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Lullabies greet RVMC newborns Mail Tribune / Steve Johnson Newborns such as Kelsi Nicole Monroe will now be welcomed with the strains of "Brahms� Lullaby" at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Kelsi, the daughter of Erin and Greg Monroe of Eagle Point, was born Saturday, two days too early for the fanfare that starts this morning. Music will be piped throughout hospital whenever a birth occurs By Jonel Aleccia Starting today, proud parents won�t be the only ones offering lullabies to newborns at Rogue Valley Medical Center. With the commencement of the 7 a.m. shift, the birth of every child at the Medford hospital will be announced with a 30-second, tape-recorded rendition of "Brahms� Lullaby." The strains of "lullaby and goodnight" will waft through hospital rooms, corridors and patient care units at all hours of the day and night. "In the midst of chaos, you all of a sudden will hear that there is new life," said Iris Tyner, RVMC director of patient care. Tyner has been wanting to institute the lullaby program for more than six years, ever since she heard about it at a conference for critical care nurses. "I thought it was such an uplift," said Tyner. "In this building we have other things than joyful things happening here." Her theory, supported by several hospitals across the nation that already employ the program, is that a short, sweet notice of birth will be a welcome reminder of life�s continuance, even in the midst of adversity. "It�s a very soothing thing to hear, to start with," she said. But news of the program wasn�t music to the ears of maternity nurses. They�ll be the ones responsible for dialing a phone code after each birth to start the recorded lullaby. Surveyed on Sunday, several staff members in the hospital�s birthplace disapproved of the plan. "As if we have nothing else to do," said Donna C., a charge nurse who refused to give her full name. "If you hear it for five minutes in a row, you�ll know we grouped them all together." She added that sending a signal of a new baby�s birth could undermine efforts to make sure newborns are secure. "We do all these things for security and now we�re broadcasting it through the hospital." Staff members, who first were informed of the plan on Friday, said they were concerned that the music might disrupt patient sleep or that it might become annoying if there�s a sudden spate of births. But Tyner said the short musical interlude has quickly become accepted in other hospitals. "In places that have done that, even if it comes three times in an hour, people don�t seem to mind," she said. If RVMC had had the program in place since Jan. 1, the tune would have played 1,172 times already for all the babies born. In a full year, it might amount to 1,500 snatches of song. On average, four to five babies are born at the hospital each day, although on Saturday, seven arrived. Tyner said the music will play for all births, even when infants are critically ill. The song will generally sound when the hubbub of birth subsides and mom and baby are back in their room. That notion seemed to please Erin and Greg Monroe of Eagle Point, whose daughter, Kelsi Nicole, was born two days too early for the fanfare. "I thought it would be relaxing," said the 21-year-old new mother. "It�s better than the pagers and everything." The only unanswered question about the lullaby came from little Kelsi�s grandpa, Mike Casey. "If it�s twins, do you play it twice?" he asked. No word yet about about quadruplets, either. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.