Posted Monday, February 4, 2013 --- 3:40 p.m.

Press Release from Meriter:

MADISON, Wis. -- Meriter is excited to celebrate the completion of its three-story Birthing Center with the official opening on Monday, February 4, 2013.

“This renovation is an essential investment to continue supporting families during one of the most memorable events of their lives. Our staff is committed to giving all our newborns the best possible start,” says Kathy Kostrivas, Meriter’s Assistant Vice-President of Women’s Services. “The new design will give all moms the same comfortable, private room experience, no matter how she delivers her baby.”

The renovations, which began in 2010, are part of the hospital’s investment in the next generation of Meriter babies. The newly renovated center features:

· All private rooms for triage, pre-operative, labor and delivery and post-delivery care

· State-of-the-art newborn resuscitation centers in each birthing suite

· Larger C-Section suites with resuscitation suite for high-risk and multiple birth deliveries

· Comfortable family suites with home-style décor, complete with a sleeper couch for the labor partner

· A focus on couplet care where moms and babies are kept together allowing families to enjoy their postpartum stay while they get to know their baby

· We proudly support birth plans and alternative birthing options including water birth option for low risk deliveries in a specially designed suite with a water birth tub.

The original Birthing Center, built in 1989, had the capacity for just 3,000 births per year. Last year, Meriter delivered more than 3,700 babies and the newly opened Birthing Center has more rooms to allow for the increased need.

Meriter delivers more babies than any other hospital in the state, having welcomed nearly 70,000 babies into the world since it’s original Birthing Center first opened. It is the only area hospital in the region to be awarded the Baby Friendly designation, which recognizes facilities that provide optimal levels of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

Meriter’s lactation program extends from a mother’s hospital stay, to a breastfeeding help line, to Meriter’s Outpatient Breastfeeding Clinic. The outpatient services are open to the entire community regardless of where the baby was born.

In addition, Meriter offers a unique mother support program called Mother Baby Hour. First-time moms and their babies get together with a community health educator to ask questions, express concerns, learn about resources and share stories.