Labor & Delivery

Your care team will ask about your preferences for labor pain management. Please let them know early on if you would like an epidural.

Babies born after an unmedicated labor tend to be more alert and may have an easier time breastfeeding. Our alternative pain relief options include:

• Aromatherapy
• Relaxation
• Guided imagery
• Position changes (birth/peanut balls, rocking chairs, etc.)
• Massage
• Breathing techniques
• Whirlpool tub and shower

Many of our caregivers have training in a technique called “Spinning Babies.” The three principles of Spinning Babies are balance, gravity and movement.

This approach helps soften and balance the pelvic ligaments and muscles, making for an easier labor and birth experience.

As a Baby-Friendly designated hospital, Enloe Health Medical Center provides families with the skills and support they need for the best feeding and bonding success. As soon as your baby is born, a caregiver will assist with placing your baby skin-to-skin with you, and your baby will remain skin-to-skin until after the first feeding.

This is an important milestone for you and your baby, and it’s part of Enloe Health’s commitment to being a Baby-Friendly hospital. Hospitals with this distinction provide families with the skills they need for the best feeding and bonding results. Enloe Health Medical Center was the first Baby-Friendly hospital in Butte County.

A safe and healthy birth is our top priority, and our trusted team will make you feel at ease. Our local OBGYN doctors, midwives and labor and delivery nurses have decades of experience. They are there for you every step of the way, whether you’re having a vaginal birth, a cesarean section (C-section), or are attempting a vaginal birth after a prior C-section.

You decide who you want in your birthing suite during labor. When it’s time, you can use a mirror to watch your baby being born, and dads or birth partners are welcome to cut the umbilical cord. Use Enloe Health's Birth & Infant Feeding Menu as a guide to your birthing decisions.

Our maternity team does everything possible to accommodate moms’ birth preferences, whether they are having a vaginal or cesarean birth. If you’re having a C-section, ask your care team about the following options:

• Playing your own music
• Dimmed lights
• EKG patches positioned to allow for skin-to-skin contact on mom’s chest after birth
• A “peek-a-boo” drape can be used if requested so that mom can watch baby being born while maintaining safety
• Delayed cord clamping and cutting if possible.

If mom and baby are doing well, the nurses are happy to help with photography; just ask.

As your due date approaches, you’ll want to prepare for your hospital stay. Be sure to pack:

• A bathrobe, nursing gown and a nursing bra
• Slippers you can wash, or flip-flops
• Shampoo and deodorant
• A toothbrush and toothpaste
• A hairbrush and hair tie or clip
• Items for your partner, such as a sweatshirt, toothbrush and snacks
• Clothes and a blanket for your baby
• A car seat for your baby; it’s best to leave the base secured to your car

After delivery, parents get to push a button in our birthing center that plays Brahms’ Lullaby throughout the hospital. Then they move into a private Couplet Care room for postpartum care.

Babies remain with their moms in these rooms unless medical conditions prevent it.

Each Couplet Care room has a private bathroom with a shower and furniture to accommodate an overnight guest. During your stay, caregivers will be by your side to provide insight on:

• Mom and newborn care
• Feeding your baby
• And more

You’ll get this material in a booklet (en Español) you’ll take home with you. You’ll also enjoy fresh, healthy meals during your stay and a special meal to celebrate your baby's arrival.

If you have a vaginal hospital delivery, you can expect to go home on the first or second day after your labor. If you have a C-section in our birthing center, expect to go home on the third or fourth day after giving birth to your baby.

You will be discharged from the hospital around 11 a.m. Please arrange for a ride home and have a car seat for your baby. Before you leave the hospital, let your obstetrician (OBGYN), your baby’s doctor or your nurse know if you have any questions.

We offer a suite of educational tools to help you prepare for what’s ahead.

• Childbirth Preparation
• What Matters to Me
• Oh Baby, Is It Time?
• Birth & Infant Feeding Menu

Hospital Delivery Cost

If you have questions about our hospital delivery cost, or the cost of other maternity services, please contact our Patient Financial Services department. Call 530-332-6300 or email billing.helpline@enloe.org. Our caregivers will be happy to assist you.