Sentara RMH Medical Center - Family Birthplace

Pre-registering is a great first step to begin your journey with Sentara. This allows you to share important information with providers, including your birth preferences. Once you’ve pre-registered, you can sign in to Sentara MyChart any time of day to:

• Message your provider
• View test results
• View visit summaries
• And more

To pre-register, call 757-736-0191 or pre-register online.

Not sure what to ask your provider at your first prenatal appointment?
We have you covered. See our list of questions.

Our advanced labor and delivery facility includes:

• Spacious, private rooms where you can labor, deliver and recover in comfort
• Low intervention birthing suites with birthing balls and other tools
• Whirlpool tubs for relaxation during labor
• OB Hospitalist team on-site 24/7 to assist you with your baby’s birth in the event your regular provider is unavailable
• Cesarean birth operating room with optional clear drapes located on the maternity unit
• Outpatient neonatal consultations and an intermediate care nursery for newborns who need advanced medical attention
• Daily consultations with lactation specialists
• The option to keep your baby in the room with you throughout your stay
• The Family Birthplace Boutique, which offers breast pump rentals and outpatient lactation consultations

If your obstetrician thinks your pregnancy may be complicated or baby may need special medical attention, they can connect you with one of our neonatologists. Consultations take place in the nursery and include a review of your needs, a tour of the nursery and an introduction to frequently used equipment.

Consultations are a great time for you to ask questions and learn more about what to expect when you give birth. A consult letter will be sent to your obstetrician after consultation.

At Sentara RMH Medical Center, we've partnered with Ob Hospitalist Group (OBHG), the industry's largest dedicated OB/GYN hospitalist provider. This guarantees board-certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OB/GYN) physicians and certified nurse midwives (CNMs) are available around-the-clock to help women who are pregnant, in labor, have just given birth, or are in need of urgent gynecologic care.

Consider them an extension of your maternity care team, which includes your OB/GYN provider, and the nurses and staff of Sentara RMH Family Birthplace.

An extra layer of comfort and safety

Throughout your pregnancy, you’ll work closely with your OB/GYN team on your prenatal care, and to develop your birthing plan and goals. In the event that your OB/GYN physician or midwife is not available when you arrive at the hospital, the OB Hospitalist team at Sentara RMH is always on-site to assist you.

Visit Sentara Pregnancy and Birth to learn what to pack and what to expect during your stay.

Pregnancy and birth: common questions

When you arrive, please go directly to the Family Birthplace on the third floor and ring the doorbell. The unit is always locked for the safety of you and your baby.

If you arrive between:

• 5:30 AM and 9 PM, enter through the main hospital entrance (parking lot A)
• 9 PM and 5:30 AM, enter through the emergency department (parking lot E)
  
  

During your labor, we offer a variety of pain-management tools, including:

• Birthing balls
• Nitrous oxide
• Peanut pillows
• Birthing stools
• Whirlpool tubs

You're welcome to bring your own music and aromatherapy (no real candles, please) to help you relax.

• The mother and a support person can visit our nurseries at any time. We will provide ID bands for them to wear.
• The mother may allow up to four people to visit her baby in the special and intermediate care nurseries.
• Nursery visitors must show picture identification and be accompanied by the mother or a support person or be on a designated list.
• Siblings may visit the special and intermediate care nurseries, but must be accompanied and constantly supervised by a parent or designated support person. If siblings are under the age of 5, please limit their visit time to 30 minutes. The parent/support person may be asked to remove a sibling from the area if they become frightened or disruptive during their visit.
• All visitors must disclose recent illness, fever, or exposure to contagious diseases.
• The care team may limit the number of bedside visitors depending on the state of the newborn and safety and space limitations.

We recognize the benefits of immediate skin-to-skin contact and encourage it whenever possible in the birthing and operating rooms. About two hours after birth, our staff will move you and your baby to a private room in the Mother-Baby wing of the Family Birthplace for postpartum recovery.

These rooms are close to the nursery and under the watchful eye of the maternity nurses. Every room includes Wi-Fi and a sleep sofa for your partner or other visitors.

We also follow numerous security protocols to make sure your baby is safe, including keeping their photo on file.

We encourage you to check out by 1 PM on the day you're discharged. At this time, you’ll receive important information about:

• Caring for your baby and yourself
• Bonding with your baby
• Safety best practices
• Community resources for new parents

To learn how to properly install your baby's car seat, you can schedule an appointment by calling 540-810-0527.

Lactation consultants are available to new mothers every day. They also provide one-on-one outpatient consults to assist you and your baby with successful breastfeeding once you've gone home. Rental breast pumps are available.

If you have questions, need assistance with breastfeeding or wish to schedule an appointment with a lactation consultant, call 540-689-3320.