Amenities and Services

Amenities and Services

• Comfortable Private Rooms with Upgrade Options
  Our beautiful labor and delivery suites and postpartum rooms — where mothers and their babies go after birth — feature flat-panel televisions, wireless Internet access and pull-out sleep chairs for an overnight visitor.
• Deluxe Suites
  Our deluxe suites are larger, provide a VIP menu, a personal refrigerator, two TVs and other personal amenities. We have deluxe suites available at $330 per night. Please request upon check-in.
• Souvenir Birth Certificates
  You will receive a souvenir birth certificate containing key information about your baby’s arrival as a memento of your hospital stay. Please note that this certificate is NOT the legal document from the County Hall of Records. Our birth certificate coordinator will work with you to complete and submit the paperwork for your baby’s official birth record.
• Family Dining Room (currently closed) 
  You are welcome to use our Family Dining Room. The room includes a refrigerator for your own food storage and a microwave. All food placed in the refrigerator must be labeled and dated. Long-term patients can use the room for baby showers or other celebrations.

• Dining Options 

  

  We offer healthy, fine-dining room service, including vegetarian, low carbohydrate and ethnically diverse entrée options. Refer to our Cafeteria menu for options.
  
  Guest meals for family members or friends are available for an additional charge. For more information, call Food Services at (424) 259-6600. Café Santa Monica is open from 6:30 am to 2:00 am Monday through Friday and from 6:30 am to 8:00 pm weekends and holidays.

• Other Hospital Services
  We offer convenient valet parking on weekdays, an on-site ATM, a gift shop that provides complimentary delivery services to patient rooms, and interpreter services.

Extras at The Birthplace

• Golden Hour/Nesting Time
  We provide quiet time known as “The Golden Hour” in Labor and Delivery and “Nesting Time” in Postpartum to help parents bond with their new arrivals and make gentle transitions to parenthood. The Golden Hour occurs immediately after your baby’s birth. Nesting Time occurs from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm and 2:30 am to 4:30 am daily or whenever you want to enjoy private skin-to-skin bonding time with your infant.

• Alternative Birthing Arrangements

  
   

  The BirthPlace, Santa Monica respects all types of birthing arrangements and parenting choices. We strive to meet the special needs of adoptions, surrogacy and same-gender parenting with sensitivity and compassion.

• Breastfeeding Support
  Our skilled nurses and International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) will answer your questions about breastfeeding and work directly with you to help ease your transition from hospital to home. We invite you to join any of our free support groups: mother/infant support after discharge, parents with babies in the NICU and pregnant women on bed rest while in the hospital.
• Prenatal, Postpartum Educational Classes
  The BirthPlace, Santa Monica offers many classes for expectant parents and postpartum mothers. Classes include childbirth instruction, breastfeeding, infant care, and infant CPR to help you prepare for baby’s arrival and the responsibilities of parenthood. All instructors are certified and have extensive experience in childbirth and parenting education. Additionally, we offer a new Bedside i-Pad program with apps and educational materials. 

Special Services at The BirthPlace, Santa Monica

The BirthPlace, Santa Monica offers these specialized services:

• Nurse Midwives Program
  We have a robust, on-site nurse midwifery program for expectant mothers who want a midwife to manage their pregnancy, labor and delivery. Midwives work with pregnant women and their significant others to create a safe environment for a birthing experience that uses little, if any, technological intervention in a normal birth process. Midwives are experts at identifying when you are approaching decision points in your care and will explain the risks and benefits of intervention options. If medical intervention is necessary, UCLA physicians are available 24/7 for consultation and referral. For more information, call 310-794-4434. Learn more 

   

• Perinatal Testing Lab

  

  This is an outpatient unit on Level 1 in our Merle Norman Pavilion, where specialized nurses perform perinatal tests such as ultrasounds for babies. If your baby needs special monitoring during your pregnancy, you can receive all the diagnostic tests you need here. Appointments are available weekdays, from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. Most tests can be completed in one hour.

• 24-Hour Laborists
  Our laborists are board-certified obstetricians who remain on the unit and are available to manage your labor until your personal obstetrician arrives. They also provide a safe delivery in the event that your doctor is not able to arrive in time for your delivery. Our laborists respect each family's birth plan and collaborate with your obstetrician, who remains in charge of your care.
• 24-Hour Obstetrical Anesthesia
  Our dedicated, in-house anesthesiologists are available 24 hours to ensure you have access to anesthesia during labor or should an emergency C-section become necessary. Our anesthesiologists can provide you with effective pain relief that is safe for you and your baby while you remain awake.
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
  The BirthPlace, Santa Monica offers high-level care for critically ill babies needing surgery or other intensive care. The NICU is a Level-III facility staffed by UCLA neonatologists, nurses and other health professionals with advanced training and expertise in caring for premature or ill infants. Occupational and physical therapists, social workers and dieticians provide additional support
• Newborn Nursery
  While most infant care and evaluations occur at the mother's bedside, some procedures may be done in our Newborn Nursery, which is staffed by nurses who specialize in newborn and postpartum care. Because we prefer to keep newborns with their mothers, babies referred to the Newborn Nursery for observation, assessments or other procedures are reunited with their mothers as quickly as possible
• High-Risk Pregnancy Care Patients at high risk for complications during their pregnancies may be admitted to our hospital for antepartum, or pre-birth, care by our specially trained nurses and perinatologists — doctors who specialize in managing high-risk pregnancies. We also provide antepartum care to pregnant women expecting twins or triplets.