Gynecologist in/around Chicago?

801 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by fromscatteredtribe, Jul 23, 2004

Katana

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2004

Hello

I'm trying to find a good and more natural leaning gynecologist in Chicago or any of the Chicago suburbs. I'm not interested in going to HomeFirst, as lovely as they are, their knowledge of the female body is somewhat lacking.

I'm not opposed to pap smears, or anything like that, but I would like to be working with someone who isn't completely 'mainstream'.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks so much.

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fromscatteredtribe

· #2 · Jun 16, 2004

I had my first homebirth with ds3 with the midwives at Alivio in the Pilsen neighborhood on the south side. they are a clinic though so they take walk-ins and it gets insane. you have to get the first appointment of the day or deal with long waits.

my first two pregnancies and my two ectopics i was with the midwifery group that is practicing
at swedish covenant hospital around foster and california on the northwest side

they do gyne too.

my favorite midwife was Kathy (a little bubbly but she was kind and fun and at my first two births and ectopics). I also like Gina (who stayed with me while I was having breast surgery at five months pregnant). They came in sometimes on days off if I needed them, but I am needy.

My experiences at swedish covenant were good.

alivio was nice for homebirth but the clinic is crazy.

i'm sorry homefirst wasn't cutting it for you.

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bethwl

· #3 · Jun 16, 2004

I used to see Alexander Lin at Northwestern, but that was before I got pregnant, so I'm not sure how "mainstream" he really is. However, I liked him when I was seeing him. I went with a midwife group at West Suburban in Oak Park for my pregnancy after looking at Northwestern and deciding that it's not necessarily the best place for natural childbirth. West Sub Midwife Associates with Gayle Riedmann, Hilary Kieser, and Priscilla Hall (attended my birth, stayed with me from check-in at 9 pm till birth at 5:30 am). Since my daughter was born I have just decided to go to them for gyne care. They're on Lake near Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park. I may switch Swedish Covenant when I want to get pregnant again, just because it's much closer to my home.

Beth
dd Annika 8.9.03

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Katana

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 16, 2004

Thanks so much.

I think that Swedish Covenant is probably the closest in distance to me. I didn't know they had midwives there, that's great to hear. I'm definitely going to look into it.

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spiralmg

· #5 · Jun 17, 2004

The West Suburban Midwives are a gift to Chicago - even though they are in Oak Park. Found them after a quite aggravating search through mainstream options; they helped me have a wonderful first birth and I am going back for all my ob.gyn needs.

Birthways in Evanston can provide a list of other good options too.

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shelbean91

· #6 · Jun 18, 2004

My mom sees an ob/gyn in Shaumberg (?). His name is Dr. Matview. That's all I know and it's not too much. She's been seeing him for almost 30 years, he delivered 3 of my sisters and was very progressive for the times. (Allowed my mom to have her water broken for over 48 hrs w/my sister, didn't do shaving, enemas or tying arms down, which were very common at the time. She drives over an hour to get to him.

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super duper

· #7 · Jun 19, 2004

i use an ob/gyn at swedish covenant and i am very happy with the practice. i have seen all of the drs and i would recommend all of them. the one who delivered my daughter, dr lauren thorpe, came highly recommended to me and i have only good hings to say about her. her colleagues are dr michelle trandai and dr kerry swenson. very good experience.

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Katana

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 19, 2004

Thanks so much for all the suggestions.

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fromscatteredtribe

· #9 · Jun 20, 2004

super duper,
those are the backup obs for the group of midwives i used. i am glad your experience was good. when i gave birth to ds2 my midwife was late (mostly due to an answering service that was fired that week). When the backup OB came i begged her to not cut me (or at least let me know if she felt she must) and she did not ask my permission. let me know, or listen to my pleadings I was quite disappointed. i wish i knew who she was but since i walked into the hospital pushing i could not think clearly. ds2 was born 20 minuted after i walked in, and the midwife just barely got there to catch his head. i was personally overwhelmed by the more medical practices of the docs there as they wore splatter masks and put my feet in stirrups and other things i had NEVER experienced with my midwife (Kathy Loebel). I had spoken with Dr Thorpe in the past regarding breast surgery and ectopics but never remember meeting her. perhaps she is different and i am sure for gyne work fine. My experience of powerlessness however was the main reason i chose a homebirth for ds3 and my current pregnancy.

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super duper

· #10 · Jun 20, 2004

fromscatteredtribe im sorry you didnt have a good experience with them

. i should have mentioned that im coming from a fairly "mainstream" point of view, so im sure i had different expectations going into it. its amazing how many different ways there are to experience labor and delivery

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Amys1st

· #11 · Jul 8, 2004

I too am looking for a good midwife group. do they have a website? The hospital only lists the Dr's group they are with but not the MWs.

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katja

· #12 · Jul 22, 2004

Hey scattered tribe--

Alivio dropped their homebirth program last year--when I was seven months pregnant. I really had to scramble to stay out of the hospital. We still go to Alivio for ped because we live a few blocks away.

For gyne care, I used to go to Chicago Women's Health Center. It's in Wrigleyville, very crunchy, sliding scale. I don't know about the wood paneling, though!

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fromscatteredtribe

· #13 · Jul 23, 2004

that's terrible that alivio is no longer doing homebirths. i had an incredible experience with them. i was wishing for my fourth i could be back in chicago and with the group again. here i have a midwife who comes to my home for all visits which is nice. what were their reasons for dropping the homebirths? just curious.

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