Home Industries Health Services Women & Infants set to open spacious new labor and delivery unit

Women & Infants set to open spacious new labor and delivery unit

By

Katie Castellani

-

03/17/2025

laborroom — WOMEN & INFANTS Hospital is expected to open its new Brown University Labor and Delivery Center next week. The center includes many upgrades to the previous space, including larger rooms that are equipped with technology meant to improve the patients’ experience. /PBN PHOTO/KATIE CASTELLANI

PROVIDENCE – Soon, expecting mothers in Rhode Island will have a whole new unit dedicated to labor and delivery. Next week, Women & Infants Hospital is expected to open its new Brown University Labor and Delivery Center. The center includes many upgrades to the previous space, which was constructed in 1986, including larger rooms that

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PROVIDENCE – Soon, expecting mothers in Rhode Island will have a whole new unit dedicated to labor and delivery. Next week, Women & Infants Hospital is expected to open its new Brown University Labor and Delivery Center. The center includes many upgrades to the previous space, which was constructed in 1986, including larger rooms that are equipped with technology meant to improve the patients’ experience. The new delivery rooms are about 440 square feet, double the size of the old ones. Before, if a patient needed to be treated by multiple medical teams they would have to take turns coming in and out because there was not enough space, said Shannon Sullivan, chief operating officer and president of Women & Infants. The new rooms will not only hold more caregivers and medical students, but also allow patients to have more family members and friends to offer support. Also, each of the 20 rooms have a window and their own bathroom – something the previous labor and delivery center lacked. If an expectant mother wants to use a swing, there’s space for that right in the room. Also if they want aqua-therapy, there are several tubs that can be brought to the room, an upgrade from the single delivery tub that was shared among 20 delivery rooms that patients had to walk to. From who’s in the room, the lighting, music and photos appearing on the television screens – patients can now personalize their delivery space. “Nothing about the room previously was patient-centered,” Sullivan said. “Patients couldn’t control anything about their environment – in this space they can control everything.” The rooms also have updated technology, including electronic whiteboards that are connected with the health system’s electronic medical record system, EPIC. This means caregivers, family members or supporters can write notes on screens outside of a patient’s room that will then appear on the whiteboard. Patients can also write on the whiteboard with tablets right next to their bed. This feature is especially important because it reduces the number of times a nurse has to come in and out of the room, which allows patients to rest more. If a newborn needs treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, they can get it with a specialized crib right in the room. Before, a newborn would have to be taken out of the room and away from their mother. Also, each room has a dedicated linen closet which has doors that open into the hallway and inside the room – making it much easier for staff members to get the supplies they need. “We didn't want patients to have to choose between high quality care and a patient and family centered environment,” Sullivan said. “At times patients told us they were doing that.” Along with improvements to the labor and delivery rooms, there are also wider hallways throughout the unit, making it easier for patients to walk around. Staff members and students also have a new lounge area and work stations. Discussions about renovating the labor and delivery unit – where more than 80% of Rhode Islanders are born – began in 2013, Sullivan said. In 2017 the hospital submitted a Certificate of Need to the R.I. Department of Health. However, plans were paused in 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and restarted in 2021, when RIDOH approved the project. By 2023 construction began and now staff are almost ready to welcome the first patients. The project cost about $40 million, with $35 million of it funded by donors – including $5 million from Brown University – and the remaining $5 million coming from Care New England Health System’s budget. The health system typically spends $20 million to $40 million each year on capital projects, said Care New England CEO and president Dr. Michael Wagner. When asked what the health system expects for a return on its investment, Wagner said the gain is the improved patient experience. “When you think about what this means for 81% of the people who deliver in the state. This is a dramatic improvement,” Wagner said. Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.