Lactation Services and Postpartum Care

Your care doesn’t end after your baby is born. The Family Birthing Center at St. Charles Bend provides important education and support services before you leave the hospital to make sure you are comfortable taking care of your baby at home.

Lactation Services

At the Family Birthing Center at St. Charles, we encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first year of life. We follow the Healthy People 2010 initiative, a federal government recommendation to increase the number of breastfed infants.

Our lactation consultants are available to assist mothers with breastfeeding during their hospital stay. These highly-trained consultants will check with you regularly to evaluate feedings and assist you with any concerns you may have.

Once you leave the hospital, we continue to provide important breastfeeding support through a designated phone line. Our lactation support line is available to all women in the region. Women may call for help for as long as they continue breastfeeding. Please call (541) 382-4321, extension 5670, for the lactation support line.

A wide variety of breastfeeding supplies are available at the St. Charles Health Store.

Postpartum Clinic

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all breastfed infants be weighed and evaluated for jaundice no later than five days after birth. With support from the St. Charles Foundation, the Family Birthing Center offers families a postpartum check-up for infants two days after discharge. The Postpartum Clinic is an important time for parents to check on the progress of their infant and to talk about any concerns they may have since leaving the hospital.

Help for Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is experienced by as many as one in three new mothers at various degrees. It can occur within days of delivery or appear gradually, sometimes up to a year later, and can also begin in pregnancy.

Symptoms may include:

• Nervousness and anxiety
• Sluggishness
• Exhaustion
• Sadness
• Hopelessness
• Appetite and sleep disturbances
• Disturbing thoughts and/or images
• Poor concentration
• Memory loss
• Confusion over concern for baby
• Uncontrollable crying
• Lack of interest in baby, other relationships and activities.
• Feelings of guilt or inadequacy
• A fear of harming self or baby

St. Charles Bend offers help for mothers experiencing postpartum depression. With support from our Foundation, St. Charles will connect mothers with a counselor from Behavioral Health  for an evaluation. Please call (541) 322-2768 for an appointment.