Labor & Delivery

We want you to have the best experience possible when you deliver your baby. Our new labor and delivery suites at Riverside Regional Medical Center are designed to let you have the birthing options you desire, in a setting that is safe and comfortable.

If you are looking for information on labor and delivery specifically on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, please read about Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital and visit their Maternal/Child Health unit.

Labor And Delivery Suites
Our labor and delivery suites are located on the second floor of the Main Tower. The unit has 12 labor and delivery rooms along with three rooms for OB Emergency/Triage. Labor and delivery also has two state-of-the-art operating suites, a two-bed postanesthesia care unit and a presurgery room for scheduled procedures.



 

We provide all of these amenities:

  • Spacious rooms
  • 24/7 visitation for family and friends *
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • Room service
  • Labor hydrotherapy (two private rooms with labor tubs; showers in all others)
  • Ambient lighting for increased comfort measures
  • Surround sound via patient's music device through your AV cable
  • Pink-noise helps minimize outside noise
  • Wireless & waterproof fetal monitoring, allowing moms to move freely during labor and for ease of monitoring
  • Access to birthing balls, including peanut balls to aid in the labor process
  • Immediate skin-to-skin contact for mom and baby bonding
  • Family centered C-section (cesarean) birth
  • 24/7 anesthesia coverage
  • Vein illumination technology to help with difficult IV placement
  • Level III NICU with secure NICView cameras to see your baby
  • 24/7 neonatology

Our Antepartum Unit
If you need to be admitted to the hospital prior to your expected delivery date, you will be welcomed into an antepartum room. This specialized area specifically cares for women during their pregnancy. This includes high-risk pregnancies and for women who have complications arise during pregnancy. Located directly in Labor and Delivery, the antepartum area has four spacious family-centered rooms that feature refrigerators and tables to share a meal with family and friends, along with TV and DVD player in each room.

Visitor Policy
We understand that it is an exciting time for the expecting parents as well as everyone who knows the family. In order to keep our patients and babies safe, we limit visitors to four people in the labor suite at one time. Here is our visitor policy:

  • Visitors lounge outside of labor & delivery so visitors can take turns if needed
  • May be restricted to two or less if patient condition warrants
  • C-section (cesarean) births are limited to one visitor
  • A doula or birth photographer is counted as a visitor

Pictures / Videotaping / Live-streaming
Many families take pictures and videos at the delivery, but please discuss any detailed plans with your physician prior to your delivery date, and with your labor and delivery nurse upon arrival.

  • Photographs are permitted
  • Videotaping of the birth is not permitted
  • Live streaming is not permitted
  • No photographs of staff should be taken without their permission
  • You may be asked to stop videotaping or taking photographs, if patient condition changes
  • Birth photographers are permitted, however they count as a visitor and are included in the total number of visitors allowed

We have packing lists that may be helpful for you and your baby here: Packing Your Suitcase.

Parking
If you arrive Monday - Friday, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.:
We have complimentary valet service at the Tower entrance. A member of the valet staff will greet you there. Your visitors can also use the free valet service.

If you arrive on the weekends, or before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on a weekday:
Valet services are not available during these slower times, so please feel free to park wherever most convenient in any of the Patient/Visitor parking areas. There is a Riverside Shuttle that can transport you to the Tower entrance from the parking areas on the Riverside Regional Medical Center campus.

And, if you arrive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.:
Our Tower entrance is usually locked overnight. Simply press and release the call button that you'll see at the Tower entrance to tell the person that you are here to have your baby.

Checking-In
When you enter through the Tower entrance, please go directly to Labor and Delivery, located on the second floor. You'll take the elevators from the Tower lobby to the second floor and follow the signs to Labor and Delivery. One of our team members will assist you to your room. A team member will visit you in Labor and Delivery to complete your registration details.

Pain Management
Some women manage the discomfort of labor by using prepared childbirth techniques, the birthing ball, warm showers, and/or systemic medication administered through an IV.

Other women choose to have epidural analgesia. This is a commonly used method to provide complete relief from the pain of labor or C-Section (cesarean) birth. It involves an injection into the epidural space through your lower back. Riverside Regional Medical Center is the only Peninsula hospital to offer obstetrical anesthesia coverage 24/7. You can speak to one of our anesthesiologists during your stay in Labor and Delivery.

Your Privacy
Our staff will not release information about your progress over the phone, to protect your privacy. You can personally update your family from the privacy of your own room.