The Mother Baby Center

The Mother Baby Center at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis has been open for a little over a month. In that month they’ve delivered 310 babies (11 on the first day!), 12 sets of twins, and 1 set of triplets. What makes them so special?  Allina Hospitals and Clinics and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota (two of the best hospitals in the area for high risk delivery and infant care) formally partnered to integrate their mother and baby services.

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Previously, critically ill and premature babies born at Abbot Northwestern were whisked through a ¼ mile tunnel to Children’s Hospital’s level 3 NICU.  Though the partnership boasted some of the best outcomes in the country when it came to caring for premature and critically ill infants, the separation between mother and baby at two hospitals created stress on both the babies and their families.  Now, Abbot and Children’s host their Mother Baby Center under one roof to provide the only birth center of its kind in Minnesota (and one of only a few in the country).
Having an average of 12 labor and delivery patients per day in its first month, The Mother Baby Center has the capacity for 5,000 potential births each year.  The design makes a seamless transition from delivery room or operating room to the NICU just steps through a skyway.  A neonatal team can be at a high-risk delivery in only 90 seconds (vs. up to 4 minutes with the hospitals separated).  All post-partum areas (including the NICU) are designed to keep the mothers and babies together as much as possible with areas for families to sleep at the bedside.
  I had the privilege of touring the Mother Baby Center just before it opened.  As both a pediatric nurse and a mother I must say I was impressed!  I kept walking around saying, “I wish I had this when I delivered my daughters,” and “I wish my unit had this/looked like this.”  The center is state-of-the-art as far as medical things, yet warm and inviting for families.
  They've thought of everything from spacious bathrooms to safes in the rooms for personal belongings, to sleep rooms for adoptive parents, to a party area for expectant mothers who can't leave the hospital to have a baby shower or birthday party.  For the staff, they've provided some of the latest technology to provide the best and most up to date care possible.   I just might want to have another baby so I can give birth at the Mother Baby Center!  Or maybe not...two kids is enough.  If you, however, are expecting or are planning on expecting in the future, you'll definitely want to consider giving birth there.  To find out more about the Mother Baby Center please visit their website at http://themotherbabycenter.org/.

Full disclosure:  I am a nurse in the PICU at Children’s Hospital.  All opinions are 100% my own.  Being an employee of Children’s does not affect my opinion as I do not work in any areas connected with the Mother Baby Center.  I received no compensation for this post.