Babies Get the Best Start at Our Birth Center

Labor and Delivery

When it’s time to give birth, most moms-to-be would like the comforts of home combined with the expertise and high-tech equipment needed if anything unexpected comes up. The maternity unit at Penn Highlands DuBois has private rooms with soft, calming lighting and warm decor. But don’t be fooled by how it looks. Each room also includes the most up-to-date equipment and there’s a specially trained team using evidence-based practices ready to provide expert obstetrical and neonatal care should you need it.

To add to your comfort, you can stay in one room from the time you’re admitted through labor and delivery until discharged. If you do require cesarean delivery, you’ll go to one of our specially equipped operating rooms nearby for your baby’s birth, then return to a postpartum room until it’s time to go home.

Most women who delivery vaginally, stay in the hospital 48 hours. Those who have a cesarean section, typically go home in about 96 hours. While those are the averages, some women may develop a health issue that requires a longer stay.

We know labor can be long and exhausting, so our team wants to do everything we can to keep you comfortable, ease your pain, and facilitate a trouble-free delivery. To help make that happen, we follow your birth plan as closely and as safely as possible, whether you desire a drug-free labor and delivery, use of an epidural, or use of birthing aids such as a jacuzzi tub or birthing balls, which can help get a baby to the correct position and cut down on back strain. We also offer “peanut” balls, which can help reduce labor pains. Moms who choose to have an epidural, will be cared for by experts from our anesthesia department.

For moms-to-be who want to walk and move during labor, we provide patients with the Monica Novii wireless monitoring system—a small, but accurate fetal heart rate monitor that is beltless and cordless. It also records the maternal heart rate, so our team of obstetrics nurses can monitor both mom and baby in real time.

Expert Care for High-Risk Deliveries

There are many reasons a pregnancy or delivery could be considered high risk. But in the right hands, the odds for a positive healthy outcome are good. Whether you’re having a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section), twins, or you need an emergency cesarean, the obstetricians, anesthesiologists, and perinatology experts at Penn Highlands DuBois birth center, along with our specialized nurses and neonatal intensive care teams work together to ensure that you and your baby get quality care.

Specialized Care for Newborns with Special Needs

Some babies need a little extra care after they’re born. For newborns who are premature, critically ill, or just need some specialized TLC, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, at Penn Highlands DuBois can provide the highest level of care.

Our state-of-the art NICU is the only one in our region. It has 16 beds and all the equipment and tools needed to provide the best care to our littlest patients. Nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and social workers—all with specialized training and certifications—staff the unit under the oversight of a board-certified neonatologist who is our medical director.

Some babies may be at risk after they’re born due to drugs or medications their mothers took during pregnancy. Babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) can experience symptoms of withdrawal and require a longer hospital stay. The Neonatal Abstinence Success program at Penn Highlands is aimed at helping mothers get medication-assisted treatment during pregnancy, which can make it easier for babies with NAS to recover and thrive.