Expectant moms who deliver their babies at Rancho Springs Medical Center can count on a welcoming and family-centered childbirth experience – plus the comfort of knowing that highly skilled neonatal care is just steps away if a special medical need arises.
It’s been four years since Rancho Springs began its collaboration with Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego, which has one of the most highly regarded NICU programs in the country. For nine consecutive years, Rady’s Neonatology program has been named among the nation’s best in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” edition. The collaboration between the two facilities gives patients who deliver their babies at Rancho Springs access to Rady’s specialists and neonatal care – right here in Murrieta.
Patients are getting every advantage of a specialized pediatric neonatal hospital, without actually having to physically go there, explains NICU Supervisor Dawn Hesson, BSN.
“Common conditions that are reasons for admission to the NICU are prematurity, respiratory distress syndrome, hypoglycemia, sepsis and seizures,” says Richard Song, MD, Medical Director of the Rady Children’s NICU at Rancho Springs.
"No one thinks about the NICU admission as part of the birth plan during pregnancy, but we are here just in case the birth doesn’t go as planned,” says Dr. Song, a specialist in neonatal-perinatal medicine. “A neonatologist is on call 24/7 with a team of advanced life skills registered nurses (RNs), bedside RNs, respiratory therapists and social workers.”
"Ever since the collaboration of Rancho Springs Medical Center and Rady Children’s Hospital, the NICU has been keeping mom and baby together in the same building,” says Dr. Song. “This is very important. Previously, babies needing NICU care were transferred out and separated from their moms. Patients also have access to subspecialists, such as pediatric surgeons, neurologists and cardiologists, as well as specialized care.”
Occasionally, the NICU team at Rancho Springs calls in its webcam “Spike,” which can stream video to the San Diego facility for consults with doctors there. When necessary, infants can be transferred to San Diego, but that is the exception. The majority stay at Rancho Springs, close to their families, Hesson says.
Learn more about Maternity Services and the NICU at Rancho Springs >