Ottawa OB celebrates 6,000 deliveries

Cheers and celebrations are being had on the second floor of OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center as Dr. Harshavadan J. Vyas celebrates another milestone.

Vyas is continuing his 29th year of practice in Ottawa and delivered his 6,000th child at the hospital March 16.

Brian Moline was born to parents Brian and Laura and will join two older sisters.

For Vyas, it’s another name in the books.

And if you doubt that number, Vyas can pull out his month-by-month breakdown of the numbers and maybe even find yours if you were delivered under his watch at the hospital.

“There are so many repeats,” Vyas said. “I started delivering babies of those I delivered as babies.”

“It’s good,” he added. “There’s a trust there that they come back to me.”

Vyas pledged a $6,000 scholarship to Brian, as he’s done for the milestones that came before.

It’s a record he’s kept since joining the hospital in 1990.

As far as the process of delivering, not much as changed over those years.

“It’s still the same route,” Vyas adds with a smile.

Of the past 1,000 babies, 77 were vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), which OSF Saint Elizabeth offers as another safe option for those who have previously had a C-section.

As for the experience itself, it’s always hard to tell until the baby is delivered.

“Each delivery is different. Until it’s done, you don’t know,” Vyas explains. “Anything can happen. Nobody can say, ‘Oh, you’ll have a normal delivery.’ You never know. Things can change in a minute.”

And over nearly three decades, Vyas has seen just about everything.

It allows him to be a calm voice when nerves begin to sneak up on parents.

“Usually I’ll tell them, ‘If I’m not worried, you don’t worry.’" Vyas said.

Vyas said he doesn’t recall a specific moment that led him on the path of obstetrics, but he’s glad he has as he’s been a part of a special moment in many families' lives.

“Delivering babies is always fun. I don’t have to do anything; they do all the work and I get all the credit,” he said with a laugh.

And the celebration will continue at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in meeting room 1 of OSF HealthCare Saint Elizabeth Medical Center when a celebration and reunion for all of Vyas's previous mothers and babies will be held. All former patients and co-workers are invited to attend. Cake and punch will be served.