Being Our Patient

Our Location

Beginnings Maternity Center is located on the first and second floors of R-Building. Patients and visitors should enter the Hospital through the 5th Avenue Lobby entrance. Mothers-to-be should report to the reception desk on the second floor. 

If you would like a tour of Beginnings Maternity Center, please call 610-988-HELP.

Delivery attendance

You may have anyone you wish present in your Labor-Delivery room as long as conditions permit. During the actual delivery time, your support people should be limited to two. We recommend that photography be limited to the new arrival.

Visiting

We encourage your baby’s father or support person to participate in your baby’s care. In order to provide you with privacy, rest, and special time with your newborn, visitors should be limited to three at a time. For your privacy and comfort, other visitors may remain in the Beginnings Maternity Center waiting room. For your convenience, the father or a support person of your choice may visit anytime. Other visitors are welcome during general visitation hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Waiting room

There is a waiting room with vending machines for family and friends. However, we must ask that visitors not eat anywhere in Labor-Delivery. Your guests are welcome to snack in the family waiting room or visit either of our restaurants.

Educational opportunities

In cooperation with your obstetrical care provider, The Reading Hospital offers a number of educational programs to help prepare you and your family for the birth and care of your baby. A few of the programs offered include:

• Learning by demonstration
  For new mothers, nurses will demonstrate a number of child care procedures, including bathing, diapering, feeding, and burping your baby. Your partner and other family members are encouraged to participate in these educational activities.
• Learning by television
  Our Video-On-Demand system, offers eight educational videos that provide information about taking care of yourself and your newborn after your discharge. You may watch these in your room, at any time, by calling #6000 on your bedside phone.

Cesarean births

Cesarean births also take place within Beginnings Maternity Center. We have two fully equipped operating rooms within the LDRP Suite to accommodate scheduled and emergency cesarean procedures. As long as conditions allow, your support person may remain with you during the surgery.

Once the birth and surgical repair are completed, you, your baby, and your partner will begin your recovery in a room just outside the cesarean birth room. When your condition allows, you will then be taken to a room on our Beginnings Mother-Baby unit for the remainder of your stay in the Hospital.

Mom's hotline

While you are preparing to go home, your nurse will ask you again if there is anything you need to know about taking care of your baby and yourself. This is a great opportunity to review information she may have already told you just to make sure you understand and remember it.

Our support for you doesn’t stop when you leave Beginnings. If you encounter a question or problem once you arrive home, please feel free to call us. A member of the staff is available 24-hours-a-day to answer your concerns.

Mom’s Hotline:  610-988-8405 

Lactation Services:  610-988-9299

Prenatal Classes:  610-988-HELP