AUSTIN, Texas — Central Texas babies who need a little extra care now have their own special place to be born. Dell Children's Medical Center is opening a specialized labor and delivery unit.
It's designed for mothers who are low risk, but whose babies are high-risk. The unit is unique because it's located in the pediatric hospital. This allows the baby to go straight from delivery and into surgery in the same location. Doctors say this gives high-risk babies better outcomes and allows parents to stay close to their newborns.
"We have babies that have a high level of care and have a high chance of morbidity and mortality,” explained Dr. Michael Nix, the maternal medical director. “And this provides the best chance for moms to be in close proximity to those babies from the time of delivery."
"You want to see that baby that you carried and felt move inside you the whole pregnancy, so you don't want to be separated,” added Dr. Kenneth Moise Jr., the director of the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center. “So that's going to do a lot for moms. They will actually be able to be with their baby in the same building."
The new unit opens on July 6. Two births are already scheduled for that first week.
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