Labor and Delivery

Family-centered delivery suites

Your entire family deserves to participate in the arrival of its newest member. Spacious labor and delivery rooms feature comfortable furnishings and hotel-style amenities, allowing partners or other family members to stay with you throughout your labor and delivery.

We also encourage rooming-in, which means you are welcome to keep your baby in your room for as long as you’d like. Not only does this allow you to bond with your baby, but it can also help you build confidence before you take your baby home. Your baby can move to our well-monitored nurseries if you need extra rest during your stay.

In some locations, you and your partner can also enjoy a celebration dinner in the hospital or take it home after your baby is born. This is our way of showing appreciation for choosing us to participate in this joyous occasion. Ask your healthcare team if this is available for you.

High-quality maternal care

Dedicated obstetricians will partner to provide the care you and your baby need throughout labor and delivery. Our labor and delivery centers are staffed around the clock to ensure you have the care you need when the time comes.

Many Baylor Scott & White birth centers have received national recognition for high-quality care. Our teams focus on minimizing complications during labor and birth. That means:

• You have access to surgical suites equipped with advanced technologies if a cesarean delivery is better for you or your baby.
• Your team will monitor your and your baby’s health throughout delivery so we can address issues, such as preeclampsia (a type of high blood pressure), as soon as possible.

Birth-friendly adaptations for your delivery

Our goal is to help you realize your birth plan to the best of our ability.

We welcome labor coaches and doulas, and our delivery suites offer plenty of space for them to attend your birth. Some facilities may offer hydrotherapy for water births and alternative methods of pain relief, such as nitrous oxide, as well as traditional epidurals.

You may also have access to wireless fetal monitoring. This technology allows you to walk around during labor, which has been shown to improve pain and may speed the labor process.

Baby-friendly birth practices

The first 60 minutes after your baby’s birth can be just as valuable from a health perspective as an emotional one. Many medical practices used to occur during this first hour of life, but to benefit you and your baby’s health, our teams now let families bond during what’s often called the Golden Hour.

You and your infant can have immediate skin-to-skin contact, which helps calm babies and reduce their stress. Skin-to-skin contact also helps you start breastfeeding as soon as possible.

Other steps we take to help your baby in this first hour of life include delaying cord clamping when appropriate and delaying your baby’s first bath.

Breastfeeding support

Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for most babies. While breastfeeding is always recommended if possible, there are other options available to you. Whether you choose to breastfeed your child or use another source of nutrition, you will have the full support of your birth team.

That team will include a specialized lactation consultant ready to help your baby breastfeed if that’s your choice. They will offer tips and advice for establishing and maintaining a milk supply (even if your baby is in the neonatal intensive care unit), pumping milk and safely storing breastmilk. Lactation consultants are also available after you go home if you need support or tips for returning to work.

Many of our hospitals have earned the Texas Ten Step designation, which is given to hospitals uniquely qualified to help mothers before, during and after delivery access the skills and tools necessary to breastfeed their babies.