three children were delivered at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, nearly a 45-minute drive from where they live in Siler City.

“I didn’t really think too much of how hectic or how nervous everyone will be,” Smith said of her experience. “But as much as they were saying they were nervous, they really did a good job with taking care of me and walking me through the steps of giving birth and with labor. I would highly recommend, seeing that it’s very convenient in a small city not having to drive 45 minutes to Chapel Hill or to the nearest hospital — I think they did a really good job; they helped ease a lot of pain and a lot of frustration with having to drive that far.”

Kristen Coleman, the nurse manager who oversees the new Maternity Care Center, said the hospital is offering tours and education sessions for patients who are potential deliveries at the center.

“I think things have gone really well. We had the delivery, we’ll have another one either today or tomorrow — we have a patient that’s being induced today,” Coleman said of the center’s first two weeks being open. “It was the first delivery at time hospital in almost 30 years, so it’s very exciting times for the hospital.”

She added: “It’s a big milestone for the community as far as rural health care and our patients not having to drive 30 minutes to Randolph, or 45 minutes to UNC, or 30 minutes to Central Carolina — and these people basically lived five minutes from the hospital, that delivered last week.”

Looking forward, Coleman said the hospital hopes to continue growing the services the maternity center offers, as well as expanding their patient volume.

“This project was about more than delivering the babies in Chatham County,” Chatham Hospital President Jeff Strickler said in a promotional video for the new center. “Before we started this service back, mothers might have to go an hour or more to get maternity care. There’s a lot of excitement in the community related to this program, and it’s also a challenge for our staff. They really want to get this right and provide the highest level of care, they want to provide a great patient experience and they know they’re on somewhat of a cutting edge of innovation.”

For Smith, once she made it to Chatham Hospital, it was a fairly quick, ableit painful, labor process. She was excited to have a midwife and said the nurses took very good care of her, helping make the experience “very, very calming.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, masks were worn and Smith could have only one visitor, meaning extended family relied on pictures and virtual calls to “meet” Se’kani. Though there were less visitors present than at her previous times giving birth, Smith said it made the experience more special.

“It was very intimate,” she said. “Not a lot of people came in other than nurses, which made it more special being that it was just us three, that we got to spend that quality time with the baby. We didn’t have to pass him around.”

Now one week old, Se’kani is doing well, Smith said, with two older brothers and an older sister who are excited to be around their little brother. For mom and dad, they’re just happy to have their newborn home and healthy — with a good report from his first doctor’s appointment on Monday.

“I just wanted to thank the staff over there at the Chatham Hospital for taking their time and being patient with me during the labor process,” Smith said. “I know their nerves were through the roof, seeing that it was the first birth, but I do want to thank everyone for doing a great job handling me and my baby.”

Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com.