Pickles and ice cream promo markets new U maternity ward

 Starting late last week, a food truck bearing the “M Health” logo started appearing outside OB-GYN and pediatric clinics in the Twin Cities area to give away free pickles and ice cream — the stereotypical food cravings of expecting mothers — and to promote a $21 million renovation of the U’s Birthplace maternity ward.

“We wanted to think of a fun way to engage new moms,” said Dr. Dan Landers, the medical center’s director of maternal-fetal medicine. “You can’t take these buildings and drive them around town.”

Competition for deliveries has intensified recently: The annual number of babies born in the state has declined 6 percent since the start of the last economic recession in 2007, but the number of competing hospitals has increased. Maple Grove Hospital went from delivering five babies in 2009, its first year in business, to 4,317 in 2014 — making it the second-most-active maternity ward in the state.

Meanwhile, Allina Health found success with its Mother Baby line of holistic maternity care, which increased the number of deliveries at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and is being mimicked at Allina’s United and Mercy hospitals in St. Paul and Coon Rapids, respectively.

The U Medical Center, Abbott and United have remained top hospitals for high-risk pregnancies, in part because of their proximity to pediatric hospitals with sophisticated neonatal intensive-care units. Their survival rates for premature births are among the best in the nation. But while Abbott has increased its status as the state’s busiest maternity ward — it delivered nearly 8 percent of all babies in Minnesota in 2014 — the number of babies born at the U center declined from 2,543 in 2009 to 2,333 last year, according to state birth certificate data.

Amenities such as flat-screen televisions in recovery rooms and comfortable futons for visiting family members help to entice patients, who already expect top-flight nurses and doctors, Landers said. “We needed to have facilities that reflect the level of care we are giving and not look like it is the 1980s — because we’re not providing ’80s medicine.”

Sarah Peterson of Elk River said she’s excited about the renovations, even though she plans to use Maple Grove to give birth to her first child in three weeks.

“I could deliver at the U, or I could deliver at Maple Grove,” said Peterson, who picked up pickles and ice cream when the truck stopped at the Fairview Health Services outpatient center in Maple Grove.

The U hasn’t been alone in feeling the competitive pinch. North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale went from 2,896 babies born in 2009 to 933 last year, but as a co-operator of Maple Grove, it has shared in the new hospital’s success.

Declines in births at Unity Hospital in Fridley compelled Allina to cease scheduled deliveries there as part of its expansion of maternity care at Mercy hospital — which also has seen declining numbers. Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park saw its birth numbers decline by one-fifth in the past five years.

The migration of young families to Maple Grove made a maternity boom likely at the new hospital, but the demand outstripped expectations, said Jennifer Krippner, who directs patient relations at the hospital.

Empty hospital space that had been planned for a 2017 expansion was opened in 2012 instead to accommodate the demand for maternity care.

“We just didn’t think we’d grow that fast,” Krippner said.

‘Where the patients want to be’

The Pickles & Ice Cream truck will return to Maple Grove later this month and park outside the Maple Grove Hospital to market the university’s new maternity ward to potential patients.

It’s friendly competition, considering that the U hospital is part of Fairview, which has a 25 percent stake in the Maple Grove hospital.

“It’s really got to be about where the patients want to be,” Krippner said. “As long as the services they need can be provided, I think they’re both great options.”

Melissa Berends stopped at the truck on Monday for pickles and ice cream.

The physical therapist is already planning to return to the Maple Grove hospital for her third childbirth in January, though.

The only mystery is whether her husband will get the boy he wants to complement their two girls.

“Knowing his luck,” she said between ice cream scoops, “it will be a girl.”