VMC’s award winning research seeks safer C-sections

Some expectant physicians in VMC’s OB/Gyn Department got terrific news last week, and it had nothing to do with the birth of a child. A team led by VMC’s Dr Neena Duggal learned they had been awarded a top prize by The Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) in recognition of theirresearch to reduce infection rates associated with a cesarean section. Of nearly 1,500 projects submitted for review by the SMFM, VMC’s was one the few to be recognized at the SMFM annual meeting. VMC was honored alongside a prestigious list of international medical centers that included; Harvard; Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands) Yale; UCSF; Johns Hopkins; University of Bern (Germany); Columbia U; and the London School of Medicine (United Kingdom). Duggal, the Vice Chair of VMC OB/Gyn Department and (like many VMC Physicians) a Stanford School of Medicine Clinical Professor, was assisted in her research by VMC Department of Anesthesia Attending Physicians Dr Tim Park and Dr Carter Cherry, and recent VMC OB/Gyn residents Dr Vineela Poddatoori and Dr Sara Noroozkhani.

The study intended to determine whether supplemental oxygen given to mothers at the time of cesarean section would decrease infections. This is a topic of great medical interest in hopes that simple and inexpensive interventions may improve outcomes, particularly in obese patients. All research, which included over 800 participants, took place on the VMC Labor and Delivery Unit.

As the largest and busiest hospital in Silicon Valley, VMC has long been a hub for important clinical research. Yet again, the world is taking notice. The VMC Foundation salutes Dr. Duggal and her colleagues for making this study possible. Once again, VMC is proving that we are the (not so) little county hospital that could.