Maternity Programs

Blessing for Baby

St. Joseph Hospital offers a blessing for all newborns.

Upon your request, a chaplain will bless your baby in your room within 24 hours of birth. This blessing is appropriate for all faith traditions.This is not the sacrament of Baptism.

If you would like your baby blessed, please call the Spiritual Care Department at extension 18137.

Baby Hall of Fame

The birth of a baby is one of life’s happiest occasions, bringing together family and friends.

St. Joseph Hospital created the Baby Hall of Fame to share this special joy with others. This stunning display in the Mother-Baby Unit resembles an infant quilt made up of individual tiles inscribed with the names and the birth dates of babies born at St. Joseph Hospital.

Your gift of $250 will honor baby’s birth with an inscribed tile for the “quilt.” If family or friends purchase a tile, a congratulatory letter will be sent to the parents of the newborn, informing them of the gift and the donors.

The Baby Hall of Fame supports our Women’s Services programs, and ensures that excellent medical care at St. Joseph Hospital will be available to our community for years to come. This child will begin making a difference in the lives of others from the day they are born.<.p>

Gifts to the Foundation are cumulative and your donation will be added to your past and future contributions for recognition on the Donor Wall, located in the hospital lobby. Gifts to the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation are deductible as charitable gifts for those taxpayers who itemize their deductions.

To learn more, call the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation at 714-347-7900.

The Caring for Women with Maternal Depression Program is part of the comprehensive services and support that St. Joseph Hospital provides to their patients and the larger community. In fact, 100 percent of mothers who deliver at St. Joseph Hospital are screened for postpartum depression through the Bridges for Newborns Program. We also work in collaboration with Maternal Outreach Management System (MOMS) to provide services for our Spanish-speaking patients.

This program has been instrumental in educating other medical professionals about symptoms of postpartum depression, as well as treatment for women who suffer from this condition.

Our program Includes:

  • Individual and group counseling sessions
  • Including a bilingual/bicultural therapist
  • New Mother's Group
  • Continuing Mother's Group
  • Postpartum Dad's Group

Contact us at 714-771-8101 if you need any assistance.

Hope the Healing Teddy BearExpecting a new baby is a time filled with excitement, anticipation and hope for the future. However, for some parents, this is a time of heartbreak and profound sadness. Each year, many parents experience the devastating loss of their baby by miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. These parents leave our hospital with empty arms and broken hearts. St. Joseph Hospital would like to give our community partners an opportunity to reach out to these families by sponsoring a Hope the Healing Cub teddy bear. Our goal is for every mother experiencing a pregnancy loss to be given a special teddy bear to hold when leaving our hospital.

With your gift of sponsorship, Hope will be provided to a mother who has experienced the loss of her baby. When your gift of Hope the Healing Cub is given to a mother leaving St. Joseph Hospital, you will be notified that your special bear is in the arms of a loving mother. Funds raised by the Hope the Healing Cub program go directly to the purchase of the bears and to the St. Joseph Perinatal Comfort Care Program. To make a donation to the Hope the Healing Cub program, please call 714-347-7900.

The goal of the Perinatal Bereavement Support Group is to provide support to parents facing infant loss, and to help them strengthen their spirit in a safe and compassionate environment.

The support group is free of charge to the community and is held in both English and Spanish.

The support group meets once a week for eight consecutive weeks. For additional information on upcoming groups, or to register, please call Marjorie MacDonald, MSW, at 714-771-8000 ext. 13295 or send an email.