mybonsecours
location & birthing options
Bon Secours-affiliated physicians, hospitals, diagnostic and health carefacilities are located all around Richmond. Compare our birthing options, and find classes at any of our hospitals and in Innsbrook, at the Bon Secours Center for Family Health.
St. Mary's Hospital, a tradition in Richmond's West End. St. Mary's is recognized nationally for outstanding care for mothers and babies (obstetrics and NICU), back and neck surgery, hip and knee replacement, emergency services and stroke care. In addition, St. Mary'sis home to the only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in the West End, as well as board-certified pediatric emergency physicians in our Peds ED. With our pediatric care unit, St. Mary's provides specialty andsubspecialty care for children. St. Mary's is also the home of a unique, sensitive forensic nurse program in the emergency room, providing assistance with cases of domestic abuse or rape.
Memorial Regional Medical Center, with a beautiful, healing environment. In the Richmond area, Memorial Regional Medical Center is the only national Top 100 hospital for stroke and the only hospital in central Virginia to receive the highest grade in all categories of stroke care. Memorial also is nationally ranked at the highest level in cardiac bypass surgery, treatment of heart attacks and heart failure, cardiac interventional procedures, and pulmonary/respiratory treatment. In 2003, Memorial Regional Medical Center became one of fewer than threepercent of the nation's hospitals, and one of only five in Virginia, tobe named the highest overall quality hospitals.
Richmond Community Hospital celebrated its first century of care in 2003. With a rich tradition in the heart of historic Church Hill, Richmond Community is recognized nationally for outstanding emergency department care and psychiatric services.
St. Francis Medical Center, our newest hospital, opened in 2005 and delivers compassionate care to families south of the James River. The beautiful, peaceful setting of St. Francis provides a restful healing environment for patients, families and staff. The chapel, prayergardens, fountains and walking paths are designed to enhance the spiritual aspects of healing. The beautiful, private birthing suites, equipped with jetted tubs, flat-screen televisions and Aquarius multi-head showers, represent the premier birthing experience for Chesterfield families.
Birthing Options
Come tour our birthing centers! E-mail us, or call 804-340-BABY [2229] for more information. We think you'll like what you find!
birthing options and education programs
| | Center for Family Health | Memorial Regional | Richmond Community | St. Francis | St. Mary's |
| Location | Innsbrook | Hanover | East End | Chesterfield | West End |
| First delivery in | 1998 | 2005 | 1966 | ||
| All major insurances |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Commonwealth Parenting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Birthing center tours |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Delivery care model |
| LDR |
| LDR | LDR |
| Labor hydrotherapy |
| Jetted tubs |
| Aquarius Multi-head showers; Jetted tubs | Jetted tubs |
| All types anesthesia |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Family centered care |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Mother-Baby care |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Flexible rooming-in |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Electronic infant security system |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Lactation consultants | A Woman's Place 804-545-1665 | Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
|
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Web nursery |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| New baby call-in from home |
| 804-764-BABY [2229] |
| 804-594-BABY [2229] | 804-673-BABY [2229] |
| Providers Available |
|
|
|
| |
| Female OB-GYNs |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maternal-Fetal Medicine (Perinatology) |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Neonatology onsite |
| 24/7/365 |
| 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Certified Nurse-Midwives |
| Yes |
| Yes | NA |
| Doula services |
| Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
Note: The Center for Family Health and Richmond Community Hospital offeroutpatient birthing classes and support only. Birthing centers are not available at these two facilities.
All major insurances
This hospital accepts all major insurance plans and most smaller plans. For up-to-date information, please check with your insurance plan.
Love and Learn with Bon Secours
Prenatal and Parenting Education Program
Prenatal, birthing and/or parenting classes are offered at this location. Go to our online class catalog for more information on this exciting program, with more than 50 classes and groups.
Commonwealth Parenting
Bon Secours and Commonwealth Parenting have teamed up to make sure you don't feel dropped off without an instruction booklet once you deliver! CP offers even more classes for parents of children of all ages. For more information, visit CPor call 804-545-1272.
Bon Secours Baby Club
A central Virginia exclusive! In 2004, this program replaced the well-known Bon Secours Little Lamb Club. Membership is free and open to all. Members receive discounts for our most popular classes and with private instructors and merchants all over Richmond. Beeper program for dads/support person, free e-mail pregnancy and newborn milestones, $100 discount at Bon Secours hospital stay for birth, and more. For more information, e-mail us or call 804-340-BABY.
Tours
Take free tours of our birthing centers. Available to those starting to plan for birth or pregnancy as well as for parents near delivery.
Delivery Care Model
Both Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum suites have large, comfortable rooms, with ample space to walk around and for your family to be with you. Each includes a specially equipped birthing bed, so that you can labor and deliver without being moved from room to room or from bed to bed. There is a private bathroom and shower for each suite.
With an LDR facility (labor, delivery, recovery), most mothers stay in the same birthing suite throughout labor, birth andfor an hour or so after birth. In an LDR facility, these moms then moveto a private postpartum room for the remainder of their stay.
LDRP models add the "p" for postpartum, or care after birth. In an LDRP care model, many mothers are able to stay in the same birthing suite from the time they enter the hospital until they go home. Private postpartum rooms are also available for longer lengths of stay.
In either LDR or LDRP, the discomfort and inconvenience of moving from room to room during this very private, important family time is greatly decreased or eliminated altogether.
Family-Centered Care
We subscribe to the definition of family-centered care as developed by the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA):
"The birth of a baby represents, as well, the birth of a family. The woman giving birth and the persons significant and close to her are forming a new relationship, with new responsibilities to each other, to the baby, and to society as a whole. Family-centered reproductive care may be defined as care which recognizes the importance of these new relationships and responsibilities, and which has as its goal the best possible health outcome for all members of the family, both as individuals and as a group.
"Family-centered care consists of an attitude rather than a protocol. Itrecognizes a vital life event rather than a medical procedure. It appreciates the importance of that event to the woman and to the personswho are important to her. It respects the woman's individuality and hersense of autonomy. It realizes that the decisions she may make are based on many influences of which the expertise of the professional is only one. It requires that all relevant information be made available tothe woman to help her achieve her own goals, and that she be guided butnot directed by professionals she has chosen to share the responsibility for her care.
"The practice of family-centered maternity care is founded on this philosophy and encompasses birth practitioners, birth places, and maternity-newborn care, as determined by the needs and choices of each woman and her family."
Mother-Baby Care
At our hospitals, mothers and babies are not seen as separate individuals. Care is designed around the two of you together, an "ensemble" whose medical and emotional needs are complementary. Maternity and nursery nurses coordinate your care, so that you and your baby are able to take best advantage of your time for learning about each other. Mother-Baby Care works hand-in-hand with flexible rooming-in(below) to assure you have the skills and experience needed to parent successfully when you leave the hospital.
Flexible Rooming-In
Flexible rooming-in allows you and your baby to determine the amount of time you want to spend together. At our hospitals, mothers may elect to room in part-time (e.g., during the day) or full-time...or to go back and forth between the two options. The more your baby is with you, the more experience you will have when you go home; but there are times whena long nap—with the knowledge your nurse will bring the baby if the baby is hungry—is the best medicine.
All Types of Anesthesia
Your preferences for pain relief are completely up to you. Some women labor with little or no medication, and some women have epidural anesthesia during much of labor. At our hospitals, we believe the choiceis between you and your physician or nurse-midwife. You have a full range of options, and we have the staff to provide support for your decision.
NICU and BonSecoursNICU.net
While most births are completely normal, all of our hospitals have neonatologists and neonatal intensive care units, just in case. Go to our High-Risk section for more information on neonatology, NICU and BonSecoursNICU.net—our innovative computer link program between babies in our NICU and parents at home, as well as resources for high-risk pregnancies, preemies and multiples.
Female OB-GYNs
Women often have a preference in the gender of their health care providers. At our hospitals, we have both male and female OB-GYNs available.
Certified Nurse-Midwives
Certified nurse-midwives, or CNMs, are licensed health care practitioners educated in the two disciplines of nursing and midwifery. Most were nurses first, and then went back for a master's degree in nurse-midwifery. CNMs provide primary care to women of childbearing age,including prenatal care, labor and delivery care, care after birth, gynecological exams, newborn care, assistance with family planning decisions, preconception care, menopausal management and counseling in health maintenance and disease prevention.
At Bon Secours, CNMs practice with physicians so that the full range of care is available to women at all times.
Doula Services
The word "doula" refers to an experienced woman who helps women during labor, delivery and/or the post-delivery period. The doula provides the mother with physical and emotional support along with her partner. Although fathers play a vital support role, sometimes additional help isneeded. With a doula, a father can share in the birth at the level where he is most comfortable. The doula’s skills and knowledge can help him to feel more relaxed and to participate as much as he wishes in the birth, assuring the mother of full labor support at all times. Doulas working with Bon Secours-affiliated providers and with our parents are welcome at all Bon Secours hospitals.
Lactation Consultants
Lactation consultants are specially trained and certified to assist mothers with breastfeeding preparation and learning successful breastfeeding skills. They are available at all our hospitals and at A Woman's Place, located in the Bon Secours Center for Family Health in Innsbrook, and can often make the difference for a positive, long-lasting breastfeeding experience. Call 804-340-BABY [2229] for more informationor to locate a lactation consultant near you.
New Baby Call-In
At 3 a.m., when your new baby is doing something unexpected and you can't decide whether or not to call the baby's doctor, our nurseries provide a safety net. Feel free to call our New Baby nurses. We're up and happy to help.
