After 14 months of flood cleanup and construction, the Ottawa Birth and Wellness Centre is experiencing its own sort of rebirth.
Staff at the Walkley Road centre were forced to close their doors in August 2023 after heavy rainfall damaged every room in the facility.
It was a devastating blow to the facility, one of just two ministry-funded birth centres in Ontario. More than 2,400 babies have been born there since it opened in 2014.
The centre was finally able to relaunch its birthing unit last month, and staff are describing the reopening as nothing but joyful.
‘Big hit to our morale’
The centre’s closure was initially expected to be much shorter.
In an August 2023 interview with Ottawa Morning, Robyn Berman, the centre’s then-clinical lead midwife, said it would be at least two months before the centre could welcome back expecting parents.
She estimated it would take six months before the building’s other wing, which houses the wellness centre portion that’s used for community workshops, would be operational.
During the closure, midwives had to find other places to practise while parents had to shift their birth plans.
“It was a big hit to morale, to our community and our team,” said Sylvie Beaudry, the centre’s current clinical lead midwife and quality advisor.
The flood damage was “more extensive” than they initially realized, said Jolanta Scott-Parker, the centre’s executive director.
Some areas, like the foyers, were filled with up to 30 centimeters of water, Scott-Parker said.
After about a year of work, the wellness centre began running education workshops and its vaccination clinic in August.
Then on Oct. 23, the centre reopened its birthing unit — and had its first birth within two hours.
Beaudry was standing in the hallway with a colleague when she realized the first baby had been born at the centre in more than a year.
“We heard the first cry, and we both bawled our eyes out and held each other in each other’s arms,” she said. “We were just so filled with joy.”
A welcome alternative
For expecting parents, the centre offers another option in addition to giving birth in hospital or at home.
Staff said it offers a middle ground that may not feel as cold or sterile as a hospital while also providing cleanliness and medical equipment that might not be available to those giving birth at home.
Maria Krioutchkova toured the birth centre shortly after it opened with her partner, Neil Hughes. As a first-time mother, she said her goal is to have a calm experience during labour and delivery.
“We want to bring our daughter into this world in a very relaxed state of mind,” she said. “Pregnancy is very anxiety-inducing.”
Krioutchkova hoped the facilities at the centre — including equipment like birthing tubs and long shawls called rebozos that provide support during labour — will make both her and her daughter’s more comfortable.
For Scott-Parker, she’s excited to welcome back families like Krioutchkova and Hughes after more than a year without births.
“It’s been a journey,” she said. “We’re just so thrilled and really joyful.”