North Central opens renovated expanded midwifery unit
NCBH representatives were eager to cut the ribbon for the new and improved Midwifery Unit.
Photo courtesy of North Central Bronx Hospital
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR UNE 7-13, 2019 73
Action
Association
NYC Health + Hospitals/
North Central Bronx opened
a new, larger Midwifery Unit
now co-located on the same
fl oor as the Women’s Health
Services Unit to improve
patient experience and expand
access to the hospital’s
unique midwifery maternal
services. NCB midwives
provide a range of care for
labor and delivery care during
pregnancy, and well care,
birth control, menopause,
and care related to female gynecological
disorders after
delivery.
The new, relocated unit
will reduce the amount of
walking pregnant patients
need to do to access prenatal
services and will allow physicians,
nurses, midwifes and
other clinicians to move seamlessly
between services to care
for patients in a larger, more
modern space. The renovation
refl ects an investment by NYC
Health + Hospitals to provide
access to high quality, culturally
responsive care for pregnant
women in the North Central
Bronx community and
the city’s commitment to provide
safe maternity care at all
its public hospitals.
“Midwifes are a vital part
of our clinical team and at
the heart of our patient-centered
approach to maternal
care. With this renovation, we
mark a signifi cant commitment
to women’s health in our
community and also reaffi rm
our commitment to the dedicated
midwifes who support
expectant mothers through
every stage of pregnancy and
beyond,” said Cristina Contreras,
executive director of NYC
Health + Hospitals/North
Central Bronx.
“My second birthing experience
at North Central Bronx
Hospital was exactly what
I needed after having given
birth at a private institution
that didn’t understand my
needs. The staff was professional,
warm and supportive
and I have and continue to recommend
NCBH to friends and
family!” said Sandra Lobo, executive
director, Northwest
Bronx Community & Clergy
Coalition.
Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. said, “Midwives are
an important resource in supporting
women and in prioritizing
maternal health care as
families welcome a new baby.
Thank you to NYC Health +
Hospitals/North
“The re-opening of a newly
renovated midwifery unit in
the Bronx at NCB is very exciting.
This will help to provide
an essential resource for
people growing their families
in the Northwest Bronx and
beyond, promoting improved
health outcomes for newborn
babies and their mothers.
Thank you to everyone at NYC
Health & Hospitals and North
Central Bronx who helped
make this happen, and a big
welcome to the future newest
members of our community,”
said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.
The $50,000 Midwifery Unit
expansion doubles the unit’s
clinical space – from 2,300
square-feet to 4,800 squarefeet.
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
Some politicians, academicians
and pundits, both in
the U.S. and abroad, have advocated
for a ‘Universal Basic
Income’ . The concept involves
providing regular, unconditional
cash payments to everyone,
regardless of need or
status. Some see this as a way
of alleviating poverty and the
stress of earning a suffi cient
sum to survive. Others view
it as backdoor approach to replace
capitalism with a communist
style system.
As in most socialist ideas,
there is, of course, a logic gap.
Someone has to pay the overwhelming
costs UBI would entail.
Many individuals, freed
from the need to actually earn
a living, would be less inclined
to work and pay taxes. Those
that did work would be burdened
with higher tax rates,
providing a further disincentive
to engage in employment
or engage in business. Where,
then, would the funds come
from?
A British study on UBI was
recently completed by Public
Services International (PSI),
a global trade union federation
representing 20 million
working women and men who
deliver public services in 154
countries. It is important to
note that the study was not
the work of conservatives or
business leaders—it was completed
by a union federation
of 669 public services, trade
unions representing 20 million
workers. PSI represents
workers in social services,
health care, municipal services,
central government and
public utilities.
The study examined fourteen
examples, selected because
they have been referred
to as examples of UBI and/or
cited as “evidence” of how UBI
can work in practice. They
include past, present and
prospective trials in poorer,
middle-income and richer
countries:
• In poorer countries:
completed trials in Madya
Pradesh, India and Zomba,
Malawi; current scheme in
Kenya.
• In middle-income country:
three current schemes in
Brazil
• In richer countries: completed
trials in in Manitoba,
Canada and New Jersey USA;
current schemes in Alaska,
USA, Finland and the Netherlands;
prospective trials in
Switzerland, California USA
and Scotland.
The study reports that UBI
would not work. The costs are
prohibitive, and would essentially
wreck a national economy.
The average cost of UBI
would be in the range of 20 to
30 percent of a nation’s Gross
Domestic Product.
Among the issues with
UBI, PSI found, from a union
perspective, that:
• UBI can entrench low pay
and precarious work. It will
not improve workers’ pay and
conditions, or their bargaining
power.
• The sums don’t add up: an
affordable UBI is inadequate
and an adequate UBI is unaffordable.
• The trade-offs are unacceptable:
paying for it by abolishing
other forms of social
protection would exacerbate
inequalities; it would make
those without work poorer
and would benefi t the very
rich.
• It is not a route to effective
welfare reform: it would create
a powerful new tax engine
to pull along a tiny cart.
• It is a lazy utopian remedy
that fails to address issues
of class, economic ownership
and the productive capacity of
the economy.
The study concludes that
“There is no evidence that any
version of UBI can be affordable,
inclusive, suffi cient and
sustainable at the same time.
There is no evidence that UBI
will help to increase the bargaining
power of workers and
trade unions or solve problems
of low pay and precarious
work…Rapidly changing
labour markets, inadequate
welfare systems, poverty, inequality
and powerlessness
are complex problems that
call for complex changes on
many levels: there is no ‘silver
bullet’ of the kind that UBI
is often claimed to be…The
campaign for UBI threatens
to divert political energies –
as well as funds – from more
important causes…the money
needed to pay for an adequate
UBI scheme would be better
spent on reforming social protection
systems, and building
more and better quality public
services.”
The hospital’s new Midwifery Unit. Photo courtesy of North Central Bronx Hospital