This winter, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian will open the
Fudge Family Birthing Suites at Hoag Hospital Irvine, which reimagines pregnancy, delivery and recovery
for modern families — with private birthing suites, a perinatal
VR guided program, and a calming outdoor walking garden.
Already a leader in women’s health, with the most prestigious nursing
credentials in the nation and the most trusted maternity staff in Orange
County, Hoag has listened to the needs and desires of today’s new
mothers in designing 12 birthing suites in Irvine that are unlike anything
else available in a hospital setting. The suites include a number of enhancements
to Hoag’s traditional maternity model including access to midwives,
birth plan preferences and single room maternity care. Moms-to-be will
experience labor, delivery and the first precious moments with their newborns
all in the same hospital room.
“In designing these suites, we listened to women at all stages of
the birthing journey and created an ideal set of services to meet their
needs and exceed their expectations. The suites are designed by women
for women to nurture them through this incredible moment, said
Allyson Brooks, M.D., Ginny Ueberroth Executive Medical Director Endowed
Chair and Chief Quality Officer, Hoag Women’s Health Institute. “These suites represent a paradigm shift in maternity care that
is being driven by a generation of new moms. We are proud of what they
have helped us create.”
An extension of the world-renowned maternity services at the Newport Beach
campus of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, the new Fudge Family Birthing
Suites combines the reassurance of a Hoag delivery with a family-centered
design and home-like amenities. The suites were named in honor of Orange
County philanthropist Gary Fudge, whose generous financial gift made them possible.
Accommodating evolving trends in maternity care in Irvine, one of the nation’s
fastest-growing communities, the new suites offer the ability to labor,
deliver and recover in the same room, as well as two C-section operating
rooms and a level 2 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Located on the
first floor of the hospital, the Fudge Family Birthing Suites offers an
adjacent private outdoor walking garden to serve as a calming influence
on expectant mothers.
“We are really excited to invite the midwifery model of care into
the birthing suites,” said Kimberly Tillotson, C.N.M., director
of the birthing suites and OB education at Hoag. “Certified nurse
midwives provide a wide range of primary health services, and many patients
today are looking for the kind of wellness education, care and counseling
that they deliver.”
Hoag is also co-developing NurtureVR, a virtual reality program designed
by Dr. Brooks and by neurosurgeon
Robert G. Louis, M.D., program director of the skull base and pituitary tumor program at
Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute and Hoag Empower360 Endowed Chair for Skull Base and Minimally Invasive
Neurosurgery, in partnership with BehaVR. NurtureVR harnesses the latest
research in virtual reality’s positive effects on education and
empowerment, behavioral health, and pain management. This 22-week perinatal
VR program will provide education, professional support, stress resilience
training, emotional regulation practice and self-efficacy skill building
for expectant and postpartum mothers. Women can even customize their virtual
prenatal experiences to include their own uploaded 3D ultrasounds.
“Today’s families have a clear idea of what they want from
their birthing experience, and we are excited to be able to provide safe,
comfortable and nurturing environments for their momentous and life changing
event,” Dr. Brooks said. “Integrating state-of-the-art medical
advances into a calming environment will create a birthing experience
that is like no other. This is particularly true when it comes to our
NurtureVR program. Studies show that the use of virtual reality during
labor empowers a woman during her birthing experience, reduces the experience
of pain and may also lessen the amount of pain medication needed during
delivery.”
Hoag officials said the 18,000-square-foot labor and delivery suites will
help meet the growing need for maternity services in Irvine. The rapid
growth in and around Irvine has resulted in an expanding population of
households with young children. Irvine consistently ranks as one of the
best places to raise a family. In 2019, nearly 7,000 babies were delivered
at Hoag’s Newport Beach campus – and 34 percent of the new
mothers were from the greater Irvine area.
Hoag’s commitment to Irvine and the surrounding communities has always
been focused on expanding convenient access to world-class care. The acute
care services available at Hoag Hospital Irvine are directly across the
street from Hoag Health Center Irvine – Sand Canyon, which was designed
as a community-centric health care “village” offering a wide
range of specialized and comprehensive health care services.
“Hoag’s health care village model provides highly personalized,
simplified and comprehensive medical and preventative care in modern facilities,
bringing Hoag’s renowned services where they are needed most –
right where people live and work,” said Marcy Brown, Senior Vice
President and Chief Hospital Operations Officer at Hoag. “Expanding
women’s services in Irvine with the opening of the Fudge Family
Birthing Suites make it easier than ever for women and families to access
our renowned services and programs without leaving their community.”
To view the original Irvine Mom's Network article, please click
here.
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