CHI Saint Joseph Health - Mother & Baby Care, Mount Sterling

Our comprehensive services include:

• Advanced fetal heart monitoring
• Board-certified lactation consultant
• Continuous epidural availability
• Expressly-for-you personal service dining
• Family waiting room
• Level 1 newborn nursery
• Private and spacious "home-like" suites with sleeper sofas
• Separate cesarean room with optional VBAC
• State-of-the-art imaging

Usually, mother and baby stay an average of two days.

This decision is generally made in partnership with the laboring mom, physician and nurse.

We encourage rooming in, or keeping your baby in your room, most of the time.

We recommend coming to the birth center:

• If your water breaks or starts leaking
• If you are full-term and having contractions every five minutes that are becoming progressively stronger
• If you are pre-term and having four or more contractions per hour that do not go away with rest and hydration
• If your baby is not moving at least 10 times per hour
• If you have any vaginal bleeding

The items listed are not all-inclusive. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your physician or the hospital.

After your baby is born, you will need some time to recover both physically and emotionally.  Our postpartum rooms are private and spacious and allow new moms and families to bond with their new baby.

Yes. Kangaroo Care (skin-to-skin contact) has been shown to provide many benefits to both parents and babies, including:

Benefits to the baby may include:

• Increased parent-infant bonding
• Comfort from hearing the parent's heartbeat
• Earlier breastfeeding
• Increased breast milk supply
• Continuous breastfeeding for longer periods of time
• Increased deep sleep states
• Increased oxygen level

Yes. We offer board-certified lactation counselors to help educate and support new mothers and their families on the importance of breastfeeding.  Each room comes with a glider for mothers to make breastfeeding more comfortable.

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling's Birth Center offers prenatal breastfeeding classes to ease the transition into breastfeeding. Classes are taught by certified lactation consultant and registered nurse Sarah Willoughby the first Thursday of every month, from 6 to 8 p.m. Registration is required. Call (859) 497-5491 for more information. Bring a pillow and a baby doll or a stuffed animal.

Yes. Equipped with advanced monitoring and technology, our Level I newborn nursery is staffed by skilled and caring obstetricians and nurses who are all there to put you at ease while your baby is not with you. All staff members are certified in neonatal resuscitation.

To ensure the safety of your newborn, we use the state-of-the-art Hugs® security system where an electronic tag is attached to one foot, which allows them to be monitored 24/7. In addition, our birthing center is a locked unit with secure systems of check-in and check-out.  You can rest easy knowing your baby is comfortable, safe and in a secure environment.