New Special Care Nursery At St. Vincent’s Hospital

BRIDGEPORT — A new Special Care Nursery for premature and sick newborns will be unveiled at an open house on Tuesday, February 27, in the Family Birthing Center at St Vincent’s Medical Center, 2800 Main Street. The public is invited to tour the new facility between 5 pm and 8 pm. Refreshments will be served.

The Special Care Nursery completes a two-year plan of upgrading the level of care St Vincent’s provides to babies having special care needs. It is the third nursery in the Family Birthing Center, which cares for the nearly 2,000 babies born there each year, said Susan Brown, director of Women’s Services at St Vincent’s.

“Most expectant parents will have normal, healthy babies, and that is what we expect,” said Ms Brown. “But about 10 to 15 percent of newborns arrive prematurely or otherwise require specialized medical care. Now, St Vincent’s has the staff and facilities to care for most newborns who require special attention.”

Under the medical direction of Benjamin Tsang, MD, chief of the new Division of Neonatology, the Special Care Nursery is able to care for premature and sick infants who require a high level of acute care during their first days or weeks of life.

The new nursery houses the latest specialized technology for infants born with underdeveloped lungs, abnormal blood sugar, and other health issues that previously has to be treated elsewhere.

“The Special Care Nursery and our specially trained neonatal staff now enable St Vincent’s to care for all but the sickest of newborns,” says Susan Brown, RN.

“We began building our expertise a year ago when we established a Division of Neonatology and hired as its chief Dr Benjamin Tsang, a Columbia-Presbyterian-trained neonatologist,” says Ms Brown, who has set up Special Care Nurseries at three other hospitals.

“Now we have completed the circle of care by further training our nursery nurses, hiring experienced neonatal intensive care staff for our premature and sick babies, and constructing a Special Care Nursery within the maternity unit,” she notes.

“We can care for essentially all babies, and that not only keeps the family together but provides significant peace of mind to the parents,” states Ms Brown, a graduate of Columbia University with 26 years of nursing and nurse-management experience in obstetrical and neonatal care.

The Special Care Nursery at St Vincent’s is equipped with sophisticated technology designed specifically for newborns. This includes neonatal cardiac monitors, infant infusion pumps, and infant respirators, as well as radiant warmers, isolettes, and incubators.

Beyond technology is the advanced medical expertise now provided at St Vincent’s. The Medical Center has always been a strong and popular hospital for maternity care. It is one of the few that have a board-certified obstetrician and a board-certified pediatrician present in the hospital around the clock. It also has provided a high level of personal attention and care as well as comfortable surroundings for its maternity patients, said Ms Brown.

“We now have outstanding clinical and technological resources for neonatal [higher risk newborns] and perinatal [higher risk pregnancy] care,” she states. Perinatologists are also present to perform antenatal (before birth) ultrasound testing and for consultation when needed.

Incorporated into the Family Birthing Center where all maternal care from pre-natal testing through labor, delivery, and post-partum stay are provided, the new Special Care Nursery and its specially trained staff provide the added reassurance expected by young parents today.

For more information or a free booklet about the Family Birthing Center at ST Vincent’s as well as the Special Care Nursery, call the St Vincent’s Care line toll-free at 877/255-SVHS.