IMC Maternal / Child Services Receives Award from the Louisiana Department of Health

IMC Maternal / Child Services Receives Award from the Louisiana Department of Health

Prestigious "Birth Ready" Designation

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC) recently recognized Iberia Medical Center for achieving the new Birth Ready Designation for committing to practices that improve quality and outcomes for persons giving birth. Iberia Medical Center went through a rigorous application and review process and is one of only 27 of the state’s 49 hospitals that has achieved Birth Ready status. 

 The Birth Ready Designation is a system that reinforces and ensures birthing facilities are implementing best practices to improve readiness for addressing the leading causes of maternal deaths. The Birth Ready Designation is part of an initiative in the LDH Business Plan which includes a focus on improving maternal health and outcomes from pregnancy through childhood.

 “On behalf of the LaPQC, I want to congratulate all of the birthing facilities who have earned Birth Ready or Birth Ready+ Designation,” said Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell, medical director of the LaPQC. “Our list of hospitals that have met the criteria has grown in a short time. This honor has even more significance when you think about the challenges hospitals are facing right now between staff shortages and the ever-changing landscape due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving designation speaks to the resiliency of processes in our hospitals to improve birth outcomes.”

 Birth Ready Designation celebrates improved perinatal health outcomes, the result of implementing clinical practices that promote safe, equitable and dignified birth for all birthing persons in Louisiana.

 “We are incredibly proud of our Maternal / Child Services team and our physicians for achieving this designation. Their commitment to evidence-based best practices underscores the level of dedication to quality patient care,” stated Dionne Viator, Iberia Medical Center CEO.