By Paige Bright<\/p>\n
Herald Intern<\/p>\n
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The Orlando Health Center for Women and Babies celebrated its first year of service to the community, hosting an event to celebrate the occasion. Members of the Seminole County community were invited to attend, being met with several photo-ops, craft stations for kids, and learning opportunities about some of the services the center offers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been welcomed into the community so graciously, and we\u2019re just so excited to have been able to bring comprehensive services to Seminole County, including women\u2019s services like labor and delivery,\u201d Orlando Health Lake Mary senior marketing manager Giselle Muscato said. Since opening its doors to the public on January 11, 2025, the Center for Women and Babies has helped deliver over 1,300 babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with a face painting station and balloon animals for kids, the event held free health screenings and a car seat safety station, teaching parents about proper car seats for their children based on factors such as age and height. \u201cIt\u2019s a great celebration to bring in kids because kids don\u2019t always come to these doctor events,\u201d Amanda Ferreira-Borrero, part of the team that set the event up, said. \u201cThis is really fun for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Families that had given birth at the Center for Women and Babies within the first year of the center being open were given a special invitation to attend and reconnect with the staff who assisted in their delivery. Among these families was the first mom to give birth at the center, Nicole Larson. \u201cThe team is just absolutely amazing, they\u2019re so caring, so compassionate,\u201d Nicole said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have asked for a better experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orlando Health Center for Women and Babies, along with assisting with deliveries, is home to one of the largest Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in the nation, with 144 beds and round-the-clock care for babies born with critical illnesses. \u201cI love that there are individual labor and delivery parts of the hospital,\u201d Amanda said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s a lot more intimate for moms.\u201d<\/p>\n