WESLACO, January 15, 2019 – An award-winning Women’s Services team at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco has become one of the first in the Rio Grande Valley — if not the first — to implement the use of a dedicated rapid response postpartum cart, to help improve response time for care for patients who have bleeding after childbirth.
The specialized emergency cart includes a refrigerated drawer for the storage of life-saving medications to treat post-partum hemorrhage.
The cart also includes a storage system for specialized instruments and supplies, so they are more readily-accessible – as the cart can be wheeled directly to the patient’s bedside.
The use of the specialized rapid response cart is part of Knapp’s commitment to further enhance the safety of mothers and their newborn babies. Knapp, along with 165 other hospitals in Texas, is currently participating in the “TexasAIM’ program, an effort to decrease maternal mortality and other severe pregnancy complications.
Hospitals like Knapp who are participating in this new program have “committed to adopting clinical practices proven to reduce complications that threaten the lives of mothers and babies,” according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The state-wide project includes work on improving processes of care based on practices that have been proven to improve outcomes for patients. These “maternity bundles” address such concerns as ways to reduce hemorrhages (loss of blood) after childbirth, as well as ways to reduce complications from high blood pressure during pregnancy.
Knapp Medical Center is at the forefront of efforts to improve care for women and newborn babies. In fact, earlier this year, Knapp was one of only a few hospitals in the Valley to be recognized for achieving all three “Women’s Care Specialty Excellence Awards” which are awarded by Healthgrades, a leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. The three awards were for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Labor and Delivery, and Gynecologic Surgery.
Knapp also offers free family birthing classes to help educate expectant parents regarding the labor and delivery process, pain management options, newborn care, breastfeeding, nutrition, and exercise. For more information, please contact the Knapp Women’s Center at 956-973-5350, 956-973-5351 or 956-969-5360, or at OEstrada@PrimeHealthCare.com; and visit Women’s Health Services and www.FaceBook.com/KnappMedicalCenter/
An award-winning women’s services team at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco has implemented the use of a dedicated rapid response post-partum cart, to help improve emergency response for the care of patients after childbirth. Showing the specialized cart are obstetricians-gynecologists Dr. Rory Minck, Dr. Juan Gonzalez Dickson, Dr. Mona H. Mallikarjunaiah, Dr. Annabelle Lopez, and Dr. Ronald Blanco; Olivia Estrada, RN, Director of Women’s Health Services for Knapp Medical Center; and Sandra Rodriguez, CNM, DNP, Certified Nurse Midwife with the office of Dr. Annabelle Lopez. Not pictured is Dr. Gregoris Nunez, Obstetrician-Gynecologist.