Laredo Medical Center Uses New Technology to Enhance Maternal and Fetal Safety
7/1/2022
The childbirth team at Laredo Medical Center is now using an artificial intelligence-based maternal-fetal early warning system called PeriWatch Vigilance to enhance patient safety during labor and delivery. The system continuously monitors maternal vital signs, fetal heart rate, contractions, and labor progression to help clinicians quickly identify any concerning developments for faster intervention.
Laredo Medical Center delivers more than 2,500 babies each year. Dr. Enrique F. Benavides, III, chairperson of the OB/GYN, Laredo Medical Center medical leadership team, indicates this new technology is an important resource to support maternal/fetal health and safe deliveries.
“Every delivery is unique so the health and well-being of every mom and baby is our priority during childbirth,” says Dr. Benavides. “While most births happen without complication, there are some inherent risks in the delivery of a newborn. This new technology adds another layer of protection throughout the labor process to help our maternity team recognize, prevent and respond to avoidable complications.”
Through pattern recognition, the technology can also pinpoint opportunities for overall improvement based on consolidated data from multiple births. As the maternity team reviews trends and identifies areas where improvement is possible, the hospital can use that information to develop protocols that further increase safety and may lead to better outcomes for mothers and babies.
“By investing in this technology, Laredo Medical Center is making labor and delivery safer for mothers and babies,” said Jorge Leal, FACHE, CEO. “Our physicians and nurses are highly skilled medical professionals and excellent caregivers and they appreciate the use of technology to support their work, especially when it helps keep our patients safe.”
More than 250 mothers choose to deliver their babies at Laredo Medical Center each month. The hospital’s Family Birthing Center offers a family-centered approach that puts the healthy growth and development of the entire family first, the skills of the hospital’s neonatologists and specially trained nurses, as well as its comfortably updated facility.
Laredo Medical Center is designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services as a Level II specialty care maternal facility and as a Level III neonatal intensive care unit. Additionally, the hospital’s maternal facility is associated with the Texas AIM state program for maternal safety.
To learn more about Laredo Medical Center maternity care services or to find a physician, visit https://bit.ly/3uFl7wX or call (956) 796-4990.
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