June 20, 2012

CONTACT:
Communications Department
(320) 251-2700, ext. 74980

St. Cloud Hospital's new Family Birthing Center to open June 26

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud Hospital is the proud parent of a new Family Birthing Center specializing in high-risk pregnancies and premature births. The new area will open June 26 to provide patient- and family-centered care in an environment that fosters family involvement and encourages fathers, siblings and loved ones to be present.

Family spaces have been added to enhance the experience and accommodate visitors. All of the rooms offer comfortable seating for guests as well as a convertible sofa for overnight stays. Wonderful views of the Mississippi River bring nature into the hospital to create a healing environment for soon-to-be-moms and those who have just delivered.

Because approximately 10 percent of Family Birthing Center patients are high-risk deliveries, the new space includes two state-of-the-art operating rooms adjacent to the labor and delivery rooms for emergency Cesarean sections.

Each room on the Family Birthing Center will have its own private bathroom. The labor and delivery and postpartum rooms have air-jetted bathtubs to aid in the labor process as well as expedite healing. The antepartum rooms, for women who have not yet gone into labor, have private showers, which are preferred by these patients.

The most common admission at St. Cloud Hospital is labor and delivery. The hospital delivers nearly 2,700 babies each year - including more than 50 sets of twins and triplets. In 2011,
St. Cloud Hospital delivered its first set of quadruplets.

St. Cloud Hospital's Women and Children's Center, which includes the Family Birthing Center, Pediatrics and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, now restricts access to the public in order to provide a more secure environment for the tiniest patients. Having a locked unit will allow for better monitoring of people in the area. All visitors to the Women and Children's Center will be required to wear a badge, as well as identify the first and last name of the patient they wish to see. In addition, to gain entrance to the Children's Center, a photo ID is required.

The current Family Birthing Center space will be remodeled into a 28-bed single family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to provide more privacy for patients and families. St. Cloud Hospital's level II and III NICU offers highly specialized, quality care for the tiniest and sickest of infants in Central Minnesota.

Next summer the St. Cloud Hospital Perinatal Clinic (High Risk Obstetrics) will relocate to the hospital. It will be adjacent to the Family Birthing Center, giving perinatologists easy access to the high-risk obstetrics patients that are hospitalized.

The new Family Birthing Center will be home to:
6 antepartum rooms for women experiencing complications such as premature labor or high blood pressure, causing them to need a higher level of care.
12 labor and delivery rooms where women will remain, with their newborns, for about two hours after delivery. These rooms are equipped with delivery lights on a boom in the ceiling to provide the care team additional light and save space. An infant warmer and resuscitation station is built into the wall.
26 new postpartum rooms where moms and their infants stay until they go home. Infants can go to the nursery when moms need a break.
2 operating rooms with a dedicated post-anesthesia care unit designed for the obstetrical patient and their support person.

To schedule a tour of the Family Birthing Center, call 320-229-5139.

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