Contact: Allison Hacker Marketing Communications Intern Halifax Health allison.hacker@halifax.

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PRESS RELEASE
Halifax Health Center for Women & Infant Health Kicks Off Its Best to Wait Til 39 Weeks Campaign
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. (December 14, 2013) Halifax Health - Center for Women & Infant Health has launched the Its Best to Wait Til 39 Weeks campaign in partnership with the March of Dimes. On June 26, Halifax Health OB/GYN physicians and the Its Best to Wait Til 39 Weeks Core Team members gathered at the Chart House in Daytona Beach for a kick-off dinner event. The physicians gathered to discuss the critical issue of non-medically necessary elective inductions. Robert Yelverton, MD, was the events featured speaker. Dr. Yelverton is a member of the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaboratives leadership team. He has served as chief of the obstetrics and gynecology departments for the United States Air Force Regional Hospital at MacDill Air Force Base and St. Josephs Womens Hospital. Halifax Health is taking the initiative to educate women in the community about the risks of scheduling deliveries early for non-medical reasons. This is a very important patient safety initiative and will change our practice culture, says Bonnie Wittman, RN, service line administrator for Halifax Health - Center for Women & Infant Health. Presented in partnership with the March of Dimes, the goal of the Its Best to Wait Til 39 Weeks campaign is to inform expecting mothers about the major health advantages of waiting just a little longer to meet their precious baby. Medical experts agree, if at all possible, mothers should refrain from inducing labor and instead deliver after 39 weeks because of the significant developments still taking place. Important organs, such as the brain, lungs, and liver, are still in development. Babies born after 39 weeks are less likely to have hearing and vision problems after birth. Also, sometimes babies born early cannot suck, swallow, and stay awake long enough to eat after birth. If a woman has a healthy pregnancy, waiting until 39 weeks is also safer for her body as well. For more information, please visit the March of Dimes website.
Halifax Health Ranked among the top five percent of all hospitals in the nation for clinical outcomes, Halifax Health serves East Central Florida and provides a continuum of healthcare services through a network of organizations including a tertiary hospital, a community hospital, psychiatric services, a cancer treatment center with four outreach locations, the areas largest hospice, a health maintenance organization, and a preferred provider organization. Halifax Health offers the areas only Level II Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units, Pediatric Emergency Department, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Services, complete Neurosurgical Services and OB Emergency Department. Halifax Health has consistently received top ratings for its medical specialties including #1 in Florida and top 5% in the United States for Orthopedics, #2 in Florida and top 5% in the United States for Spinal Surgery, top 5% in the United States for Maternity care in 2012, top 5% in the United States for Stroke Services, top 10% in the United States for Vascular Services and the highest

rankings for Heart Services. Halifax Health also ranked #1 in the Orlando Sentinels 2007 Top 100 Companies for Working Families. Halifax Health has been Five-Star Rated in Overall Orthopedic Services, Joint Replacement, Total Knee Replacement, Hip Fracture Treatment and Back and Neck Surgery Spinal Fusion for 8 years in a row; Five Star Rated in Spine Surgery for 7 years in a row and Five Star Rated in Back and Neck Surgery excluding Spinal Fusion for 10 years in a row. Halifax Health Maternity Care has also been Five Star Rated for 4 years in a row and Five Star Rated in Gynecologic Surgery in 2011 and 2012. For more information, visit halifaxhealth.org.

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