At High River Hospital, we are pleased to offer a variety of services related to low-risk pregnancies and childbirth.
We do not see the following:
- Women with complex pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes, hypertension, Crohn’s disease, etc.)
- Women desiring a trial of labour after a C-section, but we will see patients for repeat C-sections
- Women with a pre-pregnancy BMI greater than 38
Easy referrals
Patients are able to self-refer to our clinic simply by calling. If you have a family doctor, please see them for a referral. We usually like to see women before 20 weeks gestation.
Routine prenatal care
We offer prenatal care for women desiring vaginal deliveries or those who wish to have a repeat Cesarean section. We also offer shared-care with patients who will be delivering in the city.
Unique 36-week group visit and tour
We offer a 36-week group visit hosted by one of our midwives. This gives women and their support person the chance to ask questions in a group setting, meet other women, and tour our delivery unit.
Labour and delivery
We are a small, community-based hospital that provides one-on-one nursing care throughout your labour. Our nurses are skilled at working with you to use a variety of strategies for comfort management. We also allow more than one support person in the room with you at a time; some of the city hospitals have more restrictive policies.
Water labour and births
Our midwives are trained to do water births in the High River Hospital; several doctors in our group are also acquiring the necessary training in order to provide this service to more patients. For more information on water births, please click here.
Trauma-informed care
If you have encountered personal trauma (abuse, violence, etc.), please let us know if there is anything we can do to help make your experience here more comfortable. We can work with you to create a modified birth plan so that your labour and birth experience can be an empowering and therapeutic process. Please note that these conversations are strictly confidential.
Elective repeat Cesarean sections
Because there are obstetricians on our team, we are able to provide low-risk women with the option to have their elective repeat Cesarean section in High River.
Emphasis on skin-to-skin care
We are enthusiastic advocates of uninterrupted skin-to-skin care. This is when the baby is placed on their mother’s chest for their first hour of life and has long term benefits for both the mother and baby.
Referrals to the city, if needed
For patient safety reasons, and because we are a rural hospital, we carefully screen our clients to care for only low-risk women. We will refer patients who become high risk to an appropriate location in the city on an as-needed basis.
Emergency obstetrical care
Our on-call obstetricians are able to assist us with obstetrical emergencies and can offer urgent Cesarean sections in High River if required.
On-call anesthesia coverage
Because we always have family doctor-anesthetists on call, we are able to offer a wide range of pain management options in labour, including epidurals.
Care of newborns
We offer routine care for newborn babies born at High River Hospital born via vaginal deliveries or Cesarean sections. All care providers have training in neonatal resuscitation to assist babies at birth.
Private postpartum rooms
Unlike many other hospitals, we are able to offer private postpartum rooms where women room with their babies. A support person is even encouraged to sleep over too and visitors are welcome any time you like.
Postpartum care
We follow our patients (women and their babies) for 6 weeks postpartum to help with many common issues such as breastfeeding, baby weight gain issues, postpartum depression, birth control, etc.
Breastfeeding assistance
As the first facility in Alberta to achieve the Baby-Friendly Initiative designation, our staff are well trained at providing comprehensive care to help women feel achieve their breastfeeding goals. We also have a lactation consultant on site who is available for breastfeeding assistance. You can read more about our breastfeeding policies here.
Jaundice assessment and treatment
For babies born in High River and elsewhere, we provide assessment and any treatment needed with newborn jaundice.
Intrauterine device (IUD) insertion
Many of our providers are trained to insert IUDs (e.g. Mirena) for birth control in the postpartum period; this is a very common and convenient option for many women who are breastfeeding.
Assistance with finding a family doctor
Although we usually stop seeing families at 6 weeks postpartum, we can assist women with finding a family doctor for themselves and their baby.
Miscarriage management
Our team can help arrange medical and psycho-social assistance with early miscarriages as this can be a difficult time for women and their partners.
