Allina Hospitals & Clinics and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota formalize Mother Baby partnership

For decades, critically ill babies born at Abbott Northwestern Hospital have been whisked through an underground tunnel for emergency care at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota – separating moms from their babies immediately after birth, but providing the best care possible for both. Soon, this kind of separation will no longer be necessary. Recognizing the need for a central place where mothers and infants can bond while receiving the highest level of care, Allina Hospitals and Clinics and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota formally partnered to integrate their mother and baby services. Phase one of this partnership is the creation of The Mother Baby Center at Abbott Northwestern and Children’s – Minneapolis.

The Mother Baby Center will merge Abbott Northwestern's labor, delivery and newborn nurseries with Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Special Care Nursery and Infant Care Center (ICC).

The birth center, located on Children’s Minneapolis campus, will have a dedicated entrance for expectant moms and families. The 96,000-square-foot four-story building will include 44 post-partum rooms, 11 high-risk ante-partum beds, 13 labor and delivery rooms, three operating rooms and skyway access to Abbott Northwestern. It will be steps away from Children’s new NICU, which features 44 private patient rooms with pullout sofas for parents and an environment especially designed for premature babies. The family-centered Mother Baby Center will allow mothers and babies to be together while providing babies with nationally renowned care from the Children’s NICU.

The partnership also creates care coordination for high risk patients, enhancements to the Midwest Fetal Care Center, and telemedicine services to provide better care to underserved communities. Maternal integrative therapies will be provided by the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing.

Allina and Children’s have a strong history of successful collaborations. The two systems operate under a similar model on the St. Paul campus, where United Hospital’s birthing center is across the hall from Children’s NICU. This arrangement has provided a solid foundation to build upon.

Currently, mothers of critically ill babies remain at Abbott Northwestern while their infants are transferred to the NICU at Children's, which leads to a separation at a critical time for all members of the family. By bringing services together at The Mother Baby Center, moms, babies and families can stay together and have the highest level of care and experience

The existing collaboration between Abbot Northwestern and Children’s - Minneapolis has produced some of the best outcomes in the country when it comes to caring for premature infants and babies with critical health needs. The Mother Baby Center will build on that success, giving mothers a chance to deliver in a state-of-the-art facility, while still having immediate access to the best possible care for their infants.

The Mother Baby Center is scheduled to open in late fall 2012.