Pregnancy Resources
The MetroHealth team delivers about 3,000 babies a year, providing individualized care for each mother and baby to start life with the healthiest possible outcome.
Questions: 216-778-4830 | Birthing Center | Choose an OB
Pregnancy Resources
The MetroHealth team delivers about 3,000 babies a year, providing individualized care for each mother and baby to start life with the healthiest possible outcome.
Questions: 216-778-4830 | Birthing Center | Choose an OB
Pregnancy Resources
Newly Pregnant
Congratulations! As you begin your pregnancy journey, there are several steps you should take in the first trimester to give your baby the healthiest start.
Step 1: See Your Provider
The first trimester of pregnancy is the most important to your baby’s development, so you should start care right away. Find a MetroHealth obstetrician or family medicine provider near you at 216-778-4444.
Choosing a MetroHealth Obstetrician
Step 2: Subscribe to our Pregnancy Care e-Newsletter
Get information about your pregnancy journey and what to expect when delivering at MetroHealth - all tailored to your due date.
Step 3: Consider Joining a Centering Pregnancy Group
CenteringPregnancy is a special group for pregnant women that includes more time and attention in a group setting. You’ll meet with your provider and other women, who are due near the same time as you, for 10 sessions during your pregnancy.
For more information or to learn the criteria for eligibility, call 216-210-4908.
Step 4: Sign Up for Childbirth Education Classes
MetroHealth offers a robust series of childbirth education classes, breastfeeding support, and classes for family members. It’s an added benefit of being a MetroHealth patient!
For more information, e-mail [email protected].
Step 5: Schedule a Tour
Sign up for a tour of the new Birthing Center at The MetroHealth Glick Center. With private patient rooms, spacious showers, natural light, comfortable furniture, and pull-out beds for overnight guests, you have everything you need to make this a positive and memorable experience.
Step 6: Practice Healthy Habits
Your health directly impacts your baby’s growth and development, so it’s important to:
- Stop smoking: Get help from MetroHealth’s Online Freedom From Smoking program
- Avoid alcohol
- Do routine low-impact exercise that includes stretching
- Limit caffeine intake
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep per day
- Take prenatal vitamins, available over-the-counter at MetroHealth pharmacies across Northeast Ohio
- Eat a healthy diet that includes plenty of vegetables, foods high in fiber, calcium, and folate, and drink 8 glasses of water per day
- IMPORTANT: Avoid soft cheeses, lunch meat, seafood high in mercury (tuna, mackerel, swordfish), unpasteurized foods, and undercooked meat.
Preparing for Delivery
The Birthing Center at The MetroHealth Glick Center
As you progress in your pregnancy, you’re starting to think more about your baby’s delivery. At MetroHealth, you’ll receive the highest-quality patient care, specially trained doctors, and a compassionate care team devoted to your health and well-being—all in a brand-new facility.
When to Come to The Birthing Center
- You are having painful, regular contractions that are coming every 4-5 minutes.
- You are having contractions and your due date is more than one month away.
- Your water breaks.
- You have bleeding from the vagina.
- Your baby is moving less than normal.
- Your doctor provides you with other instructions.
You should call 911 and ask to be taken to the nearest hospital if you have heavy vaginal bleeding, can see the baby when looking between your legs, or if you pass out or have a seizure.
Not sure what to do? Call MetroHealth’s Labor and Delivery unit at 216-778-4830.
Go Time: Arriving at the Hospital
- Bring your photo ID, insurance card, and select an emergency contact person.
- Do not drive yourself if you are in labor. You can use valet parking or the visitor parking garage on View Road, just east of Scranton Road.
- You will enter through the Emergency Department, visit the guest services desk, and ask for directions to The Birthing Center, or take the F elevators to the third floor.
Two adults are permitted to stay with you throughout your labor and delivery.
Doula Program
MetroHealth offers the birthing option of working with a doula. Doulas are trained to provide physical and emotional support for the laboring mother before, during, and just after the birth.
Talk with your childbirth educator for more information about doula services.
Note: Doula availability may be limited.
After Delivery
- After birth, assuming there are no complications, your baby will be placed skin to skin with you for the first hour of life. This helps with bonding and eases a baby’s transition to life.
- A nurse will regularly check the baby’s vital signs and assist you with feeding your baby. We encourage breastfeeding for new mothers. Colostrum (early milk) functions like your baby’s first immunization.
- For security and identification purposes, you, your baby, and your support person will receive a unique set of identification bands. These should not be removed until everyone is home.
- A typical stay is 24-48 hours for a vaginal birth and about 3-4 days for a Cesarean birth.
- Make sure to bring your baby’s car seat for the ride home. Find a location to get your car seat checked at www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-seats-and-booster-seats.
- MyChart helps you manage your family’s healthcare online. Ask your provider for an access code or request a code online at metrohealth.org/mychart.
Visiting Hours
Visiting hours are 9 a.m. - 7:45 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. on weekends. One support person (age 18 or older) is welcome to stay overnight. All visitors must be 16 years old and older, and we recommend limiting visitors to two per day, so you and baby get the rest you need before going home.
Breastfeeding Clinic and Support Groups
MetroHealth has resources for mothers and children to receive high quality medical care for any issue related to breastfeeding. The clinic is staffed by a nurse practitioner and a family physician who are both certified lactation consultants. These are medical visits that are covered by most insurance.
To schedule an appointment for the breastfeeding clinic, call 216-778-2222.
To be connected to a breastfeeding support group, call 216-778-3337.
Infant Safety Class
This one-time class is for expecting or new parents and will provide you with ways to increase safety in your child’s living spaces. Learn how to avoid injuries and keep your baby safe everywhere you go.
Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Program
The MetroHealth’s Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Program offers nurse home visits to low income women pregnant with their first child. NFP follows the family until the child is two years of age. The focus is on improving pregnancy outcomes, child health and development, and family self-sufficiency.
For more information, call 440-592-3837.
Find a Provider
Obstetricians for You
Pediatricians for Your Baby
Obstetricians for You
MetroHealth obstetricians work with our experienced nursing staff, providing the individualized care you need. Find an Obstetrician
Pediatricians for Your Baby
MetroHealth is dedicated to providing your baby with care every step of the way. Find a PediatricianCornerstone of Hope: A safe and compassionate environment to express feelings, emotions and experiences related to grief.
First Wednesday of every month | 6:00 pm. to 7:30 pm
First Meeting: June 7
MetroHealth Main Campus | Rammelkamp Connor Auditorium (Room R170)
Register
Learn more about your pregnancy journey and what to expect when delivering at MetroHealth - all tailored to your due date.
SubscribeMetroHealth has partnered with Babyscripts to provide mothers with the information they need at every stage of pregnancy.
Ask your MetroHealth obstetrician about connecting you with the Babyscripts app.
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