During Your Delivery

What to expect

Every birth experience is unique, and we want you to feel prepared and supported throughout your stay. From the different types of labor you may experience to the time you’ll spend resting and recovering in the hospital, our care team is here to guide you through each step. With comfort, safety and personalized support as our priorities, we’ll help you focus on what matters most, welcoming your baby.

During Your Time in the Birth Center

Patients may enter the Birth Center as a triage patient. In this room, you will be monitored and assessed by a nurse and a member of the obstetric provider team.
Our labor suites are on the same unit as triage and offer a more spacious room for labor and visitor accommodations. Your labor and delivery occur in this space. You can expect more frequent interactions with our care team during this phase of your stay as we support your labor process.
Our hospital practices skin to skin for all deliveries when both mom and baby are stable, including at least one hour following delivery. Skin-to-skin contact
Our infants room in with their mother during their entire stay unless there is medical need for separation.
The hospital stay following delivery is two nights for vaginal deliveries and three nights for c-section (cesarean) deliveries. During this time, you and your baby will be evaluated by an obstetric provider and a pediatric provider. Your nursing team will use this time to assist with education on newborn care, postpartum care, and discharge planning education. This time is important to monitor the health and well-being of your baby as they transition into life outside of the womb.

Hydrotherapy and Comfort in Labor

Each Birth Center suite is equipped with a jetted tub and/or shower to support hydrotherapy for patients medically able to participate in hydrotherapy during labor.
The hospital provides many tools for labor comfort including birth balls, peanut balls, birth stools, squat bars and nitrous oxide.
Medications and epidurals are available based on your plan of care with your provider.
To learn more about coping with labor, view our childbirth education courses at the Center for Childbirth and Family Education.

C-Section

The care partner may accompany the patient into the c-section suite. Your nursing team will help with care partner preparation and assist them into the c-section suite when the team is ready.
The care partner will remain with the mother in recovery while she is stable. During this time, other visitation is restricted while the patient recovers.
Centra Southside Community Hospital: the care partner will return to the Birth Center with the nursing staff and baby after brief skin to skin period.
If the patient requires general anesthesia, no visitors (including the care partner or doulas) may accompany the patient in the c-section suite and through the initial period of recovery.
Skin to skin is offered for all patients including c-section deliveries while both patients are stable.

What can I expect during my stay:

Centra Virginia Baptist

When you enter the hospital, if you are not in active labor, please stop at Registration at the Oak Lane Entrance to complete your registration to the hospital. This includes if you have completed pre-registration during your pregnancy. Following the birth of your baby and recovery in the Birth Center, you will transition with your baby to our Mother Baby unit for the remainder of your postpartum care.

Centra Southside Community Hospital

All patients must stop in the Emergency Department to complete registration. Then you will be brought directly to the Birth Center for evaluation. Following the birth of your baby your care will continue in your labor room. With this care level transition, your team will round hourly to check on you and your newborn for safety and care needs. If you need to see your care team more frequently, please use the call bell or let our team know your expectations.

Some tips for rest in the hospital:

Rest in the hospital may look and feel a little different than at home. We care about your safety and experience while with us. We will do our best to balance rest with safety checks and care needs.

Set visiting hours for yourself: Let friends and family know when you’ll be accepting visitors so you can plan your rest.
Rest doesn’t only happen at night: Work together with your care partner to plan for rest during the day as well.
Limit rest distractions: Let your family and friends know you are prioritizing rest. This may look like not responding to socials or messages immediately or silencing technology to rest.
Prepare for “second night”: On the second night of life, baby can seem more active and demand more of your attention. Prepare for what’s to come by prioritizing rest, hydration and nutrition on this day. Be sure you have a rested care partner.

Decide how to share information: To avoid overload, decide in advance how and when you want to announce the baby has arrived. If you plan to do so while in the hospital, would it be helpful to designate one person to share updates with your permission?
What does rest look like for you? Bring items with you that are essential to good rest for you. Some patients need a style pillow or blanket. Some patients need a certain sound or lighting.
Plan for care partner support: Your care partner is on your team to support your learning, healing and rest. Sometimes this may mean the care partner needs time to rotate out for good rest to be a supportive partner during your rest. Set up a plan for who will be your support during your rest.