Birth Center
Siouxland’s Premier Birth Center
Our state-of-the-art birth center offers suites for comfortable labor and delivery, along with northwest Iowa's highest rated neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to offer critical care for babies who need it, right when they need it. Meet our NICU providers at St. Luke's.
Preparing for Baby
Our birth center is preferred by four out of five moms-to-be in Sioux City and the surrounding area, and it's easy to see why. As the only Level III Regional Obstetrical facility in Sioux City and the region, we provide a contemporary, home-like setting where a mother can labor, deliver and begin recovery with all the safety of the hospital's modern medical care.
Expert Care
For the safety of you and your baby, our birth center is a locked unit. This means all visitors, including support persons, need to press a call button to be buzzed in by a team member.
Remember, Iowa law requires children to be secured in a car seat. St. Luke's Partners offer safe, portable infant seats at wholesale prices for St. Luke's moms. Call 712-279-3220 for more information, or visit with your nurse when you deliver.
Labor & Delivery
The Ann & Ray Greenberg Family Center
The Ann & Ray Greenberg Family Center for Labor & Delivery offers secure, private state-of-the-art birthing suites, patient rooms for women with high-risk pregnancies requiring specialized care and rooms for outpatient monitoring and other tests. These suites offer amenities for maximum comfort, including spacious floor plans, special lighting, relaxing jet tubs and portable monitoring.
Childbirth is a special event so St. Luke's encourages family support and involvement. A support person is welcome to remain with you in your birthing suite during labor, baby's birth and after delivery. After delivery while you are bonding with your new baby, you'll hear Brahm's Lullaby played throughout the hospital to welcome the new addition to your family. A neonatologist or neonatal nurse practitioner is available to attend high-risk deliveries to care for your newborn immediately.
The Gleeson Center for Mother & Baby Care
After delivery and recovery, you and your baby will move together to our secure Gleeson Center for Mother & Baby Care for the remainder of their stay.
- Each private suite is furnished with a rocking chair, personal refrigerator, pullout couch, wireless Internet access and updated décor.
- Down the hall, a kitchen and family lounge are available.
Each shift, a specific nurse partners with you and your baby to provide personalized care and help you learn more about your newborn including the safest sleeping positions, holding, diapering, dressing, bathing and more in the privacy of your own suite. In addition, if you choose to breastfeed, our lactation consultants are available to educate and support you. Before leaving, you and your baby will be seen by your doctors to help ensure that both of you are ready for dismissal.
Providing Personalized Care
We encourage you to breastfeed your newborn for your baby's best health and nutrition needs. If you choose breastfeeding, we have professionally trained, board certified lactation consultants on staff. These dedicated breastfeeding experts help mothers with positioning, pumping and latching on, as well as breastfeeding the preterm infant.
UnityPoint at Home - Sioux City, located in the Marketplace Shopping Centre offers a wide range of breastfeeding pumps and supplies for purchase or rent.
- After baby is born and your are released, you can call our breastfeeding consultants with questions about breastfeeding at (712) 279-3329 or (712) 279-3371
- At our Baby Weigh Clinic, lactation and breastfeeding consultants can answer any questions you have and provide support to give you and your baby the best start on breastfeeding.
Baby Weigh Clinic
Our Baby Weigh Clinic is open to breastfeeding and formula feeding families to check your baby's weight. There is no charge for this service. Masking is required, and only baby and parents are allowed at this time - siblings will not be permitted.
Location and Hours
- The clinic is located on the hospital's 3rd floor. Please check in as a visitor at the front desk and make your way to the Baby Weigh Clinic.
- The clinic is open every Monday and Thursday from 2:00 - 5:00 PM for walk-ins or by appointment.
Call 712-279-3329 to schedule a private consultation.
Breastfeeding FAQ's
The latch. Set yourself up for success by getting into a comfortable position and bring baby to you. It's important to get baby to stretch out their mouth and and reach. Their top lip should be up and bottom lip down. Also, keep in mind that you should be feeling a tug, not a pinch.
Remember: the more you nurse, the more milk you make!
A baby's tummy only holds about 1/4 of a teaspoon at first and grows as your milk comes in. At first, they're getting what is called colostrum. Colostrum is the first stage of breast milk. It's much thicker than the milk that is produced later in breastfeeding. You may only hear a couple of swallows at first, because baby is learning to suck, swallow and breathe.
Ways to know that your baby is getting enough to eat is if they are content between feedings and if they are making wet and dirty diapers. As your milk comes in, they should have 5-6 dirty diapers and 4-6 wet diapers in 24 hours.
TIP: Sometimes baby will get sleepy during a feeding, but taking their clothes off will help keep them awake.
Babies need to eat every 2-3 hours or 8-12 times in 24 hours. One feeding is 10 to 20 minutes per side.
Northwest Iowa's only Level III NICU
UnityPoint Health – St. Luke's knows some of our littlest patients can need the biggest care. As the area's only Level III NICU, We care for nearly 400 babies per year in our NICU utilizing technologically advanced equipment. We employ three neonatologists and five neonatal nurse practitioners to provide in-hospital 24/7 coverage. Facility amenities include:
- Private rooms to promote family bonding
- Special rooms to accommodate multiples
- Advanced, video-monitored security
- Breast pumps and milk warmers in each room
- Sound inhibiting floor tiles
- White noise distributors
- Twinkling light technology, known to soothe and aid in the development of babies
- Ronald McDonald House kitchen
Our staff is committed to maximizing every baby's healthy outcome after birth. UnityPoint Health – St. Luke's team also includes Sioux City's only three neonatologists and five neonatal nurse practitioners which allows for 24/7 in-hospital provider coverage for the NICU.
Our NICU Cuddlers are a vital part of our team, providing comfort and care to our tiniest patients when their families can't be with them. These dedicated volunteers hold babies or practice gentle holding techniques to soothe infants in the NICU or Pediatrics unit. In addition to cuddling, they assist with tasks like restocking supplies and folding laundry to support the smooth operation of our units.
If you'd like to become a NICU Cuddler and make a meaningful difference in the lives of these precious babies, please complete a volunteer application.
