What do you think of west suburban alternative birthing center in oak park?

[julesdsm]

Wondering if anyone has any info or experiences with the west suburban midwife association and the west suburban alternative birthing center. What i really want is a homebirth, but being on medicaid, i am having a hard time finding a midwife that i can afford. So far it seems like the birth center might be the second best option. Wondering what people's experiences with them are.
Thanks!

[chandasz]

If you search these boards you will find MANY great reviews of these 2!

I had both my children with these midwives at west sub. While a homebirth would be ideal-- I think this is your next best option in the chicago area.

Do not do west sub without midwives though...

Gayle's group is FANTASTIC

[pinuchkin]

There are a bunch of threads with reviews of the practices that work out of the ABC. The only complaints I had (March 2007 VBAC) were:
1) triaging through the ER doors on a weekend really sucks - I just started screaming "GET ME TO L&D NOW GODDAMNIT" to make people leave me alone
2) they were great about letting me leave as early as I wanted to after birth (actually encourage going home as soon as you & baby are checked to avoid exposures & keep the room available), but they're understaffed so we had trouble getting some attention for basic things (like a pillow!)

[kosheng]

my baby boy will be 1 in less than 24 hours, and we had the best experience of all my deliveries at west sub with gayle's group, like chandasz mentioned. i totally my midwives and was thrilled with all 3... but julie is still my fave! i would totally drive the 45 minutes in labor to deliver there again. it was truly amazing.

as far as the attentiveness of the rest of the nursing staff? not bad at all, but we really didn't require much of anything. (we had a sunday afternoon delivery and went home monday as soon as we were cleared.)

hope you find what you are looking for!

[coobabysmom]

I also had a good experience in the ABC room although I used the Shirley Moore's MW group. I loved that my husband, son and I could co-sleep on the queen size bed in the ABC room the one overnight we were there.

[AGierald]

I used the same group, and the ABC, and had a nice experience! (as nice as a hospital can be), they're very open to doulas there, so thats helpful.

Oh and aboutthe ER, i was in several times for PTL, and never once went thru the ER... always went straight to L&D. Also, i hated the triage (l&d triage) nurse, but i complained, so hopefully her attitude wouldnt be like that anymore.

Never a comment about not circing, not vaxxing, no eye ointment (well, the labor nurse insisted that i someday MUST get him vaxxed for polio, so there i was at 30min PP explaining to her why she was wrong. I shut her up, lol.) and the decision was left up to me whethe to give him vitamin K or not (traumatic birth, another place the doula came in handy).

Also, he never left our side. My dh was able to go with him everywhere he went.

Another reason I would reccommend a doula, especially here, is that theres no LCs on staff there. The nurses are okay at helping, but a doula experienced in breastfeeding issues is completely invaluable. (the posted above me, coobabysmom, was my doula. Hi! lol)

Good luck with your pregnancy and birth!

[coobabysmom]

Originally Posted by AGierald

I used the same group, and the ABC, and had a nice experience! (as nice as a hospital can be), they're very open to doulas there, so thats helpful.

Oh and aboutthe ER, i was in several times for PTL, and never once went thru the ER... always went straight to L&D. Also, i hated the triage (l&d triage) nurse, but i complained, so hopefully her attitude wouldnt be like that anymore.

Never a comment about not circing, not vaxxing, no eye ointment (well, the labor nurse insisted that i someday MUST get him vaxxed for polio, so there i was at 30min PP explaining to her why she was wrong. I shut her up, lol.) and the decision was left up to me whethe to give him vitamin K or not (traumatic birth, another place the doula came in handy).

Also, he never left our side. My dh was able to go with him everywhere he went.

Another reason I would reccommend a doula, especially here, is that theres no LCs on staff there. The nurses are okay at helping, but a doula experienced in breastfeeding issues is completely invaluable. (the posted above me, coobabysmom, was my doula. Hi! lol)

Good luck with your pregnancy and birth!

: & : Artie!