The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Opens the World's First Delivery Unit for...

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Opens the World's First Delivery Unit
for Mothers Diagnosed with Birth Defects in Fetus

The Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit at Children's Hospital Opens Today

PHILADELPHIA, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An innovative new labor and
delivery unit is now available for expectant mothers needing highly
specialized, sophisticated medical care. The Garbose Family Special Delivery
Unit at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is the world's first
comprehensive medical unit for mothers carrying a fetus with a known birth
defect.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080520/DC23076 )

"The Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit represents a new paradigm for care
of pregnant women whose fetus has been prenatally diagnosed with a birth
defect," said Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., president and chief executive
officer at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "This state-of-the-art,
one-of-a-kind unit will provide the most personalized, comprehensive care for
these families before, during and after birth."

The new eight-bed labor and delivery unit will allow Children's Hospital's
experts in fetal medicine and surgery to provide seamless, comprehensive care
from prenatal diagnosis, delivery, and necessary interventions through
postnatal follow-up. The Special Delivery Unit is an alliance between the
Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment and the Fetal Heart Program at
Children's Hospital.

"We anticipate this unique, multidisciplinary approach will improve outcomes
for children with fetal abnormalities in a family-friendly, supportive
environment," said Scott Adzick, M.D., surgeon-in-chief and medical director
of the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. "This is a unique chance to
make major advances to help children have better lives and it offers us an
opportunity to push the field of fetal medicine forward."

There is a resuscitation room located adjacent to two of the inpatient rooms
where Children's Hospital neonatology staff can be waiting to care for a baby
that might be born in distress. There are also two operating rooms on the unit
that are equipped for cesarean sections and fetal surgery. A third operating
room is a hybrid that can be used by both the fetal surgery and cardiothoracic
surgery teams.

Outpatient services will also be housed on Garbose Family Special Delivery
Unit. Housed across the unit from the inpatient area, the outpatient area will
be staffed by a dedicated team of radiologists, ultrasound and echocardiogram
technicians, sonographers and nurses. When a family comes to the Garbose
Family Special Delivery Unit for an evaluation, they will have a series of
tests all in one single day -- a level II ultrasound, an ultrafast fetal MRI
and an echocardiogram. After the images are evaluated, the team sits down with
the family to discuss the diagnosis and treatment options.

This is the first delivery unit at Children's Hospital and the first special
delivery unit in a children's hospital dedicated to high-risk pregnancies, and
Dr. Adzick believes the new unit will provide an environment more conducive to
developing and perfecting fetal treatments to cure disease.

It is estimated that 50 percent of the babies born in the unit will have
congenital heart defects. The SDU will be located near the Cardiac Intensive
Care Unit and the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit and all of Children's
Hospital's specialty services will be immediately available.

"Advanced imaging allows us today to diagnose congenital anomalies prior to
birth, and these babies and their mothers need careful, ongoing monitoring,"
said Jack Rychik, M.D., director of the Fetal Heart Program in the Cardiac
Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Babies diagnosed with
birth defects in utero need to have specialized obstetrics and delivery
services and often need management and care before or immediately after
birth."

The Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit features a welcome center with a
calming wall mural and comfortable seating, concierge service, private rooms,
and round-the-clock care provided by obstetricians, nurse-midwives and the
most highly experienced nurses. The unit is decorated in muted, adult-friendly
colors and the artwork features nature settings. Amenities in the rooms
include colored sheets, robes and slippers and bath soaps. After delivery,
mothers will be treated to a celebratory gourmet meal.

The Special Delivery Unit is named for the Garbose Family in recognition of a
major gift from William and Lynne Garbose to support Children's Hospital's
Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment.

Lynne Garbose, a member of Children's Hospital's Board of Directors said,
"When I was carrying a baby diagnosed with a rare and complicated heart
defect, I was unable to deliver my baby at the pediatric institution where she
was to be treated. I was tremendously anxious about the logistics of
transporting my critically ill newborn and, once transferred, I was pained by
the physical separation between us. The Special Delivery Unit will enable
babies to receive treatment immediately and allow mothers to be just 'down the
hall' rather than in another location."

As one of only a few centers of its kind in the world, the Center for Fetal
Diagnosis and Treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offers a
wide range of comprehensive fetal surgery services that support patients from
the prenatal evaluation stage through infant follow-up care. The Center was
established in 1995 and has received over 8,000 referrals from all 50 states
and 46 countries. The Center has performed over 500 fetal surgery operations
including major open fetal surgical procedures for birth defects such as spina
bifida, less invasive fetoscopic or ultrasound guided surgeries for conditions
such as twin-twin transfusion syndrome, or multidisciplinary coordinated
special delivery approaches for babies that require surgical interventions
while still on maternal-placental life support (EXIT delivery) or immediate
cardiovascular evaluation and open heart versus less invasive endovascular
surgery for major congenital heart disease (IMPACT delivery). For more
information, please visit fetalsurgery.chop.edu.

Advances in prenatal imaging now permit the detection of congenital heart
disease early in pregnancy. The Cardiac Center's Fetal Heart Program
specializes in expert diagnosis, evaluation and ongoing management of
congenital heart disease before birth, as early as 12 weeks gestation. The
program is the largest of its kind in the U.S., attracting referrals
nationwide. A specialized team of fetal cardiologists, fetal imaging
sonographers and dedicated nurse coordinators provide extensive family
education and individualized counseling. The Fetal Heart team draws upon the
full resources of the Cardiac Center to care for both fetus and family.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's
first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing
exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare
professionals and pioneering major research and clinical initiatives,
Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children
worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country,
ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its
unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the
430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and
adolescents. For more information, visit www.chop.edu.

CONTACT: Peggy Flynn
Phone: (267) 426-6080
flynnp@email.chop.edu

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Peggy Flynn of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6080,
flynnp@email.chop.edu