Services
Expanded Care Options
Patients interested in a home-like birth with a midwife at Mercy Birthing Center Midwifery Care now have more options available:
- Midwives can now provide continuous care to both mom and baby on the Mother/Baby unit
- If desired, the Birthing Center will help arrange for a private pediatrician to provide in-house care
- Change allows patients with at least one vaginal birth and one cesarean section a midwifery birth
Mercy is constantly seeking ways to provide expanded options to best support each family and its preferences. To learn more or see if you qualify, please contact us at 314-251-7358.
Low-Risk Births
Eligibility guidelines for a low-risk birth in our Mercy Birthing Center:
- You are carrying a single baby.
- Your baby is positioned head down.
- You don't have any chronic or complex medical conditions.
- Your labor begins between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy.
- You aren’t taking any medication for gestational diabetes.
- Your pre-pregnancy BMI is below 35. To determine your BMI, visit this calculator for women.
- Your prenatal test results don’t indicate a need for fetal monitoring.
- You're receiving prenatal care from our midwives at Mercy Birthing Center.
- We have no restrictions on your age.
Eligibility for Midwifery Care on Labor & Birth:
Moms who have had one prior Caesarean section may receive prenatal care from the midwives at Mercy Birthing Center, and then deliver with the midwives on Labor & Birth.
Also, for moms who are receiving prenatal care from the midwives, in the instances that the following situations arise, the midwives will continue to care for you in our Labor & Birth suites:
- Your labor begins before 37 weeks.
- Your labor needs to be induced or doesn’t begin before 42 weeks.
- You need to receive labor-augmenting medication such as Pitocin, which would require your contractions and baby's heart rate to be continuously monitored.
- You decide to receive an epidural.
- We have concerns about the health of the baby or mother (such as fetal heart rate or a maternal condition) that require continuous monitoring.
Care will be tailored to each mom’s unique situation by our midwifery and collaborating physician team. We consider it an honor to care for moms with many different labor plans!
Ready to explore more of Mercy Birthing Center?