Medical Matters Weekly Preview: Labor and Delivery Pros
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Medical Matters Weekly Preview: Labor and Delivery Pros

BENNINGTON—May 21, 2021—Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson, a weekly interactive, multiplatform medical-themed talk show, will feature Themarge Small, MD, an OB/GYN with SVMC OB/GYN, and veteran maternity nurse Deborah Mone, RN, as guests on its May 26 show. The women’s health professionals will reflect on their years helping new families deliver their babies.

The show will air live at 12 p.m. and is produced with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can see Medical Matters Weekly live on Facebook at facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBennington. 

Dr. Small earned a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Vermont and a post-baccalaureate certificate in premedical studies from Mills College in California. She went on to receive her medical degree from the University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. She completed her residency in OB/GYN at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. Dr. Small served as the chair of the department of OB/GYN in 2014 and 2015 and as both the vice president and the president of the medical staff. In addition to her roles at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), she is a clinical assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. Dr. Small is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Deborah Mone has been a nurse at SVMC for 41 years. She received her nursing degree at Columbia Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Hudson, NY. She holds an inpatient obstetrics certification from the National Certification Corp. Even after so many years, she is honored to share the “once in a lifetime” experience of birth with her patients. She relates her success in nursing to the power of being “fully vested in and completely present” with the families in her care. Deborah has also been instrumental in caring for families who lose a pregnancy or infant. She leads the Sharing to Heal support group and works to provide a comforting environment for families grieving a loss.

After the program, the video will be available on area public access television stations. On CAT-TV, viewers will find the show on channel 1075 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Monday, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. Friday, and 7 p.m. Saturday. GNAT-TV's Comcast channel 1074 airs the program at 8 a.m. Monday, 9 p.m. Wednesday, and 1 p.m. Saturday.

Upcoming guests include:

  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 2: SVMC Neurologist Emma Weiskopf, MD, will take us inside the brain. 
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 9: Executive Director of Hunger Free Vermont Anore Horton will talk about statewide food security initiatives. 
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 16: Patricia Ryan, RN, will share how she helps mend and strengthen hearts at SVMC Cardiac Rehabilitation.
  • 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 23: SVMC Pediatrician Meghan Gunn, MD, will share her interest in children’s health and her thoughts about vaccinating adolescents and children for COVID-19.

Videos and podcasts are on svhealthcare.org/MedicalMatters, as well as on YouTube and many podcast-hosting platforms, respectively.

To contribute questions in advance of each week’s show, please e-mail wellness@svhealthcare.org or post to Facebook with #SVHCMedicalMattersWeekly.
 
About SVHC Medical Matters Weekly:
Medical Matters Weekly is an interactive, multiplatform guest-driven talk show hosted by Dr. Trey Dobson. It provides a behind-the-scenes perspective on health care, including topics like behavioral health, food insecurity, equitable care, and the opioid crisis. The show is produced in partnership with Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV) and is broadcast on CAT-TV, Greater Northshire Access Television, Facebook Live, YouTube, and podcast platforms. 
 
About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.
 
SVMC has earned several prominent distinctions. Most recently, SVMC received the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Award for transformational change in efforts toward healthcare reform and its fifth consecutive designation within the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. It ranked fourth in the nation for healthcare value by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index in 2020 and is one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work. SVMC earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group for two years in a row. During the pandemic, SVMC and both its skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Hoosick Falls, earned perfect scores on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation meant to determine the ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infections.
 
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

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COVID-19 Vaccine for Those Pregnant or Nursing

Here are the facts you need to know to make a good decision about whether or not to recieve the COVID-19 vaccine: 

  • During the COVID-19 pandemic we found out that pregnant women with COVID-19 disease are more likely to get a very severe infection.  According to the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, they are three times more likely to have to go to an intensive care unit, two to three times more likely to need advanced life support and a breathing tube, and sadly, they have a small increased risk of death due to COVID-19. They may have worse pregnancy outcomes, such as pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and preterm birth. It is difficult to know yet whether COVID infection causes these outcomes or whether they happened at the same time by chance.
  • Similarly, COVID-19 can cause chronic inflammation, which could decrease fertility in both men and women.
  • The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has provided Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine. It is recommended for everyone over the age of 16 who has not had an allergic reaction to the ingredients in the vaccine. Research has shown that the COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 as soon as 28 days after the booster vaccine. These agencies directed all their effort to this work, day and night, which is how the vaccine was approved for use so quickly. No steps were skipped. 
  • It is not possible to get COVID infection from the vaccine. The virus is not in the vaccine.  It is like the flu shot, which exposes the body to something that looks like the part of the virus, so our bodies do the natural process of making antibodies to protect against disease. 
  • Many people have minor side effects, like tiredness, fever, muscle pain, headache, and pain where the shot was given. They could last a few days.  A few people feel very unwell. Having symptoms is a sign that the vaccine is working, and antibodies are being made.
  • Pregnant women were not allowed to be part of the research, which is very common for medical research trials. There were no reports of negative outcomes among the trial participants who became pregnant during the trial.
  • The vaccine does use a new technology called mRNA.  Two shots are required 3 weeks apart. Scientists believe that the mRNA can’t get into the placenta or the breast milk. The same kind of technology made vaccine against Ebola disease.  It has been given to pregnant and breastfeeding women.  No problems for mom or baby were found from this vaccine.
  • The vaccine does not cause birth defects or infertility. While the spike proteins on the virus and those found on the cells of the placenta are similar, they do not share enough amino acid sequences for the immune system to become confused.
  • The vaccine should also be offered to those who are breastfeeding/lactating. Like pregnant individuals, those who were breastfeeding were not included in the clinical trials for the vaccine. According to the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the very small safety concerns, and you do not have to stop breastfeeding because you get the vaccine.

Experts trusted by your providers recommend strongly that pregnant women be encouraged to get the vaccine.  We can’t tell you whether to get the shot, but we trust that you will make the right decision for you and your baby. Here are some points to consider as you decide:

  • How many people are getting sick with COVID-19 in your community?
  • What is your personal risk of getting COVID-19 based on your job or other exposures?
  • What is your risk of getting very sick with COVID-19, and what is the possible harm to your baby? What other medical conditions could increase this risk? Diabetes, being overweight, having lung, kidney, heart or immune illnesses or taking medicine that depresses immune function ( like chemotherapy, methotrexate, prednisone). 
  • Consider how well the vaccine is reported to work. These vaccines work exceedingly well!
  • What are the risks to other people in your household if you get sick, especially if you are living with people at risk for serious illness, like the elderly.
  • How do you feel about the lack of scientific evidence about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness for pregnant women?
  • How do you feel you would manage the reported side effects of the vaccine?

If you do get the vaccine:

  • Pregnant women who experience fever, either as a result of COVID-19 infector or following vaccination, should take acetaminophen (Tylenol) to treat fever, since a very high fever can harm a baby. A fever is far more likely as a result of COVID-19 infection than it is from vaccination.
  • Your health professional will give you information about enrolling in the V-Safe After Vaccination Health Checker. You can provide feedback on how the vaccine experience went for up to a week following your vaccination and get help with any concerns that may arise.

If you have questions, please ask your OB/GYN.

Whatever you choose, be sure to continue with the important prevention steps like avoiding visits with those outside your household, masking and distancing when in public, and washing your hands frequently.

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