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m o 0fcarin6f0r swear ookcomhunlty advertising supplement saturday march 4 19- maternalchild program staff make the difference in quality of care the team of professionals in the mater nalchild program at markham stouffville hospital represented above provide on going care for children from birth to 12 years of age in the new childbirth and chil drens centre which opens this sunday childbirth and childrens centre opens march 5th byrenagalanis advertising features the design and conception of markham stouffville hospitals childbirth and childrens centre puts the hospital at the forefront of maternity care the new unit located on the sec ond level of the hospital has a grand opening scheduled for sun day march 5 the community is invited to attend an open house on that date which also marks the hos pitals fifth birthday the childbirth and childrens centre will include clinics for ante natal postpartum care and breast feeding help to guide expectant mothers through the birthing process and pro vide a continu um of informa tion for care after birth the struc ture of the nuclear family is always based on what was once considered traditional says joanne maclean director of the maternalchild program the information and care a hospital provides must address those changes and provide information accordingly the hospitals philosophy is based on the idea that each individ ual is the most important partici pant in hisher health care with the hospital providing information support as well as professional expertise the childbirth and childrens centre will offer that partnership and in addition to medical and nursing care the centre will offer 24hour help lines for immediate access to information support and assistance changes to the birthing proce dure include moving towards sin gleroom maternity care and a goal of 24hour hospitalization after birth beginning in june but maclean stresses this is not a rigid system extended hospital care will always be provided when appropriate and the hospital will adhere to its mandate to give the best individualized care to every patient singleroom maternity care is an innovative concept practised in only two other hospitals in canada one room only is used for the labor delivery recovery and postpartum stay this promotes initia tion of bonding between mother and child and allows mother the com fort of staying in the same room after delivery says patient care coordinator susan haldenby subsequently equipment is removed from the room a bassinette brought in so that babies remain with mother for the dura tion of their stay another positive aspect of this process is that both mother and baby receive care from the same nurse haldenby adds the sys tem is conducive to primary nurs ing in which patient and nurse initi ate a plan of care and that nurse is primarily responsible for the patient for the duration of hospital ization a trailblazer in redefining the con cept of the hospital as an institu tion markham stouffville hospital please see antenatal page 2