In an ongoing effort to increase our awareness about the importance of diversity in medicine and the workplace, the DEI Committee would like to share the following reading with the department.

It is our hope that the dissemination of this reading will spark conversation as well as educate. You can find the article using the button below.

From the Chair's Office:

On behalf of the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department, we are pleased to host a half-day Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) retreat to discuss the department’s DEI program and our current and future DEI goals.

The retreat will be held in-person on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 from 8:00 am-noon. The retreat sessions will start at 8:30am with breakfast being served at 8:00am.

We have space capacity for an additional five participants in the retreat. If you would like to attend, please RSVP by email to Kortney Campbell by February 13, 2023, and include any dietary restrictions you may have.

We’re pleased to announce that Clements University Hospital has been redesignated by the Texas Health and Human Services (THHS) as a Texas Ten Step facility. The Texas Ten Step program was developed in 1999 in order to improve maternity care in birthing facilities. Key initiatives include policy development, staff education, and community partnerships that support continuity of care.

The recognition affirms our commitment to support, promote, and protect breastfeeding for women across Texas. Our team at CUH includes International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC), available seven days a week. Our Women’s Resource Center provides ongoing breastfeeding support and education beginning during prenatal care and continuing through delivery and the postpartum period.

We are proud to help new mothers and contribute to the improvement of newborn health across North Texas. 

For more information on the Texas Ten Step program, visit texastenstep.org.

Under the leadership of Dr. Melissa Crochet, we recently launched a gynecology program specifically for patients who have impaired mobility. Medical care for these patients can be hampered by delays with transportation and difficulties with transfer to examining tables.

Our Gynecologic Impaired Mobility Clinic at the Lowe Foundation Center for Women's Reproductive Health Care (POB2) is staffed with adequate personnel and special equipment to accommodate mobility-impaired patients. Read more about the program.

The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum (NQF) announced the recipients of the 2022 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The Eisenberg Awards recognize major achievements by individuals and organizations to improve patient safety and healthcare quality.

Each year, awards are presented for individual achievement, national-level innovation, and local-level innovation. This year’s awardees made advancements related to medical errors in health information technology (IT), significantly reduced rates of critical events related to anesthesia, and connected mothers with important postpartum care.

The eMCAP Program was given the award for Local Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. Congratulations to the eMCAP team on another outstanding achievement.

Expecting parents consider many factors in choosing where to have a baby. The services and amenities offered by the hospital, as well as its performance on key measures of safety and quality, are important considerations.

Congratulations to our team at Parkland on their work to ensure safe and quality care for all maternity patients and their babies.

Scheduled Early Deliveries. This hospital never or rarely schedules deliveries earlier than recommended. To protect the health of the baby, experts recommend against scheduling induction or C-section prior to the 39th week of pregnancy, unless there is an important medical reason for delivery.

C-sections. This hospital is excellent at minimizing avoidable C-sections. Less than 23.9% of first-time, low risk pregnancies at full term were delivered by cesarean. While some C-sections are necessary operations, unnecessary C-sections should be avoided because they post long-term health risks to baby and parent.

Newborn Complications. Newborn complications are slightly rarer than average. In full-term newborns with normal birthweight and no preexisting conditions, complications such as infection or injury are rare. The average rate at hospitals was 3.2%. At this hospital, 2.6% to 3.3% of lower-risk births involved newborn complications.

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). This hospital routinely offers to support VBAC with the rate of 10.2%.

Episiotomy. This hospital's episiotomy rate is less than 5%. Episiotomy, a cut made in the vagina during childbirth, rarely should be performed.

Transparency on Racial/Ethnic Disparities. This hospital tracked and reported its race- and ethnic-specific performance on all of several performance measures for which racial and ethnic disparities may exist.

Our expert gynecologic oncologists are uniquely equipped to safeguard cervical health and educate patients on the warning signs and symptoms of cervical cancers.

Dr. Jayanthi Lea recently worked with UT Southwestern's Public Relations team to create a helpful infographic on behalf of the Simmons Cancer Center so that patients can receive this information in an easy-to-digest format. Explore the infographic below.

Drs. Ambia, Pruszynski, McIntire, and Nelson collaborated on this study for AJOG MFM.

"Although substantial efforts have been made to reduce rates of adolescent pregnancy, the United States continues to have higher rates than other industrialized countries. While less common, there are pregnant young adolescents that are 15 years of age and younger, with developmental and social differences from older, high school aged adolescents." Read the full abstract.

Dr. Mahendroo and Dr. Hon of the Green Center collaborated with other UTSW colleagues on this study in iScience.

"These data demonstrate how the cervical epithelium undergoes continuous remodeling to maintain dynamic states of homeostasis in pregnancy and labor and provide a framework to understand perturbations in epithelial health that increase the risk of premature birth." Read the full abstract.

MFM Fellow, Dr. Fomina, and Dr. Spong collaborated with Parkland colleagues on this article for The Journal of Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Neonatal Medicine.

"Conclusion: There is significant variability and dearth in the quality of data guiding recommendations for use of medications in lactation providing numerous opportunities for research." Read the full article.

Dr. Kho collaborated with other UTSW faculty experts on this article via Aesthetic Surgery Journal.

"The efficacy of interventions that provide long-term relief of genitourinary symptoms of menopause has not been determined. The authors sought to evaluate radiofrequency and hybrid fractional laser (HFL) treatments for menopausal vulvovaginal symptoms." Read the full abstract.

Dr. Herrera collaborated with the Mothers and Babies Research Centre at the Hunter Medical Research Institute on this study for Endocrinology.

"Preterm birth worldwide remains a significant cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, yet the exact mechanisms of preterm parturition remain unclear. Preterm birth is not a single condition, but rather a syndrome with a multifactorial etiology. This multifactorial nature explains why individual predictive measures for preterm birth have had limited sensitivity and specificity." Read the full abstract.

Dr. Miller and colleagues from the United States, Spain, Belgium, and Germany collaborated on this article for Cancers.

"Although taxanes are considered to be the standard of care for many cancers, there is a need to identify other treatments that can be used in combination, to enhance their effectiveness, without increasing the side effects. The preclinical (laboratory) and clinical (human) data summarized here suggest that TTFields therapy together with taxanes may be beneficial in the treatment of several cancers." Read the full article here.

Our faculty and their work are often referenced by journalists regarding a range of topics. See some examples of recent features below:

Our faculty have been busy writing excellent patient-centered information for UT Southwestern's MedBlog. Check out our recent blogs below:

If you've had a baby at UT Southwestern (CUH or St. Paul), we would love to feature your family in a photo gallery on our patient-facing website.

Before the big day arrives, we offer moms a preview of the accommodations at Clements University Hospital.

Click the video to view (~3 mins).

We would love to share our news with even more people! Feel free to pass along this link so that others subscribe: Copy and paste this link to share.

Link not working? Email Morgan Phillips.