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The staff at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo is dedicated to making the birth of your baby an experience that you and your loved ones will always cherish. Some of the ways we show our dedication:

  • Private patient rooms
  • Award-winning service
  • Midwives who are available 24/7
  • Critical care units for moms and babies who require extra care
  • A free Halo sleep sack for baby
  • Fully-staffed Nursery o Dedicated Board Certified Lactation Consultant

Tour Our Hospital

To schedule a tour, please contact us several weeks before your due date. Call HealthConnection at (716) 706-2112.

If you are attending one of our Prepared Childbirth classes, your tour is scheduled as part of your program. You do not need to make separate arrangements.

Family BirthPlace

Following the birth of your child, you will be admitted to our Family BirthPlace for your recovery and to bond with your baby.

In the Family BirthPlace, one nurse cares for three to four moms and their babies.

Because your nurse coordinates your care as well as your baby’s, she can explain infant care techniques and point out different aspects of infant behavior right from the start. She is there to address your healthcare needs, alleviate your concerns, and offer valuable encouragement and support.

Babies are encouraged to room with their parent; dimmer lights in our patient rooms make it possible for babies to stay comfortably with mom and dad. If babies are returned to the nursery, they will receive care from the same registered nurse who cares for mom.

Private Patient Rooms

All patient rooms in the Family BirthPlace are private and include a private shower and bath. All rooms are also equipped with a sleeper sofa for a visitor to spend the night.

On the rare occasion that all private rooms are occupied, semi-private rooms are offered.

"The Golden Hour"

When that tiny baby is placed into your arms, he or she is the ultimate reward for your nine months of careful preparation. You may not know that what you and others around you do in that very first hour of your baby’s life can have a significant—even lifelong —impact on the bond you have with your baby.

Why We Believe the First Hour is So Important

Many amazing changes take place in a new mother during and right after the birth process. The work of labor generates changes in your brain chemistry that increase your desire for nurturing. Skin-to-skin contact with baby and suckling at the breast release mothering hormones that are the basis for mother’s intuition. These hormones also cause the uterus to contract, shrink and stop bleeding. 

Research has shown that having a first breastfeeding within the first hour of life improves infant survival and prolongs the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Allowing the new mom and baby to enjoy the first breastfeeding together and experience the intimacy of skin-to-skin contact before anything else is done eases baby’s transition from the womb into the world. It stabilizes baby’s heart rhythm, body temperature and breathing.

The baby just spent many months wrapped in the security and warmth of your womb, hearing the sound of your voice, heartbeat and breathing. Continue this symbiotic relationship as best as you can right away to minimize the shock to baby. Spending that first hour enveloped in each other’s presence lets you both know that everything is right with the world. It awakens the mother inside you, bonds the baby to his primary caregiver and sets the stage for the coming hours, days and years. Dad can also get involved by placing his hands on baby, talking quietly, letting baby gaze at his face and spending time holding baby after the first feeding is done.

Intensive Care for Both Mom & Baby

Mercy Hospital and Sisters of Charity Hospital can provide critical care for both mom and baby, with adult and neonatal intensive care units (ICUs) under the same roof.

Learn about our NICU.