For Release: June 10, 2013
Palo Alto, Calif. -聽 In an exciting new conversation with the community, Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital at Stanford has discovered families throughout the Bay Area have some very important messages to share.
Since last fall, the hospital鈥檚 Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services has been asking families why they chose or were choosing to have their baby at Packard Children鈥檚. 鈥淩ight away, we started noticing a theme,鈥 said Yasser El-Sayed, MD, obstetrician-in-chief at Packard Children鈥檚. 鈥淢oms, dads and partners said over and over that Packard Children鈥檚 would give their child the best chance to start life strong and healthy.鈥
The engagement, conducted through social media, mothers clubs, phone calls and hospital classes, 鈥渢urned out to be a powerful way to learn what we are best at, and if there were areas we could improve,鈥 El-Sayed added. 鈥淭he testimonials were quite balanced. There were families who said Stanford鈥檚 strong reputation for research and innovation led them here. Others said it was because of a prior, world-class experience for another child. And it was no surprise at all to hear families confirm that our team is strongest not just for normal births, but for births that could have complications.鈥
This led to the launch of a new website, startstrongbaby.com, that provides a roadmap to having a baby at Packard Children鈥檚. It鈥檚 yet another innovation for a hospital that delivers nearly 5,000 babies a year and has a neonatology team ranked in America鈥檚 top 10. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also home to the lowest C-section rates of any hospital on the Peninsula,鈥 added El-Sayed, 鈥渁nd we support individualized birth plan choices and have a supportive breastfeeding environment.鈥
Additionally, the site provides information for over a dozen classes designed for every step of becoming a parent, from Prenatal Pilates to Bringing Baby Home to Infant & Child CPR. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really proud of these programs,鈥 said El-Sayed, 鈥渁nd they provide lessons that last a lifetime.鈥 And the classes and services are not just for moms who want their babies to start strong.
鈥淎s a first-time dad, I was anxious,鈥 said one new father, who soaked up just about every class the hospital offered. 鈥淏ut the doctors, nurses and staff were with me all the way through. You could tell they were absolute experts and truly passionate about our family. My wife and I now have strong and healthy twins, and we would not hesitate to return for baby #3.鈥
To find out more about having a baby at Packard Children鈥檚, visit startstrongbaby.com or call 650-498-BABY.
Authors
Robert Dicks
650-497-8364
rdicks@stanfordchildrens.org
Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford provides the best care available to expectant moms and their babies. Our highly specialized obstetric, neonatal and maternal-fetal medicine specialists provide nurturing support to every mother, whether her pregnancy and delivery are normal or complex, so her baby can start life strong. We inform, support and celebrate women and families as they welcome their new baby and embark on their happiest, healthiest life together.聽
麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health, with聽Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford聽at its center, is the Bay Area鈥檚 largest health care system exclusively dedicated to children and expectant mothers. Our network of care includes more than 65聽locations聽across Northern California and more than 85 locations in the U.S. Western region.聽Along with Stanford Health Care and the Stanford School of Medicine, we are part of聽, an ecosystem harnessing the potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education, and clinical care to improve health outcomes around the world. We are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the community through meaningful outreach programs and services and providing necessary medical care to families, regardless of their ability to pay. Discover more at聽stanfordchildrens.org.
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