STONY BROOK, NY, November 17, 2021 — The Maternal Safety Foundation has named Stony Brook University Hospital an Accreta Center of Excellence, recognizing its ability to provide superior care for the life-threatening childbirth complication called placenta accreta spectrum disorder.
Placenta accreta is a condition in which the placenta attaches too firmly and too deeply to the uterus, and is unable to detach from the uterus after childbirth. It is a serious condition which can cause severe blood loss if not properly managed and treated.
Stony Brook’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) physicians and nurses are high-risk pregnancy experts, specializing in births that are not routine. On average the team at Stony Brook treats 12 Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder cases per year. Approximately six to eight weeks before these planned deliveries, the multidisciplinary team meets to prepare for these sometimes difficult cases.
“Roles are defined and plans are carefully crafted to take in all possible situations which may occur in the management of the adherent placenta,” says David Garry, DO, Director of Maternal Fetal-Medicine at Stony Brook Medicine and Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “Mothers and their babies have better outcomes with access to a multidisciplinary team. Our Maternal-Fetal Medicine group understands the fetus as a patient, and the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to managing complicated maternal and fetal conditions.”
The Accreta Center of Excellence designation was awarded to Stony Brook University Hospital for providing maternal-fetal expertise and access to key, cutting edge technology. Other distinguishing aspects of the program include the ability to supply massive transfusion and blood services as well as early diagnosis and treatment for placental disorders.
Placenta accreta spectrum disorder was once very uncommon, but is now four times as likely as forty years ago. The increase is linked to the rise in cesarean births which have also risen significantly over the last few decades. Women who have had cesarean births are at higher risk of diagnosis, and the likelihood increases depending on the prior number of cesarean births. Women with previous child births and who are aged over 35, are also at higher risk of an accreta diagnosis.
The Maternal Safety Foundation’s goal is to identify specific areas of need in patient safety and quality and create a means of recognizing health care institutions that provide a superior level of care.
About Stony Brook University Hospital:
Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) is Long Island’s premier academic medical center. With 624 beds, SBUH serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Regional Trauma Center, and is home to the Stony Brook University Heart Institute, Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and Stony Brook University Neurosciences Institute. SBUH also encompasses Suffolk County’s only Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center, state-designated AIDS Center, state-designated Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, state-designated Burn Center, the Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence, and Kidney Transplant Center. It is home of the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/sbuh.
About the Maternal Safety Foundation:
Maternal Safety Foundation, founded in 2018 in Rogers, Arkansas, is a nonprofit patient advocacy and safety organization dedicated to maternal health. To support this mission, the foundation launched the Maternal Centers of Excellence in 2019, beginning with Accreta Center of Excellence and VBAC Center of Excellence as voluntary recognition programs with a goal of helping patients and families find safe, risk-appropriate care for vaginal birth after cesarean and placenta accreta conditions. More information is available at www.maternalcoe.org.
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