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Obstetrics

At Premier Healthcare for Women, we are dedicated to helping our patients navigate through this special time. We are honored to go through this journey with you!

We provide continuous and complete obstetrical care, from pre-pregnancy planning, the pregnancy confirmation, to the birth of your baby, and through the healing of the postpartum period. The full range of obstetrical services include the ultrasounds (sonogram), genetic testing, and fetal monitoring, for low to high-risk pregnancies. 
We work in helping guide you through the entire process with our compassionate and dedicated team.

Obstetrical Services

PREGNANCY

Pre-Pregnancy Planning

We are dedicated to educating patients on what steps they can take to be healthy prior to pregnancy. If you are planning on becoming pregnant, it is important to let your doctor know so that you’ll be best equipped for a healthy pregnancy.

Pregnancy

As soon as you discover you are pregnant, whether it is your first or your last, schedule your prenatal care with us. Pregnancy is a time full of questions, preparations and excitement. Premier healthcare for women will be with you to provide care every step of the way. Our practice is an intimate and caring environment with state-of-the-art facilities. We embrace evidence-based medicine which is directed at improving prenatal care for women. Our team is here to ensure that you have individualized health care for you and your baby.

We treat each patient as an individual, not a number, and as women and mothers ourselves we understand and respect the enormous trust that you put in your caregivers at this miraculous time in your life.

Cord Blood Banking

What is Cord Blood Banking?

Cord blood banking involves collecting blood left in your newborn’s umbilical cord and placenta and storing it for future medical use.
Cord blood contains potentially lifesaving cells called stem cells.
The stem cells in cord blood are different from embryonic stem cells.
For cord blood storage, you have two main options: you can donate your baby’s cord blood to a public cord blood bank for anyone who needs it.
You can pay to store your baby’s cord blood in a family cord blood bank for your family’s use. 

For cord blood storage, you have two main options:

• You can donate your baby’s cord blood to a public cord blood bank for anyone who needs it.
• You can pay to store your baby’s cord blood in a family cord blood bank for your family’s use.

Cord Blood Banking Options

Public Banking:
There is a public bank through MD Anderson (MDACC) that is available for cord blood donation. There are MDACC staff at the hospital that are available to consent you for cord blood donation and help the with cord blood collection process at the hospital you do not need to pre-register for the donation prior to admission to the hospital. The MDACC staff will come to your room to register you if you desire to donate your cord blood once you are admitted for delivery.

Private Banking:
There are multiple reputable cord blood collection companies that are available for patients who want to store their cord blood. You do need to register for this service prior to delivery. Most companies have a registration process that you complete and they then will mail you a collection kit to your home. You then bring the collection kit to the hospital for your delivery. After collection, your cord blood company arranges a courier to pick up the cord blood from the hospital.

Pregnancy Loss

Understanding Pregnancy Loss

As women and mothers ourselves we understand how devastating pregnancy loss can be, even if it is very early. We know that a bond is formed as soon as the pregnancy test is positive, and we cant help but make plans surrounding the baby’s due date, and all the exciting possibilities about the baby’s future. When the pregnancy doesn’t continue the disappointment and grief can be overwhelming. Not only have we lost the pregnancy itself, but we also suffer the loss of those hopes and dreams. If you are going though the process of miscarriage we are here to help guide you through both the physical and emotional aspects of your loss. Several of your caregivers here at premium healthcare for women have been through this themselves, so we truly understand how you feel.

The facts about miscarriage may not give you much solace at this time, but it is important to know that 15% of diagnosed pregnancies end in miscarriage, and a lot more than that miscarry before we even recognize that we are pregnant. So pregnancy loss is very normal and it is very unlikely that there is anything wrong with you or your partner that caused this to happen. The great majority of miscarriages occur before 8 weeks, and most often the baby has a chromosomal problem that causes the growth to stop at an early stage. Chromosomal problems occur right after conception when the cells are dividing and a mistake in cell division occurs. For this reason there is nothing you (or we) can do to change the outcome, it happens at the time of conception and it just take us a few weeks to be aware of it.

It is important to remind yourself that whatever you did, or did not do, it was not your fault.

Miscarriage

If you are in early pregnancy (less than 8 weeks) and have vaginal bleeding or cramping at home you may not be sure if you are having a miscarriage. If this happens please call us and we will give you instructions. Often we may tell you to rest at home and come in the next day for an ultrasound. Patients often ask if they need to go to the emergency room and we generally recommend waiting until office hours so that you do not have to be subjected to the cold and clinical er environment. Since there is unfortunately nothing we can do if you are in the process of a miscarriage it is ok to wait until the next day to be seen. We are not minimizing the problem by not sending you to the er, there is just simply nothing that anyone can do. Hopefully by doing an ultrasound the next day we will reassure you that everything is ok, since sometimes bleeding in early pregnancy can be normal.

If you have questions that are not addressed here please let us know.

LABOR & DELIVERY

Labor & Delivery

Our care does not end at 40 weeks. Our team is ready to be by your side during labor and delivery – vaginal birth or cesarean section – to make your birth experience wonderful, unique and safe.

We deliver at the Woman’s Hospital of Texas, the first facility in Texas dedicated solely to the health of women and children.

They offer state of the art pregnancy, maternity and pediatric care.

POST-PARTUM

After Vaginal Delivery

You will usually be discharged 24-48 hours after you deliver. Insurance companies do not allow you to stay longer unless you have a medical problem. We will give you prescriptions for Ibuprofen 600 mg (or you can take 3 over the counter strength tablets at one time) and Norco (Tylenol with non- codeine narcotic) which you can take as needed. It is ok to take both of these together if necessary.

We also recommend staying on your prenatal vitamin if you are breastfeeding, as well as taking an additional calcium supplement daily.
If you have stitches it is normal to have some discomfort for about 2 weeks. All the stitches dissolve and do not need to be removed.

You may feel some suture material for 1-4 weeks depending on what type of suture was used.

After C-Section

You will usually be discharged 2-4 days after you deliver. Insurance companies do not allow you to stay longer than 4 nights after delivery unless you have a medical problem. We would like to see you in the office approximately 2 weeks after delivery.

We will give you prescriptions for ibuprofen 600 mg (or you can take 3 over the counter strength tablets at one time) and Norco (Tylenol with a non- codeine narcotic) which you can take as needed. It is ok to take both of these together if necessary. We also recommend staying on your prenatal vitamin if you are breastfeeding, as well as taking an additional calcium supplement daily.

Post-Partum Pregnancy Prevention

Occasionally patients will begin to ovulate (and therefore be fertile) as soon as 6-8 weeks postpartum. Exclusively breastfeeding patients have a low risk of pregnancy in the first 6 months but we recommend starting some form of birth control as soon as you are sexually active (condoms) if you do not want to become pregnant again right away. We will go over other birth control options with you at your postpartum visit.

Post-Partum Depression

Postpartum depression is a serious condition that generally starts 4-8 weeks after delivery. We all feel a little overwhelmed or tearful at times, but if a sad or depressed mood continues for several days and starts to affect your function (for example if you stop getting out of bed, stop taking appropriate care of the baby, or stop doing other normal activities), or if you have thoughts of hurting yourself for the baby it is important to seek immediate help.

BREASTFEEDING

Breastfeeding 101

Breast milk does not normally appear for 3-5 days after delivery. Initially the baby will be sustained by colostrum which is small in volume but high in nutrition. When your milk comes in you may feel that your breasts grow very large and firm. Occasionally you can get a low grade temperature elevation (99-100) when your milk comes in.

If your breasts are engorged (remain very full, painful and firm without milk being released) applying hot compresses, standing in the hot shower, and gentle massage can help. If you have not experienced significant milk production by the 5th day postpartum please call us so we can offer assistance.

If you feel that your milk volume is low (less than 1 ounce /hr total, or 3-4 ounces every 3-4 hours when pumping) please refer to our information on increasing milk production in the section below.

Increasing Milk Supply

Congratulations on your efforts at breastfeeding and on your new baby! This can be a very challenging yet very rewarding experience and we would be honored to help you in any way that we can.

Please understand there is no perfect answer on how to increase your milk supply, there are many reasons your milk supply may be low, and this is simply meant to educate you to options that we support and can prescribe if appropriate.

There are many non-prescription or natural products that have been utilized for many years which we also encourage.