At Wise Health System, we know that having a baby is one of the most momentous occasions in life. Our personalized and patient-centered newborn care includes an expert team of physicians, nurses and health educators.
Highly Trained Nurses and Physicians
Our RN’s are on duty 24-hours a day, 7-days a week to provide care and support for new mothers and their infants. Nurses are trained in advanced cardiac life support as well as neonatal resuscitation. And with a low nurse to patient ratio, there is more time for individual instruction and care.
Wise Health System is proud to be a Center of Excellence in Women’s Services and have board certified physicians who specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Our OB/GYN’S are specially trained in all areas of pregnancy and postpartum, including: preconception health, labor and childbirth, genetics, and genetic counseling.
Our Pediatric Hospitalist Program
Having a baby is one of the most joyous experiences in life. But despite your best efforts in planning, there are aspects of childbirth that are out of your control. If you have to have an emergency caesarean section or are a high-risk delivery, knowing you have the services of a pediatric hospitalist available can bring a little extra comfort. Wise Health System is the only hospital in our area that offers a pediatric hospitalist program.
What is a Pediatric Hospitalist?
A pediatric hospitalist is a board-certified pediatrician, located in the hospital, who cares for hospitalized children. From labor and delivery to the emergency department, hospitals with a pediatric hospitalist on staff can provide care for children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Being located in the hospital, they are able to provide more timely care and are able to consult with a patient’s family more efficiently.
Pediatric hospitalists work with your pediatrician and other specialists to care for your child to provide high-quality care day or night.
Expecting the unexpected can help to prepare you, should your child face a stay in the hospital. Knowing you have someone dedicated to your child’s care 24/7 can bring peace of mind in a troubling situation.
Level II Designated Nursery
Wise Health System is a designated Level II nursery by the Texas Department of State Health Services. This designation means that our nurses are trained to care for infants with moderate risk of serious complications related to immaturity, illness, and/or their management and have the ability to provide assisted ventilation for infants with respiratory problems. This means that your baby can remain at Wise Health System instead of being transported to another facility should the need arise.
TeleNICU
TeleNICU services provide access to specialty care in the nursery setting.
Infants born at Wise Health System with acute problems or complications have immediate access to a neonatologist specializing in newborn care at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas through HD video and audio. This may allow infants and their families to stay at Wise Health System rather than being unnecessarily transferred.
And in cases where a transfer is recommended, the transfer process is quicker when the consultation has already taken place. The transfer will most likely be to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.
CertaScan
Wise Health System is proud to offer the CertaScan, which can identify infants from the time of birth, throughout their stay and for life with a digital footprint image.
Newborn Screenings and Treatments
Shortly after delivery:
- Vitamin K treatment
- Eye medication treatment
- Hepatitis B vaccine
24 Hour Screening Tests: :
- Bilirubin screening
- Newborn blood screening
- Hearing screening
- Heart Disease screening
Each of these screenings or treatments is routine for all newborns at Wise Health System. Some of them are required by state law. That’s because studies show that these procedures can protect your baby’s health and well being. :
Vitamin K Treatment
It is a routine practice to give a small amount of vitamin K to all newborn babies soon after birth. The vitamin is given in a shot (injection).
The shot is given in the baby’s muscle, usually in the thigh. Only one shot is given. Giving vitamin K lowers the chance that your newborn will have dangerous bleeding. That’s because newborns have too little vitamin K in their bodies. Since vitamin K helps blood to clot, too little of this important vitamin can sometimes lead to bleeding — even death. Since hospitals began giving vitamin K to newborns, there have been almost no deaths from bleeding problems.
Eye Medication Treatment
In this treatment, medicated ointment is put into your baby’s eyes soon after birth. The ointment is usually given only one time. There is no risk from the ointment, although your baby’s eyes may be a bit puffy for a time. The eye ointment helps protect your baby against eye infections. Eye infections occur in up to 12% of newborns. These infections often happen during birth, as the baby passes through the birth canal. They can also happen later, during care of the newborn. These infections can cause serious problems, including blindness.
Hepatitis B Vaccine
Hepatitis B virus affects the liver. It can cause a mild illness with fever, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice that lasts for a few weeks. Or it can cause a lifelong infection. Lifelong carriers of the virus may get liver problems later, such as cirrhosis (scarred and damaged liver) or liver cancer. Children usually get the hepatitis B vaccine (Hep B) as a series of 3 injections with the first one given shortly after birth. The Hep B injection usually creates long-term immunity. Most infants who get the Hep B series are protected from hepatitis B infection beyond childhood, into their adult years.
Bilirubin Screening
It is a routine practice to screen every newborn for high bilirubin levels in the blood (hyperbilirubinemia). At Wise Health System, we use a tool that uses light to determine the amount of bilirubin in the baby’s skin.
If this screen shows a higher than normal level, we will take a small sample of blood from your baby’s heel which is tested in our laboratory. High levels of bilirubin cause jaundice. Jaundice is a common condition in the first few days of life, and it usually goes away by itself. But if bilirubin levels are very high, your baby may need treatment to prevent serious problems, such as brain damage.
A screening can detect high bilirubin early on — and help you get the right treatment for your baby. Most screening results come back normal, and parents don’t need to follow up. But if your baby’s results show that your baby is at risk, you’ll be instructed to take your baby to the doctor’s office (or to a hospital or lab) to repeat the test a day or two after your baby goes home. It’s very important that you have this follow-up test if you’re told to. This is the only way to make sure that your baby is safe from the serious effects of high bilirubin.
Newborn Blood Screening
Why does my baby need newborn blood screening?
Most babies are healthy when they are born. We test all babies because a few babies look healthy but might have a rare health problem.
How will my baby be tested?
The screening test happens in two parts.
- The first part of the test is done in the hospital. A nurse will take a few drops of blood from your baby’s heel. The hospital will send the blood sample to a newborn screening lab.
- The second part of the test happens a few weeks after birth. You will be instructed to return to the hospital’s outpatient lab for a repeat test.
How will I get the results of the test?
Parents are notified of test results if there is a problem. Ask about results when you see your baby’s healthcare professional.
What if my baby needs more testing?
Your baby’s healthcare professional or the State Health Department will contact you if your baby needs more testing. They will tell you why your baby needs more testing and what to do next. If your baby needs more testing, get it done right away. Make sure that your hospital and healthcare professional have your correct address and phone number.
Hearing Screening
According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 12,000 babies are born with a hearing impairment each year in the United States. And according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the treatment for these infants with hearing loss has the best results when the loss is identified and intervention begins before the child reaches six months of age.
Texas has one of the largest newborn hearing screening programs in the country and is continually ranked as one of the best. As part of this program, Wise Health System has earned a Distinguished Certification for Newborn Hearing Screening by the Texas Department of State Health Services
The program sets and measures performance standards for all Texas hospital-based hearing screening programs for newborns. The goal is to detect hearing loss in newborns as soon as possible and provide direction to prevent delays in communication and cognitive skill development.