The Antepartum Unit: What Happens When You’re Hospitalized During Pregnancy?

What happens when you need to be admitted to the hospital during pregnancy, but you’re not actually in labor?

In this episode of TrueBirth, Certified Nurse Midwife Kristin Mallon sits down with Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist Dr. Yaakov Abdelhak to take listeners inside the antepartum unit, the part of the hospital dedicated to caring for pregnant patients who need closer monitoring or treatment before delivery.

For many patients, hearing “we’re admitting you to the hospital” can be frightening. But what actually happens once you’re there? Kristin and Dr. Abdelhak explain why antepartum hospitalization may be recommended, what a typical day can look like, and why sometimes simply being close to Labor & Delivery and the operating room can make an enormous difference.

They discuss some of the most common reasons for antepartum admission, including preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), preterm labor, chronic placental abruption or bleeding, preeclampsia and hypertension, fetal growth restriction, abnormal Dopplers, low amniotic fluid, poorly controlled diabetes, severe hyperemesis gravidarum, infection, and complications requiring observation after surgery.

They also break down what patients can expect during a hospital stay, from regular vital signs and fetal monitoring to ultrasounds, laboratory testing, Maternal Fetal Medicine evaluations, daily physician visits, and ongoing assessment for contractions, bleeding, leaking fluid, fetal movement, and changes in maternal or fetal condition.

But antepartum care is about more than monitoring.

Kristin and Dr. Abdelhak talk about the specialized nurses who care for patients who may spend days, weeks, or even months in the hospital. Experienced antepartum nurses develop an extraordinary ability to recognize subtle changes in a patient or fetal tracing, and their clinical instincts can be an essential part of identifying when something isn’t right.

They also become part of a patient’s daily life. When someone is separated from home, children, work, and their normal routine, continuity, kindness, familiar faces, visitors, comfort food, friendships, and even small moments of normalcy can matter tremendously.

The episode also explores how antepartum units vary from hospital to hospital, what partners and families can expect, how fetal monitoring can escalate when concerns arise, and how the care team decides when continued observation is appropriate versus when it may be time to deliver.

And, in classic TrueBirth fashion, Kristin and Dr. Abdelhak share stories from their own years caring for hospitalized pregnant patients and give some well deserved appreciation to the antepartum nursing team at Hackensack University Medical Center.

If you or someone you love is facing a hospital stay during pregnancy, this episode helps explain what happens behind those hospital doors and, most importantly, why sometimes the safest place to continue a pregnancy is exactly where you never expected to be: in the hospital.

In this episode:

• What an antepartum unit is and how it differs from Labor & Delivery
• Common reasons someone may be hospitalized before delivery
• PPROM, preterm labor and placental abruption
• Preeclampsia and high blood pressure monitoring
• Fetal growth restriction, abnormal Dopplers and low fluid
• Severe hyperemesis gravidarum and maternal illness
• Diabetes management during pregnancy
• What fetal monitoring looks like on the antepartum floor
• When monitoring escalates to Labor & Delivery or emergency delivery
• Ultrasounds, labs and daily physician evaluations
• The unique role of experienced antepartum nurses
• Partners, children, visitors and maintaining some normalcy during a long hospital stay
• What it’s really like to spend days, weeks or even months hospitalized during pregnancy

TrueBirth is hosted by Kristin Mallon, CNM, MS, MSCP, RNC-OB, and Dr. Yaakov Abdelhak, Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist.

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