New Safety Measures For An Optimum Birth Experience

Increased Staff, Full-Time Attention for Women in Labor at Pennsylvania Hospital

The face of obstetric care in the United States is changing, and Pennsylvania Hospital is making certain that prenatal care and delivery remains effective, personal and safe.

Over the past 10 years, many hospitals in the Philadelphia region have closed their labor and delivery units due to the growing costs of malpractice insurance and poor reimbursement rates from insurance providers. These closures have increased delivery volumes at hospitals whose obstetric practices remain open. As one of the most experienced providers of obstetric care in the region, Pennsylvania Hospital delivered over 5,200 babies last year alone.

To address the increased obstetric volume and continue to provide high quality care during labor and delivery, Pennsylvania Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology began offering an enhanced model of intrapartum obstetric care in July 2008.

“Throughout history, Pennsylvania Hospital has always advocated for the best prenatal care for women. We were the first hospital to provide maternity services in the country. Today, we continue our efforts in caring for pregnant women by expanding our staff to include additional obstetricians on the labor and delivery floor. This increased staff allows mothers to have an ob/gyn or certified nurse midwife with her at all times during her labor and delivery,” says Jack Ludmir, MD, professor and chair of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Commonly referred to as “laborists” or “hospitalists,” obstetric providers are board-certified physicians whose primary role is to manage the inpatient care of pregnant women, including labor and delivery. Compared with traditional ob/gyn physicians, laborists do not see patients in routine office visits to manage prenatal or postpartum care.

Pennsylvania Hospital provides a combined model of care: obstetricians from the practices and hospital-based ob/gyn’s and nurse midwives are available on the labor and delivery floor to care for mothers and deliver babies. Dr. Ludmir states, “With more physicians on staff, Pennsylvania Hospital is able to provide the highest level of safety and care to women in labor.

The physicians of the hospital staff at Pennsylvania Hospital and the four Pennsylvania Hospital PennOb/Gyn Care practices with over 30 experienced, board-certified ob/gyn’s and midwives take a team approach to offering cohesive, high quality labor and delivery care.

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