Mom Seeking OB GYN That Accepts IL Medicaid

I know it's not the easiest thing in the world, but why not try to quit smoking? I'm sure that's not what you want to hear, but you have 2 children and your smoking is not only affecting your health, but likely theirs too. Also cigarettes are expensive, so it seems very logical to me to take that $ you are spending on cigs and put it toward a payment plan to pay down the balance on the $214...to get that off your credit report. Planned Parenthood will give you very inexpensive or free birth control regardless of whether you smoke. Birth control will be much safer also if you are not smoking.

Good luck to you.

I went through planned parenthood for years for birth control when I did not have insurance and did not meet the requirements for public aide. Also, I had my daughter at Resurrection, which is a Catholic Hospital and they do not routinely prescribe birth control. They are very reasonable, maybe even free if you have the medicaid card. Give them a call and find your local office. Otherwise, if you like your ob-gyn I would call the office and see about setting up a payment plan to pay the $214. I never heard of them not giving you birth control because you smoke. They do have to advise you of the risks associated with smoking, age, and birth control (stroke/heart attack), but I didn't know they could not give it to you. If you hate Christ, then why not check out Palos Community Hospital. That's not far from you. They are a smaller hospital, but a friend of mine had great experience having both her kids there.

For the long term, maybe you could read up on Natural Family Planning. Check out the book "taking charge of your fertility" by Toni Weschler. You can probably get it at the library. The book is great at explaining the way your body works and how you can prevent pregnancy by knowing the signs of ovulation. The concepts are simple and charting is free. It will cost you $5 to get a thermometer. I say this is long term though, as you would want to be very comfortable with the method before trusting it completely. Last, but not least....make your man wear a condom if you are concerned about pregnancy and can't get any birth control. But, I am fairly certain Planned Parenthood will work with you and they always give you a bag of stuff with your pills, including condoms and Plan B. They are very friendly there and have a great bedside manner to boot. Hope this helps!

health dept seek alt.. birth control method iud depo?i have the iud no complaints yet well kinda , ever since I had my son which is almost 5 months I period so hard and bright bright red like changing pads every 1 hour or so , They did ultrasound and say everything is fine , they think its the hormone levels in my body from having child.
:) E.

Try talking to the nurses in the WIC office at the Stickney Township clinic on State Road. They are wonderfully nice and full of information

Have you contacted Planned Parenthood? I am sure they can give you information, even if they might not do the procedure themselves. I am sure you already know it would be better for your health and your kids to stop smoking, but it can be very difficult to quit. As for those who say you shouldn't spend money on the Internet- you could be at the library or at your mom's house or at a friend's house using their computer. If there is any way you CAN pay that bill yourself, you should. But if you really cannot, it should not stop you from getting your tubes tied and not having more kids. Don't listen to haters- you have every right to make a responsibly decision about what will be best for yourself and your children's future! Good luck!

Here's the upfront part about some of this. Smoking is very expensive. If you can cut down your smoking or completely quit you can pay the $214.00 in about two months. Then you can take care of the other things one step at a time. It will be good for your health. There are other kinds of birth control and it just needs to be used. Once in awhile there is a slip up. But the only two times I didn't use a diaphram in my case, I got pregnant. There is also abstinence. You are smart to know that you cannot handle anymore. That is sometimes a frustrating and hard decision to make but I can see you are working on it. There are also other doctors. I did not read your profile so I do not know what your life is like but you will be fine. It just takes time to take care of some of these things.

Maybe try Planned Parenthood? They typically have a sliding scale that will allow you to pay based on your ability to pay.

I assume that my ob/gyn practice still accepts patients on public aid. You will get great care from them, too. If you log on to www.whcchicago.com, you can call the office. This is Women's Health Consultants. They are at RUSH, but have a clinic around there also. I'm not sure if they see patients on public assistance at their office at the Hospital. They certainly will be able to answer your questions, though. A few years ago, they did see patients on assistance.

Good luck.

Amy