Maternity and Childbirth Services

We embrace family centered maternity care at St. Luke's, which means care that focuses on you and your family's specific needs and wishes for your birth experience. It begins with supporting a full range of labor and birth options for normal and high-risk deliveries, including:

Natural childbirth
Our nurses are specially trained by doulas to provide support for moms who choose natural childbirth. We also offer labor aids like birthing balls and whirlpool labor tubs.

Pain Management
You have many pain management and pain relief options, including nitrous oxide ("laughing gas," used to help manage labor pain and lessen anxiety), IV medications, pain-relieving analgesics and epidurals. Anesthesiologists dedicated specifically to maternity patients are available 24 hours a day to provide and manage these pain management options at your request. 

Cesarean delivery
For planned and emergency Cesarean section deliveries, the dedicated Obstetrical Unit Operating Room is located just down the hall from the Birth Care Suites. Afterward, you are moved to a private room designed with our special recovery needs in mind.

VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean)
Should you and your doctor decide that a vaginal birth after a previous Cesarean section is a safe option for you, our nurses are here to provide personalized support for your birth experience.

Birth Plan
Complete your own birth plan to print and share with your care team. View/download a Birth Plan (PDF) template.

Your Care Team
A specially trained registered nurse, along with an obstetrician, will manage your care throughout your labor and your baby's birth.

We encourage your baby's father and/or other support persons to share in the birth. Other family members are also welcome, depending on your wishes and the physician's approval.

Other specialists available to you during your hospital stay:
Pediatricians
High-risk Perinatologists
Neonatologists
Neonatal Nurse Practitioners
Lactation Consultants
Dietitians
Social Workers
Chaplains of various faiths
In-house Obstetricians and Pediatricians are available 24/7 for emergency situations and to provide coverage and care before your OB/GYN or Pediatrician arrives.

During the first hours following your baby's birth, we invite you, Dad or your support person and other family members to participate in your newborn's care and feeding right in the room. Your baby's first bath and certain health assessments also will be done there to allow you to be involved.

Our nurses are specially trained to care for you and your baby's needs together. We encourage you to spend as much time with your new baby as you wish, keeping him or her in your room unless medical conditions require otherwise. This helps you get to know your baby and his or her feeding cues with the backup or experienced nurses who can teach and assist you. For those times when you would like a little extra rest, nurses are available 24 hours a day to care for your baby in the nursery.