Helping families grow

With more than 5,000 births each year, Tucson Medical Center delivers more babies than anywhere else in the region.

There are reasons for this:

• While most moms deliver with no complications, should a problem arise, TMC is the only hospital in the area with doctors who specialize in high-risk pregnancies on duty 24/7. This has been of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Should an expectant mother wish to have a home-like natural childbirth experience or a water birth, she can choose The Midwifery Center at TMC, an accredited birth center attended by El Rio Health midwives. Here, a laboring mother can utilize pain-management techniques such as virtual reality goggles and aroma therapy.
• Our highly knowledgeable physicians, nurses and midwives train in our top-of-the-line obstetrics simulation suite, complete with a baby and maternal simulator, preparing staff for any scenario that may arise during birth. “We have been able to mirror our current labor rooms with supplies and equipment, so staff have access to supplies for simulations that are in their normal locations. By doing this, staff can function in real time utilizing the resources they have on a day-to-day basis,” said TMC Perinatal Safety Officer Stacie Wood, R.N. “When staff are faced with critical emergencies, they have already prepared by utilizing simulation experiences.”

This year, TMC will add to its leading-edge simulation training by purchasing a HoloLens, allowing the team to visualize the passage of the fetus through the birth canal.

“This is vital to simulate shoulder dystocia scenarios (when one or both of a baby’s shoulders get stuck inside the mother’s pelvis during labor),” Wood said. “LucinaAR offers real-time, interactive holograms of anatomy as well as responsive mother-baby physiology. The holograms can be raised to allow clinicians to walk around the simulator to gain an understanding of how the mother and baby structures are interrelated. The virtual instructor provides visual cues that prepare learners to safely manage obstetrical emergencies.”

You can help

Your purchase of a TMC Mega Raffle ticket helps fund these and other important programs, directly helping growing families in Southern Arizona.

“This support allows us to positively impact the lives of mothers, babies and families in our community,” Wood said. “I am committed to continue to strive for safer care for all families in Southern Arizona.”