St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas celebrates 30 new NICU beds

AUSTIN, Texas - The NICU at St. David’s Women’s Center has 30 new beds to meet a growing need in Central Texas community. 

Twenty-five beds will be designated to the "small baby unit" which serves premature babies that are typically less than 26 weeks or weigh less than 500 grams. Five beds will be designated to neuro patients. 

"This can include anything from babies that have brain malformations to babies that have had a lack of oxygen prior to or around the time of delivery, it can include babies that have had bleeds into the brain or that have fluid buildup on the brain," said Dr. David Breed, medical director of the NICU. "So all of those kids will benefit from the special monitoring and specialized nursing that we have in our neuro NICU." 

The recent expansion has also included a renovation of the Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Private rooms and bathrooms for overnight stays are available as well as a community space for NICU families. 

"This has really been an answer to the community need," said Amy Irons, director of neonatal services. "We've seen, just with the growth of Austin, more people coming to this wonderful city and this specific area has a lot of families that are of childbearing age."

The beds will be available to new patients on Monday, July 10. The final phase of the women's center expansion is expected to be completed later this summer, adding more square footage and three additional floors.