Major renovations to mother-baby unit gives moms, babies and families the experience they deserve
Major improvements have arrived to the Family Birth and Newborn Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Pocono.
Thanks to the generosity of local donors, women who deliver at LVH–Pocono will have an elevated labor, delivery and post-delivery experience. Those first to step forward with significant support for these renovations include: Lester G. Abeloff Foundation; Joan M. Duckloe, member, Pocono Health Foundation Board of Directors; Andrew A. Forte, PhD, member, Pocono Health Foundation Board of Directors; and Ann Negvesky, chair, Pocono Health Foundation Board of Directors.
The Family Birth and Newborn Center at LVH–Pocono has always received high marks and patient satisfaction scores for our doctors, midwives and nurses – including our most recent recognitions by U.S. News & World Report. LVH–Pocono was named among the best in the nation for maternity care in addition to a Maternity Care Access designation for providing maternity services to communities that might otherwise lack adequate access.
“With our recent facility renovations and those still on the way, we are now also creating the environment that women want and expect when they give birth,” says Samantha Hogan, MD, OB-GYN with LVPG Obstetrics and Gynecology–Pocono.
The transformative renovations include expanding the mother-baby unit and labor and delivery area, thereby creating more comfortable, family-centered spaces for mothers, newborns and their loved ones. Additionally, changes will include improvements to the operating rooms for cesarean births and to the hospital’s Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The mother-baby unit is completely reimagined with the biggest upgrade being the move away from shared rooms to private rooms.
“With these renovations, the goal was to make the mother-baby rooms feel as close to home as possible,” says Dr. Hogan.
These large, single private rooms allow for more family-centered care, including sleeping accommodations for the partner, a personal in-room refrigerator and a workstation desk with extra outlets and USB ports so moms and their partners can easily connect with family members and friends during the start of this joyous new chapter.
Renovations to the labor and delivery unit are set to be completed in 2027. Once completed, the expansion of the unit will enable us to serve more OB patients in the Pocono region with additional labor and delivery rooms that are more spacious and better designed for mom’s birthing experience – as well as for their partner or support person. Because some labors are lengthy, each room will have overnight accommodations for the patient’s support person or partner.
“The new rooms are the perfect atmosphere to accommodate a woman's birth preferences,” says certified nurse-midwife Andrea McLaren. “Some of our rooms will be equipped with birthing swings as well as soaking tubs so women can use hydrotherapy for pain management while they're laboring.”
There will also be three rooms for high-risk patients, with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, including infant resuscitation units. And, of course, LVH–Pocono’s expert team of neonatologists and NICU team will be readily available to provide advanced newborn care.
LVH–Pocono is the only hospital in Monroe County with obstetrical services and now, with these enhancements, women can receive the labor, delivery and post-birth experience they want – and deserve – close to home and under the safety net of the hospital in their community.
“It’s what we as women expect when we give birth,” Dr. Hogan says. “We want a welcoming, homelike environment like a soaking tub while laboring and a refrigerator post-delivery. But we also are reassured by the access to the latest technology for the safety of our mothers and newborns.”
Through Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), part of Jefferson Health, women who live in the Poconos and are pregnant or planning for that next step already have access to the obstetrics care they desire. Whether they are interested in standard maternity care, midwifery care or virtual prenatal care, LVHN offers the OB care that’s right for them. They also have access to the Connections Program – a one-of-a-kind program that offers comprehensive, compassionate care specifically designed for pregnant women navigating substance use – as well as postpartum support through the WAVES (Women Adjusting to Various Emotional States) Program – another one-of-a-kind program designed to help women who find themselves struggling with mood and anxiety disorders through pregnancy and the first 12 months of motherhood.
The renovations to the Family Birth and Newborn Center at LVH–Pocono add the personal touch women need to stay close to home for all of their obstetrics and newborn care needs.
