Peace and quiet. Walking through Woodwinds Health Campus, I couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was in the second-floor maternity care center, which resembles a luxury hotel. That serenity was briefly interrupted with the familiar Brahms lullaby, played throughout Woodwinds’ entire campus every time a new baby is born.

    Making my way through spacious corridors in warm colors and light woodwork, past the family lounge overlooking a gazebo and walking paths, I searched for newborn bundles of joy in the nursery window, only to discover there is no nursery.

    “Those first few hours and the two days after birth are often referred to as the ‘sensitive period,’ and research shows that an infant’s attachment instinct is highest at that time,” says Jeanette Schwartz, RNC, clinical lead, Woodwinds Maternity Care Services. “Rather than being in a traditional nursery with other babies, Woodwinds babies stay in our birthing suites, allowing parents to physically and emotionally attach to the baby by learning how to provide care unique to their son or daughter. We purposely designed our center around this innovative, family-centered model of care.”

    That supportive family focus was the main reason Scott and Rachel Seroka chose Woodwinds for the birth of their child. The couple became proud first-time parents on February 4 when Siena Ryder Seroka entered the world. “We toured Woodwinds last winter and really liked the large birthing suites and beautiful facility,” says Rachel, who celebrates her first Mother’s Day this month. “But what impressed us the most was that we could have our baby with us the entire time at Woodwinds, as we knew that would help us better transition to being confident parents.”

    Scott Seroka also liked the fact that Woodwinds is located in Woodbury. A news reporter for KARE-11 TV, Scott grew up in Woodbury’s Colby Lake neighborhood, graduating from Woodbury High School in 1992. “During high school I practically lived at the Woodbury McDonald’s, which is right next to Woodwinds, so I know that part of town very well,” he says with a smile. “A few years ago, I did a news story there about a woman who delivered her baby in the front seat of a Jeep Cherokee in Woodwinds’ emergency room circle drive. Thankfully, Siena’s arrival was much calmer than that.”

    Seroka joined KARE-11 in 2007 after stints at television stations in La Crosse, Wausau and Green Bay, Wis., as well as at KSTP in the Twin Cities. He first met Rachel, who works in media and public relations for the American Academy of Neurology, at WFRV in Green Bay when she was a college intern. Their paths crossed again a couple of years later when Rachel returned to WFRV as a reporter and anchor; they began dating and were married at St. Paul’s Landmark Center in 2005. Scott and Rachel live in Hudson with their new daughter, now three months old.

    “While at Woodwinds, we especially enjoyed having Siena in my suite and the nurses and lactation consultants were so helpful and reassuring,” says Rachel. “Our experience there was wonderful, and I appreciated the birth options they offer as well as the flexibility in a birth plan.”
    Expectant mothers at Woodwinds are encouraged to complete a personalized birth plan outlining their wishes for the birth experience. “Our nurses acknowledge and respect each birth plan, and mothers definitely like that,” says Schwartz, who points out that Woodwinds Maternity Care has achieved the highest patient satisfaction scores of 5,000 hospitals across the United States: an impressive 97 percent satisfaction rating by NRC Picker, a research firm that measures patient experience viewpoints.

    Opened in August 2000, Woodwinds Health Campus recently expanded the maternity care center with eight more LDPR (labor, delivery, postpartum and delivery) birthing suites, spacious all-in-one rooms with large windows, family accommodations and beautiful views of the surrounding wetlands. The center features three new triage rooms, a caesarean birth suite, a waterbirth suite, and a special-care nursery offering holistic care for newborns.

    The number of births at Woodwinds continues to grow, and is predicted to reach 1,700-1,800 deliveries in 2009, serving families from Woodbury, the east metro and  western Wisconsin. The maternity care center delivered its 10,000th baby last September, and maternity nurse Jan Ruiz, RN, assisted that milestone delivery as well as the very first Woodwinds delivery in September of 2000.

    “That initial delivery was the very start of Woodwinds maternity care and this has been an exciting, interesting place to work ever since,” says Ruiz, a Woodbury resident who celebrates her 33rd year as a labor and delivery nurse this month. “The integrative health services appeal to me, along with cutting-edge options such as doulas and waterbirth, a beautiful way to birth. Compassionate care is the cornerstone of nursing here at Woodwinds, and that’s what makes this a great place for nurses as well as new moms.”