March of Dimes recognizes CHRISTUS Spohn for its work to give more babies a healthy start

CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-South has reduced the number of elective inductions and caesarean deliveries performed before 39 completed weeks of pregnancy and has earned March of Dimes recognition for this efforts.

“This wait, versus delivering before 39 weeks, gives a baby a healthy start at life,” said Christina Stelly, MSN, RN, CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital-South’s Women’s Services Manager. “We are urging women to wait for their natural labor or to schedule their induction after 39 weeks of pregnancy unless their doctor believes it is medically necessary. We’re proud of our expert team of physicians and nurses. Ninety-nine percent of our scheduled, elective deliveries happened on or after the 39 week mark.”

CHRISTUS Spohn offers professional birthing classes designed to prepare the mother for the birthing process and to stress the importance of a full-term pregnancy and the critical development of the brain, lungs and other organs that occur during the last weeks of pregnancy.

“The last weeks of pregnancy are important. Babies aren’t just putting on weight. They are undergoing important development of the brain, lungs and other vital organs,” said Scott Berns, MD, MPH, senior vice president and deputy medical director for the March of Dimes. “I commend CHRISTUS Spohn for being a champion for babies with their quality improvement effort.”

Worldwide, 15 million babies are born too soon each year and more than one million of those infants die as a result of their early births. Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifelong health challenges, such as breathing problems, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and others.

Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than full-term infants. Recent research by the March of Dimes, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that although the overall threat is small, the risk of death more than doubles for infants born at 37 weeks of pregnancy when compared to babies born at 40 weeks, for all races and ethnicities.

Through Strong Start, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the March of Dimes has been getting out the word that “Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait” The campaign urges women to wait for labor to begin on its own if their pregnancy is healthy, rather than scheduling delivery before 39 completed weeks of pregnancy.

Last year CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital-South earned the Texas Ten Step designation from the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Department of State Health Services. The birthing center supports and promotes breastfeeding through policy development, maternity care practices and resources for breastfeeding mothers.

For more information on CHRISTUS Spohn’s Birthing Services visit: www.christusspohn.org/BirthingServices.