Midwives at Ochsner Baptist in New Orleans

The Perkin Alternative Birthing Center was named a 2020 "Triple Aim" recipient from the American College of Nurses and Midwives. "Triple Aim" Best Practice recognizes practices that meet the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "Triple Aim" of improving the patient experience, reducing the cost of care and improving the health of mothers. This is demonstrated by high breastfeeding rates and low preterm birth and cesarean rates.

As you prepare to welcome your baby into the world, there are many things to consider. We invite you to personalize every aspect of your birth plan for comfort and peace of mind. Explore your options regarding pain relief, delivery methods, breastfeeding and newborn care to help ease any concerns and give you confidence on that special day. 

The Perkin Alternative Birthing Center offers the highest levels of medical care for both you and your baby and a variety of personalized options designed to meet your labor and delivery needs, goals, and expectations. We offer choices like water birth, wireless monitoring so you can walk during labor, lactation assistance from award-winning consultants and care from certified nurse midwives.

Pregnancy is an exciting, special time in a person’s life. We offer wellness-oriented prenatal care and use this time for testing and screenings to identify potential issues. Prenatal visits also allow you to meet and get to know all of the midwives who will be with you during childbirth.

You are strongly encouraged to attend a natural childbirth class, especially if you are having your first baby. The midwives will discuss class options with you and require you and your partner to attend this meaningful orientation.

View our Prenatal Classes and Childbirth Education

Our birthing rooms are designed to give you a comfortable environment to labor and can be personalized to your own needs. We encourage you to bring your own music to listen to, food and (nonalcoholic) beverages to enjoy, and even your own clothing to wear during your labor process.

Our birthing rooms are spacious and have room for family. We also have a microwave and refrigerator are provided in each birthing room, along with a large tub and shower.

Hydrotherapy is a wonderful tool for labor, which is the use of warm water to support comfort and pain relief during labor and delivery. You may want to wear a sports bra or bathing suit top in the tub. Your partner should also bring swim clothes if you want them to support you in the tub.

We start IVs only if necessary and will monitor your baby’s heartrate regularly with a handheld waterproof Doppler.

You may bring in your own birthing ball, if you'd like additional support or relief as you labor.

Although we have many water births, sometimes women use the tub for labor but deliver outside the tub for various reasons.

Tell the midwives if you have any religious, spiritual or personal rituals that you want to incorporate into your labor, birth or postpartum experience.

In addition, there are some clinical reasons why you may not be eligible for laboring or delivering in the tub. Please discuss with the midwives if you are a candidate for laboring or delivering in the tub.

You are welcome to invite your family members and friends. There is a family room and shared kitchenette for your use. We also have a waiting room by our office space and a large waiting area on the other side of the elevators. We welcome brothers and sisters and ask that each child have an adult support person with them.

Please talk to the midwives about preparing your child or children for this event

Nurse-midwives care is for healthy women having low-risk pregnancies. During your initial visit with one of our midwives, they will screen for risk factors to determine if you're eligible for midwifery care. These may include diabetes, chronic high blood pressure and heart disease. 

Some conditions during pregnancy that require care from a physician include:

• Insulin-dependent gestational diabetes
• Preeclampsia (high-blood pressure that develops during pregnancy)
• Persistent breech position (when your baby is positioned feet-first in the uterus)

The Perkin Alternative Birth Center has two rooms with tubs, rooms with showers and two portable, waterproof monitors that can be used for constant fetal monitoring while still allowing for mobility and hydrotherapy.

If you will be induced or have a planned vaginal birth after a C-section, you'll be cared for by midwives in the Labor & Delivery unit on the sixth floor. 

In some cases, our patients may need to be transferred to the sixth floor Labor & Delivery unit. Some cases for transfer include desire for an epidural, fetal heartrate concerns requiring continuous monitoring, maternal fever, high blood pressure, the presence of meconium (stool passed by newborn in utero), excessive bleeding, need for Pitocin (medication to induce labor) and other complications. 

If you are transferred, in most cases, the midwife can still deliver your baby. If forceps, vacuum or a C-section is needed, the on-call staff obstetrician will deliver your baby.

For non-emergency assistance, such as lab tests, financial questions or scheduling issues for our nurse-midwives, call 504-894-2881 during clinic hours. Clinic hours are Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For urgent medical issues, such as bleeding, not feeling the baby move, or signs of preterm labor or actual labor, call 504-842-3595. An operator will take your message and immediately contact the nurse-midwife, who will call you within 15-20 minutes. If your call is not returned, call 504-842-3595 again and ask to stay on hold to speak with a midwife. Do not leave a message on voicemail if you have a medical issue that needs immediate attention. Please note that an OB/GYN physician may call you back if we do not have a midwife on call. These physicians work with the midwives and will be able to advise you on next steps.

Our pediatricians usually require a 24-hour stay for a newborn baby. In most cases, you will stay with your family. If you or your baby needs to be in the hospital for more than 24 hours or if you wish to remain in the hospital for 48 hours, you and your baby will be transferred to the Mother-Baby unit on the 6th floor. In this unit, one nurse will care for you and your baby in the same room.

We will arrange a circumcision to be done by a staff obstetrician if desired. You may need to stay longer than 24 hours to have the circumcision done before you are discharged from the hospital.

We kindly ask families to prepare to leave the hospital 24 hours after delivery. If a longer stay is needed, you may remain in your birthing room, or in the event the room is needed for another person in labor, you will be transferred to the Mother-Baby Unit on the sixth floor.

Thank you for entrusting us with your care during this special time in your life.