First-year milestones at Texas Children's Pavilion for Women underscore pediatric hospital's successful expansion into women's healthcare

HOUSTON, March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Texas Children's Pavilion for Women today marks one year since it transitioned its labor and delivery services into the new $575-million facility, signaling the pediatric hospital's major expansion into obstetrics and gynecological care with a special focus on high-risk pregnancies and multiple births. Drawing from decades of OB/GYN experience, Texas Children's experts contributed to many first-year milestones including breakthrough procedures and medical firsts; patient demand that outpaced hospital expectations; and top marks in patient satisfaction for a healthcare environment created for women, by women. To see a video that highlights our first year, click here.

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Despite a 7.6 percent decline in Harris County births since 2009, the Pavilion for Women exceeded its first year projections by 20 percent with more than 4,300 deliveries since opening. In April, less than one month after opening, Texas' first surviving set of sextuplets was delivered at the Pavilion for Women, reinforcing the hospital's expertise as the place for multiples and high-risk pregnancies. As the year continued, hospital experts delivered one set of quintuplets, four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and over 139 sets of twins.

Outpatient clinic visits topped 106,000 and nearly 2,500 expectant mothers toured the facility, providing further evidence of the appeal of the Pavilion for Women's combination of leading experts, innovative patient care environment and family-centered maternity care model.

Ground-breaking procedures and rare cases characterized the year for Texas Children's Fetal Center in its new home at the Pavilion for Women. Among the most notable was Audrina Cardenas, the baby born with her heart outside her chest, who was delivered at the Pavilion for Women and received all of her care within the confines of Texas Children's Hospital. The team at Texas Children's also added two major programs, becoming the first Fetal Center in the Southwest to perform in-utero fetal cardiac surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and in-utero fetal endotracheal occlusion (FETO) for the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia, both potentially lifesaving for fetal patients. In all, a total of seven in-utero intra-cardiac surgeries were performed by Texas Children's experts. The FETO procedure is currently offered in only two U.S. sites and five procedures were performed this year at Texas Children's.

Other fetal treatment innovations included two in-utero procedures involving the release of life- and limb-threatening amniotic bands using laser and microscissors, and fetal cystoscopy to evaluate fetal bladder outlet obstruction. Texas Children's is also among the few centers in the nation providing in-utero treatment for spina bifida and has conducted 10 procedures this year. The center continues to offer laser surgery for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).  Eighty-five percent of Fetal Center patients came from across Texas with additional patients coming from 39 other states.

"The Pavilion for Women has brought together a highly experienced team of experts and equipped them with the latest technologies in one of the finest facilities in the world," said Dr. Michael A. Belfort, obstetrician and gynecologist-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. "The response from patients and physicians in our local community and around the globe has exceeded our own high expectations for this hospital and this new paradigm to conjoin women's and pediatric medicine."

Designed to care for the highest-risk mothers and babies, over 1,000 Pavilion for Women newborns received NICU care at Texas Children's Newborn Center, the #2 ranked neonatology program in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2012-13 edition of Best Children's Hospitals.

It was also a busy first year for high-risk OB/GYN care as the Pavilion for Women treated more than 90 patients with life threatening pregnancy- and gynecological-related medical conditions ranging from diseases such as leukemia, sepsis and diabetic coma to surgical emergencies requiring massive transfusion and even bowel resection. The Pavilion for Women also added a highly specialized multi-disciplinary surgical team for the management of placenta accreta/percreta, and treated 40 mothers with this potentially life-threatening condition in the last year. Patients included women from the local community and from across the country.

To help high-risk obstetrical patients manage their pregnancies closer to home, the Pavilion for Women expanded its community-based maternal fetal medicine clinics across Greater Houston from one to five sites in the past year. From locations in The Woodlands, Northwest Houston, West Houston, Sugar Land and The Methodist Hospital the clinics handled more than 16,000 total patient visits in 2012.

Since its inception, Texas Children's leaders have stated that the mission of the Pavilion for Women is to provide comprehensive care for women throughout the many stages of their lives. Three private OB/GYN practices, Baylor Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Women's Specialists of Houston, and Partners in OB/GYN Care, completed their moves to the Pavilion for Women. The hospital also recently opened a community-based OB/GYN practice in Pearland, Texas. The Pavilion for Women features three other specialty practices that support its spectrum of care from preconception through menopause: The Family Fertility Center, The Menopause Center and The Women's Place – Center for Reproductive Psychiatry. The Women's Place is one of a handful of programs of its kind in the nation offering care and treatment of women's reproductive mental health issues and one of the few providing collaborative care within a women's hospital setting.

Efforts invested in creating a unique environment for women, by women were rewarded with consistently strong scores in patient satisfaction for the overall patient experience as well as the likelihood of recommending the Pavilion for Women to others.

"We set out to improve outcomes for mothers and babies by creating a healthcare environment where women and their families would feel comforted and supported throughout their stay," said Cris Daskevich, senior vice president of Texas Children's Hospital. "While we continue to look for new ways to enhance our services and surroundings, we're excited to know that our scores reflect all of the attention to detail that so many people gave to the design of the facility as well as the recruiting of the best and brightest care team members to create an exceptional experience for our patients and families."

Situated in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, the 15-story Texas Children's Pavilion for Women offers a full range of obstetrical and gynecological services. It is one of a select few hospitals nationwide to offer a full spectrum of maternal and fetal medicine services that include an array of highly specialized fetal diagnostic procedures and fetal surgeries. A two-story circular sky bridge connects the Pavilion for Women to Texas Children's West Tower and Clinical Care facilities, enhancing patient care by providing physicians, staff and patient families with rapid access to all patient care facilities.

For more information on Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, visit women.texaschildrens.org.

About Texas Children's Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation, Texas Children's has recognized Centers of Excellence in multiple pediatric subspecialties including the Cancer and Heart Centers, and operates the largest primary pediatric care network in the country. Texas Children's has completed a $1.5 billion expansion, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; and Texas Children's Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston. For more information on Texas Children's, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children's by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.

CONTACT: Lori Pennington, Carbonara Group, c: 512-757-3286/ o: 713-524-8170, [email protected], or Christy Brunton, Texas Children's Hospital, c: 281-684-3184/ o: 832-824-2645, [email protected]

SOURCE Texas Children's Hospital