The Birthplace at Prisma Health Richland Hospital

At the Birthplace at Prisma Health Richland Hospital, we are here to care for women throughout all phases of pregnancy and childbirth. We offer a full range of childbirth services, from prenatal classes to the latest in labor and delivery techniques, as well as the best post-natal care for both mom and baby.

Our gynecologists and obstetricians offer the latest in diagnostic and treatment methods, including procedures such as amniocentesis, genetic testing and counseling, CVS (an early diagnostic tool for your baby) and ultrasound. We pride ourselves in making sure our patients have the birth experience they desire and deserve.

The Birthplace virtual tour

Our features

• Labor, delivery and recovery rooms, a high-risk obstetrics unit, a surgical suite, recovery unit, exam room and triage room. Spacious, private birthing rooms feature birthing beds (where mothers labor and deliver their babies).
• The Nesting Place provides mother/baby couplet care, allowing mother and baby to stay in the same room while one nurse cares for both. We also have beautifully decorated postpartum rooms that emphasize the special needs of a new mother and her baby.
• Special Care Nursery designed for babies who need a little extra care after birth.
• The 69-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is designed to care for the special needs of infants of all gestational ages using the latest technology, including ventilators and specialized monitors. We are the Midlands Regional Perinatal Center and care for high-risk, critically ill babies across the 16-county Midlands Perinatal Region.
• Our OB/GYN unit provides care for women undergoing gynecological surgery. We also care for women who are at risk for delivering prematurely and need to have an extended hospital stay, also known as antepartum care.

We’re a designated a Baby-Friendly hospital

Prisma Health Richland Hospital is designated as a Baby-Friendly hospital, which means we promote breastfeeding through rooming-in, encouragement of skin-to-skin contact and lactation support. Our internationally board-certified lactation experts can provide the encouragement and support you need to learn to breast-feed successfully, and our childbirth educators will answer any questions you have about caring for your little one once you return home.

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Our services

Lactation services

Breastfeeding your baby is very important. Studies have shown that a breastfed baby has a shorter hospital stay, less risk of infections, decreased IV nutrition and improved feeding tolerance. We provide lactation consultants and breastfeeding education services for all nursing mothers throughout Prisma Health Women's and Neonatal Services.

Our services also include outpatient lactation follow-up appointments for intervention and support of nursing mothers by an internationally board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC).

Call our breastfeeding helpline

Have a question about lactation? Our lactation specialists are available via our helpline and will gladly coach you through any breastfeeding troubles or concerns. Call 803-434-6541​.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Our NICU offers your family and your little one our medical expertise and heartfelt concern. Some babies are born prematurely or need special care due to respiratory difficulties, infections, birth defects or other illnesses. Prisma Health Richland Hospital has a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to care for these critically ill babies. Our caring and compassionate medical professionals at NICU will nurture your baby and provide the best treatment options, information and support for your family.

NICU features

• State of the art equipment and specially trained staff to handle the most critically ill babies.
• Caring teams led by a neonatologist, a pediatrician who has completed advanced training in caring for sick or premature infants who require complex medical attention.
• Lactation consultants to assist moms in their desire to provide breastmilk for their preterm or critically ill baby.
• A parent educator who assists families with preparing to bring their little one home. We offer infant CPR, safe sleep classes and more.
• A support group for parents of NICU babies to help them through this difficult time.

When the medical team tells you that it is safe to do so, you may choose to use "Kangaroo Care" as part of your bonding process. Kangaroo Care is skin-to-skin contact, with your baby placed right against your chest. Clinical research suggests that recovery time is shortened with Kangaroo Care and babies are able to leave the hospital sooner.

Genetic counseling

Through the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, a wide range of services are provided to South Carolina doctors and their patients, specifically genetic counseling and laboratory services.

Genetic counseling services

• Prenatal counseling for advanced maternal age, positive multiple marker screening (screen positive for Down syndrome, screen positive for Neural Tube Defect (NTD), and screen positive for Trisomy 18) family history of genetic disorder and potential teratogenic exposures
• Preconception genetic counseling and analysis of risk factors
• Infertility genetic counseling for couples experiencing infertility or multiple pregnancy losses
• Cancer genetic counseling for individuals at high risk for breast, ovarian, colon and other cancers
• Coordination of testing with outside laboratories for patients with rare disorders

A full list of services, patient information sheets, referral information, laboratory request forms and contact information are available here.

Additional services

• Care for You and Your Baby – Includes discussions about postpartum care and basic baby care and behavior. This can be viewed on the hospital's Women's Channel three times a day. You also will be provided with written information on your baby's growth and development.
• Donor Milk Program – we are a partner with Mother’s Milk Bank of South Carolina, serving as a depot site to provide nourishing human breast milk products to ill, premature babies. Eligible mothers within the community can donate their excess breast milk. Please visit the Mother's Milk Bank website at scmilkbank.org or call our Lactation Boutique at 803-434-3577.