Labor and delivery

Women in Jacksonville and Orange Park trust our team to provide the high-quality, compassionate maternity care they deserve when delivering their babies. Mothers who choose us benefit from comfortable rooms and flexibility in childbirth to create a personalized experience.

Our maternity ward uses the latest medical equipment to monitor the health of mom and baby throughout the labor and delivery process. If the need for a Cesarean section (C-section) arises during labor, we can easily transport moms to an operating room. Our staff is experienced in vaginal and C-section deliveries and includes some of the region's most experienced doctors, nurses and nurse midwives.

We have a five-bed triage and treatment room where we assess expectant mothers for emergent and non-emergent conditions. We have three operating rooms available for Cesarean deliveries on the unit.

Our birthing suites

Whether you are a first time mom or an experienced one, pregnancy is one of the most important times of your life. With this in mind, we designed our birthing suites to offer a home-like atmosphere that emphasizes comfort and safety. Our maternity ward offers:

• 30 private mother/baby rooms
• Nine private labor, delivery and recovery (LDR) rooms, so all phases of childbirth take place in the same room
• Large, private spaces designed to accommodate labor, delivery and immediate postpartum recovery for you and your family
• Soothing setting with the latest medical equipment

We have an on-site special care nursery, our Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), for infants who require additional medical care following birth. This lets us offer both you and your baby access to high-level advanced care in one facility, so you can stay together as much as possible.

To help introduce your new arrival to friends and family members, photos of infants recently born at our hospital are available on Mom365. Images are password-protected.

We are here to provide the help and support many new mothers need during the early days of breastfeeding. Our lactation department provides personalized care for you and your baby, which includes:

• Breastfeeding support group
• Educational materials
• Follow-up calls after delivery
• In-hospital visits and support
• Prenatal breastfeeding classes
• Telephone help-line to answer questions about breastfeeding

Our hospital is proud to be the area's first Human Milk Donation and Outreach Center. We joined the network of Mother's Milk Bank (MMB), a non-profit organization benefiting women and babies nationwide. The MMB is the largest non-profit milk bank in North America and has been providing lifesaving donor milk for more than 30 years.

A single ounce of human breast milk can feed a premature baby for an entire day. Babies in need of neonatal intensive care depend on the nourishment provided in human donor breast milk when their own mother's milk is unavailable. Breast milk offers many benefits, including protecting babies from illness and infection.

Breast milk is essential for any baby with a weakened immune system or special dietary needs. Donor breast milk can be used in cases of adoption, surrogacy and multiple birth (twins, triplets, etc.), or when a mother's milk cannot be used due to illness or certain medications.

How to donate breast milk

If you are interested in becoming a donor of human breast milk, please call our lactation department at (904) 639-3515 or visit Mother's Milk Bank. Prospective donors will be asked to:

• Complete a blood test, at no cost
• Complete an online, comprehensive screening form
• Provide information to a lactation consultant during a pre-screening phone call
• Submit medical consent forms

Once these steps are completed and you are approved, the MMB will provide containers, shipping materials and no-cost shipping.

Receiving safe, free donated breast milk

To preserve the original value of breast milk donated to the Human Milk Donation and Outreach Center, we ensure it is tested and processed before given to babies to drink. The MMB does not compensate women for their breast milk. It is strictly provided on a donation basis. This allows us to provide safe, contaminant-free nourishment for babies and minimal processing fees for hospitals.

The cost of a hospital stay typically includes required nutrition. Because of this, families do not incur any additional cost for using human donor milk while in the hospital.