A Place
that Nurtures
UMMC’s delivery unit undergoes rebirth
bout 80 percent of the
So, if the baby’s sick or when there’s
at all times,” she says. “They can have
maternity cases seen at
a concern before delivery, we know we
their family member have a place to be
University of Maryland
have a place where baby care and mom
at all times as well, which is great for us
Medical Center’s labor and
care kind of equal in acuity,” says Sarah
and great for families. So we’re trying to
delivery unit are high risk.

Crimmins, director of labor and delivery.

make a true family-centered birthplace for
Parents there are often understandably
“People who have a scheduled cesarean
everybody.” anxious, and for this reason, medical
section for delivery will have the ability
personnel and caregivers take special care
to have their private room to get ready, to
large, broad labor rooms to accommodate
to make them feel welcome. This past fall,
recover and to have their support person
both mother and baby.

the hospital opened a new, state-of-the-art
be there as well.”
30,000 square foot labor and delivery unit,
more than two years in the making.

The new maternity space features
There is also in-room neonatal care and
zoned appropriately for three diff erent
people with the idea of really being a
care center, bathtubs for pain management,
family-centered space,” Crimmins says.

beds for partners to stay the night, as well
provide world-class care to new moms and
as evaluation of the newborn right at the
babies. In the unit, there are fi ve recovery
mother’s bedside, so the family is part of
beds, fi ve triage beds, 12 labor rooms and
the experience, Crimmins adds.

“We have the unique perspective of
“All rooms are sized so that they are
direct access to Level IV neo-natal intensive
advanced equipment and facilities to
three operating rooms.

The labor and delivery unit features
“We have now created a state of the
art medical center for completely centered
“There is a zone for the mom, zone for
family and zone for baby.

All rooms have bathrooms equipped
with showers that you could labor in for
pain management.”
All the rooms also now have lifts and
gett ing a lot of people who come in here
care, so we have the ability for everybody
emergency response systems to make
for not always the greatest reasons.

to have their baby with them in the room
transportation and evaluation easier. “We
New labor, delivery and recovery rooms
20 January 2019
washingtonFAMILY.com iStock/Getty Images Plus/KulikovaN; Getty Images Hospital photos courtesy of the University of Maryland
A BY ADRANISHA STEPHENS