Birth Center of Chicago

OUR MODEL OF CARE:

A truly unique birth where you lead, and we follow. Birth with midwives is already traditionally different from what most of the population have come to expect from media images, and stories from family and friends. Care at the Birth Center of Chicago is centered on supporting low-risk birthing populations – ultimately, you don’t need a lot of interventions or interruptions when birth is happening normally!

But we also know birth is unpredictable, requires confidence and support, and can sometimes need the help of a skilled professional. We endeavor to help you have the birth of your dreams, where your intuition is valued, your body can move and be comforted, and you feel safe asking for what you want.

Our midwives will meet you at the birth center 24-hours a day. Our team will support you through active labor phases, birth, and the early bonding time with your newborn.

Your first appointment is about getting to know us, and for us to know you. Your medical history will be reviewed and discussed, as well as your goals for this pregnancy and delivery. If you have not had the chance previously, you’ll also be able to tour the birth center.

As you continue care with the Birth Center of Chicago, you’ll get to know our staff and enjoy the living room-style 1st-floor lobby. After checking in, you’ll go upstairs to our clinic rooms for your appointments. Feel free to grab a refreshment or fresh snack in the kitchen – or scan the shelves of our lending library – before you head up!

You’ll have the chance to meet our midwives through the course of your prenatal appointments. There is no rushing, and that looks like 2-4X more time being face-to-face than most folks experience with traditional providers.

You can expect to spend 30-60 minutes with your midwife at appointments! We will track the baby’s growth and listen to heart tones, monitor your blood pressure and more.

BCC midwives, nurses, and staff want to hear about how you’re feeling, what pressures or stresses you are managing, and how you find ways to tolerate, cope, and mitigate situations that could make your pregnancy more difficult.  We care about you, and we want time to give you the experience that helps you feel confident walking through the world while pregnant.

Other services you can expect to find at our birth center are in-house lab work, ultrasounds, and various classes for pregnant people, parents, and community members on topics that range the span of one’s lifetime.

The Birth Center of Chicago has a transfer agreement with Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. You can learn more about them here.

BIRTH ATTENDANTS: 

Birth at the Birth Center of Chicago is attended by a team of two certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and an assistant, usually a registered nurse, specially trained for attendance at out-of-hospital births. This team practices the midwifery model of care, a model based on the understanding that for most laboring people, pregnancy and childbirth are healthy and normal parts of the life cycle. Skilled in attending to people who deliver with and without pain medication, our team will help you through every step of the way.

THE BIRTH CENTER: 

Our birth center has two individual birth suites with private bathrooms, and one antepartum/postpartum room.  Both birth suites have a full sized birth tub for labor and water birth, as well as tools to help labor in all labor positions.  Birth balls and peanut balls, birth swings, Swedish bars, birth stool, tens units, nitrous oxide, and encouraged use of labor doulas are all a part of standard care.

WATER BIRTH:

The Birth Center of Chicago is happy to offer water birth inside both birth suites.  Waterbirth is supported by the American College of Nurse Midwives and the American Association of Birth Centers.

COPING WITH LABOR DISCOMFORT: 

The Birth Center of Chicago offers out-of-hospital birth for families looking for unmedicated birth experiences.  We support laboring people through the discomfort of labor using evidence-based methods and historically well-known methods  like movement, support, encouragement, access to food and drinks, as well as coping tools like hydrotherapy, heat/cold packs, doula support, upright laboring, birth balls, peanut balls, massage, counter pressure and positing support. 

FAMILY FRIENDLY VISITOR POLICY: 

The Birth Center of Chicago does not limit the number of support people a family would like to have inside their birth suite.  Siblings are also welcome when they have a dedicated adult with them.  Guests with symptoms of an infectious disease or illness are not able to attend births. 

EATING DURING LABOR AND POSTPARTUM: 

We have a fully stocked community kitchen which families have access to and can use while their family member is here at the birth center.  We also have a refrigerator, coffee, tea, and fast energy snack options that are available for the entirety of labor and recovery.  Part of postpartum recovery is ensuring you have a good meal before being discharged to return home 4-6 hours after giving birth. 

POSTPARTUM CARE:

The first hours after giving birth will be spent bonding and getting to know your new baby.  We do not separate you from your baby, and encourage early breast/chest feeding.  The typical postpartum recovery is 4-6 hrs here at the center before you return home for further rest.  We ask families to return to the birth center in the first 24-36 hours, again on day 3 or 4, two weeks, and 6 weeks postpartum.  The birthing person and newborn are both under the care of the midwife until the baby is two-weeks old, and all care needed can be completed by the midwives.  Depending on your doctor’s preference, most babies won’t need to have their first pediatrician appointment until the baby is 1-2 months old.  Clients will also have access to lactation support throughout recovery, and direct appointments if needed, or through our weekly drop-in lactation clinic. 

The Birth Center of Chicago is currently in the process of establishing contracts with insurance and we encourage you to contact our office to undergo a personalized verification of benefits (VOB).  We anticipate coverage with all major insurance plans and Medicaid. Please contact our Office Manager at 773-232-2299 option 3 to discuss. 

The Birth Center of Chicago accepts clients who are medically low-risk and who agree to follow the disclosed client responsibilities:

• provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete information about present complaints, past medical history, hospitalizations, medications, alternative therapy, and other matters relating to your health.
  reporting unexpected changes in your condition to the midwife in a timely manner.
• speaking up and informing your midwife if you do not understand the plan of treatment and what is expected of you.
• attending childbirth education classes as needed and/or required.
• accepting responsibility for outcomes related to refusing treatment or care.
  paying your bill or making arrangements to pay your bill.
  showing consideration for the rights of other clients.

• 12%* of admitted clients transfer for both emergent and non-emergent reasons.
• 2.4%* clients transfer after birth
• 2.6%* newborns transfer after birth
  * The Birth Center of Chicago has not been open long enough to collect data, and these numbers are statistical averages provided in  Outcomes of Care in Birth Centers: Demonstration of a Durable Model.

The Birth Center of Chicago partners with Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital and is our official transfer partner for those clients admitted in labor who need additional care outside of what BCC can provide. 

The medical teams at both BCC and Illinois Masonic participate in cooperative emergency drills to ensure safety for our clients. 

You can call 773-232-2299 Option #2 to schedule a tour, or book online: http://www.birthcenterofchicago.com/schedule-a-tour

People who are looking to give birth at the Birth Center of Chicago are required to take a comprehensive childbirth class or comfort measures classes, depending on if this is their first or subsequent birth.  We have a list of recommended classes online and around Chicago.  For current class offerings at BCC, please visit http://www.birthcenterofchicago.com/classes