Planning for Your Labor & Delivery in Southeastern MA
When it comes time to have your baby, you can rest assured that we have everything you need at Charlton Memorial and St. Luke’s Hospitals. From comfortable, spacious rooms to NICUs and on-site specialists, we offer services and care to help make your baby’s entrance into the world a positive and memorable experience.
Take a virtual tour and see for yourself why so many families choose Southcoast health for their maternity care:
At Southcoast, delivery can happen in two general ways:
- Vaginal delivery is the normal process of the baby and placenta moving from the uterus and through the cervix into the birth canal. In some cases, doctors perform procedures to assist a vaginal delivery. For example, your doctor may need to use forceps or a vacuum extractor, or perform an episiotomy to avoid a tear in the vaginal opening.
- Cesarean delivery (C-section) is a surgical delivery. It involves making an incision in the skin and wall of the uterus to deliver the baby. Approximately 30% of all births in the United States are C-sections.
Your labor and delivery healthcare team at Southcoast Health may include:
- Your OB/GYN, family doctor or midwife
- Labor and delivery nurses
- An anesthesiologist
- A maternal-fetal medicine doctor if your pregnancy is high risk
- A neonatologist if your baby is premature or experiences problems during or after birth
How to Prepare to Have Your Baby at Southcoast
We want to make sure that you and your family are as comfortable and prepared as possible with every part of your pregnancy and birth. That’s why we offer a range of support for new moms and their families. Attend one of our many childbirth classes or schedule a consultation with an OB/GYN near you to learn more.
Rooming In/Couplet Care
While you are in the hospital, your baby will room with you. Bonding and attachment, as well as infant adjustment, are enhanced when an infant remains with its mother. Nurses will educate mother and family while assisting with infant care at bedside as needed. Caring for the mother and infant together provides an opportunity for individualized teaching and enhances the mother’s ability to learn her baby’s cues.
Security
If mother and baby are separated for medical reasons, the mother and infant’s ID bands will be checked to confirm matching numbers.
Patient Meals
You will be served three meals each day. A kitchenette is available to you 24 hours a day and is stocked with fruit juices, milk, tea, instant coffee and soda.
Birth Certificates
While hospitalized, you will receive a worksheet to fill out for your baby’s birth certificate. You will sign the official typed form before you leave the hospital. If you have any questions about completing the form, please let us know. Birth certificates are available in the Town Clerk’s Office in the town you reside in about one month after your delivery.
Visiting Hours
- Designated support person: 24 hours a day
- Family/Friends: 11am – 2pm and 5pm – 8pm
- Children under 12 years of age are not allowed to visit unless they are a sibling of the newborn.
New mothers recovering from childbirth need as much rest as possible. For this reason, we ask that visitors be limited. For the safety of the baby, remind all visitors they should be in good health and free of infection. Those who come in direct contact with your baby, such as your support person, grandparents and siblings, should be free of runny nose, cough, sore throat, fever, rash, diarrhea, vomiting or any illnesses. We ask that family and friends wash their hands before handling your baby. Siblings must be accompanied by a responsible adult other than the mother. No visitors under the age of 12, except for siblings of the newborn, are allowed to visit. Siblings may not stay overnight.
Visiting hours may be subject to change at any time for the health and safety of our patients.
Smoking
For the safety and comfort of our patients and visitors, smoking is prohibited on and around all Southcoast Health owned properties.
Telephone
To promote your rest and recovery, and as a courtesy to other patients, incoming calls are sent to your bedside from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. only. Local calls can be made from your phone 24 hours a day.
Television
Southcoast Hospitals have television service available for all patients.
Southcoast Health offers many options for labor and delivery in Fall River and New Bedford, MA.