Oakland families are now benefitting from the improved Family Birthing Center at Highland Hospital — part of the hospital’s recent $670 million renovation. It offers cutting-edge technology and access to teams of midwives, obstetricians, and nurses in a comfortable, home-like setting.
Exceptional Facilities for Newborns and Their Families
Housed in Highland Hospital’s new Acute Care Tower, the Family Birthing Center offers expectant parents everything they need for a safe and welcoming labor and delivery. The Center strives for child- and mother-focused care, with the goal of implementing the family’s birth plan whenever medically possible and appropriate. A team of skilled maternity specialists is on site and are open to collaborating with doulas throughout the birthing process.
The newly built facility has numerous amenities, including:
- A 24/7 team of obstetricians, Certified Nurse Midwives, and labor and delivery nurses
- Private labor and delivery rooms
- High-tech monitoring solutions that allow mothers to move around more freely during labor
- Spacious post-partum suites with room for visitors and loved ones
- 24-hour room service for expectant mothers
- Improved NICU facilities that allow a mother to stay with her newborn
- Wide hallways for ease of access and patient movement
- Noise-reducing materials in the walls and floors for a more peaceful environment
Additionally, the Family Birthing Center is open to delayed cord clamping and bathing, which some families prefer for parent-child bonding and other purposes.
For two years in a row, the Family Birthing Center was recognized by the California Health and Human Services Agency and Smart Care California for its dramatic decrease in Cesarean (C-section) births for low-risk, first-time mothers. Currently, Highland Hospital performs fewer low-risk C-sections than the 2020 federal target of 23.9%. The hospital attributes this reduction in C-sections to the presence and talent of their nurse-midwife team.
A Baby-Friendly Hospital
Labor and delivery are just two of many phases of childbirth. Highland Hospital’s skilled team of OB-GYNs, nurses, pediatricians, and lactation specialists step in once a mother has safely delivered her child. They work to ensure that parent-child bonding isn’t limited due to medical care and monitoring — helping to spark close and loving relationships that will last a lifetime.
Since 2012, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have designated Highland Hospital as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. (The hospital is currently in the re-designation process.) Baby-Friendly Hospitals comply with a series ten of guidelines that are considered best practices in newborn care, focusing on skin-to-skin care, breastfeeding support, and keeping infants with their mother (rather than in a closed nursery). The hospital also offers a wide variety of prenatal and postpartum classes and support services.
Highland Hospital and Canopy Health: Partners in Infant Wellness
Canopy Health is proud to include Highland Hospital’s Family Birthing Center as a major asset in our expanding alliance. Its patient-focused, baby-friendly approach benefits mothers, infants, and their extended families and reflects our alliance’s dedication to refreshingly clear, human care.
Reference:
Highland Hospital makes California honor roll (2018, January 19). Alameda Health System. Retrieved from http://www.alamedahealthsystem.org/highland-hospital-makes-california-honor-roll/