Pregnancy & Birth at Marchese Birthing Center

Personalized care for mother and baby

The John R. Marchese, MD Birthing Center, located inside Watauga Medical Center, features nine birthing rooms. Two rooms have a tub that women may labor in, however they may not give birth in the tubs. Non-medical and medical pain management options are available. Our experienced, expert labor and delivery staff will be with you every step of the way to make your birthing experience a safe and healthy time for all.

Women’s Health (formerly Harmony Center for Women) obstetrics and midwifery providers work together with our highly-trained nursing staff, anesthetists, nutrition department and environmental services to provide a top-tier childbirth experience. Pediatric hospitalist physicians are onsite to care for your newborn, and we make every effort to have newborns in the room with the mother.

All nurses are trained to assist mothers in learning to breastfeed their babies.

Your Birthing Center Experience

Registration: When you arrive for your birthing experience, enter through Watauga Medical Center’s main entrance or the Emergency Entrance and check in at Patient Registration. Even if you are sent over from Women's Health go first to Patient Registration and a member of the birthing center staff will come down and escort you. When you register, let our staff know if you would like a room with a labor tub.

Length of Stay: 24 hours is the typical length of stay for a routine birth with a full-term infant (37 weeks or later). If the baby is born at 36 weeks or earlier, or a C-Section is needed, the length of stay is at least 48 hours.

Infant/Mother Rooming: We encourage your baby to stay in the room with you as much as possible to facilitate bonding and breastfeeding success. As long as mother and baby are medically stable, you can be together at all times.

Onsite Pediatricians: Our Pediatric Hospitalists will examine your baby in your room, and be available for any care he/she needs while in the hospital.

Cesarean Section: Our Operating Room Suite is in the Birthing Center. Babies born by C-Section will be cared for in the infant nursery until the mother has recovered and then will be moved to the mother’s room.

Visitation Rules: This is a locked unit due to the safety and security of our new mothers and babies.

• Visitors need to be free of fever or symptoms/exposure to any infectious process (examples: COVID, flu, sore throat, congestion, nausea, vomiting, cold, cough, body aches, exposure to chicken pox or measles)
• NO visitors under the age of 18 are permitted into the unit unless they are siblings.
• Children must not be left unattended at any time.
• Visitors may be asked to leave at any time by staff when needing to provide patient care.
• Visitors may not wait in the hallway outside of the patient room. All visitors must wait in the designated waiting room.
• Quiet time is between 2:00 p.m. - 4:00pm and visitors will not be allowed during those times.

Our staff appreciates your cooperation as we try and provide a safe and nurturing environment for our patients. These guidelines allow for sufficient nursing care for the physical, emotional, and educational needs of new mothers. Our focus is on the protection of our patients and personnel. Here at UNC Health Appalachian, we wish to support and enhance the growth and development of the family by promoting quality bonding time. These guidelines help preserve time for new parents to interact with their newborn, with as much privacy as needed, as new family relationships are beginning.

The John R. Marchese Birthing Center at Watauga Medical Center has been named "High Performing" for maternity care for 2025 by U.S. News. That is the highest award a hospital can earn as part of the U.S. News Best Hospitals for Maternity Care annual study.