Labour, birth services to be temporarily unavailable at a New Brunswick hospital

Upper River Valley Hospital in Waterville, N.B., is pictured in this undated image. (Source: Horizon Health Network)

Labour and delivery services will be temporarily unavailable at a hospital in western New Brunswick.

Horizon Health Network said those services at Upper River Valley Hospital in Waterville, N.B., will not be available from Sunday, April 20 to Sunday, April 27. It said the change is due to the “availability of physicians to provide emergency caesarian sections.”

Horizon said all pregnant people who would normally deliver their babies at Upper River Valley will need to travel to Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.

“Even if a pregnant individual feels they are low-risk and do not require a C-section, they must still travel to the DECRH for labour and birth, as pregnancy-related issues and emergency situations can quickly arise during childbirth,” read a news release Friday.

Horizon said all individuals in the service area who are 35 weeks pregnant and over have been contacted by nursing staff.

It said recruitment to “strengthen labour and birth services” at Upper River Valley remains a high priority.

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