New parents at UH St. John Medical Center in Westlake now labor, deliver and recover in freshly renovated suites built around hydrotherapy tubs, private postpartum rooms and round-the-clock specialty staffing. The hospital says the overhaul of its labor and delivery and postpartum units was designed to enhance the birth experience and support recovery for mothers and their newborns.
According to a release from University Hospitals, the second-floor birthing unit now includes 11 labor, delivery and recovery rooms, each with its own ensuite bathroom. The same floor houses four private triage rooms, three pre- and post-operative bays, two operating rooms and an infant stabilization room. Two of the labor rooms are equipped with tubs for hydrotherapy, and the unit also offers aromatherapy, adjustable lighting and nitrous oxide as additional comfort measures during labor.
Private Postpartum Rooms Let Families Recover Together
Upstairs, the fourth floor now has 15 private postpartum rooms, allowing mothers and newborns to recover together rather than being separated during the hospital stay, per the same release. A newborn nursery supports ongoing care throughout the stay, and lactation specialists are available seven days a week to help with breastfeeding and other infant feeding concerns.
Staffing is built around a multidisciplinary team available around the clock, including OB hospitalists, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists and pediatricians, the hospital says. Roughly 50 registered nurses provide one-to-one nursing care during labor, and the unit holds a weekly support group to help families transition home after delivery, according to Cleveland.com.
Part of a Broader Push Across Western Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties
University Hospitals frames the renovation as part of a larger expansion of care for mothers and babies across western Cuyahoga County, Lorain County and surrounding communities. Shannon Graves, nurse manager of UH MacDonald Women's Hospital on the campus of St. John, said the health system is investing in maternity and newborn services so more families can stay close to home for advanced care, per the hospital's release.
The upgrades build on changes already underway at the Westlake campus. UH St. John is one of five University Hospitals locations to launch TeamBirth, an enhanced maternity-care model, according to the Villager Newspaper. The model uses structured huddles at key points during a hospital stay — admission, changes in the mother's or baby's condition, delivery decisions and requests from patients or care-team members — and is meant to give every mother a voice in her birth experience. The outlet reports TeamBirth is now the standard of care at all five University Hospitals birthing centers.
How It Compares to Other Northeast and Central Ohio Maternity Units
UH St. John's renovation arrives amid a wider wave of maternity investment across Ohio. Fairview Hospital's Family Birth Place includes six newly renovated suites for labor, birth and postpartum care along with three additional postpartum rooms, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Farther south, Ohio State's new university hospital is slated to open in February with all-private maternity rooms, including maternal special care and NICU rooms, and is expected to raise its annual birth capacity from about 5,500 to 7,000 babies, per Ohio State Health. Ohio State also says it holds the only Level IV maternity care designation in central Ohio and runs a similar team-based model in which patients and their support people lead the care team.
