Hope… dreams… preparation… and then the main event! The baby is about to arrive, and a mixture of excitement and anxiety fills the heart of every expectant mother and father, novice and veteran alike. What if there’s a problem with our baby? Will we be able to get the care we need? Will help be there when we need it?

Handling more than 1,400 births each year helps the staff of the Birthing Center of Doylestown Hospital answer those questions and many more. Newborns get the best possible start in life and mom and dad enjoy a positive birth experience. And at a time when many birthing units in our region are closing, Doylestown Hospital has expanded its newborn care services to include 24- hour coverage by hospital-based, board-certified neonatologists in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Plans are also being developed to add additional maternity beds.

“These enhancements to our Birthing Center show Doylestown Hospital’s continuing commitment to maternal health and exceptional newborn care,” says Carrie Hufnal-Miller, MD, the hospital’s new director of neonatology. “Our experienced team of neonatologists, in particular, provides tremendous benefits … and peace of mind … to any woman delivering at Doylestown Hospital.”

Taking care of high-risk babies
A neonatologist is a pediatrician with several years of additional, specialized training in treating complex and highrisk medical conditions of newborns. Doylestown Hospital, through its affiliation with neonatologists from the premier pediatric specialty hospital in the Delaware Valley – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) – is fortunate to have on staff six board-certified, hospital- based neonatologists or pediatricians with neonatology experience offering 24-hour coverage, 7 days a week, should the need arise.

And the need arises more often than you might think. According to the National Institutes of Health, 8 to 10 percent of babies are born at least three weeks ahead of their full-term delivery date. Although the reason for the early delivery is sometimes easy to discern – such as the presence of two, three, or even more babies in the womb – about half the time, the reason for the preterm birth is unknown. In addition, 10 to 15 percent of full-term newborns can require special care right after birth.

“Even in previously uncomplicated pregnancies, problems can arise,” says Hannie Banister, RNC, MSN, director of Maternal- Child Services at Doylestown Hospital. “And about 90 percent of the problems that arise do so during labor. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to mothers and their babies to have neonatologists based right here at the hospital around the clock, seven days a week. Every high-risk delivery and C-section – at any hour of the day or night – is attended by one of our neonatologists, who are also available to see well babies when the regular pediatrician is not in the hospital.”

Providing a continuum of care
Newborns who require special care because of illness or prematurity are cared for in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). “At present, we can care for babies born at 30 weeks or later [a full-term baby is born at about 40 weeks] and babies with serious medical problems,” says Banister. “The upcoming expansion of our services and the NICU will allow us to care for babies born even earlier than 30 weeks.”

Sometimes, though, very ill newborns do require the highly specialized services of a tertiary hospital. Dr. Hufnal-Miller explains, “Because of Doylestown Hospital’s affiliation with CHOP, we can expedite the transfer of infants with surgical needs to CHOP or to the Level 3 NICU at Pennsylvania Hospital for nonsurgical intensive care. We can also ‘back transfer’ infants from Philadelphia hospitals to Doylestown, where they will continue to receive care from the same team of neonatologists.”

“The ‘round-the-clock presence of our hospital-based neonatologists provides a safety net for all our babies,” says Banister. “For almost any eventuality, we have the highest level of expertise right at hand.” Dr. Hufnal-Miller expresses a similar sentiment. “We have a motto in neonatology that pretty much sums up our role: We hope you never need us, but if you do, we’re here.”