Central Baptist Hospital's maternity services offer all the features today's new families want, from private labor, delivery and recovery rooms to Baby Central, our Internet Web site that introduces newborns to the world.

Facilities

Central Baptist Hospital's obstetrical facilities include:

LDR Rooms

Combination labor, delivery and recovery rooms (LDRs) are available so that a mother can remain in the same room during the entire birthing process. An open invitation is extended to the father or other support person to participate in labor and delivery with the mother's approval.

Mother-Baby Unit

Central Baptist's team works together to provide an integrated and patient-forward system for obstetrical and newborn care. In our family-centered care model, one nurse is responsible for the care and support of both mother and baby. This helps recognize,respond to and coordinate both mother's and baby's unique needs.

All rooms on the mother-baby unit are private with their own bath, telephone and television, giving new families the privacy they need to bond. A recliner is in the room for fathers who want to stay overnight.

Newborn Nursery

When your baby is not with you, he or she will be cared for in our newborn nursery by our highly skilled and trained nurses. For your protection, Central Baptist Hospital's infant security system will help parents and staff members guard against newborn abduction.

Newborn Education Television Channel 15

During your stay, you can learn more about caring for your baby by watching the Newborn Channel in addition to speaking with your nurse and physician. The Newborn Channel is a national television network available 24 hours a day on our mother-baby unit. Topics include:

• Basic baby care
• Breastfeeding
• Bathing your baby
• Comforting a crying child
• The emotional life of infants
• Postpartum depression
• How to care for a sick infant
• Sibling rivalry
• The experience of new fathers
• Disciplining toddlers
• Helping your baby sleep through the night
• Car seat safety

Discharge Planning to Make Sure You and Your Baby Are Ready to Go Home

Leaving the hospital can be stressful, especially for first-time parents. Central Baptist's discharge planning service focuses on the special needs of parents and families who are adjusting to having a new baby. It includes:

• instructions on home care;
• information on the status of hepatitis vaccines and other immunizations; and
• referrals to nursing agencies and home health services, when needed.

Personalizing Your Childbirth Experience

Central Baptist Hospital's maternity staff members will work closely with you to personalize your childbirth experience. We want your delivery to be as unique as you and your baby are. Options, including pain control and preferences during labor and other areas, may be discussed with your doctor or nurse. We are very receptive to new ideas and innovations in labor and delivery concepts. Please let us know.

Preregistration

Preregister for your maternity stay online or by picking up a preregistration form at your doctor's office or from Central Baptist Hospital's Maternity Business Center. The form should be filled out and sent to the hospital well in advance of your expected due date. We recommend preregistering by the beginning of your eighth month of pregnancy. When the big day arrives, all you have to do is take a deep, cleansing breath and proceed to the Maternity Business Center on the hospital's second floor to enter the system. This is an important day in the life of your baby and your family. We want it to go smoothly for you. 

If you don't have insurance or your insurance won't cover most of the estimated cost of your delivery and hospital stay, please contact a hospital financial counselor to make payment arrangements as early in your pregnancy as possible. Call (859) 260-6264.

Visitation in Labor & Delivery

At Central Baptist Hospital, we encourage dad or your significant other to stay with you during your labor and delivery. You may also have one additional person with you in your labor and delivery room with a physician's or nurse's approval.

Photos and Videotapes

The birth of a child provides many moments for the family scrapbook - photos or videos that will be cherished for many years. Both cameras and hand-held video cameras are permitted during labor and immediately following delivery. However, because the safety of both mother and child is of utmost importance, tripods are not allowed. Delivery procedure requires the use of medical equipment and a number of hospital personnel working quickly and efficiently. Therefore, photography or videotaping should not be done at the time of delivery. For similar reasons, no photographic equipment may be used during anesthetic procedures.

Anesthesia Available 24 Hours a Day

An obstetrical anesthesiologist is available on site to all labor & delivery patients 24 hours a day. Pain medication options for laboring mothers include:

• Breathing/relaxation techniques. Your nurse and doctor will work with you and your support person to assist in your relaxation.
• Sedative pills, such as Seconal and Nembutal, which don't relieve pain but can help an exhausted mother sleep;
• Tranquilizers, such as Phenergran, Vistaril and Valium, which can lessen nausea and anxiety, but again, don't relieve pain;
• Narcotics, such as morphine, which can take the edge off pain, dulling it so the mother can relax, but do not take the pain away completely;
• Epidurals, given through a needle and tube which are inserted and left in place in the lower back, once the mother has dilated to four or five centimeters. Epidurals provide pain relief from the belly down and can be used for labor or for Caesarean delivery;
• Spinals, which are given as a single injection of drugs into the mother's spinal canal prior to a forceps or Cesarean delivery;
• Pudendal blocks, which numb the lower vagina and perineum; and
• Local anesthesia, which can be used to numb the entire perineum for a brief period of time, usually for repair of an episiotomy.

Feeding

Your baby will be brought to you for scheduled or "demand" feedings, depending on your preference. Central Baptist also has lactation consultants to support breastfeeding mothers through classes, informative literature and one-to-one counseling. Lactation services can be reached at (859) 260-4156.

Baby Central: Your Opportunity to Make Your Baby a Star

In today's society, it's not unusual for families to be scattered all over the country - or even all over the world. Baby Central, our Internet Web site, gives proud parents the opportunity to "show off" their newborns. No matter how far away you are from family and friends, they can still share in your joy at the birth of your baby and even express their congratulations by writing a message in your Guest Book.

Stork Club Meal

To help you celebrate your new arrival, a special Stork Club meal is available for $12 per person for Chicken Cordon Bleu or $20 for broiled surf and turf. The meals are served with baked potato, tossed green salad, homemade buttered roll, a slice of Mom's apple pie and your choice of tea, coffee or milk.

Nail Salon

As an added benefit, a nail salon is available on our mother-baby unit so new moms can be spoiled with either a manicure or a pedicure or both. Patients and/or families can pay cash or check for these services, and gift certificates are available. Be sure to ask your nurse about scheduling a manicure or pedicure for yourself or giving one to a new mom as a gift.

Visiting

Regular visiting hours on the mother-baby unit are 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Visitation is at the patient's discretion. If you are too tired to receive visitors, let your nurse know.

Visitors are welcome throughout the day, and one support person is welcome to stay overnight. To protect your newborn from colds and infectious diseases, we recommend that children other than siblings do not visit and that you limit visitors based on these recommendations. The newborn does possess some immunity from infections, but care related to exposure must be exercised. Children who are visiting must be accompanied by an adult other than the patient at all times. Please ask visitors to leave and to not handle the baby if they have any of the following: fever, cold, diarrhea, open sore, chicken pox, measles or any contagious disease. Everyone should wash his/her hands with soap and water before and after handling the baby.

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