If your family is growing, you’re in good company.
Jupiter Medical Center’s Florence A. DeGeorge Children’s & Women’s Services Obstetrics Unit delivered 2,542 babies in 2024 and is projected to deliver even more by the end of 2025. That’s a big change since the unit opened in late 1999, welcoming 525 babies in its first year.
“Year after year, we’re trending up with our growth,” says Jacqueline Pereira, executive director of women’s and children’s services at JMC. “We give really great family-focused care.” The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative agreed, granting the unit a four-star rating as a Center of Excellence Mother-Focused Care in 2024.
That care is designed to escort expectant mothers through every stage of pregnancy—from conception to post-partum. It begins with medical professionals who approach each patient with empathy. “Any patient that enters a hospital has anxiety,” Pereira says.
Knowledge and familiarity can quell nerves—and that drives many of JMC’s programs and services.
Birthing Suite Tours
Birthing suite tours are encouraged after the halfway mark of pregnancy. The unit features eight labor-and-delivery beds and 14 post-partum beds—with six additional beds located in the adjacent pediatric unit, all attended by labor, delivery, and postpartum nurses. “We want patients to know what to expect coming in,” Pereira says.
For moms-to-be who have specific desires for their birth experience, Pereira recommends they put a plan in place with their obstetrician as well as taking advantage of JMC’s Tansky Maternity Experience, a concierge service.
Obstetrics-Dedicated Emergency Department
Pregnant women also have access to an obstetrics-dedicated emergency department (OBED) designed to handle urgent concerns for patients from the twentieth week of pregnancy through eight weeks after delivery. The OBED opened in June 2022 and sees approximately 200 patients a month. It can give peace of mind should an emergent issue arise during pregnancy, such as heavy bleeding, and concerns that are considered emergencies even if you aren’t pregnant, such as chest pain, excessive vomiting, a severe headache, high blood pressure, seizures, sudden swelling in the extremities, or fainting.
The OBED is also accessible to those who have delivered a baby within the past eight weeks to address concerning symptoms or circumstances that came up during pregnancy. “If you had preeclampsia, for instance, sometimes your blood pressure doesn’t immediately resolve,” Pereira says. At-risk patients are discharged with a blood pressure cuff and instructions on monitoring their readings—measures that have paid off. No mother who has delivered at JMC has had a postpartum stroke in its 25-year history.
NICU
JMC’s Level II De George Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) cares for premature newborns and those who require extra support in the days and weeks following birth. Since its 2019 opening, the NICU has cared for more than 1,200 newborns and supported their families. The 16-bed NICU offers treatment rooms, isolation rooms, a family lounge, private spaces to promote bonding, and advanced monitoring, and access to world-class neonatologists.
“We strive to support maternal mental health during and after NICU hospitalizations,” Pereira says. The NICU collaborates with nationally recognized nonprofit organizations that help families cope with the challenges of NICU and preemie parenthood.
In June, the NICU received a five-star ranking for excellence as part of an 18-month quality-improvement initiative called Homeward Bound, a partnership among 38 Florida NICUs to improve discharge practices. “We’ve also expanded our donor milk program to ensure that all premature and medically vulnerable infants have access to human milk in their critical first days and to support a mother’s exclusive breastfeeding goals,” Pereira says.
Expanding Services
Most expectant mothers won’t need the services of either the OBED or NICU, but every mother receives attentive and comprehensive care, Pereira says, beginning with an initial screening for social determinants of health.
The maternity unit partners with community organizations that provide whatever a family may need—from nutritional support and mental health services to help locating a crib or bassinet, diapers, and formula. JMC also offers pelvic health rehabilitation to all women, including new moms who experience incontinence or pelvic pain and dysfunction.
Looking ahead, JMC is planning to grow alongside community needs. In 2026, the hospital is planning to expand the obstetrics unit, as well as services and classes.
“We look forward to guiding our mothers, so they know what to expect when they’re having a baby,” Pereira says. “With every step, their anxiety level is a little bit decreased and they’re a bit more comfortable in their surroundings.”
When you’re expecting a little one, knowledge is power, and Jupiter Medical Centers offers a slate of pregnancy and newborn-care classes for expectant parents. While the courses help new parents prepare for all the phases of expanding their families, they have an unexpected perk: “They really help expectant parents form connections or even new friends,” says Jacqueline Pereira, executive director of women’s and children’s services.
Birthing Suites Tours Offered on select Monday evenings, Complimentary 45-minute tours of the Florence A. DeGeorge Children’s & Women’s Services birthing suites are offered for the expecting mother and one guest, typically scheduled after the twentieth week of pregnancy. Schedule tours at least five days in advance of the desired date.
Newborn Care Parents learn the basics of baby care including normal newborn characteristics, circumcision care, sleep patterns, comfort measures, bathing, diapering, choosing a pediatrician, and illness symptoms. All partners are encouraged to attend this two-and-a-half-hour weeknight class. ($40)
Childbirth Offered as a single 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. class on Saturdays or a two-part, two-and-a-half-hour weeknight class scheduled a week apart, this class educates new parents on the labor and delivery process, labor support techniques, breathing and relaxation, information about C-section, and post-partum care details. Schedule at least four weeks before due date. Partners are encouraged to attend. ($80)
Preparing Moms for Breastfeeding This two-and-half-hour pre-birth class features details on positioning the baby, establishing milk supply, maternal nutritional needs, pumping, and tips on going back to work while breastfeeding. Dads are welcome. ($40)
Bootcamp for New Dads A first-time dad’s Saturday morning workshop to learn practical pre-birth, day-of-birth, and post-birth tips, including diaper changing and common issues new families experience. ($30)
Dancing for Birth Open to women in any stage of pregnancy, these 90-minute classes help participants learn to move instinctively to world beats, use gravity, and encourage babies to navigate the pelvis. Post-partum moms with babies in soft-sided carriers or slings welcome. ($20 per class)
Visit jupitermed.com/events for an up-to-date listing of hospital classes and events and to register online or call 561-263-2189.
After discharge from the hospital, most new mothers recover through the post-partum period—the six to eight weeks after giving birth—without incident. Some conditions that arise during pregnancy, like preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, can take time to resolve and may become emergent in weeks after delivery. Post-partum depression—a medical condition that affects as many as one in eight new moms, according to the March of Dimes—arises within one to three weeks after giving birth and can last up to a year. It’s characterized by feelings of sadness or failure, anxiety or panic, overwhelming tiredness, and severe mood swings.
Most concerns can be addressed by the obstetrician. Be sure to call your doctor if you experience:
The obstetrics emergency department (OBED) at Jupiter Medical Center also is available when new moms need immediate attention or are unable to connect with their OB. Call 911 if you experience:
“The OBED can evaluate patients and determine whether they should be admitted and treated or if they can be treated from home,” says Jacqueline Pereira, executive director of women’s and children’s services.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sleep-related death of a baby under age 1 not attributable to a known cause. While rare, the National Institutes of Health report that approximately 1,000 infants die from SIDS in the U.S. annually, and Jupiter Medical Center is committed to following the American Academy of Pediatrics’ sleep guidelines by educating new parents about safer sleeping practices and implementing them hospital wide. These efforts have awarded JMC with the bronze certification from Cribs for Kids, a national program that recognizes hospitals for their commitment to safe sleep practices.
“We train every single staff member caring for infants, and we provide educational material to family and caregivers,” says Jacqueline Pereira, executive director of women’s and children’s services at Jupiter Medical Center.
The hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit provides complimentary sleep sacks when babies are discharged and provide community resources that can help families secure safe sleep spaces at home.