Obstetrics

At Ochsner, you and your baby will be in a comfortable, supportive environment available for your healthcare needs before, during and after your baby is born. Ochsner offers expert support for routine prenatal care, labor and delivery, newborns, high-risk pregnancies, and complex care for babies in utero.

The obstetric and gynecological resources available to you at Ochsner include:

• Alternative birthing options, such as midwives, at Ochsner Medical Center - Baton Rouge and Perkin Alternative Birthing Center at Ochsner Baptist Women’s Pavilion
• Alternatives such as water births and spacious suites at some facilities
• Connected MOM, a digital program that allows patients to send blood pressure readings to their medical team, allowing them to monitor your health between visits
• Multiple neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) with a wide range of support for newborns. This includes basic care for healthy premature or full-term infants, as well as access to pediatric subspecialists and nurses who specialize in critical care for babies in need
• All the obstetric and gynecological care you will need from adolescence to adulthood under one roof at Ochsner Baptist Women’s Pavilion, with additional OB/GYN providers available at Ochsner locations throughout the region
• Fellowship-trained maternal fetal specialists to guide expectant mothers through high-risk pregnancies
• Certified lactation consultants who can help you create a personalized plan for breastfeeding your baby
• Prenatal and childbirth education classes to prepare your family for a new baby, with onsite tours of labor and birth rooms at many facilities
• Virtual visits available for easy, supplemental access to some prenatal and postpartum care
• 24/7 anesthesiology at many facilities
• Ability for healthy newborns to stay in a crib next to you, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Ochsner offers highly skilled healthcare for pregnant people and babies. Choose one of our many state-of-the-art facilities to give birth, including:

Baton Rouge Area:

• Ochsner Family Birthing Center at Ochsner Medical Center - Baton Rouge

Bayou:

• Ochsner St. Anne Hospital Family Birthing Center in Raceland

Kenner Area:

• Ochsner Medical Center - Kenner

Lafayette Area:

• Ochsner Lafayette Medical Center

New Orleans Area:

• Ochsner Baptist Women’s Pavilion in New Orleans

North Louisiana:

• Ochsner LSU Health - St. Mary Medical Center

• Ochsner LSU Health - Monroe Medical Center

Northshore:

• Slidell Memorial Hospital
• St. Tammany Parish Hospital

West Bank:

• Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank Campus

Connected MOM is a program available through Ochsner Digital Medicine that helps expecting mothers monitor their blood pressure throughout pregnancy to catch potential issues sooner.

The Connected MOM program stands for Connected Maternity Online Monitoring. It provides members with a wireless blood pressure cuff to submit readings to their Ochsner Health OB-GYN team from home.

Learn more about the Connected MOM Program and speak to your Ochsner obstetric care provider to enroll for extra peace of mind during your pregnancy.

Ochsner Medical Center - New Orleans, Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank Campus and Ochsner Baptist - A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center, are among the nation’s top sites for obstetric care, recognized as High Performing in Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) by U.S. News & World Report.

Several of Ochsner’s labor and delivery hospitals also received the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative Birth Ready and Birth Ready Plus designation from the Louisiana Department of Health. The designation recognizes these facilities’ consistent, thoughtful healthcare improvement work:

• Ochsner Baptist: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner Medical Center - Baton Rouge: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner Medical Center - Kenner: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner St. Anne Hospital: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner LSU Health - St. Mary Medical Center: Birth Ready Plus designation
• Ochsner American Legion Hospital: Birth Ready designation
• Ochsner LSU Health - Monroe: Birth Ready designation
• Slidell Memorial Hospital: Birth Ready designation

"My entire experience of carrying, delivering and caring for Cooper was made exceptional by Ochsner. Family Connects coming to my home made sure I took care of myself, not just my baby." -Elisa, Ochsner Baptist Family Connects patient

"I have spent more hours with this staff than I have had with some of my own family. They got to know me on a personal, deep level and saw me at my most stressed moments. The NICU nurses were so hands-on, and I credit learning how to be a newborn mom to them!" -Jessica L., patient at Ochsner Baptist

At Ochsner, most of our women’s health specialists are OB/GYNs, which means they practice both obstetrics and gynecology and can deliver babies, treat pregnant women and address gynecologic care for women through all phases of life. Some OB/GYNs, however, concentrate their practice on either gynecology or obstetrics rather than both. Gynecology is the field of medicine that focuses on diagnosing and treating women for conditions unique to the female body, such as menopause and bladder problems. Gynecology also focuses on woman’s reproductive health, including routine cancer screenings, appropriate genetic testing, the female reproductive system, vaccines and helping women evaluate and choose birth control methods. Obstetrics is the field of medicine that focuses on pregnancy and providing prenatal care, childbirth services and postpartum care.

Obstetricians deliver babies and give care to women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. These physicians also offer healthcare to women during labor and delivery. After delivery, obstetricians make sure both mothers and babies are healthy. Since they check on women throughout a pregnancy, they are often the first to detect any complications. In such cases, they may refer high risk pregnancies to a specialist in maternal fetal medicine.

Obstetricians help women plan and prepare for a healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery. Physicians in this medical specialty offer prenatal care that protects mothers and babies by noticing any signs that suggest possible health risks. Prenatal care by an obstetrician also helps expectant mothers make dietary changes and identify nutritional supplements that reduce the risk of birth defects. An obstetrician can also make sure any medications taken during pregnancy are safe for your unborn baby.

After having a cesarean section (C-section) birth, some women can safely deliver their babies vaginally. This method is called vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). Your obstetrician will consider several factors to determine whether your risks outweigh the benefits of a vaginal delivery, which often have shorter hospital stays and recoveries. In some cases, the type of C-section incision and the size of your pelvis are limiting factors for vaginal delivery. If your obstetrician thinks you are safe to deliver vaginally, and you have access to a hospital that’s prepared to handle complications, you may be successful in having a VBAC.