Despite providing optimum medical care to a patient during her pregnancy, certain complications may arise that will necessitate a higher level of care for the mother and/or fetus. These complications include preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, preeclampsia, bleeding and incompetent cervix. When these complications occur at a Level 1 or Level 2 hospital prior to 34 to 36 weeks gestation, it is well-established that a  coordinated maternal transport to a tertiary hospital — either by air or by ground — will provide the best health outcomes for mother and baby.

For obstetrical patients in outlying areas, Perinatal Center of Iowa (PCI) and Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines offer round-the-clock transport services to the Mercy Women & Infants’ Center and coordinate all transportation logistics for high-risk pregnancy and neonatal patients.

Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines and the board-certified maternal-fetal medicine physicians at PCI, Dr. Neil Mandsager and Dr. Joseph Hwang, have more than a decade of experience at providing maternal transport services. Each year, more than 100 women are transported to Mercy from across central Iowa for perinatal services and access to the Variety Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery.

It is our philosophy that the key to a successful maternal transport begins with communication between the referring health care provider and the perinatologist. This communication is necessary to ensure the appropriateness of the transport and the initiation of key obstetric management therapies prior to transport — such as tocolytics, steroids or antibiotics. This discussion will also determine whether the patient should be sent by air or by ground.

Occasionally, the maternal condition will be determined to be unstable for transport, and the decision will instead be to proceed with delivery at the local hospital while arrangements are then made to send the neonatal transport team. It is also the current philosophy at Mercy that patients requiring maternal transport are best managed by the same physicians who made arrangements for the transport, i.e., the PCI perinatologists.

These patients, by definition, are high-risk, often preterm and have the potential for a variety of maternal and fetal morbidities. Critical management decisions will be necessary, often balancing what might be best for the mother against what is best for the fetus. The anxiety level of these patients is naturally quite high, with significant concern for the future health of their baby. Patients transferred to Mercy have the reassurance that they will be directly cared for by board-certified perinatologists.

In addition, the rural outreach of PCI has helped hundreds of mothers with high-risk pregnancies. The center’s doctors, Drs. Joseph Hwang and Neil Mandsager, travel to other central Iowa medical centers to see patients through their entire pregnancy. When the time comes for delivery, the mother, if necessary, is then transported to Mercy Medical Center — Des Moines to help manage the risk and make everything go as smoothly as possible.

Mercy has an antepartum unit (Maternity Triage and Treatment Unit) with a specialized nursing staff, as well as a Critical Care Obstetric Unit for those patients requiring more intensive care.

We are thankful, yet humbled, that you have entrusted the care of your patients with us these past years. As we move forward, we pledge to continue to care for each of your patients with dignity and to the best of our ability. While our first goal is that each of your patients can have an uneventful delivery at your hospital and close to their home, we stand ready to provide you with the assistance necessary for unexpected complications.

In order to arrange a transport — whether it be by ground or air— please call us toll-free at (877) 415-7447.