UC Hospital or NW Memorial? (for prenatal care...) (Chicago: renting, insurance)

[chickaboo]

just found out that we are pregnant!!

Since Ｉ just moved to the city not too long ago I don't even have a OB/GYN yet, and now I have to find a hosipital to give birth to asap, gasp!!

After checking with my insurance company, we have narrowed down to two hospitals:
1. University of Chicago Hospital
Pro: being a HP resident, this hospital is less then 2 miles away from my home.
Con: know very little about their prenatal care

2. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Pro: their OB/GYN specialist center is one block from where I work, which means saving time in my monthly checkups. And my cousin gave birth there and she highly recommends it.
Con: not as close to my home.

does anyone have experience in either of the hospitals? Please help me!

[surlycue]

I didn't give birth in Illinois but would you not have to go to the hospital that your current OB/GYN is a resident at? I would care more about quality of OB then of the hospital.

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by surlycue

I didn't give birth in Illinois but would you not have to go to the hospital that your current OB/GYN is a resident at? I would care more about quality of OB then of the hospital.

yeah...the thing is...I don't have one

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by surlycue

I didn't give birth in Illinois but would you not have to go to the hospital that your current OB/GYN is a resident at? I would care more about quality of OB then of the hospital.

that's why I have to pick a hospital now because I need to schedule my first visit soon.

[surlycue]

I would go on yelp or perhaps join a parenting group on meetup.com and get direct recommendations from women who have delivered locally. do you want to take a familiar route, ie - hospital delivery with or without drugs or Cesarean or are you interested in using a doula for a home birth or going to a birthing center? I have a friend who is a doula and I think she handles both traditional and more new age type deliveries so if you decide that that is something you are interested in let me know and I can DM you her info.

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS! It's always very stressful in the beginning but believe me there is no hurry. Just start taking your pre-natal vitamins now and stock up on ginger ale and crackers. Take your time to find the right doctor and plan for you and your family.

[ajolotl]

Go to Northwestern. We had all of our kids there even when we lived in Hyde Park. It tends to be much less ghetto.

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by surlycue

I would go on yelp or perhaps join a parenting group on meetup.com and get direct recommendations from women who have delivered locally. do you want to take a familiar route, ie - hospital delivery with or without drugs or Cesarean or are you interested in using a doula for a home birth or going to a birthing center? I have a friend who is a doula and I think she handles both traditional and more new age type deliveries so if you decide that that is something you are interested in let me know and I can DM you her info.

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS! It's always very stressful in the beginning but believe me there is no hurry. Just start taking your pre-natal vitamins now and stock up on ginger ale and crackers. Take your time to find the right doctor and plan for you and your family.

Thanks for the advices, I didn't know there are so many different ways of delivery...haha， I will definitly check those out thanks!

[chickaboo]

Originally Posted by ajolotl

Go to Northwestern. We had all of our kids there even when we lived in Hyde Park. It tends to be much less ghetto.

hmm....I have never been to UC hospital, do you mean the facility was ghetto?

[Manigault]

I had three kids at UofC and it was a great experience. If the birth is expected to have any type of complications stick with UofC.

Northwestern has the reputation of being more people-oriented but I never found it so.

[Carantini]

NWMemorial is the best hospital in chicago. go there.