Where Can I Have My Baby in Toronto? : a guide to choosing your hospital or birth place in the city
Choosing the place you’re going to birth your baby is a BIG DEAL. Let’s unravel the details to make your decision making easier.
First thing to know:
There are 12 hospitals in Toronto and the GTA with Labour & Delivery (L&D) floors.
There is 1 (stand alone) birth centre.
You may be able to birth at your home.
You may solely be thinking, “which hospital is near by or closest to my home?” Wonderful question, but there’s definitely more to consider.
When making the decision on where to give birth, you’ll want to think through a few things.
First off, if you already have a care provider, your place of birth will depend on their “privileges”. All O.B.s, family doctors who specialize in labour and delivery, and midwives, are associated with 1 hospital. Scroll down ⬇️ to find out who works where.
If you’re under midwifery care, you options are greater - you can choose to birth at the hospital that your midwives have privileges at (listed below ⬇️), at your home, or for many midwifery clinics, you may also explore the option of the Toronto Birth Centre.
Scroll right to the bottom, or click here, to read some tips on how to make sure that you arrive at your chosen birth place at the right time.
We’ve also offered links to virtual hospital tours, where applicable, as well as other relevant details. The feel of the space may impact your decision and overall feelings of comfort.
Watch this space - soon to come - we’ll be adding insider tips on available support tools and other key features of each of these Toronto and GTA hospitals, with labour and delivery floors.
Hospitals
Labour and Delivery wards are staffed by O.B.s, family medicine teams (who specialize in labour and delivery), midwives, nurses, pediatricians, social workers, anesthesiologists, doulas, lactation consultants, and other health care professionals.
During pregnancy, you will need to be under the care of a midwife, an O.B., or a family medicine team, who specializes in labour and delivery. The rest of the staff, will be there for you on labour day, as needed or by your request (i.e. your doula - book them here or your lactation consultant - book them here).
Here’s site specific information that you will want to explore, when making your decision on which hospital to birth at.
North Toronto
⃝ Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital
Website: www.mackenziehealth.ca
Location: 10 Trench Street, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 4Z3
Contact Details: (905) 883-1212 ext. 7568
L&D Floor: C-Wing, Level 5
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - search the hospital directory
✔️ Midwives - Midwives of York Region & Family Care Midwives
✔️ Family Medicine - search the hospital directory
Other things to know:
You can view the Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
⃝ Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (a.k.a. Sunnybrook Hospital)
Website: www.sunnybrook.ca
Location: 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5 map
Contact Details: (416) 480-6100
L&D Floor: M-Wing, 5th Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB Team
✔️ Midwives - Seventh Generation Midwives
✔️ Family Medicine - Family Medicine Team
Other things to know:
You can view the Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
⃝ North York General Hospital (N.Y.G.H)
Website: www.nygh.on.ca
Location: 4001 Leslie Street, Toronto, ON, M2K 1E1 map
Contact Details: (416) 756-6000
L&D Floor: 2nd Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB list (last updated in 2018, so be aware that there may be changes)
✔️ Midwives - Uptown Midwives & North Don River Valley Midwives
✔️ Family Medicine - Family Medicine team
Other things to know:
There is no current virtual tour of the Labour & Delivery facilities.
East Toronto
⃝ Michael Garron Hospital (formally known as Toronto East General Hospital)
Website: www.tegh.on.ca
Location: 825 Coxwell Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4C 3E7 map
Contact Details: (416) 469-6130
L&D Floor: J wing, 4th Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB team
✔️ Midwives - The Midwives’ Clinic of East York and Don Mills
✔️ Family Medicine - Family Medicine team
Other things to know:
You can view the Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
⃝ Scarborough Health Network
Website: www.shn.ca
Location #1: Centenary site - 2867 Ellesmere Road, Scarborough, ON M1E 4B9
Contact Details: (416) 284-8131
L&D Floor: 4th Floor, Unit 4C
Location #2: General site - 3050 Lawrence Ave. E., Scarborough, ON, M1P 2V5
Contact Details: (416) 431-8146
L&D Floor: 2nd Floor, East Wing
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB team
✔️ Midwives - Diversity Midwives, Sage Femmes Rouge Valley Midwives & Trillium Midwives
❓ Family Medicine
Other things to know:
There are no current virtual tours of the Labour & Delivery facilities. You can see updated images here.
⃝ Markham Stouffville Hospital
Website: www.oakvalleyhealth.ca
Location: 381 Church Street, Markham, ON, L3P 7P3
Contact Details: (905) 472-7373
L&D Floor: Unit 4WH, building B, top floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB team
✔️ Midwives - Durham Midwives, Uxbridge Community Midwives & Markham Stouffville Midwives
❓ Family Medicine
Other things to know:
Markham Stouffville Hospital is a new, up to date facility. You can view the virtual tour here.
The have a unit called the Alongside Midwifery Unit (AMU), which is essentially its own Birth Centre. You can view the virtual tour here.
Central Toronto
⃝ Mt Sinai Hospital
Website: www.mountsinai.on.ca
Location: 600 University Avenue, Toronto, ONM5G 1X5 map
Contact Details: (416) 596-4200
L&D Floor: 15th Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB team
✔️ Midwives - Midwives Collective
✔️ Family Medicine - Women’s College Hospital, Mt Sinai Academic Family Medicine Obstetrical Team, & University Health Network Family Medicine Team
Other Things to Know:
You can view a (slightly outdated) video of Mt Sinai’s L&D and Postpartum floor here.
⃝ St Michael’s Hospital
Website: www.stmichaelshospital.com
Location: 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8
Contact Details: (416) 864-6060
L&D Floor: 15th Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB Team
✔️ Midwives - Community Midwives, Riverdale Midwives & P3 Special Bun in the Oven Midwives (specializing in HIV+ pregnancies)
✔️ Family Medicine - BRAND NEW - find their team here.
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
You can access some views of the Labour & Delivery here, in this Covid-19 informational video. Please note, this video was filmed during a stage when second support people were not allowed into the hospital. Second support people, including doulas, are now allowed to be in attendance, at all Toronto hospitals.
West Toronto
⃝ Humber River
Website: www.hrh.ca
Location: 1235 Wilson Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M3M 0B2
Contact Details: (416) 242-1000 x45300
L&D Floor: Level 4
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB Team
✔️ Midwives - West End Midwives
❓ Family Medicine
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
You can view the Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
⃝ St Joseph’s Hospital
Website: www.stjoestoronto.ca
Location: 30 The Queensway, Toronto, ON, M6R 1B5 map
Contact Details: (416) 530-6596
L&D Floor: 1st Floor OLM Wing
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs - OB Team
✔️ Midwives - Midwife Alliance & Kensington Midwives
✔️ Family Medicine - St Joes Primary Care Obstetrics
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
You can view the Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
⃝ William Osler Health System
Website: www.williamoslerhs.ca
Locations:
Brampton Civic: 2100 Bovaird Drive East, Brampton, ON, L6R 3J7
Etobicoke General: 101 Humber College Boulevard, Etobicoke, ON, M9V 1R8
Contact Details:
Brampton Civic (905) 494-6790 ext. 58031
Etobicoke General (416)494-2120 ext. 32303
L&D Floor:
Brampton Civic: 3rd Floor
Etobicoke General: 4th Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ OBs
✔️ Midwives - West End Midwives, AMMA Midwives & the Midwives of Brampton and Halton Hills
✔️ Family Medicine - Brampton Primary Care Obstetrics Group
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
You can view the Brampton Civic Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
You can view the Etobicoke General Labour & Delivery virtual tour here.
The Toronto Birth Centre
Website: www.torontobirthcentre.ca
Location: 525 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 2B6 map
Contact Details: (416) 366-8080
L&D Floor: Main Floor
Health Care Providers:
✔️ Midwives -
Diversity Midwives (Scarborough)
The Midwives Clinic of East York Don Mills
Midwives Collective of Toronto
Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto
South Riverdale Community Health Centre MATCH program
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
You can view many virtual tour videos of The Toronto Birth Centre here.
Your Home
✔️ Midwives - all midwifery practices in Toronto and the GTA support home births!
Home births are a very safe and comfortable option, for low risk pregnancies, under midwifery care. Midwives are highly skilled medical care providers, who specialize in pregnancy, birth, and babies. There is also some evidence out there, that babies born at home have more robust gut health.
Other Locations
Unplanned home birth, a parking lot, the highway and other alternative locations
We all want to avoid this one! It’s rare (truly) but it does happen - I’ve been in a parking lot supporting a family 👋🏽. Of course, there’s also the recent Highway 407 birth video going around too.
Sometimes unplanned home births happen too - I’ve been there too. If you are under midwifery care, this is not a huge deal - as stated above, your midwives are comfortable and skilled to support births at home. They will have a full medical kit with them, to make sure that you and your baby are taken care of.
If your care provider is an O.B. or a Family Medicine team, they will not come into your home, so you will need to call EMS (9-1-1) for support. They will calmly talk you through birthing your baby,come to your home to assess you and baby, and then transfer you to the hospital.
I will stress again - this is rare! However, I also know that this scenario is something many families fear. This can often lead to the opposite scenario unfolding - heading in to the hospital too soon and potentially being sent home.
The key to avoiding an unplanned birth location scenario, and getting to your birth place in the sweet spot (not too early or not at all!) is three fold:
1. Communication with your care team. If you’re under the care of midwives you’ll want to let them know about any signs of labour, including your contraction pattern. If you’re under O.B. or Family Medicine care, you can always call into triage, at your hospital, for recommendations - in fact I highly suggest calling in, before heading in to the hospital.
2. Having a birth doula to support you and communicate well with them. I don’t care if it’s me, one of my team members, or any other doula in Toronto - explore this option! Your doula can give you insight, over phone, text or in person, about your contraction and labour pattern. Together you can make a decision on when to head in to the hospital - not too early, not too late - or they can offering insight into when to ask your midwife to attend.
3. Knowing when to go to the hospital. Generally, you want to head to the hospital when you’re in active labour. You may likely be in active labour when your contractions are in a pattern of 5/4-1-1. That means, that your contractions are 4-5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, across 1 hour.
You may head in sooner if you’re bleeding heavily (some blood is normal, but soaking a pad is not), your intuition is telling you to go in, you feel a change in your baby’s movement, or your discomfort is feeling intense and your pain is not just pain, but suffering.
As stated above, a birth doula can help you formulate your plan and help you navigate this decision making, in the moment.
If that’s not comforting enough, or you have a history of precipitous (fast) labour, you can always have a birth kit with you (this would be in addition to your hospital/birth centre bag), at home or for your car ride. Here’s what you’d want to include:
Large, clean towels - they will get messy, so not your favourite ones!
Receiving blankets - skin to skin is the best place for your baby, with a receiving blanket on top of them.
A shower curtain liner - to line and protect your bed, floor or car.
A few garbage bags - either to line and protect an area or to collect any soiled items.
Paper towel - self explanatory!
A couple of mixing bowls - for warm water and for your placenta.
A bunch of wash cloths - also self explanatory!
Zip lock bag - to store any items, including your placenta.
You’ve got this. All of it - this initial decision making process and the birth journey. ❤️
We’d love to hear your thoughts and questions! Leave a comment or get in touch to learn more about how a doula can help you navigate your pregnancy, birth and postpartum - including where to have your baby.
We offer a wide range of support services for families, including:
