The new maternity ward at Naval Hospital Bremerton is scheduled to open in May after more than three years of planning and several months of construction.

The new maternity ward will remain in its previous location on the fourth floor at NHB and will contain many new improvements and upgrades.

“The new maternity ward will cut down on a lot of inconveniences and provide many new benefits the old one didn’t provide us,” said Cmdr. Penny Heisler, clinical project manager for the renovation. “The new maternity-ward rooms are all private and are used for both labor and post-natal care, so the mother doesn’t have to be moved to a different location after she gives birth.”

Each room has its own labor tub and enough space for a family member to stay overnight with the patient, said Heisler. This, along with the privacy of every patient having her own room, aids immensely in providing patients at NHB the most hospitable conditions possible, she added. 

The new maternity ward has a number of upgrades, including eight private rooms, a patient kitchen and cabinets to conceal all of the medical monitoring and resuscitation equipment found in delivery rooms. 

“The rooms are going to look like hotel rooms,” said Capt. Mary-Paul Backman, NHB’s OB/GYN department head. “The new remote-controlled operating lights are discreetly built into the ceiling, and the equipment will be hidden away in nice cabinets until we need it. It won’t look so much like a hospital operating room anymore, which I think is wonderful.”

Backman has been involved in the renovation at NHB since 2002 when she was at the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, or BUMED, in Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif., as a member of the BUMED perinatal board. The board’s role in the process was reviewing the NHB-proposed renovation for the new maternity ward. 

“Our new maternity ward will compare to just about any top-notch civilian or university hospital,” said Heisler. “One of the features that set us apart from most other military hospitals is having a labor tub in every room.”

The new addition is still being renovated and is set to open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony early May. The new rooms contain various other new features such as flat-screen televisions, DVD players and hair dryers. The new postpartum clinic will also be available seven days a week.