CMH AND ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER

New Partners in the Region’s Best Maternity Care

Columbia Memorial Health has partnered with Albany Medical Center to offer a comprehensive maternity program that offers expecting moms the best of both worlds: advanced pre and post natal care close to home, and a birthing experience at Albany Medical Center’s state-of-the-art Birth Place. Now, you can get all of your pre and post delivery care at one of CMH’s two convenient locations, and when the time comes to welcome your new baby, your delivery will be made at one of most advanced birthing centers in the Northeast.

Pre and Post Natal Care Close to Home

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

We’re excited that you have chosen Columbia Memorial Health and Albany Med to be part of this wonderful experience. We believe that every woman should have a joyful and healthy pregnancy, and our Maternity Services at CMH, team of doctors, midwives and perinatologist specialists are committed to providing exceptional care to you and your baby. A new partnership between Columbia Memorial Health and Albany Med now provides a comprehensive maternity program offering you the best of both worlds: advanced pre- and post-natal care close to home (including childbirth classes and breastfeeding consultation), and a birthing experience at Albany Medical Center’s state-of-the-art Birth Place. Now, you can get all of your pre and post delivery care at one of CMH’s two convenient locations, and when the time comes to welcome your new baby, your delivery will be made at one of most advanced birthing centers in the Northeast.

Our team works seamlessly to ensure your individual birth plan and experience will be exceptional, and our Maternity Program Specialist will help guide and advise you through the birth of your baby and beyond. She will be your go-to guide on all pregnancy questions, and will help you schedule classes and provide you with all the important information you need throughout your pregnancy.

We offer a wide range of services for pregnant women, including:

  • Preconception counseling and testing
  • Prenatal screening including genetic screening tests
  • Care for high risk pregnancies including multiple gestations and women with medical conditions such as hypertension, pre-eclampsia, diabetes, and recurrent pregnancy loss
  • Maternal-Fetal medicine clinic that will benefit women with high risk pregnancies
  • Postpartum care

Breastfeeding offers many benefits to your baby. Breast milk contains the right balance of nutrients to help your baby grow strong and healthy. Some of the nutrients in breast milk also help protect against common childhood illnesses and infections.

We recommend the following practices during your stay at the Birth Place at Albany Med:

  • Ask for assistance to initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
  • Ask one of the trained breastfeeding nurses about stimulation and managing your milk supply if you are away from your baby.
  • Put your baby to the breast whenever he/she seems hungry. Babies need practice latching on in the first days after birth.
  • Discourage pacifier use until baby is breastfeeding well. If your baby fusses, breastfeed a bit more until your baby is settled. Switching side to side can satisfy your baby’s need to suck and build your milk supply.

Support Groups for Maternity patients. Group of pregnant women looking for support.Prepared Childbirth Class
We offer a childbirth educational class for expecting parents. This class is for couples who are expecting their first baby or parents who have never attended a childbirth class. This class will guide parents through the process of labor and delivery with emphasis on breathing and relaxation techniques, coping strategies for labor, medication and anesthesia options, prepare couples for the possibility of cesarean delivery.

Childbirth Classes are held once a month on Saturdays in the Family Birth Place at Columbia Memorial Health. For a list of dates, please contact us at 518.828.1400.

Breastfeeding Support Group
Our free breastfeeding support group is held every Tuesday from 4:30-5:30pm at the Women’s Health Center, first floor in the Medical office building. Our Midwife will provide educational information and techniques for new moms that are breastfeeding their baby. For more information, please contact us at: 518.828.1400.

Support Groups at Albany Med
The Birth Place at Albany Med believes that education is an important part of any family’s birthing experience. To help your family gain the knowledge you need, we regularly
provide a wide range of classes. A few examples include:

  • Tours of The Birth Place
  • Childbirth Education
  • Cesarean Birth
  • Breastfeeding
  • Infant Care
  • Becoming a Sibling
  • Grand-parenting

If you have any questions about Albany Med classes or tours, feel free to call 518.262.8447 between 8am – 4pm.

When it’s time to go to Albany Med

Pregnant women on bed at home, looking like she needs to go to the hospital to deliver her babyAs you are well into your final stages of pregnancy the excitement of seeing your newborn increases each day as you approach your due date. When the time comes your body will give you warning signs when REAL labor begins. When you feel that something is happening, call your CMH Obsterical provider who will advise you when you should go to The Birth Place at Albany Med for your delivery.

Signs that you might be in labor:

  • If you have been having contractions every five minutes for an hour, or if you have been having contractions every ten minutes that are growing more intense, lasting longer and closer together.
  • If you think your water has broken.
  • You have a bloody (brownish or reddish) mucus discharge.
  • Your baby drops or moves lower into your pelvis. This is called lightening. It means that your baby is getting ready to move into position for birth. It can happen a few weeks or even just a few hours before your labor begins.
  • If you are in labor, your obstetrical provider will advise you to go directly to Albany Med to deliver your baby. Please rest assured that Albany Med will already have your files and birth plan ready for your arrival.

Albany Medical Center – Birth Place Address
43 Scotland Ave, Albany NY 12208

The Birth Place at Albany Med is the only birthing center in the Capital Region that provides both the medical expertise and state-of-the-art facilities to support all childbirth experiences, from the most routine to the most high risk. They practice a family centered model of care and strongly encourage education and family support. The Birth Place offers a comfortable, welcoming birthing environment with access to all of the facilities of the region’s premier hospital:

  • Private labor and birthing rooms
    21 private postpartum rooms (Women are encouraged to room in with their infant, but have a nursery available).
  • Board certified physicians in neonatology and a broad range of other pediatric sub-specialties.
  • Around the clock maternal-fetal medicine and obstetric anesthesiology services.
  • Access to the region’s only New York State designated Level IV Regional Perinatal Care Center and state designated Level IV
  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (designations awarded only to those hospitals that maintain an experienced, highly trained staff, as well as sophisticated facilities).
  • Access to The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Med the region’s only hospital dedicated exclusively to the health and well-being of infants, children and adolescents.

Your Maternity Program Specialist can schedule a tour for you at Albany Med Maternity Unit a month prior to your due date.

The birth of your child is an important event for you and your family. The Birth Place at Albany Med provides comfortable, private rooms for labor, birth and postpartum care. The father of the baby or another support person may stay overnight in your private room. They take privacy, patient confidentiality and security very seriously. There are two waiting areas where family or other visitors can stay when they are not in your room. We request that all family members and visitors check in at the Birth Place reservation desk. Infant security is very important to us.

(Due to COVID-19 restrictions, please check with Albany Med before your visit.)

The Birth Place at Albany Med has instituted the following procedures:

  • All Birth Place staff wear a special hospital identification badge. Badges must be worn while staff work.
  • Albany Med has an electronic infant security system.
  • Security staff make regular rounds on the unit and throughout the hospital. Albany Med state-of-the-art facilities include the only Level IV Regional Perinatal Care Center in eastern New York and western New England. They also maintain the area’s only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit. These are the highest designations awarded by the New York State Department of Health – hospitals such as ours must maintain an experienced, highly trained staff, as well as sophisticated facilities, to receive such a designation.
We recommend that you choose a pediatrician early in your pregnancy. Make an appointment to see the office, meet the staff and the pediatrician. During your stay at the hospital, pediatricians at Albany Med will make rounds in the nursery each morning to perform physical exams on all newborns and instruct you as to when you should follow up with your chosen doctor after discharge. Support groups are available to help you when you need it. Meeting other new mothers that are experiencing the same situations as you are, or have gone through them can be a great comfort knowing you’re not alone.