Tuesday, February 20, 2007
New Childbirth Training Tools Delivers Baby
 Expectant “mom” Noelle delivered her baby recently at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola -- repeatedly throughout a two-day training session. Noelle and her baby are life-size plastic mannequins that can be pre-programmed to simulate certain childbirth complications.
Simulation systems like Noelle and her baby are part of a nationwide trend that gives healthcare professionals critical hands-on experience.
Sacred Heart is among 11 hospitals selected by Ascension Health, its parent organization, to receive this $20,000 high-tech training tool as part of Ascension’s nationwide Perinatal Safety Initiative. Noelle also will be used at Providence Hospital in Mobile and later this year to train staff at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast near Destin. The Destin hospital will be launching its own women’s services/childbirth program in the fall of 2007.
Noelle and her baby aid in teaching basic and advanced skills, such as insertion of IVs, fetal monitoring, and resuscitation. The system’s nine pre-programmed emergency scenarios include situations in which the baby’s shoulder gets stuck, the cord gets wrapped around the baby’s neck, the baby turns blue, the mother hemorrhages, etc.
A laptop allows the instructor to change scenarios at a moment’s notice, requiring trainees to respond to changes in the conditions of both mom and baby.
“Students learn how to communicate with each other in crisis situations and how to develop an immediate plan of action,” said Linda Fricke, RN, clinical nurse specialist at Sacred Heart Women’s Hospital. “As the Regional Perinatal Center, we receive high-risk pregnancy referrals from throughout the area, so the more we can train for emergency situations, the better prepared we are. Practice makes perfect.”
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