Kaiser Permanente Hawaii today announced the opening of a new “Mom and Newborn Center” in Wailuku, Maui.

The center is at Kaiser’s Maui Lani Medical Office at 55 Maui Lani Parkway in Wailuku.

Kaiser said the center offers moms and their newborns the “convenience of combining postpartum check-ups for both mom and baby in one visit” within 48 hours of their discharge from the hospital.

This includes physical and emotional well-being assessments of moms, along with the weight and other health monitoring needs of babies. The lactation consultant will revisit mom and baby at the center to offer “continued support in the breastfeeding process.”

“The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the World Health Organization has begun a push nationally to consider the postpartum period the fourth trimester,” said Dr. Kristin Redenbaugh, Kaiser’s Maui section chief of OB-GYN, in a statement. “We have taken that seriously and are working hard to make care accessible and meaningful for our moms, babies, and families.”

The new center comes at a critical juncture, when Maui is grappling with a shortage of obstetricians, particularly after obstetrics services offered by the isle’s only private practice group ended last year.

Kaiser’s maternity care provider team on Maui has now grown to 12, with the recent addition of two more OB-GYN physicians, which brings the total to eight, plus three certified nurse-midwives, and a nurse practitioner.