Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital understands the unique needs of women of all ages. From breast and bone health, to maternity and children’s care, to gynecological surgeries, Memorial Hermann Southwest is committed to delivering compassionate and comprehensive, award-winning care to women throughout their lives.
At Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, it is our goal to make every woman's pregnancy and childbirth an extraordinary experience. Our skilled medical staff and nurses will provide you and your baby with award-winning care in a safe, nurturing environment. From informative parenting classes to beautiful, private birthing suites, Memorial Hermann Southwest has it all.
Have you chosen Memorial Hermann Southwest as your birthing environment? Learn more about pre-registration.
Private, spacious state-of-the-art labor, delivery and recovery rooms feature comfortable, home-like amenities. Operating rooms are located nearby for cesarean deliveries. Affiliated obstetricians and anesthesiologists are available around the clock to serve only women in childbirth.
Superior technology enables physicians to monitor maternal contraction patterns and fetal heart rates from their offices and phones, so they can provide care instructions to the hospital's experienced labor and delivery nurses with an average tenure of 18 years.
Following delivery, new moms enjoy recently renovated, private postpartum rooms featuring amenities such as wifi and room service for meals. Here, mom can have her baby room-in along with another adult who can share in this special time.
Couplet care, where the same nurse cares for mother and baby, enables nurses to provide more personalized care, education and support to build the confidence of new parents in caring for their newborn.
Through our affiliation with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, we provide on-site diagnostic testing, genetic counseling and specialized fetal care to women with high-risk pregnancies. These women are referred by their obstetricians because of conditions and complications such as diabetes, hypertension, multiple fetuses, preterm labor or other fetal indications.
The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital is a state designated Level III provider of newborn services. We have 40 beds and provide varying levels of care including intensive, intermediate, and isolation. We have access to consultants, surgeons and ancillary services that allow comprehensive treatment across the full range of neonatal problems.
All care is directed by neonatologists in house 24/7. Our NICU is equipped with the latest technology and prepared with the most modern treatment modalities to provide the highest level of care.
Our NICU has long realized the need to track not only general NICU data, but important patient diagnosis based data in order to monitor our patient outcomes so that we could ultimately alter our care practices to improve those outcomes. In the year 2000, our NICU became the first NICU in the Memorial Hermann system to become a member of the Vermont Oxford Network (VON).
Established in 1988, the Vermont Oxford Network maintains one of the world’s largest NICU Databases. The Vermont Oxford Network is a voluntary collaborative group of health professionals committed to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of medical care for newborn infants and their families through a coordinated program of research, education, and quality-improvement projects. This database includes information from over 700 Neonatal Intensive Care Units around the world including care and outcomes for high-risk infants. High risk usually refers to babies born at very low birth weights (VLBW defined as 401gms to 1500gms babies or less than one pound babies to babies who are just a little over 3lbs, respectively). This database provides unique, reliable and confidential data to participating units for use in quality management, process improvement, internal audit and peer review.
VON was exactly what we were looking for to meet our needs! As a result of becoming a member of this database we have been able to implement changes in our care that have resulted in improved outcomes.
Research has shown that each interaction premature infants have with their caregivers has an impact on their developing brain and can influence the course of their NICU stay. The NICU at Memorial Hermann Southwest has been dedicated to developing a true Developmental Care and Family Centered Care NICU.
We strive to address all areas of infant development in everything we do while keeping the family at the center of our care team. Our philosophy of care and our unit's culture is woven with the firm belief that every encounter we have with an infant and their family has an impact on his/her development and future outcome.
From the special design of our unit, with space for families, developmentally specialized equipment and quiet surroundings, to the way we perform care; our goals are to support each infant as they continue to grow and develop and each family as they learn to nurture and care for their special infant. Even our most fragile patients are bedded in incubators and bedded with supportive bedding chosen specifically for their individual needs.
However, unlike many units' developmental care programs, ours doesn't stop with just the unit's design or with use of special products. Since infants communicate non-verbally through the way they move, breathe and react to what is going on around them, all of our staff are specially trained in reading and interpreting these behaviors. This allows caregivers to constantly adjust their interactions with the infants based on what the infant's behaviors are telling them they can handle.
Some of our staff has special certification (NIDCAP®) to perform in-depth neurobehavioral assessments that use this unique non-verbal communication. These staff members are not only able to provide neurobehavioral assessments, but also provide daily support to other staff and to families to ensure continuity in the individualized care given to each infant.
Currently, fewer than 25% of NICUs in the United States have NIDCAP® certified staff available for assessments and/or developmental care program support. Because our unit realizes that families are the one constant in their infants' lives, we therefore support parents to be their infant's primary caregiver by remaining open to them 24/7.
Discharge planning that begins at admission are essential in the NICU. Starting at admission, parents are educated about their babies' specific needs. Special focus is given to preterm infant development, and parents are taught how to best help their premature baby adapt to their environment. The unit has a NICU Navigator who assists parents with any needs they or their baby may have to prepare a smooth transition to home. The Navigator assists parents in finding a pediatrician in close proximity to home that meets their baby's individual needs. She also coordinates these visits with the baby's insurance provider to ensure coverage.
When follow up is needed with specialists, such as surgeons, pulmonary, or gastroenterologists, the NICU Navigator arranges for the appointments and provides pertinent information to the specialists to ensure that they are aware of the baby's individual needs. The Navigator provides in-depth teaching for families with babies who go home with special needs such as ostomy care, gastrostomy tubes, and home oxygen therapy. She is also responsible for ensuring that babies who need assistance with the Early Childhood Intervention program are registered with that program.
A premature infant on a ventilator is a common sight in most NICU's across the country. However, having to receive support by ventilator is stressful to the infant and can be damaging to the upper airway. The goal of our respiratory team is to support our infants in the least invasive manner and in a manner that supports them to an earlier discharge and hopefully fewer discharges on supplemental oxygen.
Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (BCPAP)
The NICU at Memorial Hermann Southwest is one of the first NICUs in Houston to use Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (BCPAP). Through our health care team's research, persistence and desire to deliver quality care to our tiny patients and to their families, instituting BCPAP has created a better experience and outcome for our Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) infants. This is evidenced by our lower Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) and Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) rates.
Additional benefits of using BCPAP are that it is less invasive for the baby and parents can also hold their babies sooner. Being able to hold their babies sooner coupled with the fact that their babies are going home sooner results in greater family bonding.
Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital holds the distinction of being a Texas Ten Step Facility, as designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services, for its efforts to improve the health of Texas mothers and infants by promoting breastfeeding.
The Memorial Hermann Southwest team of skilled and knowledgeable internationally board-certified lactation consultants (IBCLC) provides a full spectrum of services to help mothers with questions regarding lactation, before birth, during and after your hospital stay.
Since every ounce counts, our IBCLC team provides coverage 7 days a week and works hard to provide the support you need when you need it.
During your hospital stay you will receive assistance and support from our IBCLC team to give you the confidence you need to have the best possible breastfeeding experience. Lactation consultants are available seven days a week. There is also a lactation consultant dedicated to the specialized needs of patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
We provide a spacious Lactation Room that is equipped with state of the art electric pumps, privacy screens, a sink and a radio, so that our moms have a place where they can go and pump, as well as relax. We also have electric pumps readily available for moms that prefer to pump at their baby's bedside. All of our staff is highly educated in lactation so help is always available to our parents if they have any questions or concerns.
We host classes about labor, delivery, breastfeeding, infant care and transitioning your newborn into the family. Find classes and training for parents.
To help you be better prepared for what to expect, Memorial Hermann Southwest offers you a free booklet via download of Your Guide to Postpartum and Newborn Care available anytime throughout your pregnancy or after. This booklet will help you understand how to care for yourself and your baby after birth. The more knowledge you have, the more likely you will approach your personal journey with confidence and a positive perspective. Topics include:
The Memorial Hermann Southwest Breast Care Center offers several advantages over conventional screening facilities, including specially trained board-certified breast radiologists to read your mammogram, the latest technologies and techniques for diagnosis, and short wait times for appointments after a suspicious area is found, reducing your anxiety faster and getting you into treatment sooner. For added convenience, you can now schedule your appointment online 24/7 with ScheduleNow.