Kennedy Birthing Center at St. Anthony Community Hospital
Your pregnancy and the birth of your baby will be one of the most joyous experiences of your lifetime.
At St. Anthony Community Hospital we are honored to have the opportunity to share this special event with you and your family. This welcoming birthing center is designed for the comfort and convenience of expectant mothers and their families. It combines modern medical care, an expert, attentive staff, and an array of thoughtful amenities – all in a serene, homelike setting.
The warmth and expert skills of our staff will guide you through a safe and memorable beginning with your newest family member. We are looking forward to meeting and caring for you and your family.
The Kennedy Birthing Center at St. Anthony Community Hospital's care team
Health Matters
Paula Smith, RN, System Director of Maternity Services, and Kimberly Connelly, RN, Nurse Manager, Maternity Services, at WMCHealth's St. Anthony Community Hospital, discuss Labor and Delivery, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding and education for new moms on WTBQ’s “Health Matters” talk show. They also describe our Maternity birthing suites and other amenities as well as perks for new families, including a celebration meal.
The Kennedy Birthing Center Family Experience
At the Kennedy Birthing Center at St. Anthony Community Hospital we do everything we can to make the experience for mothers as calm and positive as possible.
In the past, the process of giving birth hasn’t always made a mother’s comfort a top priority. It’s common for moms to be moved between rooms as they check in at one location, deliver in a separate room and recover in a third. But at St. Anthony Community Hospital, new mothers and their family members can stay in one place throughout the entire process, allowing them to settle in and get comfortable as they welcome their bundle of joy into the world.
The Kennedy Birthing Center uses one room (LDRP rooms) for labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum . These rooms are equipped with the necessary tools and supplies to care for mother and baby before, during and after the birth. Mothers also have the choice to room in with their new baby or send the child to the nursery.
Significant Others at Birth
Significant others may be present in the delivery suite with physician consent. Generally, nature does a good job with pregnancy and birth and the vast majority of deliveries proceed without serious problems. However, if a complication should arise, your partner in labor and delivery may be asked to wait outside the delivery suite for a brief period. You will be reunited as soon as medically possible. Safe outcomes for you and your baby are our foremost concern.
The Wellness Network Newborn Channel
The Wellness Network Newborn Channel is offered in both English and Spanish in our maternity patient rooms to help educate new families on ways to keep mother and baby healthy. The Channels can also be found on a downloadable app to help new mothers at home.
Some of the Newborn Channel topics offered include:
- Basic Baby Care and Safety
- Taking Baby Home
- Breastfeeding
- Baby Basics
- Healthy Mom
- Postpartum and Recovery
- The First Few Days
Anesthesia and Pain Relief Options
- Lamaze Childbirth Preparation
- This relaxing and breathing technique, often called “natural childbirth,” is designed to reduce the perception of pain during labor.
- Medications
- Different types of medications are available and may be ordered by your obstetrician to ease labor pain.
- Epidural Anesthesia
- This popular anesthesia method provides continuous pain relief during labor and delivery and is safe and effective.
- A small tube is placed in your lower back, allowing your anesthesiologist to administer medication to “block” the pain of labor.
Pain management is an individualized process to meet each patient’s needs. These pain relief techniques can be used alone or in tandem. Mothers may begin with natural childbirth, then decide to have epidural anesthesia as labor progresses. Should you require a Cesarean Section, an epidural/spinal or general anesthesia is used depending on your medical needs. After a Cesarean Section, each patient is followed by a board certified anesthesiologist to ensure a post-operative comfort level that allows mother and baby to bond.
Your Meals
Breakfast is served at approximately 7:30 a.m., lunch at 11:30 a.m. – noon and dinner at approximately 5 p.m. Beverages and snacks are available. A dietitian makes daily rounds to distribute and collect menus and will be happy to speak with you about your choice of meal at mealtime. For your convenience, each room also features a refrigerator. Families may bring additional food and drink for your use. A coffee pot and microwave are available on the unit.
-
Celebration Dinner
- A special celebration dinner for you and your significant other is provided, compliments of The Kennedy Birthing Center the night before you are discharged.
Services and Birthing Support
Services
Having a baby is one of life’s most wonderful and joyous experiences. Throughout your pregnancy, while you will be excited about the upcoming birth of your baby, you will likely feel some apprehension and have questions.
At the Kennedy Birthing Center of St. Anthony Community Hospital, we want to do everything possible to make your pregnancy worry-free and enjoyable. We can help you make arrangement for prenatal and childbirth classes, help you customize your birth plan and coordinate efforts to meet any special needs you have identified, assuring that your birth experience is just what you and your family expect.
We believe the birth of your baby is a miracle that belongs to you and your family.
Call weekdays 845.987.5300 for answers to your questions
Innovative New Techniques and Processes to Encourage Bonding and Promote Healthy Babies and Mothers
Gentle Cesarean Sections
If you require a Cesarean Section, the option of a traditional or gentle C-section is available to you.
Gentle C-Sections, introduced in 2018, mimic some essential components of natural childbirth by allowing parents to watch as their infant enters the world. A clear drape is placed between the mother and the Obstetrician performing the procedure so the mother is able to see her baby at the time of birth. During a gentle cesarean, skin-to-skin bonding is encouraged while still in the operating room. We are aiming to make this procedure feel more like a birth and less like a surgery.
Delayed Newborn Bathing
Newborns born at the Kennedy Birthing Center will not receive a bath until the next day. Some benefits of a delayed bathing process include allowing a newborn to stay with their mother helping her overall milk production for exclusively breastfeeding, while also helping the newborn regulate their blood sugar and body temperature to normal levels.
Couplet Care
St. Anthony Community Hospital recently transitioned to Couplet Care, a family-centered model of care that reduces the amount of time a mother and her newborn are separated for hospital-related practices.
Couplet Care also refers to a mother and her newborn being treated by the same nurse. This helps nurses provide high-quality, compassionate care to the family since that nurse will have extensive knowledge of you and your newborn’s needs.
Increasing time mothers and newborns spend together while in the hospital also has multiple health benefits such as increased breastfeeding success, newborn glucose regulation, decreased levels of maternal and newborn stress, synchronized sleep patterns and an overall confidence in parenting abilities upon discharge.
Childbirth Education and Planning
Pre-Admission Planning
Hospital information and pre-admission paperwork will be provided to you during one of your obstetrician appointments. If you have any questions regarding this paperwork. Please call 845.987.5300.
Prenatal Childbirth Education Classes
Knowing what to expect during and after pregnancy can reduce apprehensions and better prepare you for the demands of parenting.
Classes are offered via Zoom, Free of charge, and follow-up educational materials will be provided after class attended.
Success Stories
Allissa Stone: Growing Family Supported by Kennedy Birthing Center “Guardian Angels” at St. Anthony Community Hospital
Allissa Stone, 30, is a “boss mom.”
She is co-owner of her family’s expanding landscaping business and a stay-at-home mother to her three children (all under five-years-old).
When challenges arise in Allissa’s busy life, she turns to her family, friends and faith for help.
This support system expanded after the birth of Allissa’s third child at St. Anthony Community Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth). She says the doctors, nurses and medical team at the hospital’s Kennedy Birthing Center have become her family’s “guardian angels” and lifted them up when times were tough.
Roots Run Deep
For three generations, St. Anthony has been a part of Allissa’s family tree. It began with her mother, who previously worked as a nurse in the hospital’s maternity unit and later gave birth there to Allissa and her two brothers. More than two decades later, Allissa delivered all three of her children at St. Anthony. She recalled her most recent delivery and how it reaffirmed her trust in the hospital’s prenatal, delivery and postpartum care.
“Like my two other pregnancies, I was afraid to give birth, but once I arrived at St. Anthony and was admitted to our private LDRP (labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum) room, my fears disappeared,” said Allissa. “Everyone was so supportive and made me feel like the most important patient in the hospital. They even encouraged me to play my favorite worship music during the delivery which calmed me down and gave me the strength I needed to have this baby, and for that I am forever grateful.”
Allissa’s third child, Jase, was born healthy and without complications, weighing six pounds and nine ounces.
Emotional Experience
“It was a whirlwind of emotions, but they answered all of our questions with compassion and kindness—even giving us the direct phone number to the nurse’s station, in case we needed help, day or night,” said Allissa. “When we left the hospital, we went home feeling confident in knowing that our angels would be there to support us.”
Over the next few days, the Kennedy Birthing Center frequently followed up with Allissa to make sure that she and Jase were doing well.
“The comfort, consultation and care provided by St. Anthony’ is unmatched,” Allissa said. “This place has been a godsend to me and my family.”
Community Ties Strengthen Bonds
These feelings are mirrored by James Brockunier, MD, FACOG, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Anthony Community Hospital.
“We deliver about 450 babies a year with the help of our highly-trained workforce who have been a part of this community—both professionally and personally—for a long time,” said Dr. Brockunier. “The great thing about St. Anthony is that we provide care for well-born babies 36 weeks and older, but if more complex care is necessary, our affiliation with WMCHealth allows us to seamlessly transfer mother and child to other member hospitals like Good Samaritan Hospital, Westchester Medical Center or Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.”
With nearly 40 years of community experience in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Brockunier has personally touched the lives of thousands of individuals—including Allissa and her family.
“Dr. Brockunier actually delivered me and my two brothers, and most recently he was my prenatal doctor during my pregnancy with Jase,” said Allissa. “That’s the thing about St. Anthony, they provide close-knit, customized care through healthcare professionals that you end up knowing your entire life. I feel blessed to know that they are here, doing God’s work and bringing children into this world safely and with kindness.”
Tours, Visiting Hours and Location
Tours:
**A safe and effective care environment is our highest priority, and St. Anthony Community Hospital's Kennedy Birthing Center, has undertaken the necessary steps to protect our patients, visitors and workforce as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation evolves. This includes canceling in person maternity unit tours for the time being.**
Please WATCH the Virtual Tour of Our Birthing Center
The tour will help you understand what happens when you come to the hospital to have your baby and become comfortable and familiar with The Kennedy Birthing Center.
Visitation:
St. Anthony Community Hospital is working with New York State, the Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on the most updated recommendations regarding hospital visitation. We remain in alignment with all state guidelines to ensure the safety of our patients, their caregivers and our workforce members.
The following are the most current visiting guidelines for maternity patients however, these are subject to changes at any time as dictated by NYS and CDC guidelines:
LABOR & DELIVERY
- 2 persons may accompany the labor patient – one support person (i.e. Doula, mom, sister, friend, etc.) And the father of the baby. (If no father is present then a second support person may be substituted for the father
- They must be screened upon entering the hospital & banded to be allowed access to the OB ED or L&D unit
- They must wear a mask at all times and any other PPE as dictated by the patient’s Covid status.
- The support person & father of a Covid negative patient may exit the hospital and return to the OB ED or L&D unit after being rescreened upon reentry to the hospital.
- They must remain in the patient’s room. (No walking the hallway to talk on the phone or congregate with other fathers) except to exit the hospital or go to the pantry. They must wear a mask. There is only 1 person allowed in the pantry at a time. They must return directly to the patient’s room. They may utilize the patient’s bathroom if needed.
- The support person & father of a Covid positive patient must remain in the patient’s room and may not visit the pantry or exit the hospital and return to the unit. They may utilize the patient’s bathroom as needed. If the support person or father chooses to exit the hospital they will not be permitted to return to the unit.
POST-PARTUM (Mother/Baby Unit)
- Patients who are COVID negative may have 2 visitors at the bedside at a time. The visitors must be screened upon entry to the hospital and banded. They must wear a mask. The visitors may switch out during the visiting hours of 10a-6p but must be re-screened and banded upon re-entry to the hospital.
- The visitors must remain in the patient’s room during the visit. The father/significant other/support person must remain in the room at all times except to go to the pantry. They must wear a mask. There is only 1 person allowed in the pantry at a time. They must return directly to the patient’s room and may not congregate in the hallway, sitting area (T5), pantry, or maternity lobby. They may use the patient’s bathroom as needed.
- 1 Visitor is permitted to stay overnight with the patient. The other visitor will abide by the visiting hours of 10a-6p. (If the father is staying overnight then the 2nd visitor must abide by the visiting hours and leave by 6pm and not return before 10 am the next day. If the father is not staying overnight he must leave by 6pm and not return before 10am the next day. (The patient’s other support person may then stay overnight if the patient so chooses)
- Patients who are Covid positive may have the father of the baby or significant other stay with the patient in their stead throughout her stay. They will need to remain in the patients room (Not be allowed to come and go) for the duration of the patient’s stay. This person will not be allowed to interchange with other visitors during the patient’s stay. They may use the patient’s bathroom as needed. They must wear a mask.
- A Covid positive or symptomatic patient may not visit her baby in the NICU until her Covid test results negative and she is asymptomatic.
Location:
The Kennedy Birthing Center is located on the 2nd floor of St. Anthony Community Hospital at:
15 Maple Avenue
Warwick, NY 10990