Looking for People with Experience Delivering at West Suburban Hospital

I delivered at West Suburban before they were bought out by (can't remember the name - resurrection?) I was with a midwife practice, so was able to use the luxuriously large birthing room and tub. However, I volunteered to move to a regular postpartum room just in case another natural birth mom came in, and it was very tiny (compared to Prentice, where I had my first son.)

HOWEVER, you should not judge the birthing area by the horrendous ER. It's not at all like that! It was fine. The nurses were nice. But I was only there for 24 hours and did not need any interventions or special services for me or the baby.

And if they still have the "family birthing rooms" those are very, very nice, but at the time they were reserved for the midwife practice.

The ABC rooms at West Sub are for "traditional" births (ie less interventions, more like birth is supposed to be) - not the other way around! I think only the midwives can see clients there, though.

Incidentally, even with an autoimmune condition you may be able to see a CNM for most of your care. (I would ask; frequently even if you "risk out" of a midwive's care she will usually co-manage your labor/delivery with her partner OB, which gives you the best of both worlds - one on one care and labor support from your midwife, and extra medical oversight from the OB).

West Suburban Midwives Associates in Oak Park (http://www.westsubmidwives.com/index.html) are really really fabulous. I saw Gayle and Julie for all my prenatal care and would have delivered at West Sub but they can no longer do VBACs for insurance purposes (a situation that will hopefully change soon) so I had to switch my care at 30 weeks and delivered at UIC instead.

Honestly, I wasn't too wild about the non-ABC rooms at West Sub. Then again, I would stay far away from Rush b/c of their very high rate of interventions (in 2007 they had a nearly 50% c-section rate!!!)

Do you need to stick to the Oak Park/Maywood area? Because I had a really great experience delivering at UIC and I thought the care I got was medically excellent, but also that they were very respectful of my birth wishes. Most importantly, I thought their practice was very evidence based; when there was a decision that needed to be made one of the doctors very clearly spelled out what the risks and benefits of each choice were and then left the decision up to me.

Hi W.,
I delivered my first son at West Suburban 18 months ago and I am due again in 3 weeks. I also Loved my Dr. but was nervous about delivering at West Sub.All of my friends were all about Northwestern. I was pleasantly surprised by the delivery experience. The nurses were awesome. I was induced and it took 3 days. I wasn't rushed like I would have been at NW. I ended up having a c-section but I felt like I did everything before that option. The nurses were very supportive of my long labor and were awesome with nursing. Don't rule it out. West Sub is a great place to deliver.
R.

I delivered all three of my children at West Sub before the hospital was purchased by Ressurection. I thought the care was great, but I'm not a very needy patient. With my youngest, though, the nurses would come in a the beginning of their shift, write a cell phone number on a dry-erase board and tell me to call them if I needed anything. I rarely did call, but I think I would have used the nurses' help more if they just stopped by routinely to check on me rather than put the burden on me of calling them for help. Overall the care was fine. You're really not in the hospital long with regular childbirth.

I delivered at West Sub, but I was with midwives in the ABC room. However, my first child was born with an OB in a standard room, and here's what I have to say. During labor and delivery, it's not about the hospital, it's about how your OB will handle things. You really really need to have an OB who is willing to meet your needs according to your individual birth plan. If you have one view of your birth and your OB isn't on board, you're going to have a bad experience because you'll be fighting with the OB the whole time you're in labor. The nurses and staff at the hospital, any hospital, will follow what your doctor orders.
After the birth, the OB was gone, and it was all up to the nursing staff. They were very nice and helpful. It didn't take long for them to produce an aspirin when I asked, and the nurse gave me her cell phone number so I could call anytime. They never took the baby from me, and I declined some of the tests (the one where they put the stuff in the baby's eyes) and they didn't give me a hard time about it. It seems like at any hospital theres someone coming into your room at all hours of the day and night to perform a test, check blood pressure, change the linens, take out the trash, really there was someone in my room a lot, and I didn't like it. But, it's like that any where. So, I don't think West Sub is any different than any other hospital, but I liked it that they were open to my birth plan and kept the baby with me the whole time after she was born. Good luck!

Hi W.,
My first was born at Rush but we switched insurance when my husband changed jobs, and like your ob, our new insurance wasn't covered at Rush, so we delivered our second baby at West Suburban last year. (Dr Archie/Dr Archarya were my obs, by the way...love them) I have to admit I was nervous about going with West Suburban at first, after a fantastic experience with Rush, but I honestly had a great experience there as well. The nurses were wonderful. I had originally thought of switching doctors to deliver at Loyola (I called & there was a 2 month wait to see the doctor I had been refered to, the fact that I was pregnant didn't matter very much), but ultimately wanted to stay with my doctor & I'm very happy with my choice. I'd suggest taking the tour of the maternity floor before you decide to switch & if you really like your doctor so far, ask for his honest opinion about delivering there. My doctor was honest about his preference for Rush, for for reasons that didn't relate to why I was asking.

Also, I know four women who've delivered there, all with positive exeperiences.

Good luck!

HiWendy,

I have had 2 deliveries at West Suburban and they were very pleasant. I have not had any bad experinces with them. The nurses were friendly and patient. I was on the maternity floor and it was very comfortable and pleasant. i was in a special room or birthing room which was very homey. later i was moved to the surgery room because i had to have a cesarean. my private room was wonderful. i know we hear and see things but we haev to remember we take a chance where ever we go. we hope and pray for the best.I wish you the best of luck!!

JC

Women have had babies in fields, homes,hospitals and cabs. You will find one with a bad experience and one with good experiences. Unless you have specific information (i.e. they tied the person to a bed and gave you the wrong baby) just go with your guts. I went to West suburban for prenatal and they were lovely, I believe it changed because I moved or something. So I had the baby elsewhere. That was awhile ago, but things don't change that much. Our family once had to deal with a nasty male nurse there, and I wrote a note, but other than that can't imagine why you would have a problem. Unless you see filth and garbage, or find out no one is qualified I suggest you enjoy the specific doctor of choice. Plus in the event he is on vacation ( that happened to me anyway) I had to have a completely different doctor. Certainly was a nice person, though and the baby still came out. Oh do not worry, there are too many other things to worry about such as what colors the sheets will be...

I am most docs I know only use West Sub for non-complicated healthcare. If the reason you need to go the medical birth route is due to health conditions, then I would go to a center that has all the high tech care that hopefully won't be necessary eg. U of I, Rush, U of C, loyola or Northwestern. These centers have perinatal centers for higher risk births.