Delivering Your Baby at JFK Memorial Hospital

At JFK Memorial Hospital, our goal is provide you with a birthing experience that is healthy, safe, and fulfilling. With a tight-knit team that will feel more like family, we’ve provided mothers in our community with a personalized birth experience for more than 50 years.

Why Choose Us?

Doula-Friendly Delivery
Doulas are becoming more and more popular as members of the birth team. Expectant moms see the value in hiring a “birth coach” who can help them through many aspects of the labor and delivery process—from their home to the delivery room and then back again.  Doulas can help provide mental support, physical coaching, and even massage during key parts of the labor process. At Hi-Desert Medical Center, we welcome doulas as part of the birth team. Our nurses have great respect for the support that doulas provide and good working relationships with local doulas in our area. That’s why even in the time of COVID-19, we welcome expectant moms to bring both a family member/support person as well as their doula.

If you would like your doula to be present during your birth, your doula’s credentials must be reviewed and accepted by the hospital prior to the delivery date. To submit your doula’s credentials for review, please submit at least two weeks prior to your due date to: [email protected]

Pediatricians from Loma Linda University Health
Loma Linda University Health pediatricians provide care to all of our newborns and pediatric departments. Some of their services include caring for newborns, consulting with pediatric patients in the emergency room, and admitting and treating pediatric patients in the hospital. The pediatricians also serve as teachers for Desert Regional’s Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine Residency Programs.

Personalized Experience
Our specialized team accommodates the individual needs of each delivery to ensure a tailored, comfortable experience. We understand that each mom-to-be has a different vision for how to give birth and we are committed to help you reach this goal. We do that by:

• Honoring your birth plan
• Supporting natural birth
• Providing Medically-induced birth if requested
• Welcoming your Doula
• Allowing patient to bring their own aromatherapy devices
• Honoring personal rituals
• Encouraging the use of birthing balls/peanuts, walking around, movement

Golden Hour Skin-to-Skin Support
At JFK, we know the importance of immediately bonding with your baby and how the golden hour right after birth is the best time to do this. This entails:

• Delayed cord clamping
• Skin-to-skin contact for at least one hour
• Early initiation of breastfeeding
• Delaying non-urgent tasks such as weighing, measuring, and bathing

Skin-to-skin contact for the first hour immediately after birth has shown:

• Increased bonding between mother and baby
• Encourages the uterus to contract and stop bleeding
• Breastfeeding within first hour improves infant health
• Mothers who engage in golden hour skin-to-skin are more likely to breastfeed longer
  

We do not separate mother and baby after birth. Your newborn will sleep in a bed alongside you. If during routine testing the baby must leave the room, we invite the mother and support person to come along.

During Pregnancy

• Classes and Preparation for Diabetic Mothers: Our Sweet Success program offers classes, support and other tools to help mothers who have pre-existing diabetes, or have developed diabetes while pregnant.
• High-Risk Pregnancies: A Maternal Fetal Medicine Center is available for high-risk pregnancies at our sister hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center. This team of specialized doctors will monitor you throughout your pregnancy to help ensure a healthy outcome for you and your baby. To learn more about this specialized program click here.
• Scheduled Inductions: Your doctor may schedule an induction date for you. Please be aware that unscheduled and emergency procedures take priority over scheduled inductions—so your induction may be delayed if patient rooms and resources are full. First-time moms must be scheduled at 40 weeks.

During Delivery and Your Stay at JFK Memorial Hospital

COVID-19 Information: Click here to read about how we are keeping you and your baby safe in the time of COVID-19. Or watch this video to hear directly from a Desert Care Network patient about the experience of delivering during COVID-19 at one of our hospitals.

LDR Rooms:  Our 15-bed unit offers private rooms to maximize comfort for mom and baby. COVID-positive patients are in a separate location and have separate staff to maximize safety.

Breastfeeding: Our Maternal/Child staff is educated on the importance of breastfeeding from admission to discharge. The nurses observe the Golden Hour, latching within the first hour, and support throughout the hospital stay. The staff takes the necessary steps to ensure successful breastfeeding by educating, supporting, and encouraging mothers to breastfeed.

Lactation Consultant: The International Board-Certified lactation Consultant is available to enhance the breastfeeding experience, to answer any other questions and assist with breastfeeding issues.

To pre-register for your delivery, click here.