What makes the Woodland Healthcare Family Birth Center special?
Our home-like Birth Center encourages togetherness of the entire family. Your baby will room in from birth to discharge, your support person (adult) can stay with you throughout your hospitalization, and prior to discharge you will receive a Celebration Dinner for you and your significant other. For a tour of the Family Birth Center, click here.
In addition, Woodland Healthcare offers a program designed to encourage new parents to bond with their newborns immediately after birth. The Skin to Skin Care (SSC) Program for parents, establishes a warm, welcoming environment to greet the newborn during their first few hours in the hospital and fosters early closeness and connection for the new family. The SSC Program promotes early bonding and attachment that helps families stay connected and close throughout their lives. Skin to skin care helps with attachment and bonding, helps to regulate your baby’s temperature and improves infant brain development. Skin to skin care is a quiet time for your new family to bond and enjoy together.
Is pre-registration required?
Pre-registration is typically not necessary as patients who have received most or all of their care here with us are already registered in the hospital system. If you have had a change of address, phone number, or health coverage during your pregnancy (or if you transferred care to us late in your pregnancy), you can fill out and mail in a pre-registration form to expedite your admission to labor and delivery. These forms are available from your provider or at the hospital registration desk. If for some reason you are not yet registered when you arrive in labor, the receptionist will happily assist you in this process.
Where should we go when we arrive at the hospital in labor?
All entrances to the hospital are open daily from 5 a.m. - 8 p.m. Enter through the main hospital entrance and check in at the registration desk located just to your right as you enter through the main doors. You will then be able to proceed to the Family Birth Center on the 2nd floor of the hospital.
After 8 p.m. every day, the main hospital entrance is locked and you and any visitors will have to enter through the Emergency Room entrance located on the north side of the hospital. The Emergency Room entrance is well marked. You do not have to be seen/evaluated in the Emergency Room – simply enter through this door, proceed directly to registration, and then continue to the Family Birth Center.
What anesthesia options are available?
Several options are available. Anytime during your labor, an anesthesiologist can discuss pain relief options with you. Anesthesia is available 24 hours a day.
What types of nursery arrangements are available?
Chances are, your baby will be perfect in every way and will remain in your care from birth to discharge. But if your baby is premature or requires intensive care and cannot be managed at Woodland Healthcare, our knowledgeable pediatricians will contact a sister hospital to make sure that your infant is transferred to a location where they can receive the best, specialized care. We utilize the Mercy (CHW) hospital network of Intensive care nurseries, UC Davis or Oakland Children’s hospital if the need arises. Our goal is to make sure that your infant get the care he/she needs.
What are the post-partum room arrangements?
Most moms who deliver at Woodland Healthcare remain in the very same private room for their entire stay-from labor until they go home with their newborns. Healthy babies are cared for right in the home-like room and stay with their new families as much as desired. Each room is equipped with delivery and neonatal resuscitation equipment. Though the ideal scenario is for mom and baby to spend entire stay from labor through discharge in same room there are times when this is not possible. The hospital must keep some Labor/Delivery/Recover/Postpartum suites available for incoming women in labor. Therefore a patient who has had her baby may be moved to a postpartum room in order to make a Labor/Delivery/Postpartum/Delivery suite available for a mom in labor. To take a tour of Woodland Healthcare's Family Birth Center, click here.
Can my baby stay in the room with me?
Yes. Your baby will remain in your room throughout your stay and if the bay needs to go to the nursery for any reason you can accompany the baby.
What is the visiting policy?
General Labor Guidelines: While you are in labor, you may have your chosen support people with you in your labor room regardless of the time of day. The total number of support people in your room should not exceed five people at any given time. Support persons other than your partner/main support person may occasionally be asked to step out during procedures and in other instances when space is needed or conditions warrant. There is a comfortable family waiting room just outside the entrance to the Family Birth Center where friends and family members can wait. Children under 12 who you wish to be present for the birth must be accompanied by another adult (someone other than your partner) who can accompany them out of the room should the experience become “too much” for them.
General Postpartum Guidelines:
Partners: 24 hours a day
Siblings/Friends/Relatives: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Any children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult when they come to visit you. For safety reasons, children are not allowed to spend the night with you in the hospital. If you have other children, we ask that you make childcare arrangements for the evenings/nighttime. In addition, children who have been exposed to any childhood illness or rashes should not visit. Please ask any adults with contagious illnesses or respiratory infections to refrain from visiting you as well. For safety reasons, we ask that there be no more than five people in your room at any one time.
What should I bring with me to the hospital?
The most important thing to bring with you is an approved infant car seat, properly installed in your car. You will also want to bring a going-home outfit for the baby and perhaps a receiving blanket for extra warmth. The hospital will provide whatever is needed for the baby during your hospital stay, i.e. diapers, t-shirts, blankets.
Other items to think of may include:
- Identification and insurance card/information
- Bathrobe/slippers if desired
- Shampoo/conditioner/lotion/massage oil/chapstick/hair bands/hairbrush/toothbrush and any other personal toiletries you might want
- Nightgown/pajamas if desired
- Breastfeeding Pillow if desired
- Snacks/drinks for your support people
- Clothes to wear home
- Outfit (with legs) for the baby to wear home
- Car seat
- Music and music player if desired
- A photo/ultrasound picture to look at/focus on during labor if desired
- Camera if desired
Does the hospital encourage breastfeeding?
Yes. Our goal at Woodland Healthcare is to encourage every mother to breastfeed. With our Certified Lactation Consultants, Woodland Healthcare offers prenatal breastfeeding classes, breastfeeding information in your prenatal visits with your health care provider, breastfeeding support during your hospital stay after your baby’s birth, and breastfeeding appointments and care in our pediatrics clinic after you leave the hospital with your newborn.
What does “Baby Friendly” mean?
Woodland Healthcare has filed for Baby Friendly designation from the World Health Organization.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the early 1990s in an effort to increase breastfeeding rates and in turn, reduce childhood illness and death. To be acknowledged as Baby Friendly, a hospital must provide the best possible care for breastfeeding mothers and their infants by following WHO’s “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.” These steps ensure that all mothers receive breastfeeding education and support from well-trained staff. The BFHI has proven to be very successful, with more than 19,000 baby-friendly hospitals and birthing centers worldwide.
As of April 2010, 90 hospitals in the United States had been designated baby-friendly. Research has shown that Baby-Friendly practices succeed in promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding. Mothers delivering at baby-friendly hospitals tend to breastfeed longer than mothers delivering at other hospitals.
Where can I take classes?
Woodland Healthcare offers a variety of pre-and post-natal classes, designed to help new and experienced parents prepare for childbirth and parenthood. For a list of our classes, please click here or call 530.669.5540.
