Labour and Delivery

• Our Delivery Suite
• Our Wards
• Options for pain relief in labour
• Water birth
• Neonatal care

Our Delivery Suite

Located on Level 2, Main Building 1, our Delivery Suite has 1 deluxe delivery suite with Water Birth facilities, 7 single-bed suites with attached bathrooms, 1 four-bedder first stage room. With our telementry monitoring system, our patients can be assured of the highest standards of medical care.

Our patients can also opt for aromatherapy soothing and doula pressure as a pain relief.

Please click here for more information on the labour and birthing process.

Our Wards

Patients can have a choice of their wards and they are Deluxe, A, B1, B2 and C Class Wards.

Private patients are admitted to the Maternity Ward, Ward 9A which is located on Level 9, Kent Ridge Wing 2. Fitted with attached bathrooms, there are 1 deluxe suit and 15 single-bed rooms.

Our Deluxe and A Class patients get to enjoy our amenities including:

• Rooming-in service. Visitors who wish to stay with our patients are welcome to do so at a nominal fee. Only 1 visitor is allowed per patient.
• Complimentary butler services to assist you and enhance your stay with us. Our list of services cover basic sewing repairs, booking of taxis, hair washing and blowing, ironing, laundry (charges by the laundry company applies), shoe polishing and unpacking/ packing of belongings.
• A candlelight dinner for you and your partner to celebrate the arrival of your bundle of joy.
• Room amenities such as television, telephone, bar fridge, toiletries and newspapers.

Subsidised patients are admitted to Ward 48 which is located on Level 4, Main Building 1. There are 16 four-bedder rooms (with individual TV and shared bathrooms), 12 six-bedder rooms and 7-bedder rooms.

During your stay, our ward will provide group education programmes in the areas of:

• Bath demonstration
• Baby care
• Breastfeeding tips
• Parental infant emotional support

Options for pain relief in labour

There are various ways of coping with labour pains. At NUH, we have the following options available:

•  Entonox: This is a 50:50 mixture of two gases, namely, Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide. It is inhaled during the uterine contractions. It can be used in conjunction with the intra-muscular injection of pethidine.
  
  
•  Intramuscular injection of pethidine: This usually works within 15 minutes of injection. Usually, the injection needs to be repeated every 4-6 hours during labour.
  
  
• Epidural analgesia: This involves injecting anaesthetic medication close to the nerves in the spinal cord that transmit pain sensation. It is the most effective way of relieving the pain in labour. It also has the advantage of avoiding the need for greater analgesia or general anaesthesia if instrumental vaginal delivery or caesarean section becomes necessary during the course of labour.

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Water birth

Waterbirth is the process of giving birth in warm water.

Many women are discovering how a wonderful pool of warm water can be during labour and birth. Some women choose to labour in water and get out for delivery while others stay in the water for the delivery as well.

The rationale behind waterbirth is that the baby has been in the amniotic sac for 9 months and birthing into a similar environment is both gentler for the baby and less stressful for the mother.

The benefits of giving birth in water include:

• Comfort
  Research studies have proven that women using water for childbirth request for less or no pain relief in labour. This could be attributed to the fact that the feel of warm water on the nerve endings in the lower back can reduce the body's sensation in the abdominal region.
  
  
• Buoyancy
  Giving birth in water counteracts the effects of gravity, making it easier for the mother to change positions and avoid placing pressure on the back. The heightened ability to assume different positions can be extremely helpful in allowing the baby to descend down the birth canal.
  
  
• Reduction in anxiety
  When the mother is not anxious, her body is not apt to produce stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, or catecholamines.
  
  These hormones stimulate the body's fight-or-flight reaction, something not desired during labor.
  
  If these hormones are not present, the mother's body instead produces endorphins, which are the body's "feel good" hormones. They promote a sense of well-being and lessen sensations of pain or stress.
  
  
• Relaxation
  When laboring in water, the mother can maintain deeper relaxation allowing her to halt the fear-tension-pain cycle that plagues so many mothers.
  
  This relaxation along with the water exposure, allows the perineum to gently stretch, thus reducing the extent of tearing.
  
  
• Fewer interventions
  This type of birth is usually chosen by a mother who values an intervention-free birth, one who views childbirth as a natural process, not a medical procedure.
  
  The mother is empowered, confident in the fact that she has the ability to birth her baby, free of the misperceptions of childbirth that so many people harbor.
  
  
• Water immersion
  Water immersion has been said to shorten labour.
  This can be due in part to the fact that the mother is relaxed, which makes each contraction more productive so that the baby descends faster and the rate of dilation and effacement of the cervix are also increased.
  
  

If you are a strong believer in natural child birth where no medication or pain-relievers are used, you may be pleased to know that we have a comfortable pool for your delivery. The soothing warm water makes the contraction discomfort during labour more bearable.

Please click here for more details

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Neonatal care

A neonate is a newborn in his first 28 days of life. He/She can be born full term or prematurely (before 37 weeks of gestation).

Neonatal care is a specialised field with trained personnel managing these newborn infants.

Established in 1990, the Department of Neonatology provides the full range of specialist care: pre-delivery counseling of parents with high-risk pregnancies, attendance at high-risk deliveries, resuscitation of the sick newborn, neonatal intensive care, well-baby nursery care and follow-up.

Our dedicated team of doctors and nurses are able to provide continuous monitoring, investigations and specialized medical and nursing care for these newborns. We are also able to provide pre and post-operative care for neonates requiring surgery.

Please click here for more information and read more about our outpatient and inpatient services.

Please contact the Women's Clinic at (65)6772 2255 / 2277 for more information or to make an appointment, or email us at  Womens_Clinic@nuhs.edu.sg

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