The Place for Baby-Friendly, High-Performing Maternity Care

By Mount Sinai South Nassau

Rebecca Kavazanjian, then 32, was adamant about having a natural delivery and forgoing an epidural, pain medication administered into the lower portion of the spine.

“The day nurse came in, knowing that I didn’t want an epidural, but she explained what getting it would entail and it felt more like a conversation instead of an order,” Ms. Kavazanjian said. The Island Park resident agreed to have the epidural “because what the nurse said made sense about getting the shot.” After 12 hours of “pain-free” labor, the Island Park resident delivered a healthy 5-pound, 14-ounce boy named Bronson on January 28, 2022.

Ms. Kavazanjian, now 33 and expecting her second child this summer, is planning to deliver again at Mount Sinai South Nassau. “Everyone was great,” she said. “The hospital made me feel so comfortable and cared for. They explained everything to me, and I can’t say enough good things about them.”

In 2022, Mount Sinai South Nassau’s team of compassionate and experienced labor and delivery nurses, obstetricians, and high-risk pregnancy specialists delivered 2,402 babies. In addition to advanced maternal-fetal medical technologies, the hospital features labor and delivery suites with 26 private rooms on its Mother Baby Unit; spacious labor and delivery rooms; and a six-bed level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). For mothers needing a cesarean delivery, the surgery is performed in a dedicated state-of-the-art surgical suite on the Labor and Delivery unit to ensure that they experience family-centered care.

We make the care and safety of your family our focus, so you can be assured that you and your baby receive the most advanced and dedicated maternity care available. The hospital is proud that it was recently awarded a “High Performing” rating, the highest award a hospital can earn, from U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23 “Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.” Mount Sinai South Nassau was also redesignated as a Baby Friendly Hospital. This special designation awarded by Baby Friendly USA (BFUSA) demonstrates that Mount Sinai South Nassau continues to adhere to the highest standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

“The achievements are a direct result of our commitment to providing compassionate, personalized care centered on the specific needs of the child, mother, and family,” said Alan Garely, MD, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mount Sinai South Nassau and Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and

Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.”

U.S. News evaluated nearly 650 hospitals that provide labor and delivery services for uncomplicated pregnancies for its 2022-2023 “Best Hospitals for Maternity Care”; fewer than half of them received a High Performing designation. BFUSA is the nonprofit national authority for the World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children's Fund, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative; its designation recognizes birth facilities that o er breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies.

Additional quality and safety awards in maternity care that Mount Sinai South Nassau holds include The Joint Commission Perinatal Care redesignation; a five-star rating for vaginal delivery from Healthgrades, and the New York State Obstetric Hemorrhage Project Quality Improvement Award.

Central to the hospital’s family-centered approach to mother and baby care is its visitation policy, allowing the support person/significant other to remain with them 24 hours a day. Other members of the family are permitted to visit the mom and new baby during visiting hours. The accommodations and compassionate care are complemented by meals prepared by an award-winning culinary services department.

Women who are experiencing or may experience a high-risk pregnancy can turn to Mount Sinai South Nassau Maternal-Fetal Medicine for the specialized care they need. Highly skilled and trained obstetricians use advanced medical technology to monitor and manage conditions that if left untreated could jeopardize the health and well-being of the child, mother, or both.

For more information about Mount Sinai South Nassau’s maternity unit, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau