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Source: Janet Basu
415-476-2557
14 May 2001
Dramatic births and a newborn's mended heart in "Maternity Ward", filmed at UCSF
The Center for Mothers and Newborns and UCSF Children's Medical Center will star in a new documentary that features high-risk deliveries and natural childbirth, a "miracle" baby born after five miscarriages, and a newborn delivered at this children's hospital so he could have rare heart surgery just days after birth.
The documentary, "Maternity Ward: A Long Road," will air at 9 pm and midnight on Tuesday, May 29, on TLC (The Learning Channel), Channel 50 on most Bay Area cable systems. It is one of two hour-long programs for TLC's Maternity Ward series that were filmed at the University of California, San Francisco in a month-long project directed by New York Times Television.
TLC producers chose the title "A Long Road" for this new episode as viewers see how even the most normal birth is a journey that will change lives forever. For women with high-risk pregnancies, the road can seem unending, perilous, and sometimes merciless. For those who care for them in a major medical center, the journey is one toward greater understanding - a quest for knowledge. It's the job of the hospital staff to bring each patient to her desired destination - a healthy birth - by using a blend of knowledge and skill, technology and compassion.
* In the maternity ward, J.T. "Bill" Parer, MD, an Australian native, is known for his dry humor, compassion, and teaching skills. Internationally, he's known for his work in fetal heart monitoring and high-altitude medicine, as an expert on high-risk pregnancy and as chief of labor and delivery at UCSF. But to mothers who have lost many pregnancies to miscarriage, he will always be remembered for the transabdominal cerclage, a procedure that allows them at last to carry a baby to full term.
* Along with his reputation as one of the world's top pediatric heart surgeons, Frank Hanley, MD, is known to parents for his wisdom and gentle manner. He comforts young parents who have come to UCSF because the baby they're expecting has a serious heart defect. Hanley will need to operate on their son within days of his birth. He'll perform a single-stage unifocalization, redirecting blood from many small vessels between the lungs and heart, into reconstructed larger vessels that will support adequate blood flow. This procedure on newborns has been attempted by only a few experts, in only a few hospitals around the world.
* At UCSF, certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) make up part of the OB/GYN faculty. In her complex role as midwife, nurse, advocate, advisor and ally, Tekoa King, CNM, helps one woman succeed through a painful, but natural, childbirth. She helps another, whose labor does not progress after long hours, make the decision to have her baby delivered by Cesarean section. As licensed health care practitioners, CNMs provide health care to women and newborns, while focusing on the emotional and social needs of the family. CNMs are qualified to administer medication and perform medical procedures, and are experienced in supporting natural childbirth. They work with each woman to decide how much to rely on technology, with respect for her preferences and knowledge about her medical condition.
* Senior resident Gillian Dean, MD, represents the new generation of OB/GYN - a heady synthesis of medical knowledge and a down-to-earth style. Her skills are called into action when she prepares for and performs a C-section to prematurely deliver the baby of a woman who's contracted a food-borne illness, and when she helps a pregnant woman cope with the agonizing side-effects of medication meant to stop pre-term labor.
In the documentary, mothers and babies receive skilled and dedicated care from these specialists and from the nurses, doctors and staff of the Center for Mothers and Newborns, the Women's Health Center, the UCSF Children's Medical Center intensive care nursery, operating room staff, pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery groups
Actress and screenwriter Polly Draper, best known for her role as Ellyn Waren in "thirtysomething," narrates the "Maternity Ward" documentaries. The series is produced by NYT Television with Liane Thompson as the executive producer. For TLC, Kathy Davidov is the executive producer.
TLC (The Learning Channel), a service of Discovery Networks, reaches more than 78 million homes in the United States and 6.8 million homes in Canada. In the Bay Area, it is shown on Channel 50 on ATT Broadband Cable and Channel 40 on AT&T Golden Gateway cable systems. (Check your local cable TV listings.)
Also look for repeat TLC broadcasts of "Maternity Ward: Cutting the Cord," airing next on July 24, 2001 at 9 PM and midnight. This show highlights the work of the Center for Mothers and Newborns' medical and nursing team as they care for patients whose individual life stories bring a unique character to each birth.
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