Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital have been designated a Level III Perinatal Center by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). With this designation, Barnes-Jewish and Saint Louis Children’s Hospital are now participants in the Southern Illinois Perinatal Network.
Illinois’ perinatal program is a comprehensive statewide system designed to coordinate existing health care resources and facilities to improve the health outcomes of women and infants in Illinois.
The goal is to improve perinatal health, as well as prevent perinatal mortality and conditions leading to developmental disabilities.
The grant-based program is divided into 10 regional networks throughout Illinois. Within each network there are multiple hospital-based and newborn facilities functioning at one of three levels of perinatal care: Level 1, general care; Level II, intermediate care; and Level III, intensive care.
As a designated Level III member of the perinatal network, Washington University physicians and nurse managers from Barnes-Jewish Hospital will:
- Attend meetings with physicians from referring hospitals to facilitate prenatal, antenatal and postpartum education and the treatment of high-risk perinatal women, as well as the high-risk babies.
- Meet quarterly with nurse managers from the Southern Illinois district for discussion and actions needed concerning education.