Need to What Good Hospital Can I Go for Maternity.

Not sure where you live but RUSH NORTHSHORE in Skokie is AWESOME. My first 2 were there with Dr. Chams (Joyce)and her Dad too. When I moved out here we went to Edwards in Naperville that was nice too! CONGRATS HAVING 3 IS A BLAST!! Busy but it truly is fun!!

West suburban in Oak Park is great.
I second the poster who vetoed Northwestern. They basically have
an anesthesiologist roaming the halls there looking for someone
to give an epidural to. Don't go there if you want a natural childbirth.

Hi and congratulations! I had my daughter at Rush right off the Eisenhower. My OB/GYN is Dr. Boatwright. She is wonderful! However she is very busy and nearly every appointment I had with her was late because her office is always swarming. I had a much better experience at Rush then a previous poster. I am not sure when she had her child. I had my daughter 11 months ago today! I love love loved my nurses through the whole experience. In fact at the end of my labor, which only lasted about 4 hours I ended up with 3 nurses including the head nurse who had taught our childbirth class.

After my daughter was born our parents, who are from Michigan and Ohio, got to the hospital slightly after visiting hours. Since I was still in my labor room due to an issue with my blood pressure, they were able to visit us, but the nurses weren't supposed to bring my daughter back to us until we moved to my postpartum room. However we asked if our parents might be able to see her and the nurse brought her to us right away and they were able to hold her as long as they wanted.

After I moved to my own room there was never a delay when I asked for a nurse or water or any of that, although I guess I am not very needy, we found the water/ice machine the day after my daughter was born and from then on my husband or I got my own water. One nice thing about Rush and having an HMO is that almost all of their rooms are individual rooms and they fill them first. Since HMO IL doesn't pay for private rooms it is nice that chances are good you will get a private room. I delivered naturally on a Thursday and got a private room. However, I think that there are a lot of C-Sections scheduled on Friday mornings and I know that by Friday afternoon the singles were all full, in fact I think all of the rooms were nearly full.

The only complaint that I would have about delivering at Rush is that I didn't find the lactation consultants to be that great. If I had to do it again I would have found a private lactation consultant before I had my daughter. I knew I would have problems though, becuase I had inverted nipples (probably TMI) since this is your third you probably won't need a lactation consultant.

Good luck! If you would like any more information, feel free to contact me.

D.

I also have BCBSIL HMO. I delevered both my babies at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and had great experiences. My first was a 20 hour labor and emergency c-section and my second was a schedulded c-section and both labor and delivery experiences were great. They also try very hard to make sure all mom's have a private room and will only double you up if they are full, which happened with my first, but only for about 12 hours.

They also have 3 lactation consultants (if your planning on nursing) on the floor everyday to help and guide you and you can continue to call them for help once you are home (at no cost!) this by far was the best feature, especially for my second who had nursing and weight issues, the lactation consultant was in my room several times a day and worked very hard with me to keep my daughter nursing and get her discharged with me.

My OB was Dr. Alice Chen, who was great! She is in Skokie (near Old Orchard) I can give you her info if you want it.

I delivered my baby at St. Josesph at 2900 N. Lake Shore Drive. http://www.reshealth.org/sub_sjh/default.cfm

My OB/GYN is Dr. Ilona Carlos at 3000 N. Halsted.

I LOVED her and the hospital.

I also have BCBSIL HMO.

Good luck!

I hope you are as happy with your doctor and hospital as I was.

We, too, had a bad experience at Rush. Denise P., you must have been lucky; I'm so jealous! I agree with another poster that response time from the nurses was horrendous. I understand completely that they're really busy but it shouldn't take more than an hour to respond. And, we also experienced a nasty receptionist - we don't know what crawled up her butt and died, but she was always snippy and rude!

Labor and delivery was great but post-partum was horrible. I have to agree with Denise P. that the lactation consultants were not helpful at all. Basically they just told us to keep smashing our baby's face into the breast. Once we finally got the baby latched on, the phlebotomist insisted on doing a heel stick.

I don't think I'd ever go back to Rush Hospital in the medical district to deliver a child.

I delivered both my kids at Hinsdale...LOVED it. Not sure what area you are in, but my OB is out of Downers Grove and delivers at Hinsdale (Women's OB Gyne. Dr Gaunt or Dr Cheng is who I have experience with) I also have the same exact insurance as you and they accept it. The nurses at the hospital were great, the facility is nice and modern and even the food was good in my opinion(not that that is a top priority, but it was a nice perk!)I would check it out if you live around there. Good luck and congrats!!!

I would avoid Rush (**the one in the West Loop).

If I could have delivered my baby at Rush, then transferred to another hospital for post-partum I would.

The labor and delivery team at Rush was EXCELLENT. I could go on and on about how professional they were, attentive to my needs, followed my lead and wishes, made my family feel comfortable, etc. I was in labor for 20 hours and pushing for 3 hours and they were the greatest cheerleaders and supporters I knew.

The post-partum section left a lot to be desired. We were in the room right next to the nurses' station and heard every time they bad-mouthed a new mother or one of her family members. That happened frequently, calling people fat, stupid, and annoying. Whenever we would call the nurses' station to ask for our nurse, the receptionist would ask specifics about what we needed. The receptionist wasn't a nurse, so it was none of her business; my reply was "I'd like to speak with my nurse please". Every time I'd ask for something, like water or ice, it would take them nearly an hour or they'd simply forget it entirely. Finally my husband just figured out where the ice/water machine was and got it ourselves. My dirty meal trays stayed in my room until the next meal was served. To top it all off, I got yelled at by the janitor lady for getting "too much water all over the bathroom floor" while taking my first shower after delivering my child. Now, I didn't expect a spa-like shower, but when you can't even extend your arms straight out to the side because the shower stall is tiny and you are in a lot of pain from having a baby, keeping the bathroom dry while taking a shower isn't a priority.

I couldn't wait to get out of there and go home. I wish my post-partum experience had been like my labor/delivery. Fortunately my day nurse was good, but that's about the only bright spot.

My BC/BS insurance doesn't cover Northwestern either, which is a bummer.

I had my 3 y/o at Rush on Ashland & they were great!

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I think it depends on what you are looking for regarding your birth. I wouldn't touch Northwestern with a 10 foot pole due to their high c-section and induction rates.

Due to my belief in safe natural childbirth-- I would highly recommend a midwife and West Suburban Hospital. They have an awesome alternative birth room which is lovely. I had both of my daughters there.

I'm sure that both Northwestern and West Suburban accept Blue Cross insurance!