Dell Children's Medical Center - Specialized Delivery Unit

At Dell Children's Medical Center - Specialized Delivery Unit in Austin, TX, moms and babies with fetal conditions receive all the care they need — all in one location. The state-of-the-art labor and delivery unit inside Dell Children’s Medical Center provides direct access to neonatal and pediatric specialists and their care teams for the continuum of care for families. 

When you have your baby in the Specialized Delivery Unit, your family has access to:

• Dell Children’s Level IV NICU, the highest level of NICU care
• Level I surgery center, the highest level of surgical care in the region
• Pediatric cardiac care unit for babies with heart conditions of varying degrees
• The most pediatric specialties and specialists in the region

The Specialized Delivery Unit (SDU) is designed for moms and babies who are patients of the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center. If your baby has been diagnosed with a fetal condition, ask your doctor about delivering at the Specialized Delivery Unit.

We’re ready to care for you and your family 24/7. Our care team includes specially trained labor and delivery nurses, OB-GYNs, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, fetal interventionalists, maternal fetal medicine specialists, nurse coordinators, ultrasonographers, and other pediatric subspecialists. Our continuum care starts during your pregnancy when you’re a patient at our clinic and continues through your individualized care plan for delivery at the SDU. When you deliver at the SDU, you and your family have access to Ascension Seton and Dell Children’s specialists.

The SDU is an 11-bed unit with two operating rooms and a stabilization nursery for babies’ needs. Delivery and recovery suites have private bathrooms, sleeping accommodations for your support person and include meal options. Before your delivery, your doctor can monitor you and your baby in your delivery suite.

We understand how important it is to spend time with your newborn. At the SDU, we take a family-centered approach to care. You’re encouraged to spend as much time in your suite with your newborn as possible. If your baby needs extra care, rest assured they will be cared for by nurses and doctors in our NICU just down the hall.

Labor and delivery

Your doctors from the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center are part of your care team. Depending on your needs, you may deliver in one of our labor and delivery suites. And if more care is needed, we’re prepared to deliver advanced care for you and your baby.

If your OB-GYN delivers at Ascension Seton hospitals, they are part of your care team and collaborate with specialists at the Comprehensive Fetal Care Unit.

In the SDU we offer a complete labor and delivery experience for our patients. You and your doctor collaborate to create a birth plan that’s right for you. We have the ability to monitor your progress throughout labor while allowing you to have the freedom to move around and make the labor experience your own. In the event that a C-section is needed for maternal or fetal reasons, the unit is equipped with two readily available operating rooms. We know having a baby is such a special experience. We partner closely with you and your doctor to develop personalized deliveries for your needs.

The SDU has been opened since 2021 to deliver patients in the comfort of the same center their infant will be receiving care. If you would like to learn more about what delivery options are available, ask your doctor at the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center or call 512-324-0040.

Other Ascension Seton labor and delivery locations

If you are an expecting mom and your baby has not been diagnosed with a fetal condition, you may choose to deliver at one of our four locations. Choosing an Ascension Seton care team to deliver your baby gives your family access to specialists at Ascension Seton and Dell Children’s. And, if more care is needed for your baby once they are born, all of these locations have a NICU onsite.

• Ascension Seton Hays
• Ascension Seton Northwest
• Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin
• Ascension Seton Williamson

For moms who have a health condition that may require a higher level of care, Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin offers the highest level of labor and delivery care. There is also a Dell Children’s Level III NICU inside this hospital, should your baby need more advanced care. This means your newborn will get specialized care from doctors and nurses, while staying at the hospital in which you are recovering.

Partnership Between Dell Children’s Medical Center and UT Health Austin

The partnership between Dell Children’s Medical Center and UT Health Austin brings together specialists, medical students, and researchers who work together to deliver advanced care in Central Texas. This collaboration allows us to have a highly specialized team taking part in the latest research, diagnostic and technological developments.

Learn more about the Comprehensive Fetal Care Unit and the Specialized Delivery Unit at Dell Children’s.