FAQs

You should call your doctor or midwife any time you have questions or concerns about your health or pregnancy. They will want to know when:

• You are having regular contractions
• Your water breaks
• You are concerned about your health or the health of the baby

Most women will have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. However, there are some signs that might indicate a problem. If you notice any of the following signs, you should call your doctor right away.

• Sudden increase in swelling of your face, hands or ankles
• Constant severe headache
• Blurred or fuzzy vision
• Chills, fever or feeling sick
• Sharp or constant pain in your abdomen (belly)
• Any bleeding from your vagina
• Water or watery discharge from your vagina
• Fewer movements by your baby
• Any injury, or if you have fallen or been in a car accident

In general, if you feel that something is not “right,” call your doctor or midwife right away. He or she is prepared to help you if there is a problem. Do not try to treat yourself with medications or home remedies without talking to your doctor first.

Where do I go when it is time to have the baby?

• Make sure to call your doctor or midwife to let him or her know you are on your way to the hospital, so the hospital knows to expect you.
• When you arrive at the hospital, go directly to the Labor and Delivery unit. Enter the hospital through the Simon A Entrance located to the right of the main entrance. If there is no one at the door to let you in after visiting hours, press the night bell. Security can open the door for you at any time, day or night.
• View our campus map >
• Follow the hall to the end and turn right past the Simon elevators. Then follow the signs to our Labor and Delivery unit. Labor and Delivery and Maternity are secure units. Press the intercom button and someone will answer.
  

Your obstetrician or midwife’s office should give you a registration packet between pregnancy week 24 and 26. If the office doesn’t give you a packet, ask for one or contact the Morristown Medical Maternity Center Pre-Registration office at 973-971-5732 or maternityregistrationmmh@atlantichealth.org. Be sure to look through the packet, which is full of important information.

When you send your pre-registration packet to the hospital, please include:

• Your completed registration form
• A copy of your health insurance card
• A copy of a form of photo identification (e.g., driver's license)
• A signed “Acknowledgement of Receipt of Notice of Availability of Supplemental Screening” form
• Advanced directive (optional)
  

Parent education classes at Morristown Medical range from infant care to establishing a “green” home for your baby. We also offer special classes for grandparents and siblings. Our instructors are trained, certified and experienced to teach all of our pregnancy and parenting programs.

Our Early Pregnancy class provides helpful information for the first and early second trimester. We also offer a Calm Birth® preparation class, usually taken during the second or third trimesters. We recommend that you take our Prepared Childbirth class, led by registered nurses who are certified childbirth educators, during your seventh month, with a goal of finishing the class by week 37 of your pregnancy; please call at least a month in advance to schedule a class. Morristown Medical also offers classes by experts in areas such as breastfeeding, massage and nutrition. 

Learn more about classes at Morristown Medical >

Breastfeeding classes are offered by our parent education department. The breastfeeding support staff consists of registered nurses and nurse lactation consultants with years of experience helping new mothers breastfeed their babies.

Additional information about breastfeeding >

Morristown Medical’s Maternity Center staff members strongly advocate breastfeeding, and we support our families to get the best possible start. All of our nurses are trained to assist you with breastfeeding. Lactation consultants are available Monday through Saturday to assist if you have a specific breastfeeding difficulty or problem.

The presence of a partner or support person during labor and delivery is recommended to facilitate the best possible birth experience for the family, regardless of whether the delivery is vaginal or by Cesarean Section. You may have two support people while in Morristown Medical’s Labor and Delivery unit. Only one person may accompany his or her partner to the Cesarean Section room to be with her during the birth and in the recovery room.

To protect the privacy, comfort and confidentiality of all of our patients, one family member or friend may visit for a maximum of 15 minutes, at the discretion of the nurse. A family waiting room is available. Your partner or support person can keep your loved ones up-to-date on your progress.

Your partner or support person is not considered a visitor. All patient rooms are private, so your partner or support person can visit at any time or even stay overnight.

When can my friends and family visit me after the baby is born?

Visiting hours at Morristown Medical’s Maternity Center are from Noon to 8:00pm. To provide infant security, adult visitors will be required to present photo identification and sign in prior to entering the Maternity Center. Siblings of the new baby are welcome, but other children under the age of 12 are not permitted to visit. The nursing staff may limit visitors if indicated by patient condition.

An anesthesiologist is assigned to Labor and Delivery and present in the hospital at all times.

Morristown Medical is prepared to manage emergency situations at all times. An obstetrician, anesthesiologist and highly skilled obstetric nursing staff are available in Labor and Delivery at all times. In addition, Morristown Medical has a Regional Perinatal Neonatal Intensive Care Center with an emergency neonatal team always ready to respond.

Morristown Medical has a pediatric hospitalist program with experienced attending pediatricians who can provide newborn hospital care if your pediatrician does not have privileges. Just like your private pediatrician, the pediatric hospitalist will examine and care for your baby. A brief summary of the newborn hospital stay will be sent to your pediatrician.