The day you have been waiting for is finally here. Your baby is about to be born. Here's what you need to know about checking into the birthing unit here at St. Joe's, and what you'll want to tell family members and friends about visiting you during your birth. The birthing unit is on level 2 of the Bishop Dowling Wing.

The mother/baby unit, the special care nursery unit, and the breastfeeding and newborn assessment, also known as the Banna Clinic, are all on level 3 of the Bishop Dowling Wing. The St. Joseph's Drive entrance and the Font-Bont Bridge and Parking Garage entrance are each open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The St. Joseph's Drive entrance is closest to the birthing unit.

Ten-minute drop-off and short-term parking are available at this entrance. To reach the birthing unit via the St. Joseph's Drive entrance, enter the St. Joseph's Drive entrance from either direction. Make your way to the doors with an entrance sign above them. Wash your hands. Go through the set of doors marked Level 2, Mary Grace.

Turn right. You will see a birthing unit sign on the wall with an arrow pointing to the right. Follow this arrow to the birthing unit. Pick up the phone in the waiting area and tell the person who answers that you are a woman in labor. Push the bar on the door and enter the unit when you are instructed to do so. Someone will come to greet you.

While you are waiting, feel free to take a seat in the reception area or otherwise make yourself as comfortable as possible. If you need care right away, pick up the phone on the wall across from the chairs and someone will come to attend to you right away. The Font-Bombe Bridge and parking garage is further away from the birthing unit, but longer-term parking is available at this entrance.

To reach the birthing unit via the Font-Bombe Bridge and parking garage entrance, access the parking garage from either St. Joseph's Drive or Jane Street South. Enter the parking garage. Exit the parking garage and turn right. Remember to take your parking ticket with you. Enter the building, wash your hands. Walk straight ahead until the hall ends.

Turn right and walk towards the windows. Turn left at the end of the hall. Walk across the bridge to the end of the elevators. You are now in the Bishop Dowling Wing. Take the elevator to level 2. Exit the elevator and turn left. Pick up the phone in the waiting area and enter the unit when you are instructed to do so.

Someone will come to greet you. While you are waiting, make yourself as comfortable as possible. If you need care right away, pick up the phone on the wall and someone will come to attend to you right away.

Plan to pack two bags for your trip to the hospital. One bag for labour and another for after your baby has been born. You can leave the second bag in your car or ask someone to bring it to you when you need it. Here are some of the items you might want to pack in your labour bag. A copy of your birth plan, if you have written one.

Music, to help you relax. Something to do, a book, a magazine, a smartphone or tablet, computer. Massage oil or lotion, if you would like to be massaged during labour. Lip balm, to keep your lips moist and comfortable. A bathing suit for your partner, in case he or she wants to join you in the tub or shower to offer labour support.

Cell phone and charger, digital camera, snacks and drinks for your partner or labour support person. And here are some of the items you might want to pack in your other bag. Your favourite book about breastfeeding. Pajamas, nightgown or any comfortable clothing you like to wear. Nursing bras, underwear, sanitary pads at least 10 to 12.

Diapers, newborn size. Baby wipes or washcloths. A going home outfit for baby. And a car seat for baby. You'll also want to remember to bring these items with you to St. Joe's. Your provincial health card. Insurance information, if you have extended health care benefits. Any medications that you take regularly, in labelled containers. A pencil or pen. And a notepad or notebook.

Your bags are packed and you're ready to go. Well, you're almost ready to go. You just need to figure out when to head to St. Joe's to have your baby and what to pack. You'll want to discuss when to head to the hospital with your health care provider. He or she may have some special advice just for you. But this is what we tell most of our moms.

You should come to the hospital when: You're having approximately one contraction every five minutes and your contractions have been occurring at this rate for the past hour. Your contractions are strong enough that you find it difficult to talk or walk when you're having a contraction. You suspect your waters may have broken.

You have bright red bleeding from your vagina. You notice a change or decrease in your baby's movements. Your health care provider has advised you to come in or you have been involved in a car accident, fallen or otherwise been injured, even if you think your injuries are minor. We just want to check you out to be sure. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns about yourself or your baby at any time, get in touch with your health care provider right away. you

Video production, documentary, documentary, and documentary. Babies who arrive a little early, or who need a little extra care at birth, spend their first days of life in the Special Care Nursery, located on the third floor of the Bishop Dowling Wing. So when parents arrive at the Special Care Nursery, they can expect a really high quality of care for their infants.

When babies are in the Special Care Nursery, it's not usually what parents expected during their pregnancy, so it's usually somewhat of a stressful time for parents. But we are very careful in trying to convey that their baby is in a safe place and that we're all working together with the families to ensure the best outcome for their baby. Parents who come into the nursery are generally very scared.

It's a scary place because it's an unfamiliar place for them. Basically what we try to do is we try to explain what's happening with the baby, make sure that they understand all the occurrences, all the therapies that are being given to the baby. Some of the babies in the Special Care Nursery were born here at St. Joe's.

Others were born at McMaster Children's Hospital and graduate to our level of care before heading home. So what we see on a daily basis is premature babies, babies that have had some difficulties during delivery, needs a little bit of help with breathing, needs oxygen, and sometimes there are cases where they need antibiotics and intravenous therapy. You can expect to provide much of the day-to-day hands-on care your baby needs while he or she is in the Special Care Nursery.

You might feel a bit nervous at first, but don't worry. The nurses will help you to help your baby. So when babies are in the Special Care Nursery, it's really a team approach. There are a lot of different people that families meet who are caring for their baby. That includes the bedside nurse who is caring for their baby directly, the charge nurse who oversees all the babies in the nursery, residents and medical students that may rotate through the nursery, the staff pediatricians, the nurse practitioner, social workers, our child life specialists, and other people who are part of the team.

Access to the Special Care Nursery is carefully controlled so that we can keep your baby safe. We are what we call a locked unit, which means that you have to be buzzed in because we want to know who's coming in to see your baby and not anybody can come walk through the door and see the babies that are in our Special Care Nursery. We encourage parents and family members to visit, but we want to know who you are.

And so we ensure that it's the appropriate people that are coming in to visit your baby. So here in the Special Care Nursery, any parents can visit at any time of the day. Siblings are welcome to come in the unit. Other visitors can visit, but we do ask that they are with the parents. And it is a policy that two visitors at a time is what we try to follow.

Maintaining an infection-free environment is a top priority for our staff. Infection control is at most important. So when parents enter the unit, they make sure that they wash their hands. Before they touch their baby, they wash their hands. And upon leaving the unit, they wash their hands as well. You will be asked to postpone any visits to your baby if you have an infection.

So the Special Care Nursery is a very family-centred environment. We do encourage the whole family to be involved, both mother and father, as well as any siblings that are within the family unit. We make sure that they come in, introduce their baby brother or baby sister, to let them know that, yeah, you know what, within the next little bit, they're going to have a baby brother or sister that's coming home with them.

It's an exciting time for everybody in the family, including siblings, to come in and see the new baby. So we encourage that. But, you know, we have to, again, make sure that we don't put the babies at risk. So we want to make sure that the children are immunized. And particularly for things such as chickenpox, as people are aware, there is a chickenpox vaccine, and it takes a little bit of time for the chickenpox vaccine to kick in.

So we like it to have been given 21 or more days before the child comes into the nursery, just to make sure that they are truly immune. Or if they have had a case of chickenpox in the past, then we know that they would be immune. Our unit is physically divided into two separate sections. Sometimes we need to move babies around in order to meet the needs of a particular baby.

Communication is important. If you have any questions about your baby's care, please ask your baby's nurse. Some of our babies are with us for several months. During this time, we get quite attached to our babies and our parents. We love to hear how our babies are doing after they head home.

Music playing. Labor is painful, but the pain you are experiencing is a pain with a purpose. Each contraction is taking you one step closer to meeting your baby. In this video, we're going to focus on three pharmacists that are experiencing. There are many pharmacological or medicine-based methods of managing labour pain: intravenous pain medication, epidural, and patient-controlled analgesia.

But before we get into that, we'd like to address an important issue: your right to make the pain relief decision that's right for you. Pain perception is a very individual thing, and every labour is unique. Some women find that they are able to manage the challenges of labour by relying on breathing techniques and other similar pain relief methods.

They find that they require additional assistance. We will help you make an informed choice about your pain relief options and support you in whatever decision you make. Now let's look at the three medicinal pain relief options available to you here at St. Joe's. Intravenous pain relief. Intravenous pain relief is pain relief administered to you via your hand or arm.

The morphine that will be administered takes the edge off your labour pain. It may also make you a little sleepy. Intravenous pain medication does help to manage labour pain, but it's probably not the most effective technique that we have. Sometimes it can slow mom's breathing quite a bit and can also make her feel sick to her stomach.

Because morphine crosses the placenta, it also is going to be given to your baby, and that can mean that sometimes when your baby's born, it's a little bit more drowsy and may need some help with his or her breathing. Patient controlled analgesia. This is a new form of pain management that we're offering here at St. Joseph's and it's intended to be for women who would like to have intravenous pain medication and who, for whatever reason, cannot have an epidural.

For these women, we can offer something called PCA remifentanyl. It's an intravenous form of pain medication where an IV pump is attached to your intravenous. If you're feeling pain, you press a button and you get a specific dose of pain medication. The type of medication that we are using, remifentanyl, seems ideally suited for obstetrics.

It has a very rapid onset of action as well as it has an extremely short half-life. That means that it stays around in your body for such a short period of time, and that means that less of it is going to go to your baby, meaning that there will be less chance of your baby being drowsy or sleepy when he or she is born. Epidural.

About 60% of women here at St. Joe's will have an epidural for pain relief during their labour. An epidural is a procedure in which a tiny plastic tube is placed in your lower back so that pain medication can be injected on an ongoing basis. And what that pain medication does is it helps to block the nerves that carry pain sensation from the area where labour pain originates so that you're comfortable through your labour.

Your body continues to do the hard work of labour, but you don't feel the pain. Still have questions about pain relief options during labour? Be sure to check out the other videos in our Having Your Baby at St. Joe's series.

During your stay in the mother/baby unit, you will have the opportunity to begin to recover from your birth while learning about breastfeeding and other aspects of baby care. After mums have delivered, they arrive here on the mother/baby unit and we encourage the families to be involved as much as possible, including their siblings, where they will learn special care of the baby. Some parents don't even realize how to change a diaper or even about burping babies, so they're really simple questions that parents will ask, and we try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

It doesn't matter what questions they have, we try to answer them as best as we can. Because your baby will be with you at all times, you'll have the opportunity to practice skin-to-skin care and to learn to recognize and respond to the various sounds and cues your baby makes when he wants to be fed, changed, or cuddled. Here at St. Joe's, partners are encouraged to stay overnight to help mum with the care of the baby and to learn as much as possible about caring for the newborn.

A sleep chair is available in private rooms. While other family members and friends are permitted to visit you while you're in the hospital, it's best to keep these visits short. The early days of your new baby's life are a special time for you, your partner, and your baby's siblings to get to know one another. While the baby is here on the mother-baby unit, the baby will be assessed frequently, and after a 24-hour period we do some tests for the baby, which involves a heel prick to assess the baby, and then we go ahead and do hearing tests at the same time.

The Welcome to Maternal Newborn Unit Package, which you will receive, contains important information about your health, baby's health, safe sleep for baby, and community resources. It will also help to guide you through the process of registering your baby's birth with Service Canada, a crucial first step in order to obtain a passport or a social insurance number for your child. Most babies and mums are here for 24 to 48 hours depending on the care mum needs and the care baby needs.

Upon discharge, parents will be asked to make an appointment for baby within 24 to 48 hours after leaving the hospital, and mums will also be encouraged to make an appointment for themselves within six weeks after leaving the hospital. They just want to check on how baby's feeding, baby's weight, and any concerns that we may have when baby leaves hospital. You will need an approved car seat for taking baby home. If you're not sure how to install or operate your car seat, Public Health conducts clinics for expectant parents. Call for details. Call for details.

Breastfeeding is the ultimate win-win for you and your baby. Breastfeeding helps your uterus to contract, it helps you to return to your pre-pregnancy weight, it reduces your risk of cancer of the breasts and of the ovaries, and it may even reduce your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Babies who are breastfed benefit from regular skin-to-skin contact.

Skin-to-skin is really important with mom and baby in the first 24 hours, that helps in the bonding process, helps with milk production, and it just helps the baby to feel more natural. Mom's body is the baby's natural habitat, so babies feel more comfortable when they're skin-to-skin and tend to latch better when they're skin-to-skin. Babies who are breastfed are also less likely to develop ear, lung, bowel, and urinary tract infections.

It also helps decrease their chance of allergies and getting obesity as children, and also helps protect them from sudden infant death syndrome as well. Best of all, the benefits of breastfeeding kick in right away and increase the longer you breastfeed. Breastfeed as often as you can within the first two or three days, not timing the baby, but looking to feed at least every two or three hours.

Breastfeeding is recommended exclusively for the first six months by the Canadian Pediatric Society and Health Canada. Breastfeeding may be healthy and natural, but it doesn't necessarily come naturally to every mother and baby. It does take some practice and patience with the baby because moms and babies are learning at the same time.

Fortunately, there's plenty of help available both in our community and at St. Joe's. Check our website for an up-to-date list of resources and be sure to ask your nurse for information and support. She will be happy to help. We have lots of support here at the hospital. We encourage putting baby to the breast within an hour after delivery and the nurses are there to help and the lactation consultants are available as well to answer questions.

You also have access to support after you've headed home from the hospital. Our Breastfeeding and Newborn Assessment Clinic, also known as the Banna Clinic, offers support to mothers and babies from birth to six weeks after they leave the hospital. Our Banna Clinic here at St. Joe's is open seven days a week and we have a lactation consultant that's there from seven to seven. We do have to make an appointment to come in. You can also obtain breastfeeding support through public health.

You probably have some questions about breastfeeding. Here are some of the answers to some of the questions we hear a lot from new mothers. What can I do to get breastfeeding off to the best possible start? Within the first hour after your baby is delivered, put the baby to breast skin to skin and just nuzzle with your baby and attempt latching your baby onto your breast.

Breastfeed as often as you can within the first 2 or 3 days, at least 8 to 12 times in that 24 hour period. Avoid giving formula because if the baby is getting a supplement when it's not medically indicated, then that's decreasing the time that the baby is spending at the breast. When should I start learning about breastfeeding?

The best time to start learning about breastfeeding is during your pregnancy and there are lots of community supports and places that you can go to get information about breastfeeding. Pre-natal classes are excellent that are run through public health and we have a learning to breastfeed booklet that's offered on the St. Joe's website. How long should I plan to breastfeed my baby?

The Canadian Paediatric Society and Health Canada as well as the World Health Organization do recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months and then at that time you can start introducing other foods. But breastfeeding is recommended up to 2 years and beyond so it's a personal choice but any amount of breastfeeding is a good amount of breastfeeding. How will I know when to feed my baby?

Well babies do have feeding cues that they show when they're starting to get hungry. So when they start to wake up and they start to move around they'll bring the hands to the mouth and maybe try and suck on the blanket or move their head side to side. Those are all signs that baby is getting hungry and crying is the last sign so if you're seeing any of those rooting signs just opening the mouth looking or fingers to the mouth those are all signs to go ahead and start feeding the baby rather than waiting for crying because that's the last sign.

What will my milk be like? Mums start producing colostrum usually during their pregnancy so in the first couple days the colostrum is very concentrated small amounts but baby's tummy is only the size of a cherry. So he doesn't need large amounts in that first couple days. Most mums will feel their milk supply come in usually around day 3 or day 4 and the breast will get heavy and fuller and when baby's latched on and swallowing it'll be louder swallows almost like gulping at the breast.

And then that's when she can tell that her milk supply has definitely increased or her milk has come in as we say. When will my baby start to gain weight? Most babies in the first 2 or 3 days will lose anywhere from 7 to 10% of their weight and that's not a concern. Usually about day 4 or day 5 that's when the mature milk comes in and the milk volume increases and that's when they start to gain weight.

How can I be sure my baby is getting enough milk? This is a common worry with new mums. Babies that breastfeed should be feeding every 2 or 3 hours and mums should be able to hear some swallowing. We look at the amount of wet and dirty diapers that the baby is having in the first couple of days and also by the baby's behaviour.

If the baby is settled and happy after feeding then we know that the baby is taking in enough. If you have any questions or concerns about how much your baby is feeding or any other breastfeeding related issue, reach out for support right away. Ask the nurse who is caring for you and your baby in the mother-baby unit or after you go home contact the Banna Clinic or Public Health.

Here are some answers to some questions you may have about having your baby at St. Joe's. Can I use my cell phone? Absolutely. Wi-Fi is available. Access information is available at the desk in each unit. Can I take photos? Absolutely. Please note that videotaping of hospital procedures is not permitted. Are friends and family allowed to be with me while I'm in labour?

We encourage you to bring your partner and/or another support person to provide you with reassurance and encouragement during labour. All other family members and friends can wait for you in the family lounge until you are ready to visit them. Can I reserve one of the Celebration of Life Suites ahead of time? No, unfortunately, but you can request one when you arrive at the birthing unit.

All proceeds from the rental of these rooms go toward supporting patient care in the Women and Infants unit at St. Joe's. "Can I bring my own breast pump and/or kit, or do you provide them?" Breast pump kits are available at a cost of $25. You can bring your own kit or call the Breastfeeding and Newborn Assessment Clinic at 905-522-1155, extension 33485, to make sure your kit will work with our pumps. Breast pump kits are available at a cost of $25.

You may have some questions about epidurals. Here are some we hear a lot. Does having an epidural mean having a needle stuck in my spine? An epidural is a needle that we do put in a patient's back but it goes between the bones of the back and it's actually far below where the spinal cord ends. Now all epidurals that are placed here at St. Joe's are placed by doctors who are either anesthesiologists or anesthesia residents.

Will an epidural make my labour last longer? Many studies have been done around the world that have shown on average an epidural will make your second stage of labour. That is the time when you're pushing about 30 minutes longer. Most women find that if they're comfortable that extra 30 minutes doesn't seem like a long time.

Will an epidural affect my baby? An epidural involves giving medication and targeting it to exactly the area where the pain is coming from. We are able to use such small doses of pain medication that though some of that pain medication will cross the placenta and go to your baby. It will be a far, far smaller amount than the amount of pain medication your baby would get through an intravenous.

Will an epidural prevent me from bonding with my baby? As far as we know, there's never been any scientific study that has been done that has ever shown that having an epidural and being comfortable when you give birth will prevent you from bonding with your baby. Will an epidural interfere with successful breastfeeding?

One of the things that research has shown is that an epidural may have a small effect on breastfeeding. The best literature that we have at this point seems to suggest that if you have an epidural during labour, there may be a slightly lower rate of successful breastfeeding. It's a question that requires further research.

I don't think we have enough evidence to say that women should avoid having an epidural because they're worried about their ability to breastfeed. What side effects are associated with epidurals? Sometimes women can get some itching and that's just related to the medication that's in the epidural. Sometimes there's a small chance of a headache, probably a one to two percent chance of a headache after an epidural, and that can last several days afterwards, but is usually treated quite effectively with oral pain medication.

Some of the more rare and serious side effects of an epidural are an infection at the site where the epidural was put in, significant bleeding around where the epidural has been put in, as well as nerve injury. What about paralysis? Can't you be paralyzed by an epidural? The short answer to that is yes. However, the risk of permanent nerve injury after an epidural is probably less than one in a million.

So it has happened somewhere in the world, but it's extremely rare. Will having an epidural cause me to experience chronic back pain after birth? We have lots of evidence, both from Canada as well as from the United Kingdom, where large groups of women who gave birth with an epidural were followed for months after their delivery.

It turns out that women who have had an epidural have a no greater risk or rate of back pain after delivery than women who have no epidural. Still have questions about pain relief options during labour? Don't forget to watch our other video, Labour Support, to explore non-medicinal pain relief options. Music by Ben Thede.