What to Expect at the Hospital

We will make sure your stay with us is as comfortable as possible. That means once you get here, you'll be assigned one of our birthing rooms. It has a comfortable bed, recliner and bedside monitoring equipment. An adjoining bathroom has a large tub. You'll stay in this room for labor, birth and recovery. After that, we will move you to our special Post Partum Unit where you and your family can get to know your baby.

When you arrive, we will escort you to your birthing room where we will assess your labor and monitor your baby's heart rate, tolerance of labor and general state of well-being. Your labor and baby's birth will progress from there under the watchful eye of your provider and the attentive Carle staff.

If you have a birth plan, we will always try to follow your plan unless it becomes medically necessary to alter it for the safety of you and your baby. If that happens, a doctor will discuss the situation with you.

Cesarean Birth

A cesarean birth is a procedure in which the doctor surgically delivers your baby. While it might seem frightening at first, it can be just as joyous and rewarding as vaginal birth. A cesarean birth may be needed for a number of reasons - your baby is in distress or in the wrong position, your pelvis is too small, your baby is too large, your labor isn't continuing or you had a previous delivery by cesarean birth.  Cesarean births take place in the obstetrical operating room.

Post Partum Unit

 Once you have recovered from the birth of your baby, you and your newborn will be moved to our Post Partum Unit. Here, friends and family can visit, and you and your partner can begin to get to know your new baby.  Your baby will spend most of his/her time in your room with you. Your nurse will monitor your recovery and teach you to become self-sufficient in feeding, bathing and diapering your baby.