Maternity Care | Blessing Health System

Experience the Blessing Difference: Our Maternity Care

When you and your family choose Blessed Beginnings for maternity care, you benefit from our:

Trusted care team: Several of the area’s excellent obstetrician-gynecologists and family medicine doctors deliver babies at Blessing. These dedicated professionals work together to ensure you and your baby are safe and comfortable while you are here. Meet our maternity care team.
Esteemed nursing staff: Our nursing team (many of whom hold specialty certifications in obstetrics) goes above and beyond for every mom and baby we encounter. Several members of our nursing team have received national recognition with a DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurses for their exceptional nursing care. Patients nominate their nurses for these awards, which attests to the time our nurses invest in bonding with our new moms and making sure they have a positive birth experience.
High Quality: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois has recognized Blessing Hospital with a Blue Distinction® Centers (BDC) for Maternity Care designation, as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. To earn the designation, Blessing Hospital’s maternity care team met or exceeded quality selection criteria set by the BDC program. Those designated as Blue Distinction Centers show statistically significant differences in key clinical outcomes compared to their peers and demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients. Learn More.
Advanced monitoring: Even when a care provider is not in the room with you, our advanced technology allows us to monitor the health of you and your baby at all times. If your baby requires a higher level of care, our level II specialty care nursery provides additional monitoring and special attention. We work closely with providers at hospitals with neonatal intensive care units to quickly transfer babies who require a more advanced level of care.
In-depth childbirth prep: We offer free classes to help you and your partner prepare for the birth process and beyond. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our childbirth classes are currently held online. Learn more about our childbirth prep classes, or click here to enroll in our classes.

Our Maternity Care Focuses on You

Our entire care team is committed to providing the birth experience you envision. That means we:

Accommodate your birth wishes: We are happy to support your birth plans. If you want to avoid pain medicine, our nurses can help you work through labor pain naturally. If you change your mind, our team adjusts with your wishes whenever possible.
Options in Care: Women who have previously had a C-Section may choose natural labor for a number of reasons. Some women have had C-Sections previously for reasons beyond their control. A natural delivery is typically less invasive to the body and allows for quicker healing, an option some women would prefer. VBAC stands for vaginal birth after cesarean. Sometimes also called TOLAC, or trial of labor after a cesarean, VBAC is an option at Blessing Hospital for women who are eligible. Learn More
Promote baby-friendly birth practices: We help all of our moms connect with their babies through skin-to-skin contact soon after birth – even in the operating room. We promote delayed umbilical cord clamping after birth for the added benefits it offers your baby. We also practice delayed bathing, which means we wait at least 8 hours after birth for baby to have his or her first bath. This practice promotes bonding and helps establish breastfeeding, among other benefits.
Prioritize mom and baby bonding: We want to support the bond between new babies and their parents. Every day from 2 to 4 p.m., we observe “snuggle and snooze” time, when we allow mom to have 1 support person in the room with her so she can rest and connect with baby.
Care about your comfort: You will give birth in a room that allows you to labor, deliver and recover in 1 place before moving to a postpartum room. Our labor rooms are spacious, so you can walk around without feeling restricted – or even labor in an in-room whirlpool tub.