FROM BLUFFTON ICON - Where can you get the best milkshake in Bluffton?

Many women might answer: The OB Department of the Bluffton Hospital.

For as long as most can remember, the OB milkshake is part of the entire birthing experience at the hospital. 

And, no one is certain when it started. Jane Agner, with 43 years in the department, and Elaine Sommers with 44 years in OB, say that the tradition was in place prior to their joining the hospital staff.

Here’s how the milkshake experience works and what make it so interesting:

Women who deliver babies at Bluffton Hospital – there could be up to 200 each year – cannot have any food during labor.

“After delivery, they are famished and can eat. The milkshakes are extra-special at that time,” said Renee Matthews, of the medical surgery and OB department.

Somewhere back in a forgotten time, milkshakes became the liquid diet answer, especially after 7 p.m. when the hospital kitchen closes.

“It’s a special treat, especially as a bedtime snack” says Agner, who holds the chocolate milk shake in the photo accompanying this story.

The choices are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate peanut butter. According to the staff’s unofficial poll, the most requested flavor is chocolate peanut butter.

According to the nurses on the OB wing, the tradition spread by word of mouth over the years. It is even commented on is hospital patient surveys.

Renee Matthews says that nurses on duty make the milkshakes. “It has become a pretty big deal,” she said. “And, it’s indicative of a more personalized care given to OB patients at Bluffton.”

What flavor would you like, tonight?