Delivery Risks
Through our affiliation with UCSF, Washington Hospital offers the Prenatal
Diagnostic Center. With state-of-the-art technology and highly-trained
staff, potential risks or problems with the fetus can be identified (and
often treated) prior to the birth. See
page for more details.
Washington Hospital also has a Special Care Nursery. Through an affiliation
with UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Washington Hospital operates a
nine-bed intermediate intensive care nursery "satellite” providing
ongoing care for infants with special needs. UCSF neonatal and pediatric
specialists are now at Washington Hospital. See
https://whhs2021redesign.scorpionwebsite.com/services/childbirth-family-services/birthing-center/special-care-nursery/ for more details.
- Breech position affects delivery - Breech presentation is when a baby's
bottom or bottom and feet are in position to emerge first during birth,
rather than the normal headfirst position.
- Diagnostic tests can provide early detection of birth defects - Common
prenatal diagnostic tests reveal important information about birth defects.
Not all pregnant women should have all of these tests. Tests to be excluded
are amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS).
- Hormones cause changes in body and emotions - Certain hormone levels rise
during pregnancy. There are a variety of hormones that serve different purposes.
- If you have diabetes - Women with diabetes have a good chance of having
a healthy baby, if they are able to achieve stable blood sugar control.
- Low birthweight spells problems for babies - Low birthweight seriously
affects a baby's health and even survival. A mother's behavior before
and during pregnancy can affect baby's birth weight.
- Monitoring can provide early warning for problems during birth - Using
special instruments, your doctor can monitor the health of your baby while
he's still inside you.
- Preterm babies require special care - Babies born three weeks or more before
their due date have special needs, more so the earlier they are born.
- Rh factor can complicate pregnancy - Although the Rh factor can put a fetus
or newborn at risk in rare cases, the use of a blood product, called Rh
immunoglobulin (Rhogam), utilized since 1968, has eliminated problems
for many people.
- Some babies are late for a very important date - Most overdue babies are
born without problems. Sometimes, because it's not always easy to accurately
determine the due date, a "late" baby isn't really late.
- Specialized hospital units provide special care to sick babies - Today,
most major medical centers are equipped with an intermediate, intensive,
or neonatal intensive care unit to care for premature or sick newborns.