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First Born

Raelynn Elizabeth Olmstead, the first baby to be born in the brand-new UPMC Chautauqua Women’s and Maternity Care Center, is cradled by her mother, Alexandria Soto, and watched over by her father, Conner Olmstead. P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

The miracle of life has commemorated the brand-new Women’s and Maternity Care Center at UPMC Chautauqua.

Raelynn Elizabeth Olmstead was born to her mother and father, Alexandria Soto and Conner Olmstead, on Tuesday in the newly refurbished area of the Jamestown hospital that opened Monday.

Newborn Olmstead was surrounded by her family, hospital staff and volunteer members of the New York State Dairy Princess and Promotion Program on Wednesday. Chautauqua County Dairy Princess Sophie Woodis gifted the new family with a basket of diapers and other necessities, and the Care Center’s unit director Donna Barber presented gifts of hundreds of dollars and other presents on behalf of local businesses and community residents.

“We never dreamed that we would have this,” Barber said.

Barber, who was glad to report the healthy delivery of Raelynn as well as a few other babies afterward, said she has been working for UPMC Chautauqua for 41 years and hadn’t been sure if the maternity ward would come to fruition during her tenure at the hospital or her lifetime.

UPMC Chautauqua hospital staff and volunteers with the New York State Dairy Princess and Promotion Program surround newborn Raelynn Elizabeth Olmstead and her parents, Alexandria Soto and Conner Olmstead. P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

“It’s kind of a legacy,” she said.

She expressed satisfaction at the countless changes in the medical field that took place throughout her work in the health care industry; she also wondered what changes would come to pass in the next 40 years while the care center is expected to last for decades’ worth of new births.

“The whole unit has been great because the whole staff has been involved from the very get-go,” Barber said.

UPMC Chautauqua’s new care center and other renovations were funded by government grants along with the new chemical dependency unit and mental health services provided in Jamestown. Barber said the maternity ward and other projects can be related, and she thinks mothers affected by addiction will be better able to receive assistance before and after childbirth.

Follow Eric Zavinski at twitter.com/EZavinski

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