Sue Mayborn Women’s Center provides care for every stage
By BRANDY CRUZ | Photos courtesy of AdventHealth Central Texas
It’s not always easy to put your most intimate health care needs into someone else’s hands, but the experts at the AdventHealth Central Texas Sue Mayborn Women’s Center in Killeen hope to provide comprehensive care from birth to menopause and beyond, in the most comfortable way possible.
“Our mission is to extend the healing ministry of Christ. We do this every day by loving and caring for all of our patients,” Crystal Clawson,
Women’s Imaging supervisor, said about the Sue Mayborn Women’s Center. “Women at every stage of life benefit from the compassion and care that our amazing staff members exhibit here. We want all of our patients to feel ‘whole’ from birth … and throughout their entire lives. We want to ensure that we are meeting their needs on their journeys to better health.”
The center provides gynecological health, labor and delivery, medical imaging, and women’s health classes.
Maternal Child Health
Nicole Allsopp, director of Maternal Child Health, said the labor and delivery unit is like no other in the area, where the nurses are well-versed in all aspects of the birthing process — from labor and delivery, to couplet care to nursery care.
The all-inclusive unit includes an operating room, eight labor and delivery rooms, two triage rooms and 23 couplet care rooms, which allows for a more intimate labor and delivery process. They are also equipped to provide what the director called a low-intervention birth.
Instead of the highly invasive and sometimes controversial epidural, the hospital offers nitrous oxide as a form of pain relief during the labor and delivery process.
“It’s a form of pain relief that not many places around here offer,” Allsopp said.
The gas, also known as laughing gas, is normally used during dental procedures. Although it doesn’t completely make the pain of labor go away, it provides pain relief that is controlled by the patient, so when they feel a hard contraction, they breathe in the gas to ease the pain.
“This is a nice way to give people a low-intervention birth — something to take the edge off,” she explained.
Allsopp said that after the birthing process, the mom and baby remain in the labor and delivery for about two hours to ensure they are both stabilized and transitioning well. They are then moved to couplet care, a private room where the mom and baby live in the same room throughout their stay. She explained that the baby staying in the room with his or her mom promotes bonding and to allow for an easier breast feeding experience. While in their private room, they are cared for by one nurse.
“You’ve got moms and dads and new siblings and grandparents who are just excited. It’s just a great time in people’s lives,” she said.
Until it’s not.
Allsopp said she has been involved in women’s health for 25 years and in that time has witnessed the happiest and saddest times of a person’s life.
“We are at both ends of the spectrum. When it’s sad, it’s the saddest of the sad, but when it’s great, it’s like the most happy time. Just being able to support the families through that is what I think our team really enjoys.”
Whatever they’re doing is making a difference in the lives of mothers and babies. AdventHealth Central Texas recently made Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Maternity Hospitals.
Medical Imaging
Clawson said the Women’s Imaging Center has grown leaps and bounds since it opened in 2009. She said the center provides screening and diagnostic mammograms, a range of ultrasound exams, bone density testing, and biopsy and needle localization procedures.
“We have implemented new 3D mammogram technology, and recently added another mammography unit with 3D capabilities. We are able to offer 3D screening and diagnostic mammograms. We also have expanded our stereotactic biopsy capabilities to include 3D,” she explained.
Clawson said that once patients step foot into the Sue Mayborn Women’s Center, they can expect to receive compassionate care with a smile.
“They can feel confident that we will be there to guide them through their health care journeys,” she said. “They will never face anything alone.”
Clawson said she believes the staff truly embodies the mission of the center, which makes it a pleasure to work with them and in that kind of atmosphere, but her biggest pleasure is helping the patients.
“I enjoy being there to listen and provide comfort, especially through difficult times, when they need someone there for them the most,” Clawson said. “I find joy in helping patients learn about health and preventative measures that can be taken to prolong their lives. It’s not just about providing a specific service. We are here to help patients feel whole in all aspects of their lives.”
AdventHealth Central Texas Sue Mayborn Women’s Center
Address: 2201 S. Clear Creek Road, Killeen
Phone: 254-519-8537
Website: adventhealth.com/hospital/adventhealth-central-texas
