Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames has opened a new state-of-the art birthing and neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital that’s designed to keep newborns together with their moms, no matter the level of care needed. The 23 new birthing suites, located on the third floor of the west patient tower, are part of a nearly $15 million renovation project that also includes a new eight-room pediatric unit. The new Birthways unit, which formally opened last week, was designed by Shive-Hattery and built by Graham Construction in space previously used as a medical-surgical unit. The new birthing unit’s rooms have been designed so that babies that require a higher level of care in the neonatal intensive care unit stay in the same room with family. It replaces a unit in the hospital’s south patient tower that had 13 labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum rooms and nine small delivery rooms, along with a separate four-bed NICU. “We’ve seen a steady increase in deliveries since 2018, so this additional space allows us to keep babies in the room with their mothers,” said Amy Dagestad, director of maternal/child services at Mary Greeley. “But it also gives us some additional room for mothers as other hospitals around us have discontinued their obstetric services.” Among features of the new birthing units are whirlpool tubs in 20 of the 23 rooms and ADA-compliant walk-in showers in three rooms; two large suites to accommodate twins; and a private bereavement suite for families who have lost a baby. The space in the hospital’s south tower is slated to be renovated into additional behavioral health rooms for the hospital.