At North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, we understand that pregnancy is a special time in a woman's life. We are here to ensure you have a safe and comfortable delivery. Our labor and delivery services are designed to provide you with a personalized experience while ensuring the highest quality medical care for you and your baby.
We offer the best in family-centered maternity care. We foster this by focusing on the physical, social, and emotional needs of you and your family. This means personal birth choices and an environment where bonding with your baby is easily facilitated, providing peace of mind during one of life’s most important times.
One way we accomplish this is through our contemporary labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum rooms that allow families to stay in one room until after the delivery. Each one of our fully-decorated suites features an electronically-controlled birthing bed, which provides varying degrees of back support and body positions throughout delivery.
NARMC is one of only 33 hospitals in the state that continues to deliver babies. We recently received our Baby-Friendly re-designation and are the only facility within 50 miles to have this designation. This indicates that we are following the latest recommendations set forth by the WHO, CDC, and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for infant birthing and feeding practices. Additionally, this designation upholds policies and teachings on enhanced mother-baby bonding and enables families to make informed decisions about infant feeding, ensuring a baby's nutritional needs are adequately met.
We pride ourselves in offering birthing practices that are baby and family oriented. We do this to make the transition to life outside the womb as smooth as possible for our babies and give parents the tools and resources needed to give their babies the best start in life. Everything you and your doctor need to deliver a healthy, happy baby is waiting for you at North Arkansas Regional Medical Center.
Labor Process
While you are in labor, our nurses will constantly interact with you and your family, providing education and support throughout the labor and delivery process. Walking and movement are encouraged to help with pain management. Epidural anesthesia and pain medication are available for use during labor and delivery.
Delivery Process
Following the Baby-Friendly philosophy, your baby will be placed skin to skin at the delivery. With warm blankets and a hat, the baby will remain skin to skin for one hour or until the first feed. This facilitates bonding as your baby transitions to life outside the womb. If you are breastfeeding, the baby will be placed to breast as soon as possible after the delivery. Should you require a cesarean section, you will be moved to our surgical delivery room. Your labor nurse and physician will be part of the surgical team accompanying you every step of the way.
Baby Care After Delivery
After about an hour of skin-to-skin contact, the baby will be examined, weighed, and foot printed all without leaving your room. The baby will not leave your room until you are ready to be discharged home. This commitment to premier mother-baby care is evidence that NARMC is committed to be your preferred healthcare provider going forward.
Visitors
To align with our philosophy of family-centered care, visitors will be permitted based on the patient’s wishes, ensuring you are supported by those you choose to provide comfort and encouragement during labor and delivery. In order to protect the safety, privacy, and security of all our patients, we ask that your visitors limit trips in and out of the unit. The exterior doors lock at 10:00 p.m. and open again at 6:00 a.m. During this time, we ask that visitors are kept to a minimum to promote rest for you and your new baby.
Infant Safe Sleep
NARMC is a Certified Safe Sleep Hospital. All personnel who deliver care to children less than one year of age are trained in current safe sleep guidelines. We strictly adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for safe sleep for all infants under 12 months of age who are admitted to our facility. We also strive to provide comprehensive education on safe sleep using the guidelines provided by the AAP.
At North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, we are committed to providing you with the highest quality care and support during your pregnancy and childbirth journey. We look forward to being a part of this special time in your life and helping you welcome your new bundle of joy into the world.
Back To Sleep
Babies should always sleep on their back.
Share A Room
Infants should share a bedroom with their parents, but not the same sleeping surface, preferably until the baby turns 1 but at least for the first 6 months.
Co-Sleeping
Parents should avoid co-sleeping at all times. Placing an infant on their own sleeping surface but within reach of their caregiver is recommended by experts.
Firm Sleep Surface
An infant should be placed on their back on a firm sleep surface such as a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet. The sleeping surface should be otherwise bare- no blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, or bumpers.
At North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, we are committed to providing you with the highest quality care and support during your pregnancy and childbirth journey. We look forward to being a part of this special time in your life and helping you welcome your new bundle of joy into the world.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) created the ACH Nursery Alliance to support newborn nurseries around the state so that more babies can receive expert specialty care close to home in the hospitals where they are born.
As a part of the Nursery Alliance, our nursery works with specialty newborn doctors, nurses and other clinical staff at Arkansas Children’s Hospital to share best practices and discover new ways to improve newborn care.
The Nursery Alliance also provides resource support and training opportunities through this partnership to elevate the health and wellbeing of babies and their families throughout the state.
Benefits of being a part of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Nursery Alliance:
- Shared best practices and protocols
- Real-time collaboration utilizing advanced technology
- Networking
- Comparative benchmarking
- Quality improvement opportunities
- Improving the health of neonates in local newborn nurseries and communities across the state
Learn more at https://www.archildrens.org/programs-and-services/arkansas-childrens-hospital-nursery-alliance.