Women – Here for Life

Midwife means “with woman”

March 13, 2019

by Kate Pfaff, APRN, CNM

Did you know that the word midwife means literally, “with woman”? It is a simplified but accurate description of what Hennepin Healthcare Birth Center midwives do every day. We are skilled at listening to women’s concerns and priorities, and strive to be fully present for them through important life stages.

At the heart of midwifery is the belief that labor and birth are normal life events for most women. We, therefore, try our best to maintain the “normalcy” of the situation. This might look like quiet reassurance when labor is hard, or the encouragement to continue eating and drinking to keep up energy levels. Our laboring patients can be seen meandering the hallways slowly, soaking in our large hydrotherapy tub, or creatively positioned with pillows and yoga balls in a comfortable resting state. Many of our patients choose to use pain medication in labor, and we fully support these choices too. (more…)

Go to sleep little one

November 21, 2018

Safe to Sleep® Recommendations Explained

Many people remember the “Back to Sleep” campaign that was initiated in the 1990s. Back to sleep recommends babies should always be put to sleep on their back for safety. Since the 1990s, the rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), initially declined and now has plateaued for several years. This prompted the National Institutes of Health to recommend the slogan “Safe to Sleep®” in order to improve upon the initial recommendations and better educate families and communities on more comprehensive safe sleep recommendations. (more…)

Celebrating ten years of breast cancer survivors

October 30, 2018

On Saturday, October 6th, almost 200 Hennepin Healthcare breast cancer patients, their friends and families and volunteers from the Comprehensive Cancer Center came together for the 10th annual Breast Cancer Survivors Celebration. Every year our clinic staff recognize women and men for their strength and commitment to fight and heal from breast cancer. We held the event in our new Clinic & Specialty Center‘s Stillman Education Room and spilled out into the atrium. Children and guests decorated pumpkins and won prizes at the fish pond. Patients and family visited information tables from our community supporters, including the African American Breast Cancer Alliance, Firefly Sisterhood, Livestrong, the American Cancer Society and Open Arms of Minnesota, just to name a few. Lunch was served and we had a raffle – all patients won a gift! This year’s celebration has been our biggest yet and we can’t wait for next year. (more…)

New MRI in the Clinic & Specialty Center is just what the doctor ordered

August 20, 2018

Something magical happens when medical equipment provides both an enhanced experience for the patient and advanced diagnostics for the clinician. The new state-of-the-art Philips 3.0Tesla MRI, located on the first floor of the Clinic & Specialty Center, provides a perfect example of how this technology comes together to serve both purposes.

The MRI includes the Philips Ambient Experience – an immersive audio and visual feature in which patients select a “themed setting” that provide a calm and peaceful experience during the MRI study.

The Philips system is also equipped with Compressed Sense technology that offers superior images quality and much shorter scan time.

We asked Dr. David Hilden to participate in a full-body MRI scan and give us his first-hand perspective of having an MRI performed and the advantages of the Ambient Experience and Compressed Sense technology. See the video below.

Local writer thanks and apologizes to neurosurgery team and ICU nurses

June 26, 20182

“Dear neurosurgery team and ICU nurses@ Hennepin Healthcare,

I was hospitalized September 20, 2017 after suffering from a subarachnoid ruptured aneurysm and stroke. I spent two weeks in the ICU.

I really can’t thank all of you enough! I wish I knew each of your names! I know that my personality in the ICU was challenging and at times extremely rude. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the excellent care you provided…. and for putting up with me! Haha

I have continued to thrive and build my strength pretty much back to normal. However as TBI survivors we are altered for life and never unscathed…. I hope you enjoy my story!” (more…)

Join us, and get health tips from the experts!

May 14, 2018

Hennepin Healthcare is hosting a series of free educational events focused on keeping you healthy, active and feeling your best. Attend one, or attend them all.

These events will be held at our beautiful new Clinic & Specialty Center, located on our downtown Minneapolis campus.

After each sessions, we’ll provide time to interact with the presenters and tour the Clinic & Specialty Center.

The series starts off with our “Decade of Dave” event featuring Dr. David Hilden and a live broadcast of the Healthy Matters radio show.

We’ll follow that up with Here 4 Health education sessions in July, August and September.

See the full series of events and topics below, and register here for the events you would like to attend.

A Decade of Dave – Live Broadcast of the Healthy Matters Radio Show

Sunday, June 10, 2018; 7 -10 am

Topics:

Diabetes and the Sweet Life; Laura LaFave, MD
Arthritis Treatment Options – Moving from Pain to Gain; Rawad Nasr, MD
Sleep Health – What Keeps you up at Night; Ranji Varghese, MD

Here 4 Health

Thursday, July 12, 2018; 5 – 7 pm

Topics:

How to Live to 100 or Die Trying; David Hilden, MD
The Ins and Outs of GI Health; Jake Matlock, MD

Here 4 Health

Saturday, August 11, 2018; 9 – 11 am

Topics:

Dermatology, Sara Hylwa, MD and Jing Liu, MD
The Ancient Art and Modern Practices of Integrative Medicine – Acupuncture and Chiropractic; Richard Printon, DC, MTD and Jessica Brown, LAc, Dipl. Ac

Here 4 Health

Saturday, September 15, 2018; 9 – 11 am

Topics:

You Gotta Have Heart – Women’s Heart Health; Michelle Carlson, MD
Best Practices in Breast Health; Leah Hahn
A little Help from Your Friends – Physical Therapy for Women; Beth A. Stegora, Senior PT, DPT

Register here.

The Clinic & Specialty Center is located at:

715 South 8^th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55404

Part two: We don’t talk about miscarriages, and we need to. One patient shares her experience and advice to women and loved ones.

February 26, 2018

In the second of Megan’s articles, she provides valuable information for loved-ones to better communicate and support someone who is experiencing a miscarriage.

(more…)

A natural, life-changing event supported by experts

July 31, 2017

Birth is an intimate and life-changing experience that is different for every mother. To learn how the Birth Center at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) respects and supports that experience with a comprehensive care team, we sat down with Dr.’s Tara Gustilo and Laura Nezworski to learn more about what makes The Birth Center a great place to give birth. (more…)