(Radio Iowa) – Top doctors at University of Iowa Health Care say they’re caring for an ever increasing number of premature babies — and have some of the best outcomes in the country. Dr. Patrick McNamara is a pediatrician who leads the University of Iowa Health Care’s Division of Neonatology. “We are probably one of the largest volumes of these tiny babies in the country,” McNamara said, “which is really what drives the excellence.” McNamara cites research from a non-profit that works to improve outcomes at Neonatal Intensive Care Units around the world. He says at every gestational age, the Iowa City unit’s survival rate is significantly higher than the rest.

“At 22 weeks, you’ve got about a 20% chance of surviving in the rest of the United States,” McNamara said. “In Iowa (City), it’s 66%.” McNamara was invited to testify before an Iowa House Committee this (Tuesday) morning. Over 10 percent of babies in Iowa are born prematurely. McNamara told lawmakers the unit is providing the most complex care for the most extremely premature babies — and getting pregnant women to Iowa City for care is critical if there are signs they’ll deliver extremely early.

“A maternal transport team is a unique team because you have to have expertise to take care of the mother, but also if she delivers en route,” McNamara said. “A plane, a helicopter, an ambulance — you have to have someone who can take care of the baby.” McNamara says most ambulance calls are a scoop and run operation to get the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible, where maternal transport teams are specially trained to stabilize before and during transport. McNamara says in other areas, like British Columbia, they’ve set up a regional system to get pregnant women and potential premies to the right hospital and it would be logical to have one for the entire state of Iowa.