Doctors Propose Immediate Pregnancy Diagnosis Service

A county-wide service, available perhaps 24 hours a day, which would give immediate and early diagnosis of pregnancy was suggested this week by the president of the Washtenaw O B - G Y N Society. For women who "fear or hope they might be pregnant" - and who n e e d immediate diagnosis - Dr. Jan Schneider proposed that such a service be started in various geographic locations in the county. A telephone number open 24 hours a day which would be well advertised and would give the necessary information about the testing service a 1 s o was suggested by Dr. Schneider, newly-elected president of the group. Dr. Schneider is associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and maternal and child health at Women's Hospital in Ann Arbor. The Washtenaw OB-GYN Society was founded in 1965 and currently has about 135 members. lts members are obstetricians and gynecologists - or residents in those fields - Along with general practicioners with an interest in those special ties. Dr. Schneider was one of six speakers at this week's meeting of the society. The topic discussed at the session was "What Is Happening In OB-GYN Care in Washtenaw County." The society's president said he hoped to lócate funds to begin an e a r 1 y pregnancy diagnosis service in the county. He also called for "more innovative" obstetrical and gynecological care in the county. "The resources of this county are second to none in the state and perhaps in the country," Dr. Schneider said. "Yet much of the obstetricgynecological care is traditional and similar to that given in the rest of the nation." Other speakers and their topics were: -Dr. J. Robert Willson, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Women's Hospital, told of the "rehabilitation process" now under way at the hospital. The 1 a b or and delivery rooms of the 20-year-old hospital have been reconstructed, he said. And the nurseries there currently are being refurbished with new ceilings, lights and paint. The new perinatal unit currently under construction at University Hospital will give special care to women with high-risk pregnancies and to the children they deliver, Dr. Willson said. The unit, slated for completion next Maren, would include special laboratories, high-risk delivery rooms and intensive care nurseries for the babies o f women with such problems as diabetes and heart trouble. Dr. Wfflson also told about a new state-wide project which will attempt to find out how much women rely on their periodic ob-gyn exanis for total health care. Women will be surveyed to see "how much they rely on us for health care. We suspect the reliance is rather great," Dr. Willson said. - Dr. Perry Meghnot of Bey er Memorial Hospital in Ypsilanti said his hospital, only two years old, is already "under a great deal of pressure to expand" because of Ypsilanti' s growing population. Currently 115 to 120 babies a montfi are delivered at Beyer - and there has been a 10 per cent increase annually over the past few years in the number of deliveries. - Dr. Norman Banghart, chief of obstetrics and gynechology at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, said if a new satellite hospital is built in the county, the obstetrics department will likely move there immediately, because of the "drastic need" for more OB space. Dr. Banghart also told of the "very successful" campaign begun last spring by the American Cáncer Society to urge women to get pap smear tests for cerical cáncer. Some 150 women have been given free pap smears and pelvic examinations since the spring, and the program at St. Joseph Hopsital is still ongoing, he said. - Planned Parenthood Director Harry Luchs said male vasectomy p a t i e' h t s have nearly quadrupled and females seeking contraceptive nformation and help nearly loubled in the last year. -The Washtenaw Young Mothers Project for pregnant adolescents, begun in 1966 by the Washtenaw Intermedíate School District, may have to close next June because of a cut-off of state funds, according to Dr. George Nolan of Women's Hospital. Currently 31 girls are enrolled, but the new state philosophy is for the girls to attend regular classes in their home school I Dr. Nolan said. I