Eastside Medical Centers Offer Variety of Delivery Options for Moms-to-Be

If you are pregnant, or contemplating trying to have a baby soon, you know one of the big decisions you’ll need to make is where you want to deliver your baby. On the Eastside, the majority of moms labor and deliver at either Evergreen Medical Center or Overlake Hospital. Some moms also choose to deliver at the Puget Sound Birth Center.

Eastside mom Diana Danforth delivered her son at Overlake on January 17, 2010.  She liked her obstetrician, who delivered at Overlake, so that was the basis for her decision.

Danforth said she found the labor class she and her husband took there very helpful. Even so, Danforth said she is not sure if she will choose to deliver there again.

Although her day labor nurse was fantastic, Danforth said her night labor nurse was not as helpful during what was the toughest part of labor for her. In the end, she ended up delivering with another doctor, not her own OB.

Danforth's advice to other moms: “I would say get to know the other people in your doctor's practice so you know who the potential others may be.”

Ann-Marie Speirs gave birth to her daughter Alena on May 14, 2005. She also had to remain “flexible” in her labor and delivery. Speirs planned an “out of hospital birth” at the Puget Sound Birth Center but ended up transferring to Evergreen Medical Center due to complications. 

Speirs offers some great advice to moms who are pregnant with their first child.

“Look into having a doula present at your birth," she said. "Attend parent-baby classes after your baby is born at either the Puget Sound Birth Center or Evergreen. Both are very baby-friendly and were much more valuable than any classes or planning that I did for the actual birth."

And don’t despair, Speirs said, if the birth process does not go as planned.

“Advocate for what you want, but realize that there are some things out of your control," she said. "While the birth experience is something that you will remember for the rest of your life, the most important thing is a healthy baby and healthy mommy."

Labor And Delivery Options for Eastside Moms

Evergreen’s Family Maternity Center in Kirkland was the first U.S. hospital to receive a "Baby Friendly" designation from the World Health Organization and UNICEF back in 1996, said Evergreen spokeswoman Sherry Grindeland.

"We're still considered a national leader in supporting and encouraging breast feeding," Grindeland said.

More than 4,000 babies were born at Evergreen last year. The hospital's 68 providers deliver and provide fetal medicine services including obstetricians, family practitioners and midwives. Many moms labor, deliver and recover in the same room. The hospital offers a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with single-room or private care room that allow families to “room-in.” It also provides a “ante-partum” unit for high risk pregnancies.

Evergreen offers all new families free “birth-to-three month” classes, regardless of where they give birth.

“We don't care where you had your baby, you're welcome to come to our classes where we will help you through the first few months of parenthood,” Grindeland said.

To schedule a tour of the Family Maternity Center at Evergreen, call 425-899-2000.

In Bellevue, Overlake’s Childbirth Center is committed to providing families with a supportive and welcoming environment, said hospital spokeswoman Karen Johnson. The size of Overlake's maternity center is similar to Evergreen's, with a staff of 68 OB/GYNs, perinatologists and 15 certified nurse midwives.

Moms labor and deliver in a private suite equipped with a special birthing bed, rocking chair, jetted tub, birth ball and recliner. After the baby’s birth, Johnson said families move to a private room equipped with a shower, flat-screen television and wireless Internet. The hospital also provides a 12-page menu for moms and their partners that is available around the clock.

Many support services are available at Overlake to moms with complications, including two cesarean birth rooms and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

“The NICU is staffed with specially trained neonatal physicians and nurses who can care for your baby around the clock," Johnson said. "And because family support is an important part of your’s baby’s recovery, a recliner or cot is available at baby’s bedside to keep you close.”

Overlake also offers an extensive number of childbirth preparation and early parenting classes, including post-partum follow-up care at clinics in Bellevue or Issaquah.

Overlake gives tours of its birth center year-round; families can set up an appointment by visiting the center’s website.

At Puget Sound Birth Center (PSBC) in Kirkland, women can choose to experience a different birth process than mothers typically go through in a hospital center. Some of the center's advantages, PSBC’s Liz Chalmers said, are an emphasis on the support of normal labor, the use of physiological pain coping and fewer time limits. Water births are also possible, she said.

More than 200 babies were born at the center last year, and there are six resident midwives on staff.

Delivering at the PSBC is not an option for everyone, as the center does not provide C-sections, forceps, epidurals, narcotics or inductions involving pitocin or cytotec. The center is located just two blocks from Evergreen Hospital, and patients are often transferred there in emergencies.

Moms and partners who are interested in the birth center can take an online tour of the center’s beautiful suites by visiting the website or contact the center for more information at 425-823-1919.