The BirthPlace

Fort Madison Community Hospital's BirthPlace offers a comfortable and attractive atmosphere for expectant parents. Because we understand the importance of family, the BirthPlace welcomes the family, including grandparents, to visit mother and child throughout their stay.

Services offered through the BirthPlace include:

• Attractively furnished LDRP rooms- A woman labors, delivers and spends her recovery and postpartum time all in the same room until she is discharged from the hospital. This allows for a more comfortable, relaxing stay. After delivery, the baby is given to the mother for bonding or placed next to her in a crib under radiant heat. Nurses care for the baby in the mother's room as well. If the mother desires, the baby can be transferred into the nursery while she naps.
  
  All birthing suites at FMCH are themed suites allowing mothers to choose from five unique, relaxing environments in which to deliver.
  
• Individual baby care instruction- An OB Nurse instructs each patient on bottle and breast-feeding.
  
  
• Follow-up home visits- A Home Health Nurse is available to visit with new mothers within the first two weeks to help them care for the baby and answer any questions that arise.
  
  
• Free educational classes- Classes for prenatal care, prepared childbirth, breastfeeding, and baby care are offered for expectant mothers and her support person. Sibling classes are also offered to help brothers and sisters prepare and adjust to a new baby. A "Baby Maybe" class is held quarterly for women and men who are thinking about starting a family.Click here for more information.
  
  
• Free hearing screenings
  
  
• Hard-back Infant Memory Books
  
  
• Pain control medications are available to make labor more comfortable.
  

Please call 319-376-BABY, if you would like more information about the BirthPlace.



fmchmail@fmchosp.com