Northwestern Perinatal Center
In November 1974 the Department of Public Health of the State of Illinois designated the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University as a regional perinatal center. The Northwestern Perinatal Center is composed of the following Level III institutions
Children's Memorial Medical Center
Evanston Women’s Hospital of NorthShore University HealthSystem
Prentice Women's Hospital of Northwestern Memorial Hospital
The goal of the center is to provide quality maternal-fetal and neonatal care services to the families in the center’s region of responsibility. Our core belief is that the center can best affect the quality of perinatal outcomes by providing leadership within the framework of a regionally integrated system of perinatal services designed to maximize outcomes and to promote appropriate use of services and resources. Facilitating the recognition of high-risk conditions and perinatal consultation, referral, or transfer is important to improve outcomes. Also, perinatal services must be provided in an environment which is both professionally challenging to those who chose to serve in this area, as well as cost-effective in delivery for everyone's benefit.
The Northwestern/Evanston/Children's Perinatal Network is one of ten regionalized networks in the state of Illinois. As Level III perinatal facilities, Evanston Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, with highly qualified staffs of maternal-fetal medicine and neonatal specialists, provide care to women experiencing complicated, high-risk pregnancies as well as newborns with special care needs. Children's Memorial Hospital provides highly specialized care for the high-risk newborn. As members of the perinatal center, all three institutions accept referrals and transports of mothers and/or babies requiring Level III care, provide consultation and education to professional colleagues, and opportunities for professional colleagues to become involved in the governance and quality assurance of all facilities in the network.
