Your birth experience will be one of the most memorable events in your
life. Women and Newborn Care at East Jefferson encourages a family-centered
approach to maternity care offering expectant mothers, fathers, and loved
ones the comfort of private labor, delivery, and recovery suites. We’ve
listened closely to the choices that expectant parents make along with
their physicians and have worked hard to honor your choices with options
and amenities that make each delivery unique.
Your room
Free wireless internet
24/7 room-in with baby
Board certified lactation consultants
Partner can sleep in room
Your labor
24-7 In-house anesthesia coverage
24/7 In-house obstetrician (hospitalist)
Pain relief options
Support for natural childbirth
Epidurals
Breathing techniques
IV pain control
Your delivery
Birthing mirror
Cord blood banking
Instant skin-to-skin contact
Skin-to-skin contact after C-section
Newborn photography
Donor milk if medically indicated
Advanced fetal monitoring
Dedicated cesarean surgery suites
Dedicated transition nurses to coordinate post-birth experience
Safe Sleep
At East Jefferson General Hospital, we follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’
safe sleep recommendations to help keep babies healthy and reduce the
risk of sleep-related incidents. From placing your baby on their back
for every nap and nighttime sleep, to ensuring a firm, clutter-free sleep
surface, these guidelines are designed to create the safest possible environment
for your little one.
A level recommendations:
Back to sleep for every sleep.
Use a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface to reduce the risk of suffocation
or wedging/entrapment.
Feeding of human milk is recommended because it is associated with a reduced
risk of SIDS.
It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents’ room, close
to the parents’ bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants,
ideally for at least the first 6 months.
Keep soft objects, such as pillows, pillow-like toys, quilts, comforters,
mattress toppers, fur-like materials, and loose bedding (such as blankets
and nonfitted sheets), away from the infant’s sleep area to reduce
the risk of SIDS, suffocation, entrapment/wedging, and strangulation.
Offering a pacifier at naptime and bedtime is recommended to reduce the
risk of SIDS.
Avoid smoke and nicotine exposure during pregnancy and after birth.
Avoid alcohol, marijuana, opioids, and illicit drug use during pregnancy
and after birth.
Avoid overheating and head covering in infants.
It is recommended that pregnant people obtain regular prenatal care.
It is recommended that infants be immunized in accordance with guidelines
from the AAP and CDC.
Do not use home cardiorespiratory monitors as a strategy to reduce the
risk of SIDS.
Supervised, awake tummy time is recommended to facilitate development and
to minimize the risk of positional plagiocephaly. Parents are encouraged
to place the infant in tummy time while awake and supervised for short
periods of time beginning soon after hospital discharge, increasing incrementally
to at least 15 to 30 minutes total daily by age 7 weeks.
It is essential that physicians, nonphysician clinicians, hospital staff,
and child care providers endorse and model safe infant sleep guidelines
from the beginning of pregnancy.
Risk of SIDS: Proper swaddling technique should allow the hips to be flexed and abducted
to reduce the risk of exacerbating developmental dysplasia of the hip.
Discontinue swaddling once the infant shows signs of rolling.
It is advised that media and manufacturers follow safe sleep guidelines
in their messaging and advertising to promote safe sleep practices as
the social norm.
Continue the NICHD “Safe to Sleep” campaign, focusing on ways
to reduce the risk of all sleep-related deaths. Pediatricians and other
maternal and child health providers can serve as key promoters of the
campaign messages.
B level recommendations:
Avoid the use of commercial devices that are inconsistent with safe sleep
recommendations.
C level recommendations:
There is no evidence to recommend swaddling as a strategy to reduce the
risk of SIDS.
Continue research and surveillance on the risk factors, causes, and pathophysiological
mechanisms of sleep-related deaths, with the ultimate goal of eliminating
these deaths entirely.
Eight Components of Safe Positioning for the Newborn While Skin-to-Skin:
The birth certificate office at East Jefferson helps new parents complete
the application for the newborn's birth certificate. A birth certificate
coordinator will contact you in the hospital for additional information
about the baby's birth certificate and social security card. FAQ and forms
are available at this link.
