UC Hospital or NW Memorial? (for prenatal care...)

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by Manigault

When my wife was pregnant with our third child, her water broke at 9 p.m. while we were at a fund raiser. The baby was born at 11:45 pm, the only problem being that it was February 29th.

wow... that's fast, I wish I could have a delivery this easy
I have a cousin who's also born on that day, but we celebrate his birthday on the 28th most of the time.

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by skyeINIL

Oh cool! Labor stories. With my first kid, I was in labor for six hours. Second, four hours. Third, two hours and 35 minutes. I expect this last one to come out in under an hour.

Umm...topic? I've never delivered at either hospital in question, but a close friend gave birth at NW and was very impressed. She had a great room.

thanks that's hopeful since I plan to have more than just one.

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by Starchgirl

I don't have any direct hospitalization experience with UofC's hospital, but my friends who have delivered there did not enjoy the experience. As I recall, they felt like the facilities and level of customer service were sub-par. Friends who live farther away (South Shore, Oak Park) have still opted to deliver at NWM.

I live, socialize and educate my children in and around Hyde Park and have done so for the past 10 years. I opted to have both of my children at Prentice, including one son last Fall in the new Prentice. I was extremely pleased with the professionalism and level of service I received at NWM. Plus the previous poster was correct - the new hospital is as nice as an upscale hotel/spa. During my extended stay there, I kept referring to it as the "hotel". HA HA!

With this last delivery, my husband, older son and I spent every day at this hospital for over a month and we never experienced a moment when we didn't feel like my health and the health of the baby were tantamount even when we were dealing with unfamiliar specialists - I have nothing but positive memories about the care we both received.

The other positive thing about NWM is that whatever type of birth you want to have (water birth, bradley, midwife, etc.) - they can accomodate you.

The hospital isn't "as far" as you think. Yes, LSD can get congested, but get familiar with a couple of the alternative routes in case of true traffic jams (ie Columbus Drive, King Drive). Plus, there is valet parking at Prentice, so if you are really in a hurry, they'll take your car as you drive up so you and your husband can head to triage together.

Congratulations and best of luck!

Thanks for your detailed reply . I went to visit NWM myself last night, wow, it really is amazing.... and I felt like it is a hotel as well, granite counter, pasma TV and the room is huge!!

[chickaboo]

going to check out UC hospital today. it's great that both hospital have L&D tour.

[Manigault]

Originally Posted by chickaboo

I have a cousin who's also born on that day, but we celebrate his birthday on the 28th most of the time.

We are party people and philosophers: No matter if your birthday occurs or not, every 365 days a person becomes a year older. So let's celebrate!

[chickaboo]

Ok I'm back from the tours.

Tour size wise, NWM had about 30 people in the tour, so it was a huge group of us. It was lead by a young friendly nurse, since there are so many people and the tour was fast paced, it was harder to ask questions, and I didn't really hear many questions (maybe they are all well-prepared already? )

UC tour on the other side was much smaller, only about 10 people, so the tour feel much more personal and informative. We also got goodie bags with water, snack, pregnancy guide and facility overview packets, which was very nice!

In both tour we visited the triage rooms, delivery room and recover rooms. NWM is definitely larger and newer then UC. In particular the triage rooms. If I hear it correctly, there are only 4 beds in 2 triage rooms in UC, which means less privacy. NWM on the other hand have 36 private triage rooms (pls correct me if I’m wrong, this is from my memory of the tour).

NWM's Delivery room is, like everyone said, a state of art. It's huge, equipped with 42'' plasma TV, big private bathroom with shower. They are big enough to accommodate the birth method of your choice, such as a water birth, yup it's actually big enough to put a birth tub in it.

UC's delivery room is like any other delivery room I have seen before when I visited friends. It's got everything you need in there, delivery bed, a pullout sleeper, a TV, a private bathroom that's slightly smaller the NWM. UC does not have midwives or water birth options. but you may bring a doula with you to the delivery room, along with your husband.

On the UC tour, we actually got to meet the head nurse of the L&D department. she was very patient with the visitors' questions (there were a lot of questions!) and went over the details about labor and delivery. When we visit the nursery (look at from outside), the head of the nursing dept even showed us a baby who was just born yesterday, tiny little boy, oh so cute~ it did startled me a little... is it safe to expose a new born in front of so many people? haha but I'm sure she knew what she was doing.

At UC we did had to make ways for nurses, students and expecting/ mothers many times, the hallway is kinda narrow and crowded. many patients had their door open so curious tourists could peek in (I tried not to). in NWM, we barely saw or heard anyone! even with our large group, we didn't really get in anyone's way, I think the reason is their rooms are soundproof and their patients were all behind closed doors. and they also have so many rooms on their delivery floor, so the tour can take a quiet route.

In UC, there is a bridge path from L&D to Comer’s Children Hospital next door, so if anything wrong with the new born s/he can be transferred within minutes. However the hospital is undergoing a renovation right now, some rooms are remodeled and some are not(?) also getting there was actually quite tricky, because roads are blocked and our GPS didn't work anymore.

Overall, both hospital have plus and minuses.

[Mrs.Zen]

Thanks for all the info! Good to know for future reference! Now which one are you going to choose??!