Maternity Services

Whether you're thinking about having a baby or are already pregnant, one of the many important decisions you will make is where to deliver.

Bringing more than 5,200 babies into the world each year, Baptist Health offers parents-to-be four hospital choices throughout our region: Baptist Medical Center Downtown, Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Baptist Medical Center Nassau and Baptist Medical Center South. Each provides skilled maternal and newborn care and a beautiful place for your baby's "birth day."

Our maternity units were designed with the family experience in mind. New parents will enjoy personalized, family-centered care in a homelike environment at any of our hospitals.

Our skilled, caring obstetricians, perinatologists (high-risk specialists), anesthesiologists, neonatologists and pediatricians, along with our midwives and nurse practitioners, have the experience and expertise to make your baby's birth the safest and most pleasant it can be.

Our broad range of programs and expertise help you and your partner prepare for pregnancy, then guide you through a routine or high-risk pregnancy to the birth of your baby. Special attention is given to meeting your family's expectations of the birthing process. Services include:

• Infertility diagnosis and treatment
• Prenatal care
• Prenatal testing
• Genetic counseling
• Perinatology for high-risk pregnancies
• Specialized care for multiple pregnancies
• Obstetrical anesthesia
• Non-pharmaceutical childbirthing support
• Rooming-in
• Lactation support
• Postpartum care

We Specialize in Children

Baptist Health includes Wolfson Children's Hospital, the area's only pediatric inpatient facility, should your baby need its specialized services.

Wolfson offers Wolfson newborn intensive care services at Baptist Downtown and Baptist South. With 48 beds, the Florida Level III Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Baptist Downtown was designed for critically ill newborns. Additional space, advanced technology and trained health care professionals, along with a comfortable and roomy parent area, provide warmth, intimacy and extraordinary care for our tiniest of patients. Special attention is given to lighting, noise control and overall design.

Baptist South's new 14-bed level II NICU cares for babies born as young as 32 weeks with a higher acuity than is provided in a newborn nursery. Babies requiring ventilation, surgery or who have other, more critical needs would continue to be transferred to Wolfson Children's Hospital's level III NICU, as they are now.

Education for Parents-to-Be and Families

Baptist Health offers a variety of childbirth and family classes throughout the year. Please call 904.202.2229 for times and dates, fees and reservations. Programs are offered in at two Baptist Medical Centers in Jacksonville, at Destination Maternity at the St. Johns Town Center, Baptist Beaches in Jacksonville Beach, and at Baptist Nassau in Fernandina Beach. They include:

• Family-Centered Childbirth
• Preparing for Childbirth
• Childbirth Refresher
• In-Home/Hospital Childbirth Class
• Breastfeeding Your Baby
• Prenatal Yoga
• Fit Moms Prenatal Exercise
• Parenting Series
• Sisters and Brothers-To-Be
• Family & Friends CPR
• Baby Signing
• Mommy and Me Postpartum Workout
• Understanding Hysterectomies
• Healthcare for Post-Childbearing Women
• Menopause Class
• Support Groups
• Infertility Support Group
• Pregnancy Loss Support Group
• SIDS Support Group
• Community Education
• Infant and Child Basic Life Support (Course "D")
• Infant and Adult Massage