Grand Rapids, Michigan Birthing Facility Adopts New C-Section Drape to Support Earlier Mother-to-Newborn Bonding

The Clever Medical C-Section Drape Comes to Spectrum Health’s Butterworth Hospital

This week, Grand Rapids’ Spectrum Health Family Birthplace became the first medical facility in Michigan to adopt the Clever Medical C-section drape, a device invented to allow mothers delivering via C-section the opportunity to bond with their babies immediately after delivery. The Family Birthplace, which is located within Butterworth Hospital, is one of the first medical facilities in the United States to use the Clever Medical C-section drape.

Unlike mothers delivering vaginally, skin-to-skin contact between the mother and baby is often delayed for mothers undergoing Cesarean section operations. After babies are delivered in a standard C-section operation, medical personnel move them to the baby warmer while the physician completes surgery on the mother. The Clever Medical C-section drape allows the physician to hand the newly delivered baby through an opening in the drape to directly to the mother, immediately following birth. The opening in the drape protects the sterile field around the C-section incision, shielding both mother and baby from exposure to injury.

The Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact Between Mother and Baby After Delivery

Contemporary medical research supports evidence that immediate skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby is beneficial to both maternal and neonatal health. The inventors of the Clever Medical C-section drape, three labor and delivery nurses from Richmond, Virginia, aimed to extend the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and maternal-infant bonding to C-section mothers and babies. According to the research conducted by the inventors at Clever Medical, skin-to-skin contact between mothers and their babies immediately after delivery has been shown to result in:

• Earlier regulation of glucose in the baby
• Regulation of neonatal temperature
• Regulation of infant sleep cycles
• Decreased crying in the infant
• Promotion of analgesia during invasive procedures
• Earlier initiation and duration of breastfeeding
• Increased maternal-infant bonding and interaction (oxytocin release)
• Increased tactile stimulation between the mother and infant
• Increased verbal stimulation between the mother and infant
• Increased relaxation in the mother and baby

More Information on C-Section Delivery

As research supporting C-section deliveries strengthens and grows, the Clever Medical C-section drape will continue to be an important, family-centered tool in the delivery room. The Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers legal and medical team aims to stay on the cutting edge of labor and delivery news, research and innovation. For more information on C-section delivery, we encourage you to read further here:

• Delayed Emergency C-Section and Birth Injury
• C-Section Delivery for Breech Babies 
• FAQs: Can a Delayed C-Section Cause Cerebral Palsy? 
• FAQs: What Is a C-Section? When Are C-Sections Performed?
• The Importance of Timely C-Section Delivery

Reiter & Walsh, P.C. | Legal Help for Pregnancy, Labor, Delivery and Birth Injuries

If you or a loved one were permanently injured as the result of a pregnancy, labor, delivery, birth or neonatal care injury, you may be entitled to compensation. For answers to your legal questions, concerns or inquiries, please reach the Reiter & Walsh ABC Law Centers team in any of the following ways:

Free Case Review | Available 24/7 | No Fee Until We Win

Phone (toll-free): 888-419-2229
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Page Sources

• Mbeck@mlive.com, Meagan Beck |. “New Invention Allows Mom and Baby Bonding Right after C-section.” MLive.com. N.p., 07 July 2016. Web. 11 July 2016. (View article here)
• “‘A Blessing I Didn’t Expect'” Spectrum Health Beat. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2016. (View article here)
• “Home – Clever Medical.” Clever Medical. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2016. (Visit website here)

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