Maternity Care Hospital Basics

Your Room
Your room contains a special bed that is controlled by push buttons. Your nurse can show you how to adjust it. Television controls and nurse call light are also located on the bedside rails. When you activate the nurse call light, the nurse or unit coordinator will talk to you over the intercom system.

Cots
We are happy to provide cots for your convenience. We ask that the cot be folded and covered by 7:30 each morning so that we may provide care to you and your family in a safe environment. Cot sheets may be placed in a laundry bag when you are discharged.

Cellular Phones
Cell phones are permitted in the 5th floor waiting area and in patient rooms. Cell phones are not allowed in the hallways or other patient care areas. Please be advised that there may be times when you are asked to refrain from cell phone use because the phone may interfere with the electronic medical monitoring equipment. There is also a phone in each room for your use. Some families purchase prepaid phone cards for long distance calls.

Hand Washing
Please ask guests to make use of the antibacterial hand-washing dispenser located inside the door of your postpartum room before and after handling your baby. This is especially important for any children who may visit, as they are more susceptible than adults to the random germs that surround us all. Never let anyone handle your baby unless he or she has washed his or her hands correctly.

Smoke-Free Campus
As a leader in the health care field, Newton-Wellesley has a special responsibility to offer a clean and healthy environment. Tobacco use in and around the Hospital can pose health and safety risks for patients, employees and visitors. Consistent with our mission to create the best environment possible, Newton-Wellesley’s campus is completely tobacco and smoke free

Use of the Nursery
We believe that mothers rest and sleep more comfortably when their babies are close by them. We encourage you to keep your baby with you in your room. It is important to know that breastfeeding frequently and without long interruptions helps you establish a good milk supply and may also prevent painful engorgement. And, feeding often helps your baby to have frequent bowel movements and to reduce the likelihood of jaundice. If you are having trouble settling and comforting your baby, your nurse will be happy to help you.

Rooming In
Rooming In is an arrangement in the hospital where a newborn infant is kept in the mother’s hospital room instead of in a nursery.

How will my baby and I benefit from Rooming In?

• Rooming In encourages the attachment of mother and baby.
• Rooming In maximizes mother and baby’s joyful interaction.
• Rooming In enhances baby’s natural physical connection to his/her mother.
• Rooming In gives confidence for night time parenting.
• Rooming In provides more opportunities for success for breastfeeding mothers.
• Rooming In enables babies to get to know their mothers by using their sense: feeling their mother's warmth, hearing her heartbeat, smelling her. This increases babies' feelings of safety and well being, and makes it easier for them to adapt to life outside the womb.
• Rooming In enhances early attachment of mother and infant, which has a positive effect on the baby's brain development. Both other and baby's attachment instinct is highest during the first days of life.
• Rooming In also helps babies regulate their body rhythms, heart rate, temperature and sleep cycles.
• After the birth, Rooming In is the most important way to keep mothers and infants connected as they begin their life together.

Skin-to-Skin Contact

Skin to Skin care during your recovery and newborn transition period on the labor delivery unit provides important benefits to your newborn. These include stabilizing  your baby’s body temperature and blood sugar as well as facilitating bonding and breastfeeding initiation. As there are potential risks associated with unobserved skin-to-skin care, our nursing staff will closely observe you and your infant and will help you find the correct skin-to-skin position. As a result of these risks, routine skin-to-skin care is not recommended beyond the early hours of life. Please feel free to discuss these issues with your health care team.

• Stabilize your baby’s body temperature
• Stabilize your baby’s respiratory rate
• Stabilize your baby’s heart rate
• Stabilize your baby’s blood sugar
• Help your baby grow and develop
• Build your baby’s immune system

Newton-Wellesley Hospital supports the use of safe Skin-to-Skin after delivery. Skin-to-Skin positioning involves placing the infant “on their tummy” on the parent’s chest.

• During safe Skin-to-Skin, the parent and infant are active participants. This position is not recommended for a sleeping infant or a sleeping parent.
• Our maternity staff at Newton-Wellesley Hospital will be helping parents learn about proper infant positioning during safe Skin-to-Skin to make sure that the infant’s nose and mouth are not blocked and the infant is breathing comfortably.
• We will be providing close observation when Skin-to-Skin positioning is used in the first few hours of life.

Quiet Time on the Maternity Unit
Each afternoon between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 pm the Maternity Unit at Newton-Wellesley Hospital will “quiet down” so you may have uninterrupted time to rest with your new baby. The only interruption during this time would be for essential patient care.

Having this Quiet Time will benefit you and your baby by decreasing your fatigue, increasing bonding time and allowing you to become familiar with your baby’s feeding cues. Please ask that your visitors delay their visit with you until after that time of day.

Professional Baby Photography
A baby photography service is available on the unit. You will be asked to sign an authorization form in order for the photographer to visit you in your room. More information regarding this service will be available to you during your hospital stay.

Fragrances
Please be mindful that newborns can be very sensitive to scents and fragrances. Please ask your guests to refrain from using scented fragrances such as colognes, perfumes, aftershave, soaps, lotions, powders, deodorants, hair sprays and other hair products while visiting you during your Hospital stay.

No Latex Balloons Allowed!
Did you know that non-inflated latex balloons or fragments could be inhaled and lead to serious injury or death? For this reason, latex balloons are not allowed in the hospital. Mylar balloons are a safe and acceptable substitute to latex balloons. Mylar balloons can be purchased in the Gift Shop located on the first floor next.

Outpatient Lactation Services at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Many mothers need additional breastfeeding support after they are discharged from the hospital. NWH offers new mothers and babies a free Breastfeeding Support Group and an on-site Outpatient Lactation Clinic. Please call the Lactation Office at 617-243-6314 for more information on outpatient lactation services at NWH.