More expectant parents choose to deliver their babies at Norton Hospital and Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital than anywhere else in the region. From the moment you walk into our hospital, you’ll know we’ve taken great care to make you and your family feel right at home. Here’s an overview of what you can expect when your labor and delivery day arrives.

It’s Time!

If you’re planning a vaginal delivery, talk with your provider about the signs of labor so you will know when to head to the hospital. Assuming you are in labor and far enough along in the process when you arrive, you’ll be moved to labor and delivery.

If you require a scheduled cesarean section, your doctor will discuss how to prepare and when to arrive at the hospital.

Labor, Delivery and Recovery Rooms

Our labor/delivery/recovery (LDR) concept means you go through labor, have your baby and recover all in one private, comfortable room. We also have fetal monitoring and other advanced technologies, including specially equipped suites for cesarean deliveries. In these cases, the operating room is used for the birth, and the LDR room is used for recovery.

We also have special suites equipped with the latest technology when fetal monitoring is needed. Every room is private to ensure your comfort.

Labor and Delivery Nurses

Labor and delivery nurses assist you during the entire childbirth experience, including early and active labor, delivery and the immediate postpartum period. A labor and delivery nurse will be assigned to you and be your point person as you progress through labor.

Pain Management

Norton Healthcare has the region’s only anesthesiologists dedicated exclusively to obstetrics. An anesthesiologist is available to administer pain relief such as an epidural or spinal block.

Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital also has labor tubs, which allow laboring moms to be immersed in warm water for comfort. You should discuss this option with your provider prior to going into labor.

Time for Delivery

A medical staff person will check on you periodically as labor progresses and will be there when it’s time to deliver your baby. Depending on whether your practice rotates on-call providers, this may or may not be the OB/GYN or midwife you’ve been seeing. Norton Healthcare also has an OB/GYN hospitalist program staffed by doctors who provide inpatient and emergency care for women in labor and delivery.

Rooming-in

Rooming-in allows you and your baby to be cared for by the same nurse in the same room. Norton Healthcare encourages rooming-in as part of our family-centered approach.

From Hospital to Home

After delivery, you can use your time in the hospital to rest, recover and bond with your baby. Norton Healthcare will help you every step of the way to ensure your transition from hospital to home goes smoothly.

On the day you go home, you’ll receive discharge instructions about your recovery and the immediate care needs of your baby.

What to Expect from Norton Women’s Care

More mothers in Louisville and Southern Indiana choose to deliver their babies at Norton Hospital or Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital than with any other hospital system in the area.

We deliver more than 8,000 babies a year. We’re close to you with more than 90 providers at more than 25 locations around Louisville and Southern Indiana. Choosing Norton Women’s Care gives you many options for how delivery day could go — all with the confidence of knowing that our obstetrics and pediatric specialists are there to help. With Norton Women’s Care you’ll find:

• The birth experience you want. You can choose natural childbirth, a midwife, labor tub, nitrous oxide and other birthing options. We’ll recommend a C-section (cesarean section) or induced labor only if it’s medically necessary.
• Preparation. Our specialists offer the support you need, including free Lamaze and other childbirth classes, new parent classes, breastfeeding support, child safety classes and more.
• Confidence and quality in care. Norton Women’s Care has been recognized as High Performing — the highest rating available — for maternity care with fewer complications and C-sections, plus breastfeeding support and other benefits.
• The highest level (Level IV) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Louisville and Southern Indiana at Norton Children’s Hospital, and a sophisticated Level III NICU at Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital.
• Around-the-clock OB/GYN care at Norton Hospital and Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital emergency departments.
• Board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialists who can help guide you through a high-risk pregnancy, from preexisting diabetes to a fetal echocardiogram to diagnose a congenital heart defect before a baby is born.
• Convenient access to your medical record. Communicate with your health care provider, get lab results, renew prescriptions and more through your free MyNortonChart account.