Labor & Delivery

Our labor and delivery services

Having a baby is an exciting event, and our labor and delivery team is committed to helping your experience be memorable and special. Our maternity hospital offers patients increased involvement in the planning of your child’s birth through our TeamBirth program. 

Participation in this program means we promote full communication and support between pregnant parents, their support person, physicians, nurses, doulas, and additional members of your healthcare team. Communications between involved parties are done through a planning board, which is updated routinely throughout your stay with us.

We offer the following services at our labor and delivery unit:

• Antepartum monitoring
• Breastfeeding support
• Full-service obstetrics/gynecology services
• Labor, delivery, and postpartum care
• Newborn care
• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) services
• Parenting classes and educational resources

Our birthing suites provide patients with one convenient place to labor, deliver, and recover so you and your baby don’t have to worry about switching rooms at an inconvenient time. Our onsite triage center provides immediate medical care, while our C-section suites provide laboring mothers and their infants added protection during the birthing process. We also have an on-site newborn nursery where we promote bonding practices after birth, such as skin-to-skin contact, golden hour bonding, delayed bathing, delayed cord clamping, and couplet care.

Our special phone line is available 24/7 for questions and parental support. To speak to a specialist, or to schedule a guided tour of the Peggy V. Helmerich Women’s Health Center, please call 918-342-6762.

TeamBirth program

At Hillcrest, we offer a special TeamBirth program through our labor and delivery unit. TeamBirth allows our laboring patients to speak and be heard with the simplicity of consistent communication. You are the most important part of our team, and all discussions and decisions will be centered around the care of you and your baby. Our team also includes your support person (such as a partner or family member), your nurses, and physicians. Should you or your baby require further care, your team may also grow to include perinatologists (high-risk pregnancy specialists) or neonatologists (high-risk newborn specialists).

The TeamBirth program implements a labor and delivery planning board, complete with continuously updated whiteboards, to ensure all members are on the same page about your care. The whiteboard is updated routinely during team discussions so that important information is visible to all team members. Information includes:

• Labor timeline and progress
• Names of all team members
• Next check-in appointment
• Plan of care for mom and baby
• Your birthing preferences

Funded by George Kaiser Family Foundation as part of the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative, TeamBirth is the centerpiece of the Delivery Decisions Initiative of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs partners with hospitals and communities to enhance trust in childbirth through systems of communication and teamwork.

Our TeamBirth program is offered at the following locations:

• Hillcrest Hospital Claremore
• Hillcrest Hospital South
• Hillcrest Medical Center

When you need exceptional labor and delivery services designed to meet your unique needs, you can count on us to deliver just that.

NICU

A special part of the Peggy V. Helmerich Women’s Health Center at Hillcrest is the NICU. Infants hospitalized in the NICU often have complications of prematurity and health challenges from birth. Their challenges are met with exceptional medical care and support with skilled and compassionate staff.

Our Level III NICU is a 42-bed facility featuring a unique pod design with subdued lighting and sound, that enhances the developmental environment for infants, and provides privacy for families. This unit caters to a family’s need for consistent care team contact and privacy with their infant.

Gentle C-section program

Any woman who has experienced a traditional cesarean section can tell you that the surgical procedure distracts from the celebration of bringing new life into the world. Oftentimes, mother and baby are separated directly after the birth. This time is essential for the health of the baby and for bonding between mother and child.

The Peggy V. Helmerich Women’s Health Center at Hillcrest Medical Center now offers the “Gentle C-Section” program as a solution to this problem. This new process tries to maintain as natural of a delivery as possible allowing for a more family centered approach to the procedure. The goal is to allow the mother to hold, interact and provide skin-to-skin contact with her newborn.

These techniques are proven by research and have shown that skin-to-skin contact improves outcomes for both the baby and the mother and allows for more successful breastfeeding rates, better body temperature and an improved heart rate for the baby.

Lactation Center

The Lactation Center at Hillcrest offers education, support and the most up-to-date care to help you and your baby have an enjoyable breastfeeding experience. We provide a monthly breastfeeding basics class that provides information and hands-on education to help you get off to a good start.  We are also available by phone if you have any questions about breastfeeding before the birth of your baby.

Our compassionate care begins soon after birth when babies are ready to feed. Your nurse will help you and your baby get started with breastfeeding. At Hillcrest Medical Center, Hillcrest Claremore, and Hillcrest South, our certified lactation consultants will be available to help assess your baby’s feeding style and to help you solve any breastfeeding challenges during your stay. 

At Hillcrest, nurses are certified breast educators and are available to help with questions or concerns. If your baby is admitted to our NICU, our lactation consultants will assist and support your efforts to provide your special milk for your baby. We will be available to assist with bringing your baby to breast when that day arrives.

After you’ve gone home, the Lactation Center offers both phone and in-person consultations. Payment for Lactation Center appointments may be covered by insurance; check with your carrier. Phone and in-person consultations are available to anyone, regardless of where they have delivered their baby.

Hillcrest Medical Center (HMC) offers phone and appointments for in-person consultations with the lactation consultants by calling the HMC MilkLine at 918-579-8018.

Hillcrest South offers phone and appointments for in-person consultations with the lactation consultants by calling 918-294-4239.

Hillcrest Claremore offers appointments and phone consultations with the lactation consultant by calling 918-342-6762 or 918-343-6914.

High risk antepartum unit

The Women’s Health Center includes the Peggy V. Helmerich High Risk Antepartum unit where women, who must spend part of their pregnancy on bedrest, can receive special prenatal health care during pregnancy. The High Risk Antepartum unit offers centralized fetal heart monitoring. Each mother is cared for to meet her unique needs during her pregnancy. 

Women who may need to stay in the hospital before giving birth include those with pre-existing health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and pulmonary problems. These women require specialized prenatal care during pregnancy and the High Risk Antepartum unit provides this specialized care.

Other risk factors for specialized prenatal services during pregnancy include mothers who carry multiple babies (twins or triplets) and those women who have not been able to carry a pregnancy to term. All rooms are private rooms with private bathrooms. Each room includes a pull out couch in case the mother would like to have an overnight visitor.

Perinatal palliative care

While sometimes brief, every moment of life is precious and meaningful. Inspired by our first patient, baby Silas, the SILAS (Strongly Impacting Lives Against Suffering) Program at Hillcrest’s Peggy V. Helmerich Women’s Health Center is a perinatal palliative care program for parents who have received the devastating news that their unborn child has been diagnosed with an inoperable life-limiting condition. This news is not only heart-breaking, but also leaves the family to make the agonizing decision about what to do next.

For parents who wish to continue their pregnancy, perinatal palliative care exists to provide comfort while the family embraces every moment of life. Perinatal (which means around the time of birth) palliative care offers compassionate medical support to improve quality of life.

Assistance is provided once the parent(s) is referred to our program from an obstetrician or other pregnancy care provider. Our team, including the program director and a neonatologist, will meet with the family to discuss a birth plan and in-hospital support. Our team is also available to answer questions and address any concerns upon diagnosis through birth and beyond.  

The Helmerich Women’s Health Center at Hillcrest is honored to offer Oklahoma’s only hospital-based perinatal palliative care program.

In additional to personalized inpatient care, the program offers:

• Private childbirth classes
• Dedicated room
• Assistance choosing a photographer
• Assistance selecting support services after discharge.
• A SILAS Liaison to provide support before,during and after delivery.

The SILAS Program is provided at no additional cost. Click here to find out more about the Silas Program

Childbirth education classes

Hillcrest HealthCare System is proud to offer free prenatal education classes to prepare you for one of life’s biggest events. Classes are offered to the public in a variety of dates at the following three locations:

• Hillcrest Medical Center
• Hillcrest Hospital South
• Hillcrest Hospital Claremore

To learn about the prenatal education classes offered, topics covered and dates and times available, please choose your location from the list near the bottom of the page. From there, you will also be able to register for the class of your choice.

Class sizes are available at limited capacities to the registrant and their one guest (only one person needs to register, your guest does not need to). Class dates could change or be canceled for various reasons such as inclement weather or lack of sign-ups. In the event that this occurs, you will be contacted and notified beforehand of the change.

Click below to explore our classes in greater detail.

Car seat workshop

This free workshop, offered in English and Spanish, helps parents and caregivers with car seat safety and education. By attending, those qualified are eligible for a car seat at a discounted rate of $20. This class is sponsored by Safe Kids Coalition, and Hillcrest is proud to sponsor this wonderful workshop. To register, please visit safekidstulsa.com or call Safe Kids at 918-494-SAFE (7233).

To sign up for a class, please visit our classes and events page.

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