Labor & Delivery
State-of-the-art delivery rooms in O’ahu
Adventist Health Castle’s Birth Center offers a boutique like setting that features nine full-sized labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum suites. Rooms feature either a garden or a mountain view.
Each room also has its own large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, a couch-bed for mom’s labor support person, a mini-refrigerator and a storage cupboard your “baby bag.” We also have a separate area just for postpartum in our mother/baby unit on the hospital’s second floor.
Your vision for labor
Every woman has a different vision for her labor, and each labor must be carefully considered. At Adventist Health Castle, our goal is “healthy mom, healthy baby.” To that end, we encourage you to express your desires for your labor while understanding your safety and that of your baby always come first.
Please click on the link to view a sample birth plan (using Adobe’s Acrobat Reader) that includes our Standards of Care.
Labor options
During labor, pain can be a great concern for any mom. If you choose, our staff will support you with a variety of pain relief options.
Nonpharmacological pain relief includes:
- Walking and movement during labor
- Water therapy
- Exercise or peanut balls (peanut-shaped vinyl exercise balls that help relax and open the pelvis)
- Music
- Massage
- Relaxation/breathing techniques
Of course, you will also be helped by the support of your healthcare providers and the presence of family and friends.
We also offer pharmacological options for pain relief. Most women in labor can receive infusions of a narcotic through an IV during labor. This medication works quickly and can be given a limited number of times during labor, although not immediately before delivery (to ensure the medication’s effects wear off before the baby is born.) For some women, this medication allows them to rest between contractions by taking off the “edge.”
The most complete pain relief during labor is provided by epidural anesthesia. With an epidural, an anesthetist places a needle into a space just outside the spinal cord in the lower back. The needle is removed, but a tiny catheter remains taped in place to deliver a continuous flow of medication, similar to an IV. The medication helps block the pain of contractions. It also creates numbness, so a woman with an epidural cannot get out of bed. Most women take the opportunity provided by the epidural to get some rest.