You want the day you deliver your baby to be as calm and stress-free as possible, and knowing what to expect the day you give birth can help you be prepared. Read through each step below to learn more about what you’ll experience when you deliver your baby at Baptist Health.
Delivering Your Baby at Baptist Health
1. Arrive at Baptist Health and complete registration.
When you arrive at Baptist Health, you should enter through the labor and delivery area of the hospital, where staff will guide you through the registration process. To cut down on paperwork, we recommend you pre-register.
2. Move to a labor and delivery room or suite.
Once you’ve signed in, you’ll likely be seen by medical staff to make sure that you’re in labor. If you are in active labor, you will be admitted to the hospital and taken to a labor and delivery room or suite.
3. Get comfortable in your birthing room.
Your nurses will get you set up in your delivery room and make sure your labor is going smoothly. From this point forward, the medical staff will abide by the birth plan you and your doctor agreed upon, unless any unexpected circumstances arise. This step can last minutes or hours, depending on your labor. During this time, your OB/GYN or a laborist will frequently check in to monitor your progress.
If you are giving birth through a scheduled C-section, you will be taken into an operating room for delivery.
4. Deliver your baby.
When you’re ready to push, your OB/GYN will guide you through the rest of the birth process and deliver your baby. If you are having a C-section, your OB/GYN will complete your surgery. After delivery, Baptist Health staff will perform the APGAR test, a standardized test to assess your newborn. APGAR, which stands for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration, is used to evaluate your baby’s heart rate, muscle tone and more, and can determine if your newborn requires any immediate medical care. This test is routinely performed at one and five minutes after birth.
5. Enjoy Baptist Health’s Miracle hour.
Baptist Health hospitals all have Baby-Friendly Designations, and we believe mom and baby need concentrated time to bond. After birth, we set aside quiet time for you, your partner and your baby to spend time together. We decrease the delivery staff to only those who are required to closely monitor you and your baby for those first few critical moments.
We ask that all other visitors remain in the waiting room until your baby has had sufficient time to closely bond with your and your partner through quality skin-to-skin time and the opportunity to feed. The amount of bonding time required fluctuates with each baby. We ask that you anticipate a minimum of one hour.
6. Get settled in.
Once your baby is born, you’ll either remain in your room until you are released from the hospital, or you’ll be moved to your maternity suite if it is offered at your Baptist Health location and you reserved one.
7. Recover.
Depending on your health, your baby’s health and how you delivered, you’ll spend between 24 hours to a few days at Baptist Health. During this time, you will recover from birth while bonding with your baby and learning more about your life with a newborn. You’ll also have the option to meet with a lactation consultant to get help with breastfeeding. Your baby will be assessed and monitored frequently by nurses and at least daily by a pediatrician to ensure any concerns are caught prior to discharge.
8. Have your car seat tested.
When the time comes to go home, Baptist Health staff will check your car seat to make sure it’s appropriate for newborns and installed correctly.
9. Be discharged from the hospital.
Once you have been assessed by your physician and your newborn has been cleared to leave the hospital, you will be given important information regarding discharge, routine care, and follow-up instructions for both you and your baby. A member of the staff will review this information with you, making sure to point out the red flags of when to seek urgent medical care for yourself or your newborn. You will also have a booklet and other documents that give instructions on how to apply for your baby’s birth certificate, as well as a list of phone numbers for additional resources that you may find handy those first few months. You may leave Baptist Health but, we are not leaving you. Our websites, booklets, phone numbers and hotlines ensure that we are never too far away.
Baptist Health is committed to making your delivery experience as positive as possible. Learn more about how you can make your delivery smooth and stress-free with our hospital bag checklist or take a prenatal class at Baptist Health. If you want to discuss your delivery with an expert, request an appointment with an OB/GYN at Baptist Health.