Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge was the FIRST birthing facility in the state to be recognized as a Baby-Friendly designated birth facility. Learn more.

Baby-Friendly USA, Inc. is the U.S. authority for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (“BFHI”), a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The initiative encourages and recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. Based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, this prestigious international award recognizes birth facilities that offer breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies.

More information is available www.babyfriendlyusa.org.

Labor and Delivery rooms are twice the size of normal hospital rooms to create the experience of home for mother and baby.

The Family Birthing Center includes:

• 8 large birthing rooms
• 2 nearby operating rooms
• 4 suites with built-in birthing tubs
• 14 patient rooms
• All private rooms
• Level-3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), with a "starlight" ceiling
• 4 observation rooms
• Family waiting rooms for Labor and Delivery and NICU

The Family Birthing Center is staffed by board-certified OB/GYN physicians plus a collaborative midwifery practice with six certified nurse midwives and one advanced practice nurse. Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge will be the only hospital in the area to offer a midwifery program to its patients and provides a number of alternative birthing options.

Contact Us

To schedule a tour of our unit, call 225-236-5893. To schedule an appointment for same-day access to one of our providers, call 225-761-5200.

The Family Birthing Center is located at Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge

Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge is a fully accredited hospital offering all-private rooms, 24-hour emergency care, as well as advanced specialty care including cardiology and orthopedic procedures.

Take a virtual tour.

A certified nurse midwife and doctor meet with expectant moms during their pregnancy.

Certified Nurse Midwives are experts in traditional vaginal birth and have a deep trust in women's bodies and the birth process. They encourage women and their families to actively participate in their healthcare by providing individualized education, counseling, pre-natal care, labor and delivery, and postpartum support.

Certified Nurse Midwives believe that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes. They feel that labor is best experienced in a place where women feel safe and have attendants that they know and trust. All aspects of a woman are involved in pregnancy and childbirth including her feelings, hopes, fears and physical, spiritual and practical needs, as well as those of her partners.

The birth process is unique to each woman, and we are founded on these beliefs. Our board-certified OB/GYN physicians support this philosophy and are readily available for assistance if it becomes necessary.

We support each patient's choice including natural birth, water birth or medicated birth. Birthing tubs, showers, birth balls and birthing chairs are available, as well as monitoring that allows patient mobility.

In addition, our Certified Nurse Midwives offer well-woman services including yearly exams and birth control.

Now is the time in your pregnancy to start thinking about breastfeeding your newborn. Ochsner Lactation Services offers free prenatal consultations to help you with your breastfeeding concerns or questions. Our International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) will introduce you to the principles of breastfeeding. This is the time to address any concerns about your ability to breastfeed your baby. We will review your history, discuss community resources, and develop an individualized plan of care for establishing breastfeeding. For those mothers who plan on returning to work or school soon after giving birth, the lactation consultants can help develop individualized plans to ensure that new mothers and their babies don’t miss out on the opportunity to breastfeed. Sessions include the creation of a personalized plan and recommendations for the use of appropriate breast pumps.

This free class is designed to provide detailed information on the basics of breastfeeding. In a group setting you will learn the correct techniques for breastfeeding and how to begin breastfeeding while in the hospital, as well as some anticipatory guidance for breastfeeding once you get home.

New mothers never know when they are going to have questions about breastfeeding. Babies are fed at all hours of the day and night. To alleviate your concerns, the Ochsner Lactation Warm Line is available. Just leave a detailed message, and one of Ochsner’s lactation consultants will address your questions or concerns. We can also work with you to devise a plan for continuing to breastfeed once you go back to work. For assistance through the Warm Line, please call 225-755-4448.

For those times when telephone assistance just isn’t enough, lactation consultants are available for in person assistance, for a fee. Work one on one with an IBCLC to develop a personalized breastfeeding plan for you and your baby. To make an appointment, please call 225-755-4448.

For those new mothers in need of a hospital grade pump or who would like to try pumping before purchasing a pump, hospital grade rentals are available. For more information, please call 225-755-4448.

Mom and Baby receive the highest quality care at Ochsner Family Center of Baton Rouge

We are proud of our quality figures and believe we have the best quality scores in the region.

Elective labor induction:

Since opening in 2010, the physicians and staff members of the Ochsner Family Birthing Center have adhered to the patient safety goal of a 0% elective induction rate prior to 39 1/2 weeks.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) publications have consistently advised against non-medically indicated elective deliveries prior to 39 ½ weeks gestation. Research findings indicate that early elective delivery with a medical indication is linked to infant deaths, and does not bring any benefit to mother or infant.

(Tita ATN, Landon MB, Spong CY, Lai Y, Leveno KJ, Varner MW, et al. Timing of elective cesarean delivery at term and neonatal outcomes. The New England Journal of Medicine 2009 January; 360;111-20.)

Patient Satisfaction

Ochsner Family Birthing Center patients rate their birthing experience in the 90th percentile as compared to all other similar sized hospitals in the country.

Just a few examples why our patients are satisfied with their experiences:

• Previous C-Section patients are allowed the choice to attempt a vaginal birth if they so choose.
• Laboring moms have continuous wireless monitoring so that they are never confined to the bed, if they so choose.
• At the patients’ requests, we do more water births than any other hospital in the region.

Ochsner Medical Center - Baton Rouge

Parenting Classes

Online parenting and breastfeeding classes are available virtually.

To register, click here.

• Baby Basics Class
• Labor and Delivery
• Medical Interventions
• Postpartum and Baby Safety
  
• Prenatal Breastfeeding Class

Virtual Breastfeeding Basics Class Dates

• Learn from our experienced Lactation Department the essential information you need to know!
• Classes include topics such as getting baby latched on, how often to nurse, how to tell if baby is getting enough milk, and how to use a breast pump.
• These classes are free of charge.

Virtual Breastfeeding Support Group Details

• Join other moms just like you who are breastfeeding their little ones. Share stories and tips on what works and what doesn't with moms who are living the experience. This is a postpartum mother led group.
• Support group meetings are free and registration is not required.

More Information & Tours

• For more information or to schedule a tour, call 225-236-5893.