Labour of Love: Walk for Women & Babies

To celebrate the move of Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program from its downtown site to its new home at 2075 Bayview Avenue, thousands of patients and staff will walk this summer to support the hospital's obstetrical and neonatal services.

"Brace yourself for strollers, baby carriers and maybe even a symbolic incubator or two making their way from the program's downtown location up to Sunnybrook's Bayview campus," says Jeff O'Hagan, Chief Executive Officer, Sunnybrook Foundation. "Patients and staff of the Women & Babies Program are extremely excited about the program's move on September 12, 2010, and will be walking to show their support and to raise money for the program."

Labour of Love will take place on Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 9 a.m. The nine kilometre walk will begin near Women's College Hospital (95 Grosvenor Street) and will end at Sunnybrook (2075 Bayview Ave.). Walkers are invited to attend the post-walk carnival and barbecue at McLean House Park at 2075 Bayview Ave, which will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Preemie Picnic. All proceeds from Labour of Love will support the new Women & Babies Program facility.

The new home for the Women & Babies Program will encompass 120,000 square feet over two new floors at the Bayview campus. "Designed with input from women and their families, as well as their care providers, the new facility is peaceful, warm and family-friendly," says Jeff O'Hagan. "These new facilities will provide a state-of-the-art environment for our world-class Women & Babies team."

Features of the new facilities include:

• Twenty Labour, Birthing, Recovery and Postpartum Rooms, where women with low-risk pregnancies and deliveries will journey through labour, to delivery and finally, recover in the same room with their baby
• Twenty-five bed Maternal and Newborn Unit providing care for new families after the birth of their baby
• A 23 bed High-risk Pregnancy Unit, for women who have pregnancy complications and require inpatient care
• For women having Caesarian sections, three operative birthing rooms
• A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with capacity for 41 babies that will provide around-the-clock care for a projected 1,200 babies a year