Tell us something you didn’t expect when you were expecting and we may add it to our book.
Tell us something you didn’t expect when you were expecting and we may add it to our book.
Help us build a new Birthing Centre
Toronto’s first and only Birthing Centre designed for every family, and every community
Help us build a new Birthing Centre
Toronto’s first and only Birthing Centre designed for every family, and every community
A Chosen Destination For Births Since 1968
Since North York General opened more than fifty years ago, the hospital has supported more families along their birthing journey than any other community hospital in Ontario.
That’s why we are the largest and most comprehensive maternal and newborn program at a community academic hospital in the province.
From pregnancy to childbirth, through to the care of a newborn and beyond, North York General is where thousands of families, from countless cultures and traditions, have experienced expert and compassionate care.
Honouring Every Family’s Needs
The birth of a child is a unique opportunity for families to come together. The families we serve are as diverse as the cultures and experiences that make up our community. That’s why we design and deliver our programs with a wide range of families in mind.
Learn more about how we honour every family’s needs
Aligned with North York General Hospital’s (NYGH) strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, our interprofessional team accommodates many different cultural approaches to birthing, including traditions and strongly held cultural norms. We also offer prenatal education classes in a variety of languages and provide real time access to video translation services 24/7 for patients and families to continue to support their care needs. We also provide ongoing education and support to promote anti-Black racism awareness amongst patients and staff.
We understand that today’s families have unique needs and preferences. Because there are many different birthing scenarios, we offer separate spaces for families supporting diverse roles in a birth, such as surrogate parents and adoptive families. We connect families to health care services and community-based supports based on their needs during and following pregnancy, such as specialized health care programs, secure housing, nutrition, financial supports and more. We strive to make our services accessible so that patients can make their way directly to our unit, without going through the Emergency Department. We also offer support programs for mothers who experience post-partum depression or a late-term pregnancy loss.
Babies born at NYGH are delivered by a mix of care practitioners, which is unique to our hospital.
Our Outstanding Care Needs The Space To Match
In the last 50 years, our expertise, capacity and breadth of service has increased profoundly. But our Post-Partum Unit has not received any substantial updates since the hospital opened in 1968, and our Labour & Delivery Unit has aged since its opening almost 20 years ago.
Put simply, our aging physical space does not reflect the modern standard of comfort that our mothers, babies, and families need and deserve. We cannot meet the current demand for private patient rooms, nor can we offer visiting families a dedicated lounge in which to gather.
There are not enough convertible beds for each partner or support person. The existing birthing suites are functional but drab. Bathrooms and doorways throughout the unit do not comply with current standards for accessibility.
To meet these and other urgent needs, we are embarking on an ambitious project to transform our aging Labour & Delivery and Post-Partum Units into a modern, integrated Birthing Centre.
Toronto’s first and only Birthing Centre designed for every family, and every community.
No dedicated lounge where families can celebrate | Current semi-private rooms do not meet the need for privacy | Fleet of aging baby warmers needs updating to maximize space and functionality | Wood panels in birthing suites are old and worn from repeated sanitation
The New Birthing Centre: For All Families And Communities
- Rooms that will comfortably accommodate labour, delivery, recovery or post-partum care.
- Space that will be maximized to add more high-demand private patient rooms for less disruption, more personal space, and the ability for families to isolate if needed.
- The latest technology in each room for two-way communications with care providers, and for monitoring baby and mother.
- Fully integrated with the hospital’s Steinberg Family Paediatric Centre.
- A bright and welcoming lounge for families and support people to convene comfortably, built with cultural considerations such as separate refrigerators.
- Enhanced security, including a state-of-the-art infant tracking system and controlled access to all areas.
- Wireless and remote fetal heart monitoring systems that will be embedded throughout to ensure constant monitoring and immediate response.
- Negative pressure capacity and enhanced isolation practices in semi-private rooms to prevent and control infections.
- A new Integrated Electronic Documentation system that will enable access to the most up-to-date patient information across all of our care areas.
- A modern space for training the next generation of health care provides.
Our goal is to raise $32 million for a new Birthing Centre. Philanthropy has been the backbone of our hospital since we opened more than 50 years ago, and will continue to define our future.
An Inspiring Space Built by Visionary Architects
Renowned architects Hariri Pontarini, founding partner of Hariri Pontarini Architects, and Frank Panici, Vice President at NORR, have been retained to develop the new Birthing Centre, bringing substantial expertise in health care projects that are focused on de-institutionalizing the feel of hospital environments, with a focus on design and patient experience.
Illustrative renderings of new Birthing Centre including view from the NYGH Atrium
The Birthing Centre will be designed with sensitivity to family and cultural traditions.
“People can have who they need around them when they are having a baby.”
Sheri Ferkl, Program Director,
Maternal Newborn and Paediatric Care
The Next Generation Of Families
By bringing to life the Birthing Centre, we have an opportunity to build an incredible landmark that will meet the needs of our growing city.
The population of the Greater Toronto Area alone is projected to increase to over 10 million people by 2046.
For decades, North York General has been leading the way with our seamless care along the entire continuum for families and their newborns. The time is now to upgrade our facilities to match our outstanding quality of care.