Brookwood birth logistics

Planning on having your baby at Brookwood? Here’s some information we’ve gleaned while working there as doulas. We hope these tidbits will help make your birthing experience as wonderful as possible:

During Pregnancy:

1. Register on-line for Brookwood’s Prenatal Hospitality Package.
2. This program is available to all parents who give birth at Brookwood Baptist. Just fill out the form on their web site to receive a booklet with coupons for valet parking and meals. Register no later than your sixth month of pregnancy and allow 2–3 weeks for delivery.
3. Talk to your care provider about your plans for birth and create a birth plan. Have your care provider put the birth plan in your chart. Share your birth plan with your doula. Print a copy and put it in your hospital bag. Not sure what you want in your birth plan? Attending our childbirth classes will help you learn about all your options and when/why they are important.
4. As soon as possible in your pregnancy, visit the hospital to fill out Brookwood’s Hospital Preadmission Form. Go to the Women’s Hospital lobby admitting office, on the 1st floor (that’s below where the Birthing Suites are on the 3rd floor.) Ask to complete your preadmission forms. Bring your insurance card and driver’s license to complete the preadmission process. Doing it in advance will save you having to deal with this when you arrive to have your baby! This is for the Hospital, not your OB office. Even if they are in the same building.
5. You can also save time and reduce the number of questions they ask you during admission by filling out a “Labor and Delivery Admission Assessment” form. This is especially helpful if you plan to labor at home for a while and arrive at the hospital in active labor, or if your labor goes FAST. You can down load a copy from our website here. Print and fill it out at home, bring it with you when you arrive at the hospital in labor, and hand it to the admitting nurse.
6. Labor tub: If you think you may want to labor in the tub, talk to your care provider about this in advance so that you and your OB can discuss when this is possible and when it’s not. Then sign the water labor forms. If you don’t get this done in advance, you can still do it in labor, but its best if you do it ahead of time. Remember, using the tub will depend on how your labor goes, and which OB is on call.

In Labor:

1. When you think you may be in labor: Call your doula and let her know. Please DON’T TEXT if you want to be sure she got your message!
2. Call your OB to let her/him know you are in labor, or when you are on your way to the hospital. Remind him/her about your birth plan. The OB will call Labor and Delivery and let them know you are on your way. They will also request a labor “order set”. If the OB knows you are planning a “natural birth” the OB can request the “unmedicated order set”. This special order set is different from the standard protocol, and includes things like intermittent monitoring, freedom to drink (and sometimes eat), freedom to move around, a saline lock, etc. This order set will take effect as long as everything is OK when they do your admission assessment (see below). Asking for this order set lets the nurses on the unit know you are planning an unmedicated birth. It helps them choose the right nurse for you, saves time and helps your nurse get you off the monitor and into your labor groove faster! It’s a great idea to discuss this with you’re your care provider when you talk to her/him about your birth plan!
3. When arriving at the hospital, if you want a nurse to meet you in the parking lot or if you want a wheelchair, you can request this when you come through the gate to the parking deck connected to the Women’s Hospital. Use the intercom at the gate to ask security to alert a nurse from Labor and Delivery.
4. Parking: There are parking spots designated for people in labor, right near the doorway on the first floor of the deck attached to the Women’s Hospital. OR if you need to, you can just pull up by the door. You can come back later to move your car. There are parking spots for pregnant women in the Yellow Parking deck too, right near the elevator. If you are arriving at night (not during business hours), there are usually plenty of parking spots in the deck attached to the Women’s Hospital.
5. When you get into the Women’s Hospital, go to the 3rd floor.
6. The nurses will take you to triage, or to your room. Only one person (usually) is allowed with you into triage. More people can come with you to your room. If you don’t want to be separated from someone, you can insist that person stay with you.
7. Let the nurses know if you plan to labor in the tub so they can get you into the tub room, or a regular room that is big enough to accommodate the inflatable tubs.
8. When you go to your regular room, more people can join you if you want. Remember: Labor and Birth are not a spectator sport!

We hope you have a beautiful birth AND a healthy parent and baby! Let us know if we can help :)
                                                                                                                           ~ BirthWise in Birmingham