After Delivery

It's no surprise that the real adventure begins after your baby arrives.

From the precious moments immediately after the delivery to the days and weeks that follow, your care and your child's remain of the utmost importance to us. Whether you need additional medical consultation or support services, you'll find everything right here at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.

With our family-focused care philosophy, we customized care based on your needs. Unless medically indicated, you tell the nurse how much time you want to spend with your baby. You may choose to keep your baby with you throughout your hospital stay or have the baby stay in the nursery for short periods of time.

With "couplet care," babies and their mothers remain together in our family-centered unit. Each mother and her baby are cared for as a couplet, receiving their nursing care from the same nurse. This promotes education and confidence-building for new mothers as well as communication between the nurse and the mother for baby care.

Your baby's physician will be notified that your baby has arrived so he or she can come for the physical exam. If your baby's physician is unavailable, we always have an alternate physician to examine and care for your baby while in the hospital.

Whenever your baby is in the crib, we recommend placing the baby on his or her back. The crib drawer is stocked with T-shirts, diapers and supplies. If you feel you want a little extra guidance in feeding or caring for your baby, please don't hesitate to ask your nurses for advice, instructions or a demonstration. Individualized teaching about infant care will be tailored to your needs.

Your care and observation of your baby continues throughout the night. Please leave a small light, such as the bathroom mirror light, on at night so your nurse can check on you and your baby without disturbance. Fathers are an important part of Baylor Grapevine's Women's Center and are encouraged to stay the night with Mom and the new baby.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a Level 3 unit - the highest level of care available - that provides advanced life-support services and technologies for premature and seriously ill newborns.

Staffed by specialized nurses, neonatal nurse practitioners and neonatologists, the NICU provides surgical services and advanced ventilators and also cares for infants as early as 24 weeks gestation. Developmental strategies are utilized to aid in the growth and development of the premature and seriously ill newborn.

Parents are encouraged to take an active role in the care of their infant. In an effort to make parents feel at ease, visitation hours for parents are flexible.

Breast-feeding
Breast-feeding support is available to you, should this be your preferred method of feeding. A complete breastfeeding class is available to help you make the decision whether to breast-feed and learn how to do so properly. Locate a class on our on-line calendar.

All Women's Services nurses are trained to assist you with breast-feeding. If your nurse identifies more specialized assistance that is needed, a certified lactation consultant will be notified. If you have further questions regarding breast-feeding and postpartum health information, telephone assistance is available Monday through Friday by calling (817) 424-4867.

Simply Mom's
The Simply Mom's program at Baylor Grapevine provides new Moms convenient access to breast-feeding supplies, educational materials and gifts for mother and baby. The service also has board certified lactation consultants on staff. In addition you may call Simply Mom's at (817) 424-4644 if you have any questions once you return home. If we are unable to assist you by telephone, you may set up an appointment with a certified lactation consultant.

Family and Friends
This is an exciting time, and your family and friends will want to visit you and your baby. The newborn's brothers and sisters are important during this time of family transition, but they should be accompanied by an adult and be free of illness.* Please ask anyone who holds your baby to wash his or her hands first.

*Visits from family and friends under the age of 14, unless siblings, are greatly discouraged to prevent transmission of communicable diseases to the newborns.

Birth Certificate
You may have already completed a birth certificate worksheet prior to entering the hospital to have your baby. Women's Services will send a representative to your room to help in the completion of this process. From this information, an official form will be presented for your signature and official filing. If you should be discharged early or miss our representative, they will contact you at home and make arrangements for you to complete all birth certificate paperwork.

Photo Keepsakes
Baylor Grapevine has contracted with an outside company to take your baby's picture. Not only is this a keepsake for you, but the company participates in a nationwide security program for newborns. Pictures will be offered during your hospital stay. Your baby may wear an outfit brought from home or his/her hospital T-shirt. You are not obligated to order pictures. The negative is kept on file for one year if you choose to order at a later date. See the babies on-line.

Footprints
If you would like, you can have your baby's footprints made as a keepsake before you leave the hospital. This can be done during your baby's required newborn screening. Please bring the item to be "footprinted" with you to the hospital.

Supplemental Newborn Screening
All states routinely perform newborn screening that is designed to identify common metabolic diseases. The Supplemental Newborn Screening provided by the Institute of Metabolic Disease includes the majority of the newborn screening tests recommended by the March of Dimes and the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG), which may not be included in state-required screening. If you decide to request Supplemental Newborn Screening for your infant, please provide this letter to your physician. For more information, please ask your physician or review our section about this testing.

Solicitation
Please be aware that Baylor Grapevine does not endorse any commercial services provided by an agent or agency outside the medical center. Contacts you may receive by mail or by phone for such services have no connection with Baylor Grapevine.