Sacred Heart Hospital Mother-Baby Unit
Here at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital Mother-Baby Unit, we are honored to be a part of your special day. We offer compassionate care in a comfortable and modern birthing center featuring spacious rooms, state-of-the-art equipment, and our experienced and caring staff.
Benefits of Sacred Heart’s Mother-Baby Unit
Privacy and Comfort
Our beautiful unit features modern labor, delivery and postpartum rooms, as well as spacious, private recovery rooms. Our recovery rooms provide space for one support person to stay with you overnight and for family and friends to visit during the day. We encourage you and your baby to remain together, but when needed, our newborn nursery is always available.
Experienced and Knowledgeable Staff
Our staff brings extensive education and years of experience to your bedside. From labor to breastfeeding, our staff is here for you. If you need a c-section, our surgical staff and mother-baby unit staff are available to meet your needs before, during and after surgery.
Safety and Security
St. Mary’s Sacred Heart makes birthing safer and more comfortable with sophisticated equipment, skilled staff, and up-to-date anesthesia medicines and techniques. Our Mother-Baby Unit also features patient safety equipment and protocols to provide security and peace-of-mind for you and your baby.
Sign-up for a class or book a tour
Our Mother-Baby Unit offers childbirth classes and department tours. Please call the unit at (706) 356-7942 for more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Decide which items you and your baby will need during your stay and the trip home. Put them into a carrying bag to grab on your way to the hospital, or – better yet – keep it in your vehicle so that it’s there when the time arrives.
- Photo ID and current insurance card/information
- Camera and/or smart phone, extra card, and charger. Please note: Deliveries may not be videoed, but still images are allowed.
- List of contacts
- Music player and/or iPod docking station
- Eyeglasses or contact lens case with solution
- Labor support aids, such as massage lotion and focal point
- Personal hygiene items, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, lip balm, comb and brush, deodorant
- Book or eReader
- Your laptop – free wireless internet is available
- A robe, nightgown, slippers
- Snacks
- A comfortable support bra and if breastfeeding, a nursing bra
- Clothing for you to wear home
- Clothing for baby to wear home and several receiving blankets
- Baby book (so the nurses can put footprints in the book for you)
- Your pillow, if you wish. We provide plenty of hospital-grade pillows for your use. If you want to bring your own, please use a brightly colored pillowcase so we do not mistake it for one of ours
- We do not allow candles, incense, or anything that burns
- Follow your doctor’s instructions.
- When you arrive at the hospital, register at the registration desk in the Emergency Department lobby.
- It may be best to notify family and friends after your labor status has been determined.
- Remember to bring your bags!
The Sacred Hour is reserved for mother and baby to rest and begin bonding shortly after birth. It’s a quiet time when we encourage mother and baby to be alone together with only one support person present. After this hour is complete, visitors are welcome at your discretion.
During the Sacred Hour, mother and baby will be skin-to-skin. This helps regulate your baby’s temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and blood sugar levels. Some other benefits of skin-to-skin contact during the Sacred Hour include:
- Easier adjustment for your baby
- Increased bonding with your baby, and
- Early initiation of breastfeeding
It’s an hour you will cherish forever.
After you deliver, plan on staying at least 24 hours up to 2 nights for a vaginal delivery, and 3-4 nights for a Cesarean section. Complications may affect length of stay.
- Dial “9” to make an outside call.
- Your nurse can provide you with a number that may be used for people to dial directly to your room.
- We will gladly hold calls and take messages for you if you prefer. It may be best if you encourage family and friends to wait until you contact them.
- Staff members are not permitted to give out patient information over the phone.
- Main switchboard number is (706) 356-7800
- Mother-Baby Unit nurses station is (706) 356-7942
- Note: Cell phones ARE permitted in the Mother-Baby Unit.
- Siblings of the new baby are welcome!
- To protect the health of you and your new baby, visitors with symptoms of a cold, flu, or COVID infection are not permitted. Note: Visitation may be affected by COVID levels. Please see the Visitor section of our website for up-to-date information.
- So that we may protect the privacy of all patients, visitors are not permitted to wait in the hallway. All visitors are asked to wait in the Family Waiting Area.
- The number of visitors during labor & delivery is at the discretion of your nurse and your physician. Please remember that we may limit the number of visitors during this time in order to ensure you receive the best care possible.
- During initiation of the epidural, only one support person may remain in the room until the epidural has been placed and mom has been stabilized.
- There may be times when your physician or nurse recommend you do not receive visitors. This is most common when you are receiving treatment for increased blood pressure.
- Following a Cesarean Section, visitors will be encouraged to wait in the Family Waiting Area for approximately one hour following completion of surgery.
- One family member may spend the night with mom while in the hospital. Please remind the overnight visitor to bring appropriate pajamas.
We welcome compliments for our staff, but also appreciate your input on opportunities for improvement. Please contact the Nurse Manager at (706) 356-7950. Your call will be returned as soon as possible.
- You will be asked to complete information for the birth certificate before leaving the hospital.
- If the mother and father are not married, they must sign a paternity acknowledgement in order for the father to be listed on the birth certificate.
- To get certified copies of the birth certificate, contact your county health department or the Georgia Office of Vital Records.
- Choose a pediatrician before you come to the hospital. Many require a prenatal visit before accepting newborns as patients.
- To be discharged from St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital you must have a car seat installed for your baby. Learn about car seat requirements in Georgia, and other helpful car seat resources. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department can have a Nationally Certified Car Safety Seat Technician inspect your child safety seat for free.
- We provide access control to the entrance of the Mother/Baby Unit.
- At delivery, three infant ID bands will be provided with identical information and numbers (one for mom and two for baby). All bands will be put on at delivery.
- There is an infant electronic security detection system in place which is activated for every newborn at delivery. This system is integrated with alarms and electronic door locking devices to prevent exiting when a newborn is in close proximity to the exit doors.
- When transporting in the halls, newborns are always pushed in a bassinet and never carried in anyone’s arms.