If you choose to have a vaginal delivery without pain medication, doulas train our nurses to provide medication-free pain management techniques. A doula is a nonmedical professional who provides emotional and physical support to women during labor. We also offer labor aids such as birthing balls and whirlpool labor tubs.
A Supportive Birth Experience
At St. Luke’s, we embrace family-centered maternity care that focuses on your needs and empower you to create your birth experience. You deserve to have the childbirth experience that’s right for you, based on your unique needs and preferences.
We’ll work with you to make your wishes happen safely, just like we did when Jordan wanted a maternal assisted cesarean.
Jordan's maternal assisted cesarean (birth video)
Know Your Options
The first step in planning how you’d like your birth experience to go is to learn about the different delivery types you can plan to have. We support many delivery options, including:
Creating Your Birth Plan
A birth plan is a written document that outlines your goals and wishes for your labor and delivery. It’s helpful to discuss your individual case with your care team and support person before your baby’s birth. Every childbirth experience is unique and certain medical necessities can sometimes mean a change of plans, so we recommend keeping lines of communication open. We’ve created a template to help you outline your birth planopens in a new tab and share it with your care team.
Your Care Team
A specially trained registered nurse, along with your OBGYN, will manage your care throughout your labor and your baby's birth. As part of your birth plan, you may decide to outline how you’d prefer to interact with your care team, if possible.
Other specialists available to you during your hospital stay, including:
- Chaplains of various faiths
- Dietitians
- High-risk perinatologists (an OBGYN who specializes in high-risk pregnancies)
- Lactation consultants
- Neonatal nurse practitioners
- Neonatologists (pediatricians who specialize in caring for newborns, especially those who are premature or ill)
- Pediatricians
- Social workers
During Your Hospital Stay
We encourage you to select a support person to share in the birth. After your baby is born, we encourage you and your family to participate in your newborn’s care and feeding right in your hospital room if you wish. Your nurse will help you give your baby their first bath in-room and do certain health assessments in your room, so you can ask questions and learn. You can outline your preferences for newborn care and feeding for the remainder of your stay on your birth plan.
Our nurses are specially trained to care for both you and your baby after birth. We encourage you to spend as much time as possible getting to know your baby in your room unless medical conditions require a different arrangement. If you need extra rest, or if another situation requires it, you can send your baby to our 24-hour nursery, where our nurses will expertly take care of your baby.