Options for Prenatal Care and Delivery

Few times in life are as exciting and full of opportunity as the time when you are expecting a new baby. Choosing a birth setting that fits your values and preferences is an important part of the experience.

Yale Health now offers two choices for care during pregnancy and when the time comes to welcome your new baby into the world.

One option is to receive your care during pregnancy from our team of physicians, nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwife at Yale Health, with delivery attended by our experienced, board-certified obstetricians at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

A second option is for your care during pregnancy and delivery to be provided by the certified nurse-midwives at Yale New Haven Hospital. The midwives are all affiliated with the Center for Women’s Health and Midwifery (CWHM). This option requires a referral from your Yale Health Ob/Gyn clinician.

In either case, you will receive care during the first three months of your pregnancy at Yale Health. At that time, you will be able to choose one of the options above, assuming you have no complicating medical conditions. If you choose the second option, we will help you arrange for transfer of your prenatal care at a point that makes sense for you. Once you’ve decided where you want to have your baby, it will be best to receive most of your prenatal care at that site.

If you initially choose to transfer your care to the certified nurse-midwives at Yale New Haven Hospital but unexpected complications arise during pregnancy, you may need to be transferred back to Yale Health.

Regardless of whether you get care at Yale Health or care with the certified nurse-midwives at Yale New Haven Hospital, per the Member Booklet the following still applies:

• Use Quest Diagnostic Services at any of their locations in New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island) for all lab services/testing.
• Still use the Yale Health Pharmacy in order to get prescriptions with the standard copay (see Outside Pharmacy use).
• Receive all other medical care (including Acute Care not related to the pregnancy) at Yale Health.
• Share labor and birth preferences with your clinicians. Both obstetricians and midwives always do their best to accommodate these, keeping in mind our shared primary goal of a healthy baby and child-caring individual. Preferences may include VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and natural childbirth.

Yale New Haven Hospital offers:

• Certified Baby-Friendly care
• Hydrotherapy, nitrous oxide and other comfort measures
• Necessary interventions, including cesarean section, epidural or spinal pain relief, and other comfort measures
• The ability to respond immediately to an unexpected emergency or concern about  your baby’s health

Things to consider as a Yale Health patient giving birth with the certified nurse-midwives at Yale New Haven Hospital:

• There is always an attending obstetrician present at Yale New Haven Hospital in case complications develop in labor or a cesarean section is necessary.
• You may need to come to Yale Health for scheduled imaging or other tests.
• You will have an office visit about six weeks after delivery with the clinicians who attended your birth. Any further care, including routine primary care, will be provided by the Yale Health Ob/Gyn Department. 

If you would like to request a referral to the certified nurse-midwives at Yale New Haven Hospital please send a MyChart message to one of the Ob/Gyn clinicians you’ve seen recently.