First baby born at new Kootenai Health birth center

COEUR d'ALENE — Tessa DeMoy of Hayden was given a due date of March 9, so she did not think she would have her first baby in the new Kootenai Health McIntire Family Birth Center.

But baby Danica wasn't ready by March 9 and the new birth center, part of the 100,000-square-foot expansion at Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene, officially opened its doors this week.

They were the first family in, around 11 a.m. Tuesday, but another family came in shortly after and a friendly competition ensued as to who would have the first baby in the new birthing center.

"We kept asking how they were doing and they kept asking how we were doing ... it was pretty cool," DeMoy said.

Danica Lefay DeMoy Allers, born at 9:56 p.m. Tuesday, was the first baby born in the center. Danica was 7 pounds 11 ounces, and at 21.5 inches long, DeMoy said the baby girl had her daddy's legs. At 6-foot-5, Marshall Allers agreed, and said she inherited his feet as well.

DeMoy and Allers said they were impressed with the new center's technology. The television is also an "interactive patient care board," which DeMoy said was nice because if someone needed to tell her something while she was asleep they could leave a message for her without waking her up. Any questions she had about medications could be answered with the information provided on the board. Television channels, movies, games and music are available on the set as well.

"It makes it very easy to get the information you need at hand and not feel like you are constantly bugging the nurses," she said, adding some of the nurses said they still felt the need to be more hands-on.

She also said the lights in the delivery room were "really cool." She said a hand-held wand was used to move the lights around, so there were no "clunky" lights hanging from the ceiling.

The rooms in the new center are about twice the size of the rooms in the former birth center. DeMoy said the room was "amazing." Even with six others in the room with her during labor, she said there was plenty of room to move around and she did not feel crowded.

She said the staff was very helpful and her midwife, Rhonda Williamson, was "amazing." The nurses checked in with her regularly and she really liked that they let her and Allers have bonding time with the baby for about an hour before taking her for any testing. She had told the staff bonding with the baby was important to her.

"It was really nice because a lot of what we wanted this facility was already set up for," DeMoy said. "It's very much about the family and the parents. They don't push you into anything — if there is something they want to talk about possibly doing, they sit down and talk with you about it."

Hospital spokeswoman Andrea Nagel said there were no scheduled inducements or cesarean sections for the first couple days the new center is open. The hospital staff was moving stuff over from the old maternity ward and trying to keep the scheduling light until the move is complete.

Meghan Smith, manager of labor and delivery, said the move was going well and the transition has been smooth.

"The staff has been really proud to show off our new space and we're really looking forward to the opportunities it will provide to the community," Smith said.