James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital - Virtual Tour
Welcome to the virtual tour of ECU Health Medical Center’s Women’s Services and Maynard Children’s Hospital newborn care areas. It is our privilege to provide care for you during this special event in your life. As the only academic medical center in eastern North Carolina, we care for a wide variety of patients—including the highest risk obstetrical patients and their newborns. We provide human-centered quality care for you and your family. Do not hesitate to ask questions and share concerns and compliments with your health care team. Please follow the instructions below and we will see you inside!
Main Entrance
When it is time to deliver your baby, please come directly to the front entrance of Maynard Children’s Hospital. Your driver will drop you off at the entrance, proceed to the designated visitor parking lot adjacent to the building and meet you in the lobby.
Main Lobby
Welcome to the main lobby of Women’s Center and Maynard Children’s Hospital. The Children’s Hospital has a whimsical aquatic theme, which visually engages children and makes the hospital environment more comfortable. You will notice overhead sea creatures, fish tanks and other features that help create a calming and soothing environment.
Visitation Guidelines
During the birth process, it is important for you to have a support person. We will ask you to give us the name of your support person when you come in. Your support person and all visitors must check in at Reception Reef in the Children’s Hospital lobby when they come in and when they leave. We welcome siblings, but please remember that they must be accompanied by an adult, if they are under 12. Visitors must be free from contagious infections and should not recently have been exposed to a virus like COVID-19, colds, flu, chicken pox and so on. The latest information on our visitation policies can be found on the Visitation Guidelines page on the Maynard Children’s Hospital website.
Have You Done Your Homework?
ECU Health Medical Center Women’s Services offers in-person and online education for expectant mothers during all stages of pregnancy and beyond. To learn more about these educational opportunities, ask a member of your care team for details. You can also visit the Classes and Support page on our website to register online.
Patient Access Services
From Reception Reef, we will direct you to the Patient Access Services area, where our team will check you in, verify insurance information, answer your questions and let the nursing team know you have arrived. Please remember to bring your photo ID and insurance card with you.
Reception Reef
Labor Day is every day at the Women’s Center! Whether you arrive in labor, think you may be in labor or are having a pregnancy concern needing prompt medical attention, you have come to the right place. When you enter the Main Entrance, you will find team members waiting for you at the Reception Reef.
OB Emergency Department Transport
Once you check in with Patient Access Services, a member of the obstetrical team will meet you in the lobby. This team member will escort you to the OB ED and let your nurse know you have arrived.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Are you getting excited for the big day? There are lots of plans to be made and you must keep your health top-of-mind! Review our What to Expect When You’re Expecting book, which will answer many of your questions as you plan your trip to the hospital.Qué esperar
OB Emergency Department
We designed our state-of-the-art OB Emergency Department—known as the OB ED—for moms who may be in labor or have a pregnancy concern. The OB ED care team has the expertise to care for patients exhibiting both high and low risk obstetrical issues, and can handle every detail of your big day. Please remember that if you are having problems not related to your pregnancy, you should still visit the Main ED. This includes motor vehicle crashes, difficulty breathing, chest pain, or traumas such as a fall or broken bones. Please feel free to speak with your nurse or provider about any questions or concerns you have. We want you to be comfortable with your care.
OB ED Nurse’s Station
Many patients come to the OB ED and are not admitted to Labor and Delivery and may even be sent home. Do not be discouraged if you come to the OB ED thinking you are in labor and discover you are not. This is a very common occurrence. Never hesitate to contact your doctor or certified nurse midwife for questions or concerns. You can always return to the OB ED at any time if you think you are in labor, believe your water may have broken, feel your baby is not moving as much, find you are bleeding or you have any other pregnancy concerns.
OB ED Patient Room
The nursing team will talk with you about your labor or pregnancy concerns, examine you and monitor both you and your baby. A provider will also assess you. Your nurse will keep a very close eye on you and keep your provider up to date on your condition. Within a couple of hours of your arrival to the OB ED, your provider will determine if you need to be moved to our Labor and Delivery or Antepartum areas, or possibly discharged home.
Fetal Monitors
A fetal monitor is used to check your baby’s heart rate and to check for uterine contractions. The monitor shows both fetal heart rate and uterine activity on the monitor in your room and at the nurse’s station. So even when there is not one of our team members in your room, you and your baby are always under observation.
Labor and Delivery
Welcome to our state-of-the-art Labor & Delivery unit, where we provide care to moms with low-risk or high-risk pregnancies. We have labor and delivery rooms, operating rooms and a post-anesthesia care area—known as the PACU—for our patients who need surgery.
Central Fetal Monitor
Our electronic fetal monitors are centrally displayed so our nursing team and providers can see your baby’s heartbeat and your uterine contractions, even when they are not in your room.
Labor and Delivery Patient Room
We designed each labor and delivery room with you and your family in mind. Each room features a TV, free hospital-wide wi-fi and a comfortable bathroom. We encourage your birth partner to be present with you. If you have a vaginal delivery, you will meet your newborn in this room, hold your baby skin to skin and breastfeed your newborn for the first time. You will remain in this room for up to two hours following delivery.
The Birthing Experience
Our nursing team will be with you every step of the way. You may want to walk in the hallway or in your room. You can use a birthing ball, a CUB chair, labor in a chair, use nitrous, or opt for pain medication or an epidural. Our birthing beds can be positioned in many unique ways to help you and your baby in the birthing process. Your nurse will help you manage labor one contraction at a time. After the birth of your baby, you and your baby will be cared for in this room for the first couple of hours. You are encouraged to hold your baby skin to skin and to breastfeed during this time. These will be special moments for just you and your birth partner to bond and get to know your baby. If your baby is premature or needs specialized care, the baby will be cared for by our experts in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, known as the NICU.
L&D Operating Room
We’ve equipped our Labor and Delivery unit with four state-of-the-art operating rooms. Just prior to delivery, you will see doctors and nurses in the room to examine your baby. After the birth, you may hold your baby skin to skin as long as you and the baby are well. We encourage your birth partner to be present with you to share this special moment.
Cesarean Section
When your baby is born by a C-section, you will notice a team of newborn care providers in the Operating Room to check your baby. They will be at near the baby warmer and will check your baby as soon as he or she is born.
Cesarean Birth
During a Cesarean birth, you may have one support person with you in the Operating Room. Your doctor will talk to you about if you will be awake or asleep during your surgery. Your nurse will help you be comfortable and decrease any anxiety you or your support partner have. An anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist will give you medication to keep you comfortable during your surgery.PACU
Outside the operating room suite, we care for mothers who had a cesarean delivery in the post-anesthesia care area—known as the PACU. The baby will also receive care in this room with the mother, unless the baby needs specialized care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Mothers are encouraged to hold the baby skin to skin and breastfeed in the PACU. Birth partners are encouraged to be with you and the baby during this time.
1West Nurses Station
1West is home to the Mother/Baby and Antepartum area. This special location includes 12 antepartum rooms and 28 mother/baby rooms.
Electronic Fetal Monitors
Our electronic fetal monitors are centrally displayed so our nursing team and providers can see your baby’s heartbeat and your uterine contractions, even when they are not in your room.
1West Patient Room
When you move from the Labor and Delivery unit to the Mother/Baby area, you will hear a lullaby played overhead to let team members and visitors know a new baby has been born. The Mother/Baby rooms are for our postpartum mothers and healthy newborns. One nurse will provide care for both you and your newborn in this room. We encourage your birth partner to stay with you in this room. Please check with your nurse for information about visitation. We are excited to meet the new big brother or big sister!
Security Bracelets
Following delivery, matching bracelets are placed on each healthy newborn and their mother. There is also a bracelet placed on the mother’s birth partner or support person. We place a security tag on each healthy newborn. An alarm will sound if anyone tampers with the tag or moves the baby outside of the Mother/Baby unit. Your nurse will review infant security with you. If your baby is in the NICU, the security processes are slightly different and we’ll review those with you, too.Antepartum Rooms
The antepartum rooms are for expectant mothers with pregnancy complications. A team of obstetrical expert doctors, nurses and other clinicians care for these mothers. This team closely monitors the pregnancy and developing baby, all while providing education, support and coping techniques for extended hospital stays. Recreation therapy will work with you on coping techniques for long-term hospitalization along with classes, group activities and crafts you can participate in during your stay.
Healing Garden
The Healing Garden is a tranquil and relaxing space for patients, their families and team members to spend time outside. Antepartum patients enjoy this outdoor space away from their room and close to the Mother/Baby and Antepartum areas.
Maynard Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Maynard Children’s Hospital, eastern North Carolina’s only children’s hospital, is adjacent to the Women’s Center and is home to the only level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—known as the NICU—in eastern NC. The NICU serves premature babies and others needing additional care and monitoring. A team of specialty-trained doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists and other clinicians care for these babies and their families. We designed each of the 50 private rooms to promote healing and family bonding. The second floor NICU provides 21 additional private rooms for babies who do not need intensive care, but still require further care and monitoring.
Maternal Expressions Boutique
Designated as a Baby Friendly USA Hospital in 2011, we support and encourage breastfeeding as the optimal feeding method. We have a trained team—including lactation specialists—available to assist you during and after your stay.
Thank You
Thank you for choosing ECU Health Medical Center Women’s Services and Maynard Children’s Hospital to care for you, your baby and your family. It is our honor and privilege to be a part of your birth story and we are grateful for the opportunity.