The Childbirth Center at St. Joseph Hospital offers quality patient care and family-centered maternity services for Moms-to-be and their families, as well as specialized safety features and the only Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on the north coast.

Personalized Care
Caring for a tiny human being for nine months is exciting, exhausting and exhilarating. The experience will change your life - and the lives of everyone around you - in wonderful, unforgettable ways. And we look forward to sharing this very special time with you. At St. Josephy Hospital, we know that pregnancy can bring loved ones together in beautiful new ways. That’s why we offer family-centered maternity services. You can share the birth of your baby with a labor partner, and with other special people in your life, if your Physician or Midwife approves. Your entire family can participate in the educational process if you wish. We also make a special effort to prepare you for all aspects of having a baby. We believe it’s important for you to know the experience will affect you physically, socially, and emotionally.

Classes
We offer many classes for Moms and their families, like classes for first-time parents, review courses for experienced parents, educational programs for women planning to deliver vaginally after having had a previous baby by Cesarean section, and courses for women who want to breastfeed. We also offer a "Preparation for Birth Series" for mothers-to-be and their labor partners so they can share the birth experience and learn how to care for their newborn. There’s even a class for youngsters ages who are anticipating the arrival of a new brother or sister. For a full description of the current classes offered, see Classes and Events.

Delivery Choices
Choice is nothing new at St. Joseph Hospital, where we’ve dedicated an entire floor of our new patient care wing solely to offering women a full range of birthing options. You can labor, deliver, recover and stay in one of our cozy, homelike rooms called an LDRP, with friends and family by your side. With the help of your Physician or Midwife you can decide how you want to deliver your baby, the environment in which you want to give birth, how much you want your family and friends to participate in the experience, and how you want to care for your baby after delivery. You can select any one of a variety of medications to alleviate the discomforts of labor, including anesthesia, or choose to deliver without medication.

Laborist Program
St. Joseph Hospital partners with local Laborists - Obstetricians and Certified Nurser Midwives who work in Labor and Delivery - from the Center for Women's Healthcare and Eureka OB-GYN Associates. One of them is at the hospital 24 hours a day to examine patients, evaluate the progress of labor, react to laboratory abnormalities, and provide a safe delivery. If an emergency with your or your baby occurs, the Laborist is already on the scene, ready to respond with lifesaving intervention. Laborists are also available at the hospital whenever a patient or family member has a question regarding care.  Click here to learn more about the Laborist Program.
Photo by Bob Pottberg ( bob@bobseye.com )

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
St. Joseph Hospital is pleased to offer our patients the only Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on the north coast. You can take comfort in knowing that we offer special care for premature or sick infants. The NICU is staffed by a team of highly trained nurses, technicians and therapists, and a neonatologist is available for phone consultation 24 hours a day. Chances are you won’t need these services. But as many women have told us, it’s just reassuring to know they’re available if the need arises.

Quality Staff and Services
Whatever options you choose from the many available alternatives, you can count on the caring support of the nurses and staff in The Childbirth Center. They think of themselves as facilitators who are privileged participants in your family’s birth experience. And they believe strongly in personalized care. So whether your birth plan includes anesthesia such as an epidural, analgesic - or prepared childbirth without medication - our nurses will encourage you, support you, and help you. It makes all the difference in the world.

Security Features
Both the maternity and pediatrics departments have specialized security equipment and procedures.

Pediatric Services
We aim to provide the best services in healthcare services for the children of Humboldt County. The hospital has a highly trained nursing staff, as well as specialized security equipment and procedures. Our Emergency Room is a designated Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics (EDAP). This designation means that the St. Joseph Hospital ER has specialized policies, equipment, and standards for providing and monitoring emergency pediatric care.