Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists founder Dr. James Cross has made his mark in obstetrics history in metro Atlanta over the past half century. Dr. Cross was the first OB/GYN in Georgia to offer epidurals to women in labor. He was among the original 17 obstetricians who opened Atlanta’s Northside Hospital. And in 1993, he came out of retirement to single-handedly provide OB services for metro Atlanta’s Cherokee County, delivering babies in the facility that is now Northside Hospital Cherokee. His presence was credited for cutting in half the perinatal morbidity and mortality rate for the county’s babies, a rate which before his arrival had been among the highest in the state. As the glamorous new Northside Hospital Cherokee opens its doors, we thought it was a good time to interview the obstetrician whose memories span six decades, and who has delivered over 15,000 babies during his career in medicine. Introducing Epidurals To Atlanta’s Pregnant Women: From Texas Air Force Base to the South We met with Dr. Cross on the campus of the new Northside Hospital Cherokee, three weeks before the facility is to open. A utility truck outside the wing of the Women’s Center lifts a window washer high against the plate glass windows, while Dr. Cross — now in his early 90s — enters the soaring main atrium and marvels at the hanging chandelier. He shakes his head and laughs. “More like a hotel, don’t you think?” He is cheerful and spry, wearing his white doctor’s coat and remarking he is “happy to do anything” to spread the news about the new hospital. “A hospital makes all the difference in a community.” Dr. Cross says, with the air of someone who has said it hundreds of times. Born in a small Colorado mining town in 1931, James Cross (“Jim” to friends and family) graduated from college when he was 19. With a degree in Chemistry and the encouragement of his professors, he was in medical school four days later. After three years training in Emory University’s OB/GYN residency at Grady Memorial Hospital, the young doctor was stationed at the Amarillo Air Force base. There he delivered 2,600 babies in four years. More significantly, he learned the then-innovative practice of administering epidural analgesia. Previously, laboring women were given ether to dull the pain of childbirth, resulting in not only sleepy mothers, but also oxygen-deprived babies, who emerged in a ‘twilight sleep” with impaired breathing and a telltale blue skin color. Dr. Cross comments that mothers given ether often slept for hours, or even days, waking up “only when the hairdresser got there.” Spinal anesthesia, which was later used in place of ether, had equally undesirable complications such as headache, compromised blood pressure, spinal damage, infection etc. Upon Dr. Cross’s return to Georgia and a practice at Georgia Baptist Hospital, he immediately introduced the use of epidurals for laboring mothers, becoming, he believes, the first physician to employ the technique in Georgia. He says with a smile, “I’m happy to report that epidurals have been used now for decades all across the country.” He comments that the benefits were much reduced side effects over former pain treatments, a drop in the Caesarean rate down to about 5-6%. Furthermore, administering epidurals was delegated to anesthesiologists, freeing obstetricians to attend to critical matters that might arise during a delivery. Best of all, he says, babies came into the world a healthy pink, crying, alert and wide awake. “It was nice to see those babies finally come out squalling,” he exclaims. He went on to help establish an epidural training program for more than 30 residents over the next decade at Georgia Baptist Hospital. Northside Hospital Atlanta: Helping To Open the Country’s Largest Maternity Hospital In 1967 Dr. Cross joined the staff and building committee at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Three years later, he watched proudly as Northside Hospital Labor and Delivery opened its doors. “There were 17 of us OB/GYNs when we started,” he relates. “I remember we were shortchanged one delivery room, but it all worked out,” he chuckles. With visible pride, he fondly points out that Northside Hospital Atlanta has today evolved into the largest maternity hospital in the country. In the interim, Dr. Cross helped found the OB/GYN practice Atlanta Women’s Specialists in 1968, a practice that eventually expanded into four offices, including a residency program with six doctors. Over the next two decades, he states, he strove to make sure that no physician at any of those clinics was overworked, overwhelmed, or otherwise “prevented from providing quality care.” “It was a growing process – one step at a time. If you give patients quality care and are hardworking, they respect you.” Dr. Cross on opening his first OB practices Dr. Cross speaks about his philosophy of care, that he considered every patient “family,” treating each one as such. He says, “you can be honest, but tactful,” to strengthen the resolve of pregnant women to change the way they treat their bodies. He encouraged healthy diets, smoke and drug cessation, careful vigilance of medicinal products, and weight loss. He felt that though women may sometimes be resistant to change, once they begin to take care of themselves — thus ensuring the additional health of their unborn children — they realize and appreciate the positive benefits. By approaching them the same way he would any female in his own family circle, they became receptive to his advice and genuine concern. Dr. Cross also developed a unique approach, whereby pregnancy was not a sole female issue, but a family one, involving fathers and children in the whole process. A post natal care appointment was not attended only by the woman. The partner was also involved, especially when the couple decided that their family was complete and they no longer wished to have children. It was then that Dr. Cross would explain to them both that modern cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries could transform the woman’s internal and external reproductive organs back
